The waves touched my feet, and I gave a little yelp at the unexpected sensation of cold water. With one quick motion, Colin picked me up.
I gave another little shout, but locked my arms around his neck. His muscles were hard beneath me, holding me up.
He kissed me then, and I obliged. He put me down slowly, his arms still wrapped around me, holding me tighter. My own hands caressed his neck and face and around the back of his neck. I lost all perception of time and place, opened my eyes when we took a few seconds to breathe, and was surprised to see we were still by the beach in the dark.
“There’s at least one thing we have in common,” Colin said, his voice low and rough.
“I suppose we do that well, don’t we?” I said, a little out of breath.
He reached down to hold both of my hands and said, “We complement each other well.”
The little nagging feeling I’d been trying to ignore since he first asked me out on a proper date was surfacing. “We’re not too different? Our personalities? Our… income? The way we grew up. Our families. There are a lot of differences.”
“You’re right—there are a lot of differences. But I think that means we can learn a lot from each other, don’t you? The differences don’t have to be a problem.”
I pondered his words but wasn’t convinced.
Our walk back to the party was more contemplative, the wonderful kiss forgotten for now. As we neared the tent, a woman, coming seemingly out of nowhere, shone her phone flashlight in our faces. My arms came up to protect my eyes from the bright light.
“So how does it feel knowing you failed to keep me out tonight?” the woman said, her arm flailing about.
“Andrea!” Colin growled.
“You can’t tell me what to do, Colin,” she spat out. “You gave that right up when you dumped me. I would have done every little thing you said, if only you hadn’t listened to your brother. You know how well I like to be at your command. But no, you believed your brother over me. And now I’m going to fuck up his wedding.”
Suddenly the flashlight went off, and we were in the dark. It took a few seconds for my vision to return. Andrea was walking toward the tent, and Colin was following her. I’d caught a glimpse of his face before he’d taken off, and he wasnothappy.
I had a choice to make. If I went after them as a spectator, I’d be doing nothing.
I’m not sure how it happened.
I don’t know what possessed me to even have an idea like that, but it took me a split second to decide that it was my only choice.
So I screamed bloody murder.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
My heart pounded as fifty faces swung toward me.
I pointed at the water.
“She’s in there! I saw her go under!” I yelled.
“Who?” several people shouted. Already two men were taking off their jackets and handing them over. Almost everyone in the tent was looking my way, most of them walking toward the commotion to get a better look. The music had stopped, but the chatter was loud.
“It’s… um…”
I looked around quickly. I didn’t want these men to dive in just to be heroes in the dark waters of the Atlantic on a wild-goose chase. Mrs. Gordon was slinking off toward the house. Two large men were each holding an arm of the struggling Andrea, and one had a gloved hand over her mouth. Colin was removing a microphone from her grip.
“Mrs. Gordon!” I shouted, looking back toward the sea.
There were cries of, “Someone help her!” “Do something!” “Call 911!” when the sound of banging came over the speakers.
Then, Colin’s composed voice: “Sorry, everyone, for the confusion. My mother is right here. There’s no one in the water.”
The worried voices quieted around me. And again, but this time for a different reason, all eyes were on me.
“I’m so sorry,” I blurted out, voice cracking. Have you ever had a crowd instantly judge you as a crazy person? There were whispers, slight laughter from a nearby young couple, but mostly varied stares of pity, confusion, and contempt.
