“So stop lying. Be who you are.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“It could be.” She gulped. Her mother had called again that morning. She’d sent it to voicemail. The voicemail icon was still on her phone like an accusation. She already knew she wasn’t going to listen to it. But she still hadn’t managed to delete it.
Sarah shook her head. The sun was almost down now. The sky had gone deep purple. Stars were starting to appear.
“I should go check on things.”
She walked away before Carlos could respond. But she could feel him watching her. Judging her. Probably right to do it.
Sarah made her way around the party, stopping to chat with guests, making sure the food was good, that people had drinks.
But every few minutes her eyes found Lizzie. Dancing near the water now, barefoot in the sand. Laughing with a group of girls who’d formed a circle. Looking happy despite everything Sarah had done to her.
Sarah wanted to walk over there to apologize. She wanted to tell Lizzie that calling it a mistake was the real mistake. But she stayed where she was. On the outside looking in. Where she’d always been. Where maybe she deserved to be.
Chapter 15
Lizzie
The party was still going strong at midnight. Music thumped from the pavilion, bass vibrating through the sand. Drunk college kids danced around the bonfire, their shadows flickering against the palm trees. The smell of rum and grilled meat hung in the air.
Lizzie needed to get away from it all.
She walked along the beach, away from the noise and the lights. Key West lay in the distance, lights flickering from the homes and businesses along the water. It felt odd, being so removed from everything. She’d already felt cut off from the world in Key West, but now that she was on an island that wasn’t even connected to the mainland by bridges, she was truly isolated.
The moon was almost full, bright enough to see by. Waves lapped at the shore with a gentle rhythm. Any other night it would be peaceful. Tonight her head was too full of noise.
Sarah-related noise.
Sarah had looked good today. That was the problem. Sarah always looked good but today had been different. She’d been in work mode, organizing everything, making sure the festival ran smoothly. Confident and in control and completely in her element. Lizzie had caught herself watching more than once. The way Sarah moved between stations, solving problems before they became disasters. She’d dressed down, looking cute when locks of hair had escaped their confides.
Then Lizzie remembered the money on the counter and wanted to scream.
How dare Sarah look cute while being a complete asshole? How dare she stand there all competent and beautiful when three days ago, she’d called their night together a mistake?
Lizzie kicked at the sand. This was stupid. She was being stupid. Sarah had made her position clear. Move on.
Except Lizzie couldn’t move on. She kept thinking about Sarah’s hands in her hair, the way she’d whispered Lizzie’s name, how safe it had felt falling asleep in her arms.
Lizzie walked faster, putting distance between herself and the party. The beach curved around the island. She could still hear music, but it was muffled now, distant. The wind was stronger here, or had it just picked up? It whipped in her face, and she saw sand being whisked down the beach.
Hadn’t she heard something about windy conditions coming up? She dismissed the thought.
The path veered inland and Lizzie followed it without really thinking. Then she saw it.
A house. Massive. Set back in a clearing surrounded by overgrown vegetation. She’d seen the outline of it from the ferry and then again in the distance from the party grounds and wondered what it was. Now she knew. A mansion. Three stories of white stucco and dark wood, with a wraparound porch and balconies on the upper floors. It would have been beautiful if it wasn’t so eerie.
Several windows were missing entirely, just dark holes gaping into the interior. Construction materials were stacked on the porch. A ladder leaned against one wall. The whole place hadthat abandoned look, like someone had started building a dream and then just walked away.
Lizzie shivered despite the warm night. There was something unsettling about it. A home that never got lived in. She turned back toward the beach.
She was halfway back to the party when she heard a yelp. Then a cry.
It wasn’t a drunk-girl-who-lost-her-shoe crying. This was different. Panicked. Desperate.
Lizzie froze. Was someone being attacked? Her heart thundered and her pulse raced as she ran toward the sound. The crying got louder.
