“I ended it with Austin—” Summer began, but Diana’s dubious look gave her pause. She took a deep breath. “I have to go, Diana. There’s no point in discussing this. If you want to talk about your—your relationship—with Seth, why don’t you give him a call?”
“Are you saying you’re not going to try to reel him back in?”
Beneath the sarcastic tone, Summer could hear a touch of hope. She considered all the hurtful, cutting things she could say. But she was way too tired. “I know this may be hard for you to believe, but not everybody goes through their life with such absolute certainty about what they want. I’m not you, Diana. Thank God.”
Their eyes locked. Finally Diana stepped away and let Summer through.
Summer was almost to the door when she paused. “There’s something else I need to ask you,” she said, barely forcing out the words. “Another favor.”
Diana crossed her arms over her chest. “On the heels of just thanking the Almighty that you weren’t cursed with being me?”
“Okay, so it’s really bad timing.”
“What do you want? You’ve got Seth. You’ve got the stilt house. You’ve got my vow of silence. How about my car? My firstborn? I’ve got an extra kidney I don’t use much….”
“Remember how you proved Ross attacked you?” Summer said suddenly.
Diana blinked in surprise. “Why do you ask?”
“Adam kept telling you no one would believe his brother did it, right?”
“He was telling the truth too. Ross was a senator’s son. And the Merricks had money to burn.” Diana smiled, not at Summer, but at some private satisfaction. “Of course, I got the last laugh, such as it was.”
“You got Ross and Senator Merrick to confess, and you videotaped the whole thing.”
Diana clucked her tongue. “A shame, the way the tabloids got hold of that tape.”
“I want to borrow your new videocamera.”
“I’d lend it to you, really I would. But Mallory gave it to a friend of hers. She’s having twins and taping it for posterity. Which is one film opening I’m personally not dying to see.” She eyed Summer doubtfully. “Summer, you’re not getting in over your head, are you?”
“I don’t have a clue.”
Diana went to the hallway closet and dug through a storage box. After a few seconds she held up a palm-size tape recorder. “You might want to check the batteries. Mallory dictates into it, and she always leaves the thing running….”
“A tape recorder?”
Diana pressed it into Summer’s hand. “I have no idea what you’re up against, but it might come in handy.”
“Thanks.” Summer slipped the tape recorder into her purse. “Really. Thanks. This might just help.”
“Sometimes it helps to be a perceptive witch.”
Summer reached for the doorknob. “Where to?” Diana asked.
“I’ll walk.”
“Summer, you don’t have a lot of time. Diver’s probably not going to stay put much longer. And it’s a long walk back to Coconut.”
They walked to the car in silence. “So. Where to?” Diana asked again.
Summer thought. An idea was taking root in her mind, but she wasn’t quite sure what to do with it.
“Back to Jared’s?” Diana prompted.
“No.” Summer hesitated. “To Austin’s, if you don’t mind.”
Diana’s look said she was not particularly surprised. “No,” she said. “I don’t mind at all.”
“You shaved,” Summer commented when Austin answered the door.
He grinned down at Summer’s legs from behind the screen door. “The question is, can I safely say the same of you?”
Austin swung open the door. He was wearing a pair of pathetically dilapidated jeans. No shirt.
“I know it’s early. Sorry,” Summer apologized, avoiding eye contact with anything visible between his neck and the edge of his jeans.
“I apologize for the chaos. Showering’s as far as I’ve gotten with my rehab.”
“You’re feeling better?”
Austin slipped his arms around her waist. He smelled like soap. “You gave me hope yesterday.”
“I…”
“Don’t worry. It was nothing you said. It was what you didn’t say. You didn’t say ‘get lost.’” He kissed her softly, a sweet breeze of a kiss, then pulled away, smiling. “Can I assume you’re here to tell me you’ve made your choice? You can’t live without me, you need me every waking—”
“Actually, Austin, I kind of need your apartment.”
“Well, living together is a big step, but—”
“Just for an hour or two.”
He planted his hands on his hips. “You’re living at the Ritz and you want to borrow a room at the Motel 6?”
“I can’t use Jared’s. And I can’t use my old apartment because Marquez can’t know about this.”
“This?” Austin’s smile faded. He cleared a spot on the couch. “Sit. What’s this about, anyway? There must be something going on if Diana, the Other Woman, is serving as your chauffeur.”
“It’s a long story.”
“I can be late to work. They’d lose all respect for me if I actually showed up on time.” He sat beside her. “Tell me. Maybe I can help.”
“The thing is, I can’t tell you much, Austin. This is my problem, and I have to figure it out myself. Even if I get it wrong.” She shook her head. “And I’ve been getting plenty of things wrong lately.”
Austin studied her carefully. He reached into his pocket. “Here’s the key. I’ve got an extra. You say the word, I’ll be sure not to be here. Just one thing. You’re not having some sleazy tryst here with a brooding stranger, are you?”
Summer took the key. “Let’s just put it this way,” she said with a smile. “Fresh sheets would be nice.”
Austin laughed. “I’m a guy, Summer. Refresh my memory. What exactly are sheets?”
Summer tucked the key into her purse. “I’ll let you know when I need the apartment. And thanks.”
Austin reached for her hand. “Whatever it is, Summer, trust your instincts. It’ll be okay.”
“I hope you’re right,” Summer said. “But the way things have been going lately, I have my doubts.”
Diana drove back to Crab Claw Key, feeling both exhausted and too hyper to sleep. After dropping Summer off at Austin’s, she hadn’t been quite sure where to go next. Back to Mallory’s? Back to the apartment and the inevitable cold shoulder from Marquez? In the end she decided it didn’t really matter. Diana was scheduled to volunteer later today, so even if she tried to get some sleep, she wouldn’t get much.
It occurred to her that it would be nice if she could talk Marquez into going along with her to the Institute. Maybe if she saw other people going to therapy—kids in much worse shape than Marquez—it might do some good.
Nice idea. Too bad she and Marquez were barely on speaking terms.
Diana cruised down Crab Claw’s center, past white clapboard buildings decorated with sun-faded awnings. The corner bakery was doing a brisk early morning business. Even from the car Diana could smell the yeasty aroma of just-baked bread.
She paused at a four-way stop and hesitated. Coquina Street. Seth’s grandfather lived just down the block.
Mariah Carey was wailing on the radio. Diana turned her off. She needed to concentrate. Mallory’s house was straight ahead. Seth’s grandfather’s house—and potentially, Seth—was to the right.
To turn or not to turn? That was the question.
Behind her an ancient woman in a Cadillac honked.
Diana scowled at the rearview mirror. The woman honked again, more convincingly.
Diana turned.
She’d only gone a few yards when she saw Seth. His back was to her. He was mowing the tiny lawn with an old-fashioned push mower. No shirt, his broad tan back sheened with sweat.
This was insane. She didn’t want him to catch her spying on him like some lovesick kid. She braked, t
hinking she could pull a U. But the street was narrow, and she knew she’d just draw more attention to herself, trying to turn around. Better to cruise on by and act like she hadn’t even noticed him.
But just as she passed the neat white house Seth turned the mower toward the curb. He looked at her. She looked at him. She told her foot to keep pressing the accelerator. But because of some unexplainable freak accident of brain wiring, her foot braked instead, and she pulled over to the curb.
Seth wiped his forehead with the back of his arm. He was just a foot or two away, close enough, almost, to touch. She knew he was going to say something ugly. She knew he was going to make her feel even worse than she already did.
“You’re up early,” he said neutrally.
She tried to swallow, but her mouth was dry as sand. “I don’t know why I’m here,” she blurted.
Seth shrugged. “I don’t know why I’m here, either,” he said. “My grandfather says I should go back to California, finish up the internship. He’s really ragging on me to leave.”
“He’s probably right.”
“Yeah. I know. I guess I’m just…I don’t know. Hoping everything will still work out. Waiting to see how the story ends.”
“Me too.” She forced her mouth into a smile that almost hurt. “Unfortunately I think we’re hoping for different endings.”
Seth leaned close. She smelled the sharp, sweet smell of freshly cut grass. “Are you okay?” he asked softly.
“Like you care?”
He stepped back. “Forget it. Just…forget it.”
Diana stared out the windshield, unable to look him in the eye. “Just tell me this, Seth. All those times we were together and you were holding me and telling me how much I meant to you and…was that all just a big act? All of it?”
“I think—” Seth paused. “I think it was the same thing for me that it was for you.”
She forced herself to look at him. “For me it was real, Seth. Is that how it was for you?”
She didn’t wait to hear his answer. She knew he would just say something awful.
This time her foot had no problem locating the accelerator.
18
Fairy Tales and Other Lies
When Summer returned to Jared’s, he and Juanita were still at the doctor’s. Stan, the butler, had left a Post-it note on Summer’s bedroom door informing her that her mother had called. Summer was to call home immediately.
As she dialed her mom from her bedroom phone, Summer’s first thought was that someone had died. Her second thought was that somehow her mom had found out about Diver. Her third thought was that her mom had discovered that Summer had moved out of the apartment and into the home of a rich invalid.
Of course, there was always D: None of the above.
On standardized tests teachers always said to go with your first hunch.
“Why on earth did you move out and why on earth didn’t you tell me?” her mom demanded as soon as Summer said hello.
So. It was C. No wonder she hadn’t done better on her SATs. At least no one had croaked.
“It’s sort of complicated, Mom.” Summer went to the front window. The van was just pulling up. “I got this job as a companion to a guy who was hurt in an accident. It’s a live-in position—”
“But you and Marquez and Diana were so excited about the apartment, hon.”
“I know. But this is a lot more convenient.” She attempted a laugh. “No commuting.”
“Are you sure everything’s okay?”
“Well, there is one thing. Seth and I…we kind of broke up.”
“Oh, no. Oh, Summer, I’m really sorry. Are you sure it’s, you know, over?”
“I don’t know, Mom. I kind of think so.”
Her mother sighed. “It’s hard to admit, I know. I got the final divorce papers yesterday, but I still can’t quite bring myself to say divorced without choking on the word.”
Summer watched Juanita open the van door and slowly lower Jared’s wheelchair to the driveway. She tried to let the word sink in. Divorced. Her parents were divorced. That meant two houses at Christmas. Two new phone numbers to memorize. Two separate people, strangers living different lives. Strangers who just happened to be her parents.
“I’m really sorry, Mom,” Summer said. “I just wish you’d given it more time. You were both so upset about Diver leaving and all that.”
“This isn’t about Diver, Summer. It’s about your dad and me and the way we look at the world. We’re just too, I don’t know, too different.”
“But you weren’t different, not until Diver came back and all the fighting started.”
“That was just the excuse we needed, Summer. And I hope your brother doesn’t feel he’s to blame. Have you seen him lately?”
“You know Diver.” Summer hesitated. “Even if you see him, you can’t really talk to him.”
Her mother sighed again. “Well, anyway, I’m so sorry about Seth. You always seemed like such a fairy-tale couple. Of course, that’s what people used to say about your dad and me.”
They chatted for a few more minutes. When Summer hung up, she realized her hand hurt from clenching the phone so tightly.
Her mother really didn’t seem to blame Diver for the divorce. Of course, she was a mother. Mothers weren’t supposed to blame their kids for big things. Just little things, like driving them to an early grave.
Talking to Diver today, Summer had been struck by the way he’d talked about his past as if it made sense. As if it weren’t some awful, crazy, unspeakable melodrama. There were so many people in his life he’d had to forgive. Why was it so easy for Diver?
Why was it so hard for her?
Still clutching the phone, Summer opened her bedroom door and went to the top of the stairs. Juanita and Jared were downstairs in the foyer, Juanita fussing, Jared joking.
How many people had Jared had to forgive? Where were his family and his friends now, when he most needed them?
“Summer?” Jared said in his soft voice. “You up for a walk in the garden?”
“Be right there, Jared,” Summer said. “I just need to make a quick call.”
Summer returned to her room. She dialed Blythe’s number.
Caroline answered. “Summer!” she exclaimed. “Any word on Diver?”
“Well, that’s why I’m calling, Caroline. I was hoping we could get together. Maybe early this afternoon sometime?”
Caroline paused for a beat. “Get together?”
“I have a proposition for you,” Summer said. “Something I think will benefit both of us.”
“I don’t—”
“Benefit us financially. I think you should hear me out.”
“Oh. Oh, I see.”
“Why don’t you meet me over at Austin’s place around two?” Summer suggested. “You know where it is.”
“Two,” Caroline repeated. “I’ll be there. I’m glad you called, Summer. I have the feeling we can work something out.”
Summer hung up. Two would be good. Jared would be having physical therapy all afternoon. She’d call Austin and make sure he’d be out of the apartment. She’d meet Caroline there, and then…well, she’d figure out that part when she came to it.
She was sitting across from him in the gazebo, reading out loud, looking as radiant as she did in that photo he kept hidden away. If he closed his eyes, it could almost be last year and Summer could be his girlfriend again, not his paid companion. He could be whole again, not trapped in a wheelchair because on one dark, unhappy, drunken night, he’d driven himself over an embankment, hoping, just a little, that he might die.
If he closed his eyes, he could be Adam, Senator Merrick’s son with the bright future ahead of him. Adam, Ross’s loyal little brother. Adam, Summer’s boyfriend and maybe even her love.
“Jared?”
“Hmm?”
“Are you bored? I could read something else.”
“No, no. It’s great. But maybe we could just talk for a while.”
>
“Sure.” Summer set her book aside.
“Any word on your brother?”
“No, nothing.” She shrugged. “But I’m sure he’ll turn up.”
“I thought maybe your cousin coming over this morning had something to do with Diver.”
Summer looked a little uncomfortable. “No. Diana just wanted to talk.”
“To make peace?” He knew he was prying, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself.
“I suppose. It’s hard to tell with Diana. She’s very, you know, complicated.”
Complicated. He couldn’t help smiling a little. Oh, yes, Diana was complicated, all right. That had been very clear from the moment they’d started dating. How long had it been now? Two? Two and a half years?
“Do you think she’s still in love with Seth?”
Summer hesitated.
“I’m sorry. It’s none of my business. I mean, I hardly know you. It’s just…I guess I’ve sort of been out of touch with that for a while. Dating and all.”
“That’s okay, Jared.” Summer smiled. “It’s no biggie. I was just wondering what the answer was. Yes, I’m pretty sure she’s still in love with Seth. But you never know with Diana. Like I said, she’s complicated.”
Beautiful, complicated Diana. Maybe she hadn’t always been so complicated. Maybe that night with Ross had changed her.
After all, it had changed everything else. It was the first time Adam had wished he wasn’t a Merrick. And it was the only time he’d ever wanted to hurt his brother.
Diana had wanted to press charges, but of course, the Merrick clan had circled the wagons, threatening and cajoling and intimidating her. Family loyalty and all that.
It had destroyed Adam’s relationship with Diana. It had nearly destroyed her. And a year later, when Summer had found out the truth about Ross, it had destroyed Adam’s relationship with her, too.
But in the end, Diana had found a way to get even. The revelation that a Merrick son had attempted rape had been bad enough. But the revelation that the senior Merrick had tried to cover it up had done the senator in. He’d resigned in disgrace.
Still, it hadn’t taken him long to think about a comeback bid, running for governor in New Hampshire. And his son’s drunken accident in Germany wouldn’t have helped his chances any.