The martinis are already drained when Margot says, “The wine! I forgot the wine! There’s a whole bottle down there. Rock, paper, scissors for who gets to fetch it?”
“I’ll go,” I say, surprising myself. My head is swimming from the alcohol and I could use a breather. Plus, I want to sober up before the drive home.
“The keys to the four-wheeler are in the ignition,” Margot says.
“I’ll just walk, thanks.”
“You sure? Well, take a flashlight at least,” Margot says and crosses the room, yanks open a drawer, and hands me a small Maglite.
—
I’M HEADING DOWNthe lane. The moon is high now and casts a silvery glow over everything, so I stash the Maglite in my pocket and walk along the trail in the bath of the moonlight. Russet-colored leaves, still damp from the recent rain, line the ground like a wet rug, muting my footfalls. All around me, though, the forest is alive and buzzing—a tense chorus of cicadas trills and hisses and seems to multiply with each crescendo. In the retreat of their swell, bullfrogs croak, and it occurs to me that I’d have to shout to be heard.
I shiver at the thought and fish my cell from my back pocket. I text Graham as I walk:
Going to call it a night soon, I think. How’s J boy?
Perfect. Trying to get him down at the moment.
He texts me the kiss emoji and I text one back.
—
I’M AT THEclearing now and the lake is a white mirror with the moon perched above it. Water claps against the shore and a warm breeze skims over the lake, tousling my hair. I see the glint of the wine bottle in the center of the clearing and retrieve it. It’s warm now, and the bottle swings from my hand as I head back toward the path.
The walk and fresh air have helped to clear my head of booze, and I’m about halfway down the trail when I can just begin to make out the orangeglow of the porch lights. I start to feel as though I’ve stepped into a Robert Frost poem, when I hear a gunshot, loud and clattering, off the lake. A flock of doves explodes from a nearby tree and I drop to the ground, flatten myself against the damp leaves as the bottle of wine tumbles from my hand and rolls away. My heart bangs in my ears and I lie there for a moment, unsure of what to do next.
I’m slowly crouching on all fours, my breath ragged and shallow, when I hear a branch snap and footsteps approaching. Squinting in the dark, I see a figure striding toward me. It’s Margot, backlit from the lights of the house, with a shotgun propped on her shoulder.
“Whatever are you doing down there?” she asks, likely out of breath from the walk. “Oh, no! I scared you!”
I get to my feet and dust off the knees of my jeans. My neck is burning with embarrassment for being afraid, but the adrenaline has wrung me out so thoroughly that I feel limp.
“I just fired a shot because after you left, I remembered there’ve been feral hogs out here lately, so I wanted to fire a warning shot, keep you safe.” Her breath is tinged with alcohol, and her perfume is even stronger now that she’s sweating.
“Of course!” I say, trying for cheery.
“Wouldn’t your husband kill me if you got speared by one?”
I try and laugh but it comes out strained.
“You’re shaking,” she says, putting an arm around me. “Awww, you reallyarea sissy girl.” She says it in that way of hers where I can’t tell if she’s flirting with me or teasing me, or both.
The moon has fallen behind the trees and we walk together in lockstep, my stomach buzzing with excitement from being this close to her.
13
AFTER THE DARKNESSof the trail, the inside of the lake house feels glaring. Margot sinks the wine into a silver ice bucket and twists the bottle around, chilling it. Callie fetches wineglasses from the cabinet, and fills each glass to the brim.
We toast and sip, but I only take the smallest of sips so I can safely drive home. Margot tosses back half her glass and sets it on the bar.
“So... who wants to go hunting?”
“Always,” Callie says, winding a lock of coarse hair around her finger.
“I’m in!” Tina trills, rocking back and forth on her feet, her coal-black eyes squinting in a smile.
“Where?” Jill asks, demure, her face half-hidden behind her huge wineglass.
