Hidden Pictures

In the morning, Adrian says he’s going to the rest home in Ohio. He will visit Dolores while Mallory spends the day with Teddy. After packing, Mallory goes for a run in the afternoon, and then it’s time for the party, which is awkward but pleasant. Caroline’s skin is too sensitive for swimming, so she stays out of the pool. Mallory irrationally hopes that they will change their minds. As she plays with Teddy, she hopes she can still visit him in the future. Mallory worries that she—the erratic nanny who drew the pictures on the walls—will eventually be a joke for future guests. Adrian texts her an image of Dolores, then one more with Dolores and her son, Curtis. They are Annie’s daughter and grandson. Dolores is a dark-skinned woman who was born in England. Adrian puts Curtis on the phone. Curtis asks Mallory if she is really living in “Granny Annie’s cottage” (307), before telling her Annie’s story.

George Barrett was furious when Annie became pregnant by someone of a different ethnicity. Annie packed and vanished with her lover, which embarrassed George. He was a deacon and an influential man in the community. He splashed pig’s blood on the cottage, faked a manhunt, and made up the story about Annie’s abduction, when, in fact, she escaped and lived on an Akron farm with her husband for 60 years.