CHAPTER 17

“So how long have you been seeing this guy?”

Sarah and I were at a Starbucks. I knew it was a big mistake to drink coffee after dark, but I needed something to chase away the lethargy brought on by the pain meds. They weren’t heavy duty or anything, just enough to make me not care too much that my sister had caught me in a guy’s arms.

“We’re not seeing each other,” I answered.

She was wearing her judgmental, I-know-what-I-saw expression. I’d never been crazy about it.

“Sure looked like you were seeing each other to me,” she said, and I could hear the disapproval in her voice.

“He was carrying me because he was worried about my foot.”

“Geez, I guess all that giggling didn’t exactly scream ‘concern’!”

“You’re not the boss of me.”

How grown-up did that sound? Not very. But it was true.

“Does Nick know about him?”

Boy was that a low blow. It made me feel guilty when I had no reason to.

“There’s nothing for him to know.” I dumped three packets of sugar into my coffee. So now I would have a sugar and caffeine high. I’d be climbing the walls before I was done here.

Sarah laid her hand over mine before I ripped open another sugar packet. “Look, Megan, I know how it is to be away from home for the first time, with no parental control, no limits, complete freedom—”

I snatched my hand out from beneath hers. “It’s not like that. Parker is my roommate’s brother. We were all at the lake together. Just a big group, having fun. His carrying me meant absolutely nothing. We are just friends.”

She stared at me, blinked her eyes. “You really believe that,” she said, like she couldn’t believe I believed it.

“Because it’s the truth,” I stated emphatically.

She shook her head. “Maybe your truth, not his. He is definitely interested.”

“He was interested, but he knows about my feelings for Nick. So we’ve agreed to be friends.”

“Oh, God, Megan, tell me you aren’t that naive. Guys can’t be just friends with girls. It’s biologically impossible.”

“I didn’t realize you’d suddenly become a biologist.” She opened her mouth and I raised my hand to stop further commentary. “Let’s agree to disagree on this situation. I’m more interested in what you’re doing here and why you didn’t tell me you were coming.”

“I didn’t tell you because I wanted to surprise you—which I did with resounding success.”

“Okay. One question answered, one to go,” I said, getting really irritated with her. “Why are you here? Don’t you have a wedding to plan or something equally important to do?”

Sighing, she picked up a sugar packet and started flicking it like it was a miniature punching bag. “The planning is driving me crazy. I had to get away.”

“I know Mom’s been difficult—”

“Not Mom. Bobby.”

“Bobby?” That wasn’t good. “You mean, like you had a fight?”

“No.” She shook her head. “It’s like he doesn’t care.”

“He loves you, Sarah,” I reassured her.

“I know that. It’s not that he doesn’t care about me. He doesn’t care about the wedding. Every time I have to make a decision, I’ll ask him for advice and he’ll say, ‘Whatever makes you happy.’”

She rolled her eyes, looking totally disgusted.

“What’s wrong with that?” I asked.

“It doesn’t help me make a decision. It just puts all of the burden on me. I don’t know how to make him tell me what he wants.”

Her constant hammering at the sugar packet wore it down. It tore and started sprinkling sugar over the table. She didn’t seem to notice.

“So you came here to get away?” I asked, still not getting it.

“I came here to get advice.”

“From me?”

She nodded.

“About handling Bobby?”

She nodded again.

I laughed. “Sarah, I’ve been dating for all of three months. I don’t know anything about guys.”

“That was obvious after I saw you with that guy tonight—”

“His name is Parker.”

“—then you said you’re just friends—”

My cell phone rang and I welcomed the distraction. I glanced at the display and thought about not answering. . . .

Decisions, decisions. Talk with Parker or talk with Sarah.

No brainer.

“Hi.”

“Hey, how’d it go with your sister?”

“It’s still going.”

“Good?”

“No.”

“Bad, huh?”

“It’s been better.” I felt like we were talking in some sort of code, so Sarah wouldn’t figure out exactly who was on the other end of the phone.

“Invite her to go with us in the morning,” he said.

“She won’t be interested.”

“Try her and see. She looked majorly stressed. I know a great stress reliever.”

“Magnum Force?” I asked. The other alternative was one of his kisses, which almost literally melted bones.

“You bet.”

“Hold on.” I moved the phone away from my ear and looked at Sarah. “It’s Parker.”

“I figured. Your short responses gave you away.”

Ignoring her sarcasm, I said, “He wants to know if you want to ride one of the roller coasters with him in the morning before the park opens.”

“You mean, like, by myself?”

“And with him. He has to test Magnum Force every morning.”

She got this look in her eye that I didn’t quite trust, but I knew her answer before she even spoke.

“Sure, why not?”

Because the ride is scary. But I held the words back.

I told Parker the good news, and he did sound like it was good news. I hung up thinking he was really a nice guy. To want to do something for my sister while she was here.

“I can probably get you a free pass for all the rides,” I told her.

“We’ll see. I’m not really here to have fun.”

“Are you saying that being with me is a downer?” I asked teasingly.

“I’m saying that I’m beginning to think that I came here to run away from my problems, and that’s not really a grown-up thing to do.”

A chill was in the air the next morning as Sarah and I stood outside the entrance to the park, waiting for Parker. The morning sunlight was glinting off the lake. It was totally peaceful.

Even Sarah didn’t seem quite so uptight. She’d stayed in the park hotel and we’d had breakfast together. We’d talked about safe things: movies, music, TV shows, shoes. It had actually been fun.

“So where is this guy?” she asked. “I don’t get up at the crack of dawn for just anyone, you know?”

I smiled. “He’ll be here.”

And just like that, I saw him walking up the path. I guess Sarah did, too, because she murmured, “He is a fine specimen.”

“I hadn’t noticed,” I lied.

“Yeah, right.”

He was decked out in his park gear: cargo shorts, red polo shirt, sneakers. He did look really good. So what was new about that?

Nothing, except I was thinking about how he’d carried me yesterday and how it had felt to be held by him and how I really shouldn’t be intrigued by him at all . . . but I was.

He was grinning broadly.

“Hey,” he said, when he got near enough that he didn’t have to shout. “So glad you decided to come today.”

He walked past us and Sarah and I followed.

“So you do this every morning?” Sarah asked.

“Every morning.”

The guard at the gate let us in without asking for our identification cards. He and Parker greeted each other, so I figured it was a morning ritual for them.

When I worked during the day, I would get to the park just before it opened to get my costume on, but by then it was already buzzing with activity: the various vendors setting up, the cleanup crew getting into position, the ride crews preparing the equipment for the day. It was never like it was now: almost eerily quiet.

The park had shade trees here and there. I could hear the leaves rustling in the early morning breeze. And that was about it. Maybe an occasional clank as people began gearing up for the day.

“How long are you staying?” Parker asked Sarah as we wended our way through the maze of sidewalks that led to Magnum Force.

“Only until tonight. So, do you have a girlfriend back home?” Sarah asked.

I gritted my teeth, incredibly tempted to stick my foot out and trip her, but it was still sore from yesterday. I was still limping slightly.

Parker didn’t seem offended by Sarah’s interrogation. He just laughed and said, “Nope.”

“I would think someone as good-looking as you would have lots of girlfriends,” Sarah said.

“Sarah!” She was really going too far. “His love life is none of your business.”

“It is if it involves you.”

“We’re friends,” I said. I looked at Parker. “I’m really sorry. She has a problem with minding her own business.”

“Doesn’t bother me. I’ve got nothing to hide.” He was wearing dark glasses, so it was hard to know exactly what he was thinking. “You gonna ride with your sister?”

I know my eyes got big. “No. I’m just here to watch.”

“You sure?”

“I’m sure.”

We got to Magnum Force and walked up the ramp. Parker had Sarah’s undivided attention now as he explained all the stats: length of track, speed, highest point. You’d think he was responsible for building the thing the way he went on and the way she gushed over every detail. Had to be a roller coaster fanatic thing.

Not that I’d ever considered my sister a fanatic, but she was sure acting like it now.

Since there were no people, the chains that usually forced the line to snake around the barriers weren’t in place, so we were able to walk straight through to the set of cars that was waiting on the track. A guy was standing by the controls, punching a button here, a button there. When we got closer, I could read his tag: CHRIS (BELLINGHAM, WA).

He and Parker greeted each other. Parker helped Sarah climb into the first car. Then he looked back at me. “Sure you don’t want to do this?”

I felt like such a wuss.

“Come on,” Sarah said. “It’ll be fun.”

“If they’re safe, why do they have to be tested?” I asked.

“So they stay safe,” Parker said.

“Which means there’s the possibility they aren’t.”

He tugged on my hair and grinned. “Can’t argue with a phobe.”

“I’m not a phobe.”

His grin grew, revealing his dimples. “Whatever.”

He climbed into the car beside Sarah, and for the first time in my life, I hated that I really didn’t like roller coasters. Sitting that close to him would be . . . well, it would be nice. Except for the screaming and throwing up part.

They buckled up, then he pulled the bar down across them. He gave Chris a thumbs-up. Chris pushed a big blue button and the train of cars began the ascent. I moved to the edge of the platform and just watched.

I could tell that Sarah and Parker were talking. Great. What were they talking about? Not me, I hope. Gosh, don’t let them be talking about me.

They got to the top and there was that one second of heart-stopping anticipation.

Then the park wasn’t so quiet anymore.

It was echoing with Sarah’s screams.