NINETEEN

It was loud where Brynna was.

She could hear things humming and whirling, the rhythmic crash of the surf. And then a hand found hers and squeezed it gently.

“Can you open your eyes, Brynna?”

Brynna did as she was told, her eyelids fluttering open without much effort.

“Mom?”

Her mother smiled down on her then called over her shoulder, “She’s awake, Adam.”

Her father came through the door and went straight for Brynna’s other hand, holding it gently around the needle.

“Am I in the hospital?”

“You are, hon, but everything’s going to be okay. We can even take you home today.”

Brynna tried to sit up then blinked at the sea of flowers around her bed, balanced on the sideboard and meal tray. “What happened?”

“You nearly drowned.” Her father’s eyes were rimmed in red and his voice was soft.

“How did you know where to find me?”

“Evan did. When we couldn’t find you—when someone said you had gone off with friends—we called everyone in Point Lobos. Then we started with your friends in Crescent City.”

“Evan didn’t know where I was. He wasn’t even speaking to me.”

“You didn’t make it easy…” Evan was standing in the doorway, Lauren, Darcy, and Teddy behind him. “We went back to the café where you and I had coffee. I remembered what you told me about that night, about Erica. Can we come in, Mrs. Chase?”

She nodded, tears streaming down her face.

“I thought he was crazy,” Lauren said sheepishly. “I mean, I know how much you hate water, so…”

“But I never told you it was Harding Beach. How did you know?”

“Darcy told us.”

Brynna looked at Darcy as she shyly avoided Brynna’s gaze, instead studying the edge of the hospital blanket.

“She showed us the pictures,” Teddy said. “We made her.”

Darcy’s cheeks blazed a fierce pink.

“I knew why you hated the beach but I thought that…” Evan paused. “I thought that maybe you would be able to make peace with Erica and you’d want to do it there.”

“We all went,” Lauren volunteered. “We saw two people struggling in the surf when we got down there. You went under and Mr. Fallbrook—or whoever he really was—was yelling your name.”

“Lauren and Teddy took off at a sprint,” Evan said. “Just dove right in.”

“Lauren found you,” Teddy said. “She swam you back most of the way.”

Brynna felt tears misting her eyes. “Thank you, all of you.” She glanced at her parents. “Christopher?”

Her father shook his head. “They never found him. Assumed he’d been swept out with the riptide.” He turned toward Evan, Teddy, Darcy, and Lauren. “You know, we’re going to go downstairs and grab a couple of coffees. You mind keeping an eye on the patient?”

“Sure.”

Brynna’s father rounded the bed and held a hand out to her mother. She took it, blew Brynna a kiss, and they disappeared out of the room.

“I—I can’t believe, after everything, that you guys would come find me.”

Darcy sat at the edge of the bed while Evan and Lauren fought over the single chair. Teddy pulled Brynna’s hand into his.

“We’re your friends, Bryn. Real friends never really let go.”

Brynna thought of all the times she “saw” Erica. In her mind’s eye, she could see her smiling now. “No,” she said, “they never really do.”