It was too hot near the fire, so Marlow pulled her chair to the much cooler perimeter, where the bright flames gave way to the softer light of the fading sunset. Claire and Aida were joking and talking to Reese as he roasted yet another hot dog. But Marlow was too annoyed to get into the revelry.
She hated the way his brother had acted when they’d run into him on their walk back from the beach earlier. She hated the way he’d acted when he’d had a cup of tea with them shortly after they arrived, too. Talk about holding a grudge! She’d been a teenager when they’d had the encounters that formed his opinion of her, but he seemed to be holding fast to that opinion even though she’d grown up since then and they hadn’t interacted much in the past ten years.
Surely he had to wonder if she’d changed.
Or maybe he didn’t care. She hadn’t handled his interest as kindly as she could have back then. She’d acted a little stuck-up. But it hadn’t been all her. He’d once called her a rich bitch under his breath when she passed him, and she didn’t hold that against him.
Probably because she’d deserved it. That was the year she’d turned eighteen. They were at the Georgia house for Christmas, and she’d been especially brutal to him. She still felt bad about that and wished he’d give her the chance to start over, so it wouldn’t have to be so stilted and awkward every time they bumped into each other. The island was only seven square miles. As the chief of police, he’d be roving around Teach all summer. And with his mother working at the house, his brother living on the property and her own mother so keen to include him whenever possible, Marlow was bound to encounter him again and again, even if he did his best to stay away.
Claire brought the new bottle of wine they’d just opened over to Marlow and refilled her plastic flute. “Hey, is something wrong? You’ve been quiet since we came out here.”
Because she wasn’t interested in flirting with Reese. “The wine’s making me mellow. That’s all.”
Claire peered up at the sky. “Wow! Look at that.”
As darkness fell, the stars were beginning to appear. “I never notice the sky when I’m in LA. The sunsets here are pretty incredible, too.”
“This is so nice, Marlow. Thanks for inviting us.”
“I’m glad you could come.”
It was difficult to tell in the gathering dusk, but Marlow thought she read a sheepish expression on Claire’s face. “Even after what I told you earlier—about Dutton?”
“Especially after what you told me earlier about Dutton.” She took a sip of the extra dry merlot they’d brought from the house with all their other supplies. “Being away for three months might give you the space you need to decide what you really want for your future.”
“I hope I make the right decision.” She dropped down in the sand. “I saw you talking to Aida when we were on the beach earlier. Was she...very upset?”
“No. She’s handling the news surprisingly well.”
“I’m glad. The last thing I want is to hurt her.”
Marlow had known Aida much longer than Claire. She hadn’t met Claire until Aida had introduced them, and that was after Aida had learned about the affair. But Marlow had liked Claire from the start. She was down-to-earth, inherently kind, easy to be around. “I think she understands that you’re a victim in this situation, too.”
Claire pushed the bottle into the sand beside her so it wouldn’t fall over. “How do you manage to keep your life on such an even keel?”
Marlow hadn’t had any serious romantic relationships. That was how. She’d been so driven in her career, so determined to get her degree, open her practice and build a name for herself. She’d devoted all her focus and energy to those things.
Then the pandemic hit, and she’d been cut off from almost all other activities. That was when she’d realized just how tenuous human existence was. There had to be more to living than professional success. People said that all the time, of course, and she agreed. It made sense. But she’d been Icarus, flying too close to the sun—was never truly committed to achieving the proper balance until the past year, which was why she was pulling away from work to devote more of herself to her friends and family. Inviting Claire and Aida to the island to spend the summer with her had been part of that effort.
“I haven’t gone through what you have. Losing your house would be catastrophic. But losing your business, too? And finding out the man you’re dating is already married? You’re holding up well, considering.”
Claire grinned at her response. “When you put it like that, I guess I’m lucky I’m still functioning at all.”
“Exactly. Things will get easier, though. Don’t worry.”
“They already have, in a way. At least my house has been rebuilt. Being homeless was...hard to describe. It felt like my whole life had been turned upside down, and it was Dutton who helped me catch my balance and put everything right again.”
“Or he took advantage of the terrible situation to get away with stuff he wouldn’t have been able to otherwise. Just because he helped you through a difficult period doesn’t mean he’s the hero of this story.”
“It feels that way sometimes.”
“Until you look at it from a different perspective.”
“I wish I had your perspective more often.”
“Fortunately, I’m here to remind you,” Marlow said with a grin.
Claire smiled back at her. “Your year hasn’t been easy, either. You just seem to handle rough waters better than the rest of us.”
“Losing my father has been tough. And I’m worried about my mother. But I’ve been worried about her most of my life, so that’s nothing new. And the pandemic was actually good for my business. I can’t complain there.”
“It’s caused so many people to turn to alcohol,” Claire commented.
“That’s true. And alcohol and financial stress are two things that’ll break up a marriage quicker than anything else.”
“Alcohol, financial stress and infidelity. I hate what Aida’s been through. And I hate being the cause.”
“Dutton is the cause,” Marlow clarified.
“If only I’d realized he was lying to me sooner, before I fell so deeply in love.”
“You never doubted him?”
“Not once. He seemed totally straightforward and legit.”
“A good con man always does.” Marlow leaned back and looked up at the house that meant so much to her. Her mother had gone to bed early, and Rosemary had mentioned she planned to spend the evening with a book. Knowing they were there, as always, helped. But it was strange to think her father would never return to this place.
Aida and Reese put down their wineglasses and started toward the water. “We’re going for a swim. You guys interested?” Aida called as they passed.
“I’m too comfortable,” Marlow said.
Claire dusted the sand off her hands before pouring herself another glass of wine. “I’m good, too,” she said, even though the two of them could no longer hear her.
Aida and Reese plunged into the sea, their laughter carrying over the tumbling waves.
“Aida’s going to sleep with your housekeeper’s son,” Claire said, her voice low. “You know that, right?”
“Maybe she needs to reassure herself that she’s still got it.” Marlow grimaced. “I just wish she’d choose someone else.”
“It won’t cause any problems between you and Rosemary, will it?”
“Reese is twenty-two, not sixteen. Still, I’m hoping Rosemary doesn’t find out.”
“What about Walker? What do you think he’ll have to say about one of your friends hooking up with his little brother?”
Marlow was embarrassed imagining what Walker might make of that. “I hope he doesn’t find out, either.”
Claire finished her wine, set the glass aside and hugged her knees to her chest. “I noticed that he avoids looking at you when he’s around. Is there a reason? Or am I reading into it?”
This comment surprised Marlow. Aida would never have noticed. But Claire was more thoughtful, more observant. “We have a bit of...history,” she admitted.
“And you haven’t mentioned that? You’ve been holding back when you’re so intimately familiar with our dirty laundry?” she teased.
“There’s nothing to talk about. Not really.”
“What happened between you two? And when?”
Marlow was feeling a slight buzz. She’d had too much wine but didn’t put her glass down because she enjoyed finally being able to relax. “We had several...encounters.”
“That sounds interesting. What kind of encounters?”
“He had a thing for me when we were growing up. The first time he tried to kiss me, I was fourteen and he was sixteen.”
“And you weren’t interested?” she said in surprise.
“Not in the least.”
“Is something wrong with him? Because he’s gorgeous.”
“There’s nothing wrong with him. I just...took him for granted.”
“Where were you when he tried to kiss you?”
“In Georgia. It was after a school dance.”
“Rosemary’s been with your family that long?”
“Even longer. She started working for my parents before I was born.”
“So...Walker and his family would come to the island with you every summer?”
She nodded. “They’d stay in the apartment over the garage.”
“What about Walker’s father? Did he come, too?”
“No. He was part of the family then, but he had a job in Georgia and couldn’t come to Teach. Rosemary and Walker—and then Reese, after he arrived—used to go home every weekend to see him instead.”
“Who watched her kids while she worked?”
“She just kept them with her.”
“How nice of your parents to allow that.”
“They didn’t mind.”
“So where is Reese and Walker’s father now?”
“I have no idea. He left when Reese was four or five. I once heard my father say he skipped out on paying his child support, too, so I get the impression he doesn’t have a relationship with his boys.”
“How sad.”
“Yeah. I wish I’d had more empathy for Walker when we were young. He’d been around since I could remember, so he wasn’t anything special to me. I had big hopes and dreams, and I didn’t want any boy, least of all Walker, to get in my way.”
“Maybe you weren’t ready when he made that move.”
“Yeah, well, he made plenty of other moves, both before and after I went to college. He was too devoted to me.” Marlow closed her eyes for a moment. “I remember having a bonfire like this for my fifteenth birthday. My father was away, and my mother was trying not to hover, which wasn’t easy for her, especially since she’d tried talking me out of having the party. A storm was on the way, so the sea was rough. But I promised her we wouldn’t get in the water.”
“Oh, no. I can guess where this is going.”
“And you’d be right. A kid named Brandon Warner sneaked over some beer. We were drinking and starting to act stupid when someone dared me to go into the ocean.”
“Was Walker there?”
“At the time, I assumed he was in their apartment. My mother made me invite him, but the way I did it let him know I didn’t really want him around, so he didn’t come.”
“Did he know the other kids? Were they from the island or what?”
“He knew the ones my parents had flown in to celebrate with me. He went to the same private school I did.”
“His mother could afford that?”
“My parents picked up the tab. They’ve always done extra things like that. I think it’s part of the reason Rosemary has stuck with us for so long.”
“Did you and Walker hang out with the same people at school?”
“Not really. I hung out with the rich kids, and he hung out with the kids who lived near him and went to the public school.”
“Got it. So what happened when you went into the ocean that night?”
“I said I wasn’t scared, that I’d swim out to the rock. And I did. But just before I reached it, I got caught in a riptide that dragged me under and threw me against it. I hit my head so hard I got disoriented and almost drowned.” She took the last sip of her wine. “Walker saved me.”
“He did?”
“Yep. The next thing I knew, he was there in the water with me. He towed me back to shore and dragged me out onto the beach. I’ll never forget looking up and seeing the scared expression on his face as he knelt over me. Then I started throwing up beer and seawater.”
Claire’s eyes went wide. “Walker saved your life?”
“Who knows? Maybe I would’ve been able to get out on my own eventually. But we never had to find out because he risked his life to go in after me.” Marlow hadn’t thought of that incident for years; she’d purposely shoved it into the back of her mind. “The worst part is that I didn’t even thank him. I was embarrassed that this had happened in front of people I was trying to impress and pretended I hadn’t needed him to do what he did.”
“That doesn’t sound like you.”
“What can I say? I was a little bitch when I was growing up.” Walker had been right about that...
“You were dealing with your own issues. Being two years younger than all your classmates couldn’t have been easy. Having a father who was a US senator probably put a lot of pressure on you, too.”
Leave it to Claire to put the best possible spin on it. “Doesn’t matter. I shouldn’t have acted that way.”
“You were just a kid. Don’t be too hard on yourself.”
Now that Marlow had opened that compartment in her brain, so many other memories began tumbling out—like the time Walker had been asked to drive her to the airport when she was going back to college after Christmas. Before she got out of the car, he told her he hated her but pulled her back to try to kiss her anyway. She’d told him she hated him, too, and shoved him away. “I don’t even know how he realized I was in the water that night at the party.”
“He must’ve been watching you—or watching over you.”
The subtle change in the way Claire finished that statement made her feel even worse.
“Did he stay in touch after you got your law degree and opened your practice?”
“No. But he was always around for part of the summer or holidays when I came home. With time, I think he just...started to hate me for real.”
“You don’t believe he hates you now...”
“I do.”
“Have you ever tried to talk to him about the past?”
“No. I’m sure he doesn’t want to remember those days any more than I do.”
“It’s hard to move on if you don’t address the problem. Get it out in the open. Maybe if you told him you regret not being kinder, and you’re sorry if you hurt him, he’ll forgive you, and you two could be friends.”
Marlow bit her lip as she considered Claire’s response. That would mean confronting the past. Bringing up an awkward topic. The way he treated her these days, she couldn’t imagine he’d have any interest in doing that.
Or...was she just making excuses for not doing the right thing? She’d always been too proud for her own good.
“I do owe him an apology,” she admitted, finally acknowledging the truth.
Claire nudged her with an elbow. “Then give him one.”