Those weren’t the only things that snuck up on a person.
They played in the water for longer than they should. All of their tensions and worries eased, washed away by the sea. They were wobbly when they climbed back out. Each person drifted off on their own for a little while. Harmony lay down and let the sun warm her. The peace didn’t last long before the group congregated again.
Cass came back and immediately started arguing with Tosh over music. Zach moved to the sand and began building an elaborate driftwood sculpture—stunning, precise. Torie lay on her towel pretending not to notice Heidi and Candy’s names lighting up Tosh’s phone as the women texted. Mary walked along the water’s edge, still collecting amethyst. Joe watched Mary. Harmony watched them all.
Mary returned and showed the stones she’d collected. “Sometimes we collect the gems, and sometimes we have to bleed for them,” she said.
Harmony thought of the deputies again, of Ciscel’s cruiser slowing that morning, of Duong’s name on the gossip train. Everyone seemed to be bleeding for something on the island—justice, answers, power. Some of them were paid to pretend they weren’t. She couldn’t focus on that, though. She was with friends.
“They’re beautiful,” Harmony murmured.
“Beauty eventually fades. This world is too ugly to maintain it for long.” She smiled, fighting to push away her ever-present sadness.
Harmony wrote down the words. Another line for a book she didn’t yet know she was writing.
The thought flickered through her—unwelcome and electric—that somewhere, someone else might be keeping their own version of this day. Another notebook. Another file. Another storyteller who didn’t ask permission.
Chapter Four
Flirting with the Truth
As the sun dipped low, the unlikely group of friends packed up and drove the short stretch to Two Harbors. The outdoor bar was a patchwork of tables, set beneath string lights, the scent of grilled citrus heavy in the air. Live music pulsed through the twilight—a man with a steel guitar and a voice full of longing serenaded the large crowd, each note shimmering above the hum of conversation.
Near the edge of the deck, Harmony noticed a familiar tan jacket draped over the back of a barstool. Deputy Ciscel sat there out of uniform, a baseball cap pulled low, nursing a beer alone. For a moment, his gaze slid over their group, pausing on her a heartbeat longer than seemed necessary before he turned back to the water as if he’d never been looking at all.
Few could drive here; the only other way in was by boat or helicopter. Yet the place was packed. How did so many discover this hidden jewel, nestled in an already secretive paradise? The thought fascinated Harmony.
“Now this,” Cass said, taking Harmony’s hand, “is therapy.”
She pulled Harmony to the middle of the deck, and they began dancing, spinning, and laughing as rum spilled down their wrists. Even Mary joined in, her hair wild, her laugh startlingly young.
Tosh and Torie moved together, hips close, whispering things no one could hear. For a moment, it looked like love. Then it looked like a dare. They might fight a hell of a lot, but when they came together, they burned so hot that anyone near them might ignite.
Zach caught Harmony by the hand, twirling her once before Cass swept in, stealing him away with a laugh. He dipped Cass low; her long blonde hair sweeping out, catching the attention of several men who watched from the sidelines.
Joe clapped along to the beat, watching Mary dance, the admiration in his eyes as clear as the moonlight. Mary didn’t look back once at the poor man. Her smile belonged to the sea, not the living.
When the song slowed, Mary leaned close to Harmony. “It’s all about balance. Remember that, and you make it another day.”
The way she saidbalancemade it sound less like a coping mechanism and more like an equation she’d already worked out to the very last decimal.
Harmony felt the words slip beneath her skin like a secret. She nodded, understanding. It was a balancing act, and whoever was still standing in the end was the winner.
Zach wrapped his arms around Harmony again as he grinned. “We’re surviving another day on the island.” She let herself lean into him for half a breath before pulling back, not trusting how steady it made her feel.
“Barely,” Harmony said, the buzz of alcohol making her feel too good to stop. It muted the voices in her head and allowed her to live in the moment.
Zach grinned. “You make surviving look easy,” Zach countered, swinging her out before pulling her back in.
“That’s because I’m very good at pretending to be human.”
“Pretending is what makes the world turn, especially on this island,” he said. “The rest is in knowing when to stop.”
“Do you know when?” she countered.
He laughed. “Not yet.”
Cass spun between them, laughing. “Stop philosophizing and dance!” she demanded. They did just that. The song ended, and Harmony made her way back to Mary.
