It went quiet, and Leah lay down, too. Augie watched her adjust on her chair, and her eyes instinctively landed on the white-ink tattoo of her late brother’s initials on her wrist. The way Leah moved around the loss was like the tattoo itself: You couldn’t often see her grief, but the pain was there. There had been an investigation after the boating accident, but despite the money the Greenes poured into the case, it wrapped quickly. Law enforcement focused on the evidence and the clear story it painted: Nineteen-year-old Lyle and his friend Grant were out drinking with teammates at The Manor at the end of training camp, and while the other boys left before midnight—with alibis to prove it—Lyle and Grant had stayed until close, after two a.m. Everyone knew Lyle was obsessed with speedboats, and that the new $400,000 Cigarette X42 had just arrived in the marina next door. The lockbox that held the key had been brokeninto. The boat had crashed into the railroad bridge dividing Crystal and Smith bays. The boys were thrown from the boat. Both suffered blunt force trauma to the head and drowned.
Of course, Augie hadn’t known this when she first met Leah. It had happened three years before she moved to Aldon Lakes. Augie would never forget the night Leah told her. They were having a sleepover, and Augie had made the mistake at dinner of asking where her oldest brother went to college—having noticed all the pictures of him, his handsome square jaw and movie star smile. He looked like Leah’s dad. The entire table went quiet.
Later that night, in the safety of the dark, Leah had let everything out. She showed Augie the shoebox she kept under her bed filled with printed articles about the accident, the investigation reports, photos of Lyle from his summer training camp—the last of him alive—and all the birthday cards he’d written her. He never would have stolen a boat, she insisted. He was the kind of guy who never let her cheat at board games. He always bought everyone ice cream. He never forgot a birthday. But what could she do? The investigation was over. Her brother was gone.
Leah didn’t bring him up anymore, but Augie sometimes wished she would. She knew it still tugged at her friend, that neither Leah nor her family had real closure. Leah sometimes cried after drinking too much, her buried feelings surfacing, and Augie wished she could do more to help. Instead, Leah always seemed to be the one helping her.
“Okay, so here’s what we do about Chat,” Leah said as she moved her hair from one shoulder to the other. “Nothing. I think your instincts to ignore him are right. I mean, you don’t have to pretend he doesn’t exist... just be friendly and professional if you see him at the Club. It’s not worth anything more complicated. It will only stress you out.”
Augie rolled in her lips, disappointed. Despite everything, part of her had hoped Leah would tell her to go for it.
“I will ask Mallory about him, though. Chitty Chatty Bang Bang. I’m too curious.”
Augie stretched out her legs and bounced her knees. Mallory Harrison knew everyone and everything in Aldon Lakes. She probably did have answers.
“Just promise not to tell me anything. You’re right. I need to forget him.”
“My lips are sealed.” Leah pretended to lock her lips and throw away the key.
The gesture sent a pang through Augie’s heart. She was again reminded that she was lying to Leah, building a chasm between them. The tension in her chest ballooned into guilt.
“I’m baking,” Augie said, suddenly hot and overwhelmed. She pushed up off her chair.
“All right, but beware. Robin said they were keeping it colder this year. She read all about how polar plunging was just oh so good for you.” She danced her hands in the air.
“Oh, it can’t be that bad.” Augie walked to the shallow end, dipping in a toe before inching down the first step. Instantly, goose bumps climbed over her whole body as her shoulders scrunched to her neck.
“I’ll take that as a yes?”
“Colder? This is freaking glacial.” She hugged her elbows closer before splashing Leah. Leah screamed, but within seconds, she bounced up, threw her sunglasses on her chair, and headed toward the deep end.
“That’syour problem.” Leah raised her hands in a perfect V, the candy blue sky behind her, her pink suit glittering in the sun. “You just have to jump.”
Augie couldn’t stop thinking about Chat.
She tried to train herself. Every time he popped into her head, she asked herself a math question:What’s 79 times 30? 145 plus 912?It was a habit she had before presentations or getting shots at the doctor’s or taking off in an airplane. Usually, it was an easy way to switch her focus.
She’d looked for him at the Club all week, but there was no sign of him. It almost seemed like she’d made him up. Regardless, she promised herself that if and when she ran into him again, she would be purely friendly and professional, as Leah had advised. She’d benormal.
It helped that she was busy. The luncheons all went long, and the parties were all crazy, everyone hyped up on summer, cocktails, and AC. She was relieved Aida had assigned her the Saturday swim meet instead of the wedding. She thought she could make plans with Leah for the evening, but when she called, Leah had been reluctant to tell her she was going to a party. While their friends knew Augie was back, Augie hadn’t seen them. She didn’t want to answer any questions about New York. She’d felt so proud—and a little smug—to leave.
The day of the swim meet, Augie sat under the gazebo at the lower snack station—grateful it was one of the rare positions where the staff was allowed to sit—and yawned. It was only eight a.m., but everyone had arrived early, rushing to claim chairs and set up tents for the kids. Parents took the sport too seriously, but her job was easy enough. Augie was also glad she got to wear the outdoor uniform for meets: blue polo, khaki shorts, tan tennis shoes. The polo matched her eyes, and years ago, Leah had given her a pair of old Coach sneakers. Augie felt more confident in that uniform. She always felt the members registering her expensive shoes, unnerved.
Augie stared across the pool and gave TC a thumbs-up. Despite the early morning, setup had been easy. The only snag was the bees. The day before, there’d been yet another poolside birthday party—this time with a cotton candy machine—and sticky, webbed sugar was everywhere. The bees were having a field day. Augie had never been bothered by bees, but she scooted her chair to the side as a few flew into her domain. “I come in peace,” she whispered while they buzzed about her feet.
“Could we get two bagels and two waters, please?” she heard a second later. Even amid her distraction, the voice sounded familiar, and when she sat up, there he was. Finally. A reminder that she wasn’t crazy. That he was real. Relief and excitement flooded her body.
Chat smiled wider, his cheeks folding like parentheses. She didn’t know what it was about him—one sentence, and they were back in their own little world.
“You scared me,” she said, her tone light—and, she hated to admit: flirty.
“Were you talking to the bees?” The creases around his smile deepened.
“They have all the good gossip.”
She soaked in his laughter as she studied his tan Modest Mouse T-shirt and red gym shorts. “Where are the boys?” she asked, trying to be nonchalant.
“Cooper’s over there with the Birch kids, and Max is with his mom. They’re coming later. We ran out of time to eat breakfast this morning, so here we are.”
