Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 120230 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 601(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120230 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 601(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
A hitch in my chest.
I shook it off, made myself carry on across the bridge.
The others followed.
There were hugs, exclamations, then Kaea said, “You two doing okay? The cops figure out anything new about what happened at your place? It’s been, what, about three weeks now?”
Pressing her lips tight, Darcie nodded. “No actual suspects, but they think it was probably a group high on drugs—the detective in charge isn’t treating it as a burglary, more as an attempted home invasion with the intent to harm.”
“No explanation as to how they bypassed our security system,” Ash added, “but that thing was glitchy for a week beforehand so it might just not have sent out an alert. Thankfully our insurance company is still covering all the damage.”
“I don’t really care about the stuff,” Darcie said with a razored edge to her tone, “but why did the creeps have to vandalize our house? And the way they did it? Disgusting.”
Ash squeezed her shoulders. “We’ve spent the time since at an Airbnb overlooking the water at Mission Bay, and with the cops all done, we’ve lined up tradespeople to come in while we’re down here. Painters will sand off the graffiti, repaint, then in go the new carpets.”
He pressed a kiss to Darcie’s cheek. “It’ll be fine, honey—we can get a few new pieces from that furniture designer you love. Place will be like a whole new house by the time we return. No bad memories.”
Darcie’s mouth remained pinched at the corners, but she allowed Ash to jolly her along, and the conversation soon moved on. I could understand why she was shaken up about it, though—Kaea had been with the two of them when they discovered the break-in, and he’d shared that the vandalism had been “disturbing as all hell.”
“Fuckers painted the word ‘Judas’ in dripping red paint right above their bed,” he’d said in the SUV on the way here. “I also saw ‘JUDGMENT’ in all caps above the fireplace, and Ash told me there was nasty stuff in the master bathroom. Living room carpet was trashed, smeared with brown liquid that Ash said later tested as blood.
“Intruders cut up a ton of their clothes, too, just took scissors to it. Pure luck that they didn’t damage any of the outdoor gear the two needed for this week, or I’m sure Darcie would’ve canceled. She lost it. I mean, she had reason to—I’m dead certain I saw a meat cleaver stabbed into their bed.”
It didn’t sound like any burglary I’d ever heard of. No wonder the cops were taking it seriously. Frankly, I was surprised the couple had agreed to carry on with the reunion, but I could see the attraction of spending time far away from the ugliness and returning to find it erased.
I did feel bad for them, but that didn’t squelch my bubbling anger. It had been building for nine years, was a passionate stew of sadness, fury, and bitterness. Fifteen minutes later, as Darcie laid out a picnic spread for us to pick at while we waited for Aaron and Grace, I wanted to say Bea’s name, wanted to scream at Darcie for stealing Bea from us with such finality.
But even that hadn’t been enough for Darcie, had it?
In the end, she’d also stolen that which Bea loved most.
However, I wasn’t so far gone that I didn’t understand that some of my fury was fueled by my own diagnosis. My worry that they’d stop talking about me—to me—when I proved imperfect.
It was the thought that my anger had nothing to do with Bea, that I just wanted to ruin this week for selfish reasons, that kept me from spitting out the rage eating at me.
“How cold is the creek water?” I asked instead. “Can I dip my toes in or will I end up with ice blocks for feet?”
“Ice blocks,” Darcie said. “But it’s still fun. And not dangerous if you stick to the part with the rocks.”
I wasn’t surprised when Vansi bounced up to join me on my adventure, both of us deciding to leave our shoes and socks by the picnic blankets.
We didn’t say much because it wasn’t necessary, and it wasn’t until after we’d screamed at the frigid burn of the water and taken seats on the sun-warmed stone to dry off that Vansi made a face and said, “This is weird. Don’t you think it’s weird? All of us pretending we’re good and normal when we haven’t been good and normal since that night?”
My smile faded. “Yes.” Having chosen to sit on the other side of the eddy in the rocks where we’d tested the water, I stretched my legs into the sun. And despite Vansi’s words, I didn’t mention Bea. My best friend had always been jealous of my relationship with Darcie’s younger sister.