part0022

“What?” Willa asked tiredly, despite the early hour. She headed to the freshly stocked fridge, pulling out her own bottle of wine and glancing at the others, wondering if she should be pouring them all out.

“You haven’t said a word to me since we left and I know you have something to say. Or, are you still reeling from your meet-cute with your old girlfriend?”

Willa gripped the counter, failing to rein in her anger at Nicole’s cavalier attitude. “Meet-cute?” she snapped, twisting off the top of the bottle and splashing it into a glass. She took a healthy swallow before venturing into the front room. “What exactly about that stunt you just pulled do you think was cute?”

Nicole grinned, oblivious to Willa’s ire. “You and Lee, reunited after all these ye—”

“You could have died, Nicole. You understand that, right?”

“Yeah, I know. But I’m fine. No big.”

“Only because Lee was there to drag your drunk, sorry ass out of the lake.” Willa’s voice rose along with her temper. “What the hell were you thinking? Getting sloshed and stealing a boat. We haven’t even been here one damn day.”

“Nobody says sloshed anymore.”

“Oh, yeah? Tell me, what do they say, Nicole, since you’re the expert?”

“You’re drinking.”

“I’m forty years old.”

“You say that like it’s a good thing.”

Willa shook her head, teeth grinding in frustration. “And it’s not even about that. I’m not the prude you think I am and I do remember what it’s like to be your age. If you had asked to have a glass of wine with me or a beer, I would’ve said yes. In fact, I would’ve been happy to sit and talk with you over a drink. Like friends or sisters.”

Nicole’s smirk vanished at her tone. “I’m sorry, Will. I didn’t think it was a big deal. I just—”

“Where did you even get that canoe?”

“The girl was down by the boathouse.”

“The little girl that was on the road earlier. She was down by the dock at the boathouse kicking around this rock. I went to catch up to her, but she disappeared again and I checked out the rock—”

“Whose child is she? Where does she live?”

“How should I know?”

“Wait, a fake rock?”

“Yeah, by the door. It had a key and there was a boat right there… I don’t know… It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

Willa pinched her fingers over the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes briefly, trying to keep the old memories at bay. She was beginning to wonder how she ever thought coming back here was a good idea.

“Are you going to take me back?” Nicole asked, her voice less belligerent teenager and more scared little sister.

Willa looked at Nicole’s forlorn expression and her anger eased. Nicole worked hard to maintain her hard, rebel exterior, but Willa was always on the lookout for the glimpses of the sensitive and insecure girl underneath. That was the girl she needed to reach. “No,” she said softly and crossed the room. “Move over.”

Nicole sat up and slid over on the sofa so Willa could sit down. “I’m really sorry, Will.”

“I’ve already lost one sister to that lake, Nicole.” Her breath hitched with emotion as she looked at the sad young woman who looked so much like Emily but wasn’t. “Please, don’t make me go through that again.”

“I won’t, Willa. I promise.”

Willa wanted to hold her tightly but resisted. She wasn’t the baby sister Willa helped raise anymore. Willa believed they could be close again, but they weren’t there—yet. “Thank you.”

“Yes. I’m really trying here, Nic.”

“Can I have a glass of wine, then?” Nicole asked hopefully.

“Absolutely not,” Willa said. “What you can have is a sandwich. I’m not going to break out the grill, now. If you want, I can get out my phone and you can get online for a bit and check in with your friends.”

“Oh, my gosh, Mom, Willa is so pretty,” Maggie gushed, waving her fork around. “And tiny. I mean I’ve seen her before and everything, but she’s always been sitting and I didn’t realize she was so little. You look like an Amazon next to her.”

“Uh, thank you?” Lee smiled at her daughter who hadn’t stopped talking at light speed since Willa and Nicole had left.

“Do you think she’ll talk with me about the books?”

“I don’t know. You’ll have to ask her. She might want some time away from all that.”

“But she’s here to write, right? I mean, why else would she be spending the summer up here? She must be working on the fifth book and I have some ideas I could share with her.” Maggie took a breath and a bite of spaghetti, talking again around a mouthful. “Do you think she’ll take a selfie with me? Oh, my, gosh I can’t wait to tell—”

“Stop right there.” Lee stabbed her fork in the air. “Don’t tell anyone about Willa being here, okay, Mags?”

“Because she may not want people to know where she is.”

“Oh.” Maggie’s face fell.

“I know you’re excited, Maggie, but let’s just wait and see how it goes, okay? Willa and I haven’t seen each other for a very long time and we don’t even really know each other anymore.”

“But you want to, right, Mom?”

“Get to know her again? You two look really good together.”

“Eat your dinner, Maggie.”

Willa’s eyes flew open, coming fully awake in an instant and knowing she hadn’t been asleep very long. It was dark and the breeze through her open window chilled her exposed skin. She lay still listening to the droning white noise of crickets and peepers. The glow from the old digital clock cast a reddish hue across the nightstand. It was just past midnight.

Her heart thumped in her chest for no apparent reason and she pushed herself to her elbows, challenging her senses to make clear the cause of her growing unease. She had no idea what dragged her from sleep so abruptly until she heard the front door creak open and bang shut. She sat up. “Nicole?”

She heard nothing more as she slipped out of bed, her heart rate picking up as she crept down the hall. She checked the bathroom. She had left the light on and door ajar so Nicole could navigate in the unfamiliar surroundings.

The kitchen tiles were cold on her bare feet and she shivered, wrapping her arms around herself, wishing she had put on a sweatshirt over the thin T-shirt she wore to bed. The cuffs of her too-long lounge pants whispered against the floor as she made her way into the front room.

“Nic?” Willa whispered, not wanting to wake her if she was sleeping. Moonlight filtering through the trees and the glow of Nicole’s phone cast just enough light to see.

The sheets and blankets on the sofa were in disarray, as if Nicole had been tossing and turning all night, but she was not there. Willa’s concern ratcheted up a notch. “Nicole?” she called loudly. When she got no response, she hurried out the front door, not caring who heard her now.

Willa almost slammed into her sister standing at the bottom of the front steps, but she pulled up just in time. “Oh, god, Nic, you scared the hell out of me.” Willa gasped, a hand going to her chest.

“What are you doing out here?” Willa peered at her sister when she got no response. She was dressed in only a black tank and panties, her skin pale, her light hair loose and blowing in the breeze. “Nicole, are you all right?” Willa touched her arm and jerked back startled. “Your skin is freezing. Nicole?”

“Can’t you hear it?” Nicole asked softly while she stood perfectly still, staring vacantly toward the lake.

“What? Hear what, Nicole?”

“I need to make sure they’re okay.” She started to walk toward the water.

Willa grabbed her arm. “What are you doing?”

Nicole sucked in a deep breath and spun in her grasp, looking at Willa wide-eyed and blinking rapidly. “Will?”

“Yeah, are you with me?”

Nicole looked around and then down at herself before crossing her arms. “Jesus Christ, it’s freezing. Why the hell are we outside in our underwear?”

“I was hoping you could tell me.” Willa put her arm around her sister, steering her back inside.

Nicole scampered back into the house and jumped under the covers, pulling them up to her chin. “God, I’m cold and I have a headache.”

Willa went and grabbed an extra blanket from their mom’s room and draped it over her, perching on the edge of the sofa. “What were you doing out there, Nic? Do you remember?”

Nicole burrowed further under the blankets. “No clue. Sleepwalking, I guess.”

“Has that happened before?”

“How would I know?” Nicole mumbled from under the blankets. “I’m going back to sleep.”

Willa rubbed her arm through the blankets before she returned to her room, but sleep was a long time coming for her. Nicole was trouble enough when she was awake, and Willa was not thrilled about the possibility of her having a sleep disorder. She didn’t want to worry their mother, but if it happened again, she would have to give her a call and find out if anything like this had happened before.