21

Jack had been in a fog since Ashleigh dropped the bombshell that she was leaving him for her best friend. Actually, it’d been more of a red haze. But something about the fresh ocean air ruffling his hair, the soft warm sand beneath his feet, and all the smiling swimsuit-clad people enjoying the beauty and warmth made him feel like a small semblance of the man he used to be. He’d never been to a place like this.

Closing his eyes, he turned his face up to the sun, breathed in a huge breath, and slowly let it go. The call of seagulls punctuated the laughter, and he could hear the group closest to him and Ismay talking about ordering hot dogs from one of the vendors nearby. Mention of the food helped him separate that scent from the various suntan lotions that filled his nostrils, and he felt the stirring of hunger.

“Let’s get a hot dog,” he said, opening his eyes and looking at his sister, who was sitting on the towel next to his.

She was reading again. She’d been reading pretty much since he got here, but he didn’t mind. He didn’t want to have to carry on a conversation, to answer any questions about how he was feeling or if he’d heard from Ashleigh. He preferred to just live in the moment and enjoy this brief cessation of pain.

“They have burgers, too,” she said.

“I’ll get you one, if that’s what you prefer. But I’m sticking with a hot dog. And maybe some cotton candy.”

“I’ll definitely skip the cotton candy. And the hot dog. But I’ll take some of that astronaut ice cream.”

When he got up and turned toward the concession stand, he nearly ran into Bo. “Hey, man. I thought you weren’t coming.”

Bo peered around him at Ismay before meeting his gaze. “Changed my mind. I haven’t been to the beach yet this year. Figured it might be fun.”

“It’s a nice day for it,” Jack said. “I was about to get a hot dog. You want one?”

Bo didn’t seem eager to accept things. He was always wary, reserved, as if he were afraid there might be strings attached. So Jack felt somewhat gratified, as if Bo was beginning to trust him, when he nodded. “Sure, I’ll take one.”

“Relish?”

“Onions, no relish.”

“Got it. Ismay’s right there.” He gestured, even though he knew Bo had already seen her. “Why don’t you join her, and I’ll be right back.”

Bo nodded and Jack got in line. While he waited, he turned to watch the other people on the beach, and Ismay and Bo caught his attention. There was something going on between them, he decided. It was subtle, but the way Ismay looked at Bo made him think—

No, he told himself. He had to be wrong. She’d already chosen the partner she wanted to spend her life with. She’d come here to be with Remy for the summer. And yet...

“Can I help you?”

Jack shifted his attention to the little window of the food truck and placed his order. But while the food was being prepared, he looked back and saw the expression on his sister’s face as she talked to Bo. She admired him, all right. He knew her well enough to be able to read that easily.

Would she be happier with Bo? He wasn’t rich like Remy, but Jack really liked him. And he knew his parents had concerns about Remy, who’d shown zero interest in their family. Ismay insisted he was just busy, that it took a superhuman effort to get through med school, and maybe that was it. But Jack couldn’t help wondering if this summer might turn out to be an inflection point for both of them, spinning them off the trajectory they were currently on and flinging them in a direction they never saw coming.

Ismay was much more excited to see Bo than she’d been to see Bastian. She knew that wasn’t how things should be. But she couldn’t help smiling every time Bo looked at her. And the way he looked at her... It made her feel breathless, which was odd. She was acting completely out of character. She’d never been the type to become infatuated with someone so easily.

“How’s Jack handling the work?” she asked while her brother was getting the hot dogs.

“He’s a hard worker,” Bo replied. “Knows what he’s doing. And if he doesn’t know, he’s eager to learn.”

“I hope it hasn’t been too inconvenient having him stay with you.”

“Nah. I like him. Makes it easy. But Bastian came snooping around today.”

She’d told Bastian that Jack was working with Bo. That had to be what’d instigated the visit. “What’d he say?”

After straightening out his towel, Bo crossed his legs in front of him and leaned back, supporting himself with his hands. “Made a few snide comments.”

She craned her neck to be able to see his face since it was turned away from her. “Like...”

“We must’ve gotten pretty close during the storm,” he muttered. “Stuff like that.”

“How did you respond?”

“Didn’t. I think that’s why he gave up and left. He couldn’t goad me into a fight.”

Ismay began to draw in the sand beside her towel. “You don’t think he’s figured out that Jack’s staying with you...”

“No. I’m sure he would’ve made a big deal about that.”

“So what do you think he’ll tell his parents?”

“What can he tell them?” Bo countered. “That your brother is visiting the island and helping me while he’s here? I don’t see how they can get mad about that, especially because I’m handling the reconstruction instead of waiting for a contractor. Not only does that save them money, it means their property will be put to rights that much sooner.”

Bringing in her knees, she folded her arms on them and rested her chin on top. “I mentioned Lyssa Helberg to him.”

Bo wasn’t wearing sunglasses, so she could easily see the concern in his eyes when he looked over. “And? What’d he say?”

“Basically, he confirmed that he and Remy were at the party when she died.”

“How’d you bring it up?”

Checking to make sure she had time to explain before her brother returned, she saw Jack at the small table near the food truck adding ketchup and mustard to the hot dogs. “He assumed Remy mentioned her, and I let him. It made him mad that Remy would talk about it. It was obviously a touchy subject.”

“That’s interesting. You don’t think he’ll tell Remy about your conversation, do you?”

“I’m almost certain he will. But Remy and I have been together long enough that it’s believable he did mention Lyssa and simply forgot—maybe one night when he was drunk.”

“So Bastian and Lyssa were friends, or were they something more?”

“I got the impression he liked her as more than a friend. Not sure if she felt the same. He told me Remy never cared about her, and she didn’t want anything to do with him. But knowing the two of them...”

“You can’t imagine anyone not preferring Remy.”

“There’s that. But I also detected some...jealousy or something.”

“You think they both wanted the same girl?”

“Maybe.”

“Remy’s never mentioned the party, the fire, or Lyssa?”

“Not that I can remember.”

Jack was approaching with the food. She gave a subtle signal with her head to let Bo know they were out of time and changed the subject. “So how long will it take to mend the fence around the garden?”

“Day and a half,” Bo replied. “We’ll get the posts in tomorrow, then let the cement harden before adding the slats. Won’t be too difficult.”

“What are we going to do after that?” Jack asked, handing Bo his hot dog.

“At that point, you’re going to have to start acting a little more like a tourist,” Bo joked.

Jack sat down beside Bo as he took his first bite and spoke around it. “I thought I’d get bored sitting on a beach all summer. But—” he finished chewing and swallowed “—there’s something cathartic about being on this island, isn’t there.”

It was a statement, not a question. “I think this place is just what you need,” Ismay said. “Maybe you’ll finally have the chance to decide what you want to do instead of letting the current of life continue to just...carry you along.”

A contemplative expression came over his face. “There’s a lot to discover outside of Tremonton.”

The worry she’d been feeling for him eased ever so slightly. “Exactly.”

At first, Ismay couldn’t tell what the pictures she’d just received on her phone were all about. They’d been taken at a crowded restaurant, from a distance. But once she enlarged the first shot, she recognized Remy sitting at a table in the corner. She couldn’t tell who he was with, though. It looked like a woman.

What was this about?

She moved on to the second picture, taken from a closer angle. He was definitely with a woman. Ismay could see that clearly now. She was wearing a little black cocktail dress. Actually, they were both dressed up. The restaurant looked like a fancy one, the kind Remy preferred.

When were these photographs taken? Remy loved going out. But he wouldn’t be going to a place like this when he couldn’t even take five minutes to talk on the phone.

She studied the number from which she’d received these photos. There was no contact name attached, and they’d come without an explanation. Who was this?

The sound of Bastian coming up the stairs caught her attention. He stopped outside her door, which made her freeze. Would he say something? Try to come in again?

She breathed a sigh of relief when his footsteps receded as he continued to his own room. After going to the beach, she’d had dinner with Bo and Jack at a sidewalk café not far from the old-world mansions that lined Elm Street—built by the owners of various vessels during Mariners’s whaling heyday—and they’d laughed and talked until it’d grown too dark. She’d only had a pair of loose-fitting cutoffs to wear over her swimsuit and a towel to sling around her bare shoulders.

She’d hoped she’d find Bastian gone when she got home—visiting his “friends,” if he really had any—but she’d found him in the living room, so inebriated she’d gotten him a blanket and suggested he sleep on the couch.

Apparently, he hadn’t taken her advice.

At least he’d made it safely up the stairs.

When she heard the TV go on in the master bedroom, she knew she was probably safe from bother and returned to the mysterious pictures she’d received. A third one had just come in. This one showed Remy holding the woman’s hand across the table as they seemed to talk earnestly.

Then a short video arrived.

Ismay knew she shouldn’t click on it. This wasn’t going in a good direction. But she couldn’t stop herself. The video showed fifteen seconds of Remy kissing the woman so passionately it left little doubt in her mind what would come next, since they were obviously leaving together.

Was he cheating on her? Could this be happening tonight?

She felt shaky as she navigated to Remy’s last text. He’d sent a message to her earlier to say he was heading to the library and would be up most of the night studying with Sam again.

This was definitely not the library...

She switched back to the video. Maybe it was masochistic, but she couldn’t keep from watching it again. He’d been so busy, so worried about his exams. Could it be that whoever was in this video wasn’t really him? After all, the lighting was so dim...

A second later, she caught sight of the gold ID bracelet he always wore with his Rolex—a gift from his parents when he got his bachelor’s degree. She didn’t know one other man who wore an ID bracelet, let alone one who was the spitting image of her fiancé.

She swallowed hard as she sat up and focused once again on the number of the person who was sending her this stuff.

Who are you? she wrote and held her breath, hoping to get a response.

Fortunately, she did.

Samantha. Sam. Could this be whom Remy had been studying with? He’d acted as though Sam were a guy...

Ismay threw her legs over the side of the bed and got up.

Ismay was feeling a bit sick to her stomach.

Was that true?

The word pregnant stood out as the other words melted into the background.

Ismay recognized the name of Remy’s former girlfriend. They’d run into her occasionally on campus or various local eateries, but the relationship had ended badly, and Remy always circled wide to avoid her.

Ismay tried to get this woman to engage with her again. She’d revealed enough with the pregnancy that Remy would be able to identify her. Didn’t she realize that? Ismay pointed it out. And asked if she’d had the baby. Did Remy have a child out there he hadn’t told her about? That possibility was mind-blowing. But after a few minutes of nothing, someone else answered—she got the impression it was a man—who said not to bother him again. He claimed to have let a friend borrow his phone, and that he’d never reveal her name. He left Ismay with: If you have half a brain, you’ll get away from Remy Windsor and stay away.

After that, she guessed he blocked her, because she couldn’t get him to respond again.

Fortunately, Ivy was at the library when Bo went in the following morning to return his books.

“Hey,” she said when he approached the circulation desk.

He smiled. “Hey.”

“Haven’t seen you for a couple weeks. I’ve been wondering if everything’s okay.”

“The storm wreaked some havoc on the other side of the island, setting me back a bit. And with the cottage now in use, I’ve got more to do.”

“The Windsors are in town, are they?”

“No, it’s just Remy’s fiancée and Bastian.”

“Bastian’s there alone with Remy’s fiancée? That’s a bit odd, isn’t it?”

He almost mentioned that Ismay’s brother was also on the island but decided that was another tangent he’d avoid. “Maybe a little.”

“Where’s Remy?” she asked.

“Still in LA. Has to take some exams before he can leave.”

“Is he really going to become a doctor?”

He put down the books he’d brought in. “Sounds that way.”

“I thought he’d go into the diamond business, like his father.”

“I guess Bastian’s got that covered.”

“Guess so.” She started scanning the books in. “What are you looking for this week?”

“I’m considering The Good Earth and maybe The Grapes of Wrath. With summer here, I won’t have as much time to read, so I’ll probably stop there.”

“For so long, you were reading every business book on the shelves, now you’ve switched to the classics?”

He curved his lips in a wry smile. “The business stuff got a bit dry, and it was becoming repetitive. I needed to change things up.”

“Well, you can’t go wrong with the classics.”

“Figured it’s about time I read them.” He looked around at the mahogany shelves, the brass accoutrements, the elaborate winding staircase leading to the second floor, and the heavy-framed picture of Ivy’s great-grandfather hanging behind her. “I love having access to so many books.”

She gave him a funny look. “There was no library where you lived before?”

“It wasn’t very...accessible,” he said and thought truer words had never been spoken. In prison, it wasn’t easy to get the books he’d wanted to read. Almost all the money he earned hustling chess went to Amazon—inmates could order books as long as they came from a recognized publisher or a third-party business. He probably should’ve saved more of his winnings; he’d had very little to start with when he was finally released. But he’d left the prison library far better stocked than it had been when he was first incarcerated. At the beginning of his sentence, there’d been only a bunch of old tattered paperback novels—castoffs from God knew where.

When he’d left, there’d been enough books to create categories for business, religion, philosophy, popular fiction, and self-help. He hadn’t had a chance to collect any of the classics before he was released, and he regretted that now—wished he’d started with them. Although most of the guys behind bars preferred genre fiction, he believed it was only because they didn’t know what they were missing. He certainly hadn’t.

Instead of walking over to the shelves, he remained where he was. “I lent Crime and Punishment to Remy’s fiancée. But she’ll get it back—to me or to you—before the due date.”

“No problem.”

He’d thought Ivy might bring up the fact that Honey had asked her about Lyssa Helberg, if only to make sure he’d sent off the photograph he’d “found.” He sort of hoped she would—to create a natural transition. But she didn’t, so he had to bring it up himself.

He started walking away before turning as if he’d had an afterthought. “By the way, thanks for giving Honey the address for Lyssa Helberg’s father. I was able to get that photograph off to him.”

“I’m surprised you found it in the first place,” she said. “You’d think someone else would’ve run across it by now. It’s been...what...nine years since that tragic fire?”

“I don’t know how long it’s been. Until I found that picture, I hadn’t even heard of it.”

“I can see why. Emily Hutchins’s body being discovered at the lighthouse last year gave everyone something even worse to talk about.”

“So what happened with the fire, exactly?”

“Remy and Bastian got into a fight at some party—”

“Wait,” he broke in, holding up a hand. “Remy and Bastian were there?” He knew they’d been there; Ismay had told him as much. But he wanted Ivy to elaborate as much as possible, and he felt he had a better chance of that happening if he played dumb.

“They were. The girl who died was Bastian’s girlfriend.”

A chill rolled down Bo’s spine. “Really?” The articles he’d read hadn’t made any reference to the Windsors. There was only that picture of the whole family—along with everyone else—at the funeral. “Honey didn’t say anything about that.”

Ivy checked in another book. “Maybe she doesn’t know. The Windsors managed to keep their name out of the papers.”

So Annabelle had stepped in to protect them. Bo doubted it was Mort. Mort was too busy with his business. It was Annabelle who looked out for the boys—unless she had to get Mort involved. She brought in the big guns when she had to, and her husband relied on her to let him know when it was that time. “What were Bastian and Remy fighting about that night?”

“According to the gossip that was flying around at the time, they were fighting over Lyssa. Bastian was claiming Remy made a move on her. But who knows if that’s true? Word has it they fought over everything.”

“I don’t get the impression that’s changed,” he said dryly.

She chuckled as she glanced up. “Somehow that doesn’t surprise me.”

“So...if they were fighting over Bastian’s girlfriend, how was it that she was the only one who didn’t survive? You know how it is when someone yells fight! Everyone gathers around. Where was she?”

“I heard she started crying and locked herself in an upstairs bathroom when it got nasty between Remy and Bastian. Once the fire broke out, with all the panic and screaming and confusion, it wasn’t until the whole house was engulfed that Remy or Bastian or anyone else realized she wasn’t out. That was why Remy attempted to go back in.”

“He tried to rescue her?”

“That’s the story. But the fire was already out of control. Bastian held him back and made him wait for the fire department to arrive, and by then, it was too late.”

Remy didn’t seem like the type who’d risk his own safety for the sake of someone else. But maybe Bo had him all wrong. The dude wanted to be a doctor, didn’t he? “That’s rough. Remy and Bastian must’ve been destroyed. Especially Bastian.”

When Ivy didn’t answer right away, he prodded her. “Don’t you think?”

“I’d hate to guess,” she said. “They’re...unusual. Nothing seems to bother them.”

“What do you mean?”

“I saw them at the coffee shop with some friends only days later, and...”

“It seemed as if nothing had happened?” he guessed.

Although he could tell she didn’t want to admit it, she ultimately nodded.

“Do you find it odd that Bastian was the one holding Remy back, and not the other way around?” he asked. “Since it was Bastian who was in love with Lyssa?”

“That occurred to me, too,” she admitted. “I also found it kind of weird that Bastian would flip-flop so quickly and become Remy’s defender when they’d just been fighting. But who can say what was going through their heads? An emergency like that probably brings what’s most important into focus pretty fast.”

“No doubt,” he said. “I’m sure they felt terrible. And I’m sorry for her family.”

“How would you ever get over that?” She shook her head. “I’m glad you inquired about that picture and were able to get it back to them.”

“Me, too. So...you didn’t know Lyssa?” he asked.

“I knew of her. I’d seen her around the island. But she was a decade or so younger. It wasn’t as if we’d ever hung out.” Finished checking in the books he’d returned, she pushed her chair out so she could get up. “Do you need some help finding The Good Earth?”

Apparently, she didn’t want to talk about the incident anymore. They’d established a certain rapport, mostly over their love of books, but she probably thought she’d said too much. The Windsors were pretty influential. They could even be among the benefactors of the library.

“No, I’ve got it,” he said. “Thanks again.”