My breath catches at Gigi’s sweet gesture as I take in my girls’ beaming smiles. “That was so ...”
“Thoughtful? I know.” Beth holds up a hardcover book, its cover streaked with crimson splatters that mimic dripping blood. Artfully fake, but also disturbingly lifelike. “Gigi got this signed edition for me even though it doesn’t release until next month.”
Seeing the author’s name, I recognize her as one Beth loves.
“Gigi contacted the author and promised to share the book on social media if she sent her a prerelease copy.” Beth opens the book to the title page. “And Gigi had her sign it to me.”
“That’s so cool,” I say. Maybe Gigihasgrown up since high school. I peer through the open doorway, my pulse quickening. “Is Emma here yet?”
“Nope. I was the first one here.”
I plop onto the edge of the bed and feel some tension release from my shoulders, thankful to have a moment alone with Beth before I face the others. “Is Gigi’s husband here?”
Beth shakes her head. “Haven’t seen him. I’m surprised he didn’t come to see her off. I expected him to be taking the photos of her send-off, not her assistant.”
“Me too.” I’ve seen Gigi’s doting European hotel-heir husband in several of her posts online, where they appear joined at the hip. After meeting in Milan, Gigi and Alex were married in Venice two years ago, an exclusive event to which none of us were invited. According to one of her posts, Alex took most of her photos and did all the behind-the-scenes work for her vlog. But Gigi’s following has grown so big, she must’ve had to hire more help.
“Can you do me a favor?” I ask. “Don’t say anything to the others yet about Matt leaving me.”
“Of course not.” Beth crosses her arms, glancing up as the sound of Gigi’s laugh carries through the windowed hatch above the bed. She meets my gaze. “Look, I know you don’t want to go on this trip. I didn’t, either, but now that I’m here, I really think it will be good for all of us to remember Courtney—together. And to let go.”
A look passes between us, an unspoken understanding of what she’s referring to.
Beth’s expression darkens. “We can’t change the past. We were kids. It’s not like you meant to—”
“Knock, knock!”
Gigi appears behind Beth in the doorway. I’m surprised I didn’t hear her come down. She’s tied a see-through mesh cover-up over her bikini bottom. She slides past Beth and holds her arms out to me.
“You disappeared so fast I didn’t get to give you a hug.”
I stand as she squeezes me between her long skinny arms.
I bulge my eyes out, pulling a face at Beth, who stifles a laugh. Gigi releases me and takes a step back, then leans her thin frame against the cabinet. I sense curiosity in Gigi’s gaze, along with a dash of judgment, as she takes in my appearance.
I point to the framed photo of my twins. “Thank you for putting up the picture of my girls. That was a nice surprise.”
Gigi smiles. “You’re welcome. I wanted you to feel at home.” She puts her hands on her hips. “Emma is late, as usual. Even though I made sure to have my assistant tell her to be on time.” She rolls her eyes. “Once she gets here, we’ll set sail.” She presses her palms together in front of her chest. “I’m so glad we can all get together to honor Courtney. She would’ve wanted this. I’m just sad she can’t be here with us. But she’ll be here in spirit. Sometimes, I still can’t believe she’s gone, after all this time. We never got that closure, because, well ...”
Gigi trails off, and I can see we’re all thinking the same thing.Because we never found her body.
“Anyway,” Gigi adds. “I miss her every day.”
No, you don’t,I think. She’s acting like Courtney was a saint. While we all felt indebted to Courtney in some way, like the time she paid for Gigi’s prom dress when she couldn’t afford it, we were also no strangers to Courtney’s cruelty. I study Gigi batting her eyes as if she were blinking back tears, and I wonder if her obsession to be constantlyseen by the world in her best light stems from what Courtney did to her in our senior year.
Gigi twists to check her teeth in the small mounted mirror, and it hits me that her thirst to be seen as perfect is probably more due to us being labeled as murderers after returning from the rafting trip.
“I guess sisterly bonds never really dissolve,” Gigi says.
When I catch Gigi’s insipid face in her reflection, I see her as she was that day twenty years ago when her face was twisted in anger at Courtney, the rapids roaring behind them as they pushed off from the rocky riverbank. Rage can do funny things to people, make them do things on impulse that they can’t take back. Of course, I knew that better than anyone.
Chapter Three
September 2004
“AD minus? Are you serious?” Courtney lifted her Spanish test off her desk as Mrs. Herrera continued passing them out to the rest of the class.
Courtney turned to me, her lip-glossed mouth half open in shock. “But we studied.”
