Page 14 of The Summer that Changed Everything
But there was no way he’d ever commitmurder.
Or was she simply blinded by her love for him? Her familiarity with him? Although Reggie didn’t believe Lucy’s return meant anything, Anna couldn’t help finding it rather ominous. If all Lucy wanted was a few months by the sea, she could’ve gone to so many other places. Places that didn’t hold such terrible memories. Places where she wouldn’t have to face the friends and families of her father’s victims. Places where she wouldn’t have to deal with the resulting prejudice.
Reggie had to be wrong, didn’t he? Because when Anna looked at the situation from all angles, she could only believe that Lucy would not have come back without averygood reason.
5
Ford was so drawn to the cottage he had a hard time not going back over to it. Although he tried not to think about Lucy and what happened that summer, he was curious about her, and his curiosity seemed to be growing now that he knew she was so close. What was she like now? What’d happened to her after she left North Hampton Beach?
He waited until dark before returning for his tools. But they were no longer where he’d left them, and he couldn’t find them even after walking around the house. She, or someone else, must’ve taken them.
That wasn’t happy news. He’d need them if he planned to keep the yard in tip-top shape, which was somehow important now that he’d gotten it to its current state. Working with plants and soil had been oddly therapeutic for him, especially because he’d brought the yard from ruin to a state of great promise.
He figured he could replace the rake and other things easily enough, though. They hadn’t been expensive to begin with.
The squeak of the screen door on the back porch caused him to freeze. Someone was coming...
He hesitated by the side of the house, where he couldn’t be seen, and waited as someone descended the two steps to the ground. Although he couldn’t see who it was, he knew it had to be Lucy.
She headed down the beach.
Curious, he moved slowly and quietly so that he wouldn’t catch up with her. A fairly strong wind rippled over the water as he watched her bend over to pick up a small piece of driftwood or a seashell and throw it back into the sea. Once, he saw her examine something and slide it into the pocket of the loose-fitting, holey cutoffs she wore with a simple T-shirt.
Her body hadn’t changed much, he realized. She was still slender and athletic. Not just any woman could pull off those baggy cutoffs and still look so appealing...
He remembered encountering her one day as they were filing into the courthouse. Although he had no official role, he’d attended as much of the trial as he could. The whole town had. They were fascinated by it. So many people had known both the victims and the perpetrator. Andhe’dknown the perpetrator’s daughter better than most people. The pain in Lucy’s eyes as they connected with his that day was palpable, made him feel like throwing up, and yet she’d quickly shuttered her expression, blinked stoically and turned away as if he were any other stranger.
He shook his head at how excited his parents had been when he’d brought Christina home. The daughter of a wealthy real estate developer in Florida, she’d had the pedigree Lucy lacked, thus they’d been completely supportive. The fact that Christina and her family had plenty of money was partly why it was so enraging that he couldn’t reach a settlement with her in the divorce. No matter what he offered, she refused it simply because her only goal was to make things more difficult for him.
The echo of his soon-to-be ex-wife’s voice had been reverberating in his head ever since she’d called him yesterday:I’ll just tell our child his father didn’t give a shit about him.
He wouldn’t take that lying down, would do all he could to counteract her lies and vindictiveness. But would it ever be enough? Or would Christina poison their son or daughter against him no matter what?
Lucy had stopped walking. She was facing the sea now, staring out into the black void.
He pulled back into the bushes, suddenly afraid she’d see him and be spooked. But he couldn’t move away.
“Turn around,” he whispered, and then, almost as if she’d heard him, she did.
He held his breath as she slowly wandered closer. She seemed deep in thought, but it was starting to get late. He assumed that was partly what was urging her to go home.
He could see her face clearly for only the few seconds she was in the moonlight, but from what he could tell, she’d matured nicely. Her gorgeous brown eyes and that riot of hair were still her best features.
Still, as much as she looked the same on the outside, he was willing to bet there’d been marked changes on the inside. And he hated to think he might be responsible for some of them.
He waited until she was back in the house and it was safe for him to move. Then he continued back to Coastal Comfort.
He had a sinking feeling this summer wasn’t going to be the peaceful getaway he’d hoped.
That night, Lucy sat at the kitschy blue table in the cottage with a notebook, a pen and a glass of wine. She’d gone over the details of what’d happened when she was in North Hampton Beach fifteen years ago many times—but always with the goal of convincing herself she was wrong to believe anyone could’ve hurt Aurora other than her father. She’d argued with herself for years—insisting she onlywantedto believe it could be someoneelse. Never had she forced herself to make a list of people who might know more than they realized or could’ve harbored some ill will against the most popular girl in school. Entertaining the possibility that it could’ve been one of her peers seemed outlandish. They’d been so young!
But it was equally shocking that her own father could take a life. So she figured she needed to open her mind to whatever the facts presented.
The first person who came to mind was Ford Wagner, probably because she couldn’t quit thinking about him. If his family still owned the same vacation home, he wasn’t staying too far away from her, which made her wish she’d found a different place to rent for the summer. She didn’t think he had anything to do with Aurora’s death—she’d been with him until very late that night—but she thought he might know something that could help. Maybe he was protecting a friend or wasn’t even aware that he held information pertaining to the case, becauseeverything—and everyone, including Aurora—had circled around him that summer. It stood to reason he was connected in some way.
His face appeared in her mind. She remembered how playful he was, how much he liked to tease her, and had to smile, although a bit sadly, when she imagined his big hand engulfing hers as they walked down the beach. It’d felt like she could tell him anything.
Closing her eyes, she allowed herself to relive the first time he ever approached her. He’d seemed surprisingly shy, as if he didn’t know what to say. She hadn’t expected that; every girl in North Hampton Beach had wanted him. He’d told her later his reticence was because she didn’t seem to be interested in the same things other girls were, and he’d assumed that would include him.
