“They thought you were good enough to accept the first time.”
“It was probably a clerical error.”
Marquez pulled into the manicured grounds of Carlson, down a winding avenue lined by huge palms. “Where to?”
Summer grinned. “Nowhere. I just wanted to fantasize for a minute.”
“So you’re walking across the campus and, let’s see, some babe like Brad Pitt is carrying your Intro to Something Irrelevant textbook—”
“No, this fantasy is babe-free. I’m carrying my own book.”
Marquez stopped the car in front of a string of low-slung brick buildings with a view of the ocean. The campus was nearly deserted. “Mind if I get out for a second?” Summer asked.
Marquez smiled. “Take your time. But I’d advise adding a guy to that fantasy.”
Summer walked over to the nearest building and peered through one of the windows. Desks, blackboard, table. Nothing fancy. But Carlson was considered a fine college, one for motivated and tough-minded students. It was difficult. It was competitive. Staring at the empty desks, Summer felt a slight shiver of fear skate up her spine. Was she motivated enough? Tough enough? Smart enough?
All year she’d planned on going to the University of Wisconsin with her high-school friends—and, of course, with Seth. She’d applied to other schools, including Carlson, but when Summer was accepted to Carlson and Seth wasn’t, that had sealed her decision to go to UW.
Until, that is, she’d visited the campus with Austin recently and decided to reapply.
It would mean going to a new school solo, no friends, no Seth. On her own, no backup. Of course, they probably wouldn’t reaccept her, not at this late date. So there was no point in worrying about how absolutely terrified the idea of being all alone made her feel.
She walked back to the car. Marquez was leaning against the headrest. Dashboard Confessional was blaring on the radio.
They drove back through the beautiful, quiet grounds. Summer watched the brick buildings blur together.
“How was the fantasy?” Marquez asked.
“Kind of scary.”
“Maybe it needed a babe.”
“I don’t know,” Summer said softly. “Maybe so.”
13
Word on the Street
When they got back to town, the main street that bisected Coconut Key was bathed in the rich, unreal colors of the late afternoon sun. “I guess you don’t want to come home and say hi to Vampira?” Marquez asked.
Summer shook her head. “You guess right.”
“You know, all your stuff’s there….”
“I’ll come get it sometime when Diana’s gone.”
Marquez smiled sadly. “I’d offer to do it, but it would be like admitting you’re not coming back. Why couldn’t Diana just move out instead?” She snapped her fingers. “I could slip a little arsenic into her coffee. Think they’d bust me?”
“They’d probably bust me. I definitely have motive and opportunity.”
At a red light Marquez gasped. “Summer. Duck. I mean now. Jerk alert at two o’clock.”
“What?”
“Crap. He saw you. Seth is over at the bus station, waving like a maniac. What do I do? Ignore him?”
“I thought he was at his grandfather’s in Crab Claw,” Summer muttered.
Marquez groaned. “Two red lights in this one-horse town and we get trapped by one! He’s coming. Don’t freak.”
Seth wove through the maze of cars. A moment later he was peering through Marquez’s open window.
“The light’s about to change, Seth,” Marquez said. “Make it quick.”
Summer stared straight ahead, her heart ricocheting around in her chest like a pinball.
“It’s about Diver,” Seth said, just as the light changed.
“What? Tell me, what?” Marquez cried.
“I—” Seth began, but his voice was drowned in a chorus of annoyed honks.
“Oh, just get in already, Seth,” Summer said.
Seth leapt into the backseat and Marquez hit the accelerator. He glanced at Summer, then quickly looked away. “Just take me around the block. My car’s parked at the station.”
“How’d you know about Diver?” Summer asked.
“I left my backpack at your apartment,” Seth said. “I went over to pick it up this morning and Diana told me.”
“Would you tell us already?” Marquez cried. “What about Diver?”
“It’s not so good, Marquez. I’ve been kind of looking out for him all day. Checking out his old haunts, that sort of thing. I went over to his job, but nobody knew anything. Anyway, as a last-ditch try, I checked the bus station. One of the ticket guys remembered Diver. He bought a one-way to Miami yesterday.”
“Miami?” Marquez echoed in disbelief. “Miami?”
“I’m sorry, Marquez,” Seth said. “I wish I had better news.”
“Maybe he just took a ride to clear his head,” Summer suggested, knowing how lame she sounded.
Marquez pulled into the Greyhound parking lot. She dropped her head onto the steering wheel.
“Well.” Seth looked at Summer again, his expression half resigned, half hopeful. “Anyway. I’ll let you know if I hear any more.”
Marquez pulled herself upright. “Thanks, Seth. For trying. You’re a good friend.”
“Well, then.” Seth put his hand on the door handle, but he didn’t budge.
Summer studied her nails.
“Well, okay,” Seth said. Slowly he got out of the car. He closed the door, then put his head through the back window. “Summer, have you thought any more about…you know, what we talked about last night?”
Summer shook her head.
“Okay, then. Well. Okay.”
“Seth,” Marquez said with a sigh, “you’re babbling.”
“Oh. Yeah, okay. Well.”
“Thanks again.” Marquez pulled away. “What did you talk about last night, anyway?”
“Take a guess.”
“At least the men in your life are within walking distance,” Marquez said. “Miami, Summer! Who knows where Diver is by now? He could be in Alaska. Well, okay, not Alaska. But somewhere equally not here.”
“Maybe. But…I know this sounds crazy, Marquez, but I just have this feeling he’s not so far away.”
Marquez paused at a crosswalk to let two bare-chested guys in-line skate across. “You’re just saying that.”
“No, I’m not. It’s this feeling.” Summer noticed a petite blond girl on the far side of the street. She was gazing intently into a store window.
Caroline.
“Hey, drop me off here, why don’t you?” Summer said casually. “I kind of feel like walking.”
“But why? I’ll take you to Jared’s.”
“I need to clear my head after seeing Seth, you know?”
“I understand.” Marquez nodded. “You going to be okay?”
“Yeah. How about you?”
“Me? I’m invincible,” Marquez said softly. “Permanently single, but invincible.”
“Not permanently.” Summer opened the car door. “I’ll call you. Eat something nice and fattening, okay?”
Summer dashed across the street. The blond girl had vanished into one of the shops. Now Summer wondered if it even was Caroline.
And what was she going to say if it was Caroline?
She peeked into three shops, open late like all the Main Street stores. Nothing.
Summer was almost ready to give up when she spotted Caroline in a bikini shop called Swim Jim’s. Summer sauntered in and pretended to browse a rack of markdowns.
“Summer? Is that you?” Caroline rushed over. “I heard about Diver,” she said, oozing sympathy. “You must be worried sick.”
Summer nodded. “It’s so strange, Caroline. I mean, I just had lunch with Diver. He told me about how he’d gotten together with you.”
Caroline put her sunglasses back on. “Yes, we had a nice little get-together. Talked about old
times and all.”
“When you were kids in…where was it? Virginia?”
“Uh-huh.” Caroline turned to the rack of sale swimsuits. “So what do you figure happened?”
“Well, we’re still trying to piece everything together. Did he say anything to you, by chance?”
“Me?” Caroline put her hand to her chest. “Lord, no. It’s not like we were ever close, Summer.” She grinned. “Guess I didn’t see his potential back then.”
Summer hesitated. She was getting nowhere. Probably because there was nowhere to go. “So you two were never, you know, an item? Childhood sweethearts or something?” she asked, trying to sound casual. “Between you and me, I thought maybe you were trying to rekindle an old flame.”
“We were just kids, Summer. And back then Diver never paid me a bit of attention.”
“How about now?”
“Now? Well, he’s got Marquez, Summer. I wouldn’t have a prayer.” Caroline pulled out a red one-piece and held it up. “Too blah, right?” She returned it to the rack with a sigh. “No, it’s not like that with Diver and me. I have a beau back in Virginia. Kyle. He’s a junior at my college.” She cleared her throat. “So, anyway. You’re saying there are no clues about Diver?”
“Not really. He might have gone to Miami.”
“Miami?” Caroline demanded. She moved to another rack. “I mean,” she added more calmly, “why Miami?”
“I don’t know. Someone thinks he caught a bus heading that way.”
“Lord, I hope not. For your sake, I mean. And Marquez’s.”
Summer hesitated. “Well, I have to get going.” She started for the door. “If you happen to hear anything about Diver, let me know, would you?”
“Of course.” Caroline smiled sweetly. “I can’t imagine why I would, but I’ll keep my ears open. And my fingers crossed.” She held up another suit. “How about this one? Thirty percent off. I’m positively broke, but it’s my size.”
“Nice,” Summer said. “Well. I’m sure I’ll see you around, Caroline. Say hi to Blythe.”
Summer stepped into the still-hot street. She’d heard nothing to suggest that Caroline had anything to do with Diver’s disappearance. And yet she couldn’t quite shake the feeling that Austin might just have been onto something with his shaky-teaspoon theory.
14
Hiding Out
So, Diana thought as she sipped at her coffee, this is dawn. It was rather pretty, if you were into that sort of thing.
She sat in the breakfast room of her mother’s huge, fanciful house. It reminded her of Sleeping Beauty’s castle at Disneyland, lots of color and curlicues and excess. Not unlike her mother, Mallory, actually.
Diana watched the sun slowly grow, reds spreading like a bruise. On the edge of the property the old stilt house took on a pink glow. A pelican, probably the one Summer and Diver insisted on calling Frank, sat on the railing, looking positively prehistoric.
She wondered if she should try to get some sleep. She’d come here in the middle of the night after lying awake and restless in the apartment, haunted by images of Seth and Summer. At last, in frustration, she’d jumped in her car and driven aimlessly along the highway skirting the ocean.
Why she’d ended up here, she didn’t know. Mallory was away on a book tour. And it wasn’t as if Diana had a lot of cozy Hallmark memories of this place.
But she’d needed to clear her head. She hadn’t realized how confused and unhappy she was until she’d tried to talk to Marquez yesterday. Attempting to give her advice had made Diana realize how utterly unqualified she was for the task. She had her own problems, plenty of them.
She was obsessed with the idea of calling Seth and begging for another chance, and repulsed by herself for wanting someone who so obviously didn’t want her. And disturbing her every waking moment was the image of Summer—or the lack of her, anyway. Her clothes still in the closet, her half-made bed, her shampoo on the edge of the tub.
Diana dumped out the rest of her coffee. Maybe she’d try for a nap and then decide what to do. She didn’t want to move back to Mallory’s, but she obviously couldn’t keep living with Marquez for much longer.
As she turned to leave the kitchen a flash of movement out the window made Diana pause. Someone was climbing up the stairs under the stilt house. She saw dark, tan skin, a glimmer of golden blond hair, then nothing.
Diver. It had to be.
For a brief moment Diana considered letting him be. She understood wanting to be alone, and whatever was wrong in his life, she doubted she could help him, if her experience with Marquez was any indication.
An image came to her suddenly of Marquez, her thin body racked with sobs. Marquez, so not like the old Marquez anymore.
With a sigh Diana opened the sliding glass doors and crossed the wet grass in bare feet, tightening the belt on her mother’s robe. She knew if Diver saw her he wouldn’t try to run. There was nowhere to go. And she had a feeling some part of him might just want to be found.
Diver was on the deck, leaning against the railing. He nodded as if he’d been expecting her.
“Not the best hiding place, huh?” Diana said, joining him.
Diver smiled sadly, his eyes on the brightening sky.
“That is,” Diana added, “if you’re really hiding.”
He turned to her. His dark blue eyes were sheened with tears. He was so beautiful, a not-quite-of-this-world beauty. It was hard to look at him without thinking of his sister, of her innocent gaze and shimmering prettiness.
“To tell you the truth, Diana,” he said wearily, “I’m not sure what I’m doing. I thought I was running. But then I came full circle and ended up here. It’s like gravity is pulling me back.”
“I know the feeling. I had no intention of coming here either.”
She draped her arm around him and he laid his head on her shoulder. His skin was cool and smelled of the ocean. He’d been out swimming, of course. Diver loved the water.
There was a time not so long ago—last summer, in fact—when Diver had held her just this way. She’d been worn down and desperate after all the problems with Ross and Adam. Diver hadn’t said much. He’d just been there for her, quiet and kind, on a dark, warm, sad night.
“Is she okay?” Diver whispered.
Diana considered. “I’m not sure,” she admitted. “I’m just not sure, Diver. Marquez wants to know why you left. She thinks it’s her fault.”
“Oh, man.” Diver pulled away. “Oh, man, I was afraid of that….”
“What did you expect, Diver?” Diana said gently. “You disappear without a trace, not even a note—”
“I wrote a note. I tore it up. It was crap. It was full of excuses, and there aren’t any.” He wiped a tear away with the back of his hand. “There aren’t any.”
Diana touched his arm. “I could say something to her. If you’re not ready to deal with everything, I could at least pass her a message.”
“You don’t understand,” Diver cried, startling her with his sudden rage. Frank flapped off in a huff. “I’m screwed. I can’t go back. I’ve lost Marquez, lost Summer. I’ve lost everything.”
A slow smile tugged at Diana’s mouth. “What?” Diver demanded. “What? You think this is funny?”
“Diver, no, no. It’s not that. It’s just that I could be saying those exact same words.”
“I don’t get it.”
“Seth and I, we were…” Suddenly she felt embarrassed. Diver was so sincere, so innocent in some ways. “We were together for a little while, and Summer found out. They broke up and Summer moved out of the apartment and now I’m public enemy number one.” She shrugged. “With good reason, I suppose. I just can’t get anything right. I hurt everyone I care about.”
Diana waited for Diver’s shocked response. But all he said was, “You’ve never hurt me, Diana. I know you’re a good person.”
She let the words sink in, holding on to them as long as she could. “You’re a good person too, Diver. What
ever this is about, you have people who love you. We can find an answer.”
“There is no answer. I screwed up, and now it’s caught up with me.”
“You sure you don’t want to talk about it?”
He shook his head, jaw clamped shut.
“No matter how much you’re afraid you’ve hurt Marquez and Summer, all they want is to have you back. If you explained—”
“Did you try explaining about Seth to Summer?”
She looked away. “That’s different.”
“Diana, you have to promise me something. Promise me you won’t tell Marquez about this. It would just get her hopes up. And there isn’t any hope.”
Diana stared out at the horizon. Deep reds were bleeding into the ocean as the cloudless sky lost color. The day was going to be a scorcher.
Diver took her arm. “Promise me, Diana.”
“I promise. If you promise me something.”
He smiled, just a little. “Maybe.”
“Promise me you won’t ever say there isn’t any hope again.”
Diver didn’t answer. He just gazed out at the placid, blue water, lost in his private sadness.
“Nice sunrise,” he said at last.
15
To Err Is Human, to Forgive Is Extremely Difficult.
“Could I speak to Summer Smith?”
“May I ask who’s calling?” a man asked briskly.
Diana hesitated. If she told the truth, Summer might not come to the phone. “Just tell her it’s Marquez.”
“May I also ask if you have a timepiece at your disposal?”
“I’m sorry. I know it’s really early.”
“Indeed. One moment, please.”
Diana twirled the phone cord around her finger. From her bedroom window she had a clear view of the stilt house.
She wondered how long Diver would stay before moving on. She wondered if she was making a terrible mistake, calling Summer.
“Marquez?” Summer’s voice was filled with hope. “It’s so early! Did you hear something about Diver?”
“Summer, it’s not Marquez. It’s me, Diana.”