“Everyone else did,” Imumbled.
He covered one of my hands with one of his. Even though I was still a little tanned, the contrast between our skin colors was jarring—light brown against goldenivory.
“But I do want an honest answer out of you about your money situation. I know your uncle’s in a bind waiting on the payment from the inn to clear, and I know what medical billscost.”
I swallowed hard, praying August couldn’t feel the clamminess of my skin. “I was a minor, so after Mom . . . after she died, I wasn’t responsible for her medical bills. I just needed to pay day-to-day stuff and a couple extras, you know, rent, food, her”—I slid my bottom lip between my teeth—“her funeral.” I kept my gaze on our hands. “So to answer your question, I need a job, not aloan.”
The doorbell rang then. The scent of melted cheese and tangy tomato had my stomach rumbling. Unhurriedly, he removed his hand and walked to the door. He relieved the delivery boy of three cardboard boxes and tipped him generously, before ferrying the food back to the island. He flipped the lids up on two of the boxes but kept the third one shut—probably Cole’s extra-largepie.
“Can you give me your bank details?” he asked, taking out plates and handing me one. “So we can deposit your salary straight into it at the end of themonth.”
“I’ll email it to you later.” I eased a perfect triangle out of the box and bit off the pointytip.
Silence fell between us as we ate. It was interrupted by a sharp knock on the door, followed bybeeping.
“Yo,” Cole said, walking in. He stopped when he saw me. Although Cole tried to hide his surprise, it was all over hisface.
“Ness got her driver’s license,” August informed him. “We were celebrating with beer andpizza.”
I patted my lips with a paper napkin, grabbed the bag I’d flung on the seat next to me, and hopped off the barstool. “I was just leaving. Don’t want to crash yourdate.”
As I walked toward the door, Cole squeezed myshoulder.
His fingers smelled like cigarettes. “Matt told me whathappened.”
Don’t say it out loud. Don’t say it out loud.I didn’t want to reliveit.
“It was a dick move,” he added, lowering his hand, “but it’s hisloss.”
I studied the floor beneath his sneakers. “He didn’t do anything wrong. We weren’t together,” I said softly. And then I tried to smile but failed miserably. It had been five days, and yet my heart still shuddered every time someone mentioned Liam. “Good-night, boys,” I mumbled, stepping out into the cobaltdarkness.
I watched the stars as I made my way toward the van. And then I watched them some more while I drove myself home, wishing I could feel happier, because today had been a goodday.
I thought of my dream house as I drove past the road that led to my old one, and then I rammed my foot on thebrake.
Oh.
My.
God.
I blinked in the direction of my childhood home, Everest’s last message trickling into my mind, then gunned the car up thedrive.
36
Iparkedthe van and raced around the house toward my old bedroom. The window that I’d busted when I’d sprang through it to rescue Evelyn was still gaping wide. I’d thought about boarding it up, but then, with everything that had happened, it had slipped my mind. Never was I gladder to beforgetful.
Shards of glass remained in the frame. I grabbed a rock from the ground, the largest I could find, and ran it around the frame, knocking out any sharp remnant. Palms and chest tingling with my rapid pulse, I heaved myself up and through the darkhole.
I must not have gotten all the glass, because beads of blood appeared on one of my palms. As I wiped them on my T-shirt, I traced the dusty floor until I located the slab. I dropped into a crouch and coaxed the floorboard up, heart rate sprinting, filling my mouth with the taste of metal. I wasn’t sure what I was more afraid of: finding something or findingnothing?
Without a sound, the slatlifted.
I stared into the dark hatch but didn’t reach into it. I carefully set the floorboard aside, took my phone out of my pocket, and called the one person I didn’t want to speakto.
Ten minutes later, a car rumbled up my driveway. I stepped out of my bedroom and walked to the front door to unlock it. Liam and Lucas got out of the black SUV and then trailed me through my oldhome.
I pointed to the hatch. “I didn’t touchanything.”
