Anne Brown - Deep Betrayal

“Quit having impure thoughts,” I whispered in her ear.

“Oh. My. Goodness,” she said through her teeth.

Calder squeezed my hand. Of course he heard every word. He probably could have heard it from across the parking lot.

Jules ran ahead to tell the lifeguard I was safe. I almost wished I was hurt. It would make this so much less embarrassing if I was bleeding. Maybe I could fake a head injury.

The lifeguard blew his whistle in three sharp bursts and a collective groan came up from the shore. Rob came running, his face pale and sickly.

“Geez, Lily, where were you?” Then he noticed Calder. “Who’s this?”

“The figment of my imagination,” I said, more coolly than he deserved.

Rob pulled me from Calder’s side and nearly suffocated me in a hug. “I thought you were dead,” he said. “Don’t do that again.”

“Yeah, okay. Fine,” I said, laughing a little. “I’m sorry. I should have told someone I was going for a walk.” I pushed Rob off while electricity fizzed in the air behind me.

Rob let me go and stuck his hand out toward Calder, who hesitated and blew a long stream of air from his lungs before taking Rob’s hand.

“Thanks for bringing her back safe,” Rob said.

“I can take care of myself,” I said, which made Calder wince, though I wasn’t sure why.

Scott carried Sophie up the beach toward me, cradling her body in his arms. Her face was red and blotchy, making me feel my guilt more intensely than anything else.

“Honey,” I said as she reached toward me. She was too heavy, and we collapsed on the sand.

“Hi, Calder,” Sophie whimpered, without really looking at him, as if she expected nothing less than to see him walking me home.

“I think I’ve had enough sun,” Colleen said. “Maybe we should call it a day.”

Calder picked Sophie out of my lap and slung her onto his back without any effort. Together we climbed the hill toward the parking lot, dragging our coolers and towels with less finesse than we had hours earlier.

“I don’t think we have room for you in the van,” Rob said to Calder.

“That’s okay. I’ve got a car.”

I looked around for the Impala but I didn’t see it anywhere.

Calder asked, “Ride with me, Lil? Sophie, too?”

I took his hand, and Rob jogged to Zach’s van a little faster than normal.

“There’s something not right with that guy,” Calder said.

I laughed, looping my arm through his. “Yeah, all right. Remind me to tell you the one about the pot and the kettle.”

“Robby’s sad and kind of confused,” Sophie said, watching him climb into Zach’s van.

“Oh yeah?” I laughed. “And what do you know about it?”

Sophie shrugged. “You just have to look at him.”

Calder gave Sophie a funny look, then ruffled her hair with his hand. “Get in the car, kiddo.” He held the door open, and she slid into the backseat of a rusty black Buick. I got in the front and sat as close as I could to Calder.

“You look very pretty, Lily,” Sophie said as she drifted off to sleep.

Calder’s gaze went to the rearview mirror; then he raised his eyebrows at me. I felt the blood rush into my cheeks. “She probably has heatstroke,” I said.

The motel where Mom and Dad were staying was a one-story structure with an enormous peak over the entrance still strung with sagging Christmas lights. Calder pulled into a spot alongside the pool but near my parents’ room. The brass number 12 hung askew above the peephole in their door.

Sophie peeled her sweaty legs off the vinyl seat with a ripping sound and climbed out. She ran to the motel room door and knocked. In the brief second it was open, I saw Mom packing and the blue flicker of the television reflected in a mirror.

“I’m telling him now,” I said. “Before they leave. Maybe you’ll get your wish and he’ll change his mind about going back.”

“Please rethink this, Lil. He’s gone his whole life not knowing.”

“You probably don’t need to worry so much,” I said with a sigh. “I doubt he’s going to believe me.”

“That’s not what I’m saying,” Calder said. His hand came to rest on my knee. I could feel the tingle of electricity in his fingertips, stimulating my muscles, making them jump. “He’ll believe you. You can trust me on that.”

I turned away from the door to look squarely at him. He brought his arm back to the steering wheel. “Why are you so sure?” I asked.

“Not believing you and not wanting to believe you are two different things. As soon as you start explaining, he’ll believe you. In his heart, he might already know.”

“You’re sure?” I turned back to stare at Number 12.

“Without a doubt.” He stroked my hair now and my confidence grew exponentially.

“Okay,” I said, releasing all the air from my lungs. “How do we do this?”

“You mean how do you do this. I told you what I think. This is all on you. Besides, having me there isn’t going to make him any more receptive.”

“I need you there with me. To explain,” I said.

He picked at the peeling rubber around the steering wheel. “I’ll wait in the car.”

“You seriously aren’t going to help me?”

He took a deep breath and slowly turned to face me. “What exactly are you going to say?”

“I’m going to start at the beginning. And then I’ll end by explaining about Tallulah, and her being found, and what it might mean for the future.”

“As if we knew,” he said, his tone scoffing.

“Are you going to be a jerk about this?” I stared at him, giving him the few seconds he obviously needed to think clearly, but he didn’t budge. He stared at his hands on the wheel.

“Fine,” I said. “I’ll tell him on my own. But don’t go anywhere.”

“I won’t.”

I unbuckled and kicked open the car door, which creaked on its hinges. When I slammed it shut, shards of rust sprinkled to the blacktop like glitter.

I knocked, and Sophie opened the door. Mom and Dad were already standing right behind her, apparently clued in to another one of my near-death experiences. How many did that make? Three, counting last night. This time I hadn’t even gotten wet.

“Mom. Dad,” I said, for lack of a better introduction.

“What’s going on, Lily?” Dad asked. “Are you trying to make us prematurely gray? Sophie said you almost drowned?”

“Hardly. Can I talk to you outside, Dad?” My voice was a thin wavering line.

Mom gave him a look and turned her wheelchair back toward the suitcases. Dad stepped out and closed the door quietly behind him.

“What’s going on?” he asked. “Are you feeling okay? We shouldn’t have let you go to the beach.”

“Dad, we need to talk.” He narrowed his eyes and followed unwillingly. I led him to one of the white plastic table-and-chair settings that were placed around the swimming pool. It didn’t escape my notice that he walked barefoot through every puddle on the pool deck.

The chairs scraped on the concrete as we pulled them up to the table. Dad’s face was pale, his blue eyes slightly sunken. His lips chapped and cracking at the corners of his mouth. Again I wished Calder had come with me. There were too many details I still didn’t fully understand.

“Okay. I know what you’re going to say, Lil, and I’ve already talked it over with your mom.”

“You talked to her about this?”

Dad looked at me with a puzzled expression. “Of course. She wants you to come home, and I don’t have any great excuse for keeping you away anymore. Heck, Lil, I want you to be with us. I’ve missed you. More than you know.