Page 98 of The Summer that Changed Everything
She grimaced. “They can’t seriously think you did.”
“Probably not with any degree of conviction. Stephanie Beaumont, who was with Aurora the night of the party, just turned over some text messages that are freaking everyone out. That’s all.”
“What’d they say?”
He wished he didn’t have to answer that question, but he knew he had no choice. Hehadto inoculate his wife againstwhat she was going to hear around town—maybe from the police themselves. “That she was going out on the river with me and then I’d be taking her home.”
Kira nearly dropped the groceries.“What?”she exclaimed as she caught the bag. “How could anyone think... I mean, youdidn’ttake her out on the river that night, did you?”
“No. She wouldn’t leave the party. She was too obsessed with Lance Zampino, was hoping he’d take her to bed.”
When she blinked in obvious confusion, he feared he’d let too much bitterness leak into his voice. “What is it?” he asked.
“You say you didn’t take her out, but somehow the boat still ended up down here?”
“Right. Isn’t that crazy? That’s why Ford came over. And the police might stop by and ask me some of the same questions.”
Her jaw dropped. “Oh, my gosh! This could be serious?”
“I was with her at the party, so that’s nothing new. Doesn’t matter what they think, anyway. It only matters what they can prove.” As an afterthought, he added, “And the police don’t really want to find or prove anything new. They think they already have their guy.”
She cocked her head. “Because they do, right?”
He hadn’t stated that firmly enough, which was a Freudian slip, something he’d inadvertently allowed to leak out because heknewthey didn’t. “Of course,” he said with a laugh, trying to make up for that mistake as he started toward the house. The less said, the less chance he had of screwing up, so he was eager to end the conversation.
It took her a moment, but she eventually followed him inside, and he immediately changed the subject. “Why don’t I take the afternoon off so we can go to the beach? Then we’ll eat out instead of cooking.”
“I thought you wanted to finish your painting,” Kira said.
“It can wait,” he told her. “I’d rather be with you.”
She seemed slightly hesitant—troubled—which worried him, but his enthusiasm eventually won out, and she got into the spirit of having a fun day as a family. “Why don’t I pack a picnic?”
“That would be great. I’ll go put away my paints.” Leaving her in the kitchen, he put Kenzie in her doorway jumper, where Kira would be able to see her, and hurried to his studio.
He’d done what he had to do, he told himself. Now he just had to hope there’d be no more surprises.
27
On the drive home, Ford was mad at himself for doubting Chet. But he could remember how obsessed Chet had been with Aurora—and such strong emotion could get out of hand.
“What happened that summer hurteveryone,” he muttered as he turned down his street.
He was anxious to get back to Lucy. He wanted to tell her about his conversation with Chet, go out for a late lunch and then head to the beach. While he was looking into Chet’s face, a face that was so benign and familiar to him, he’d started to feel like a real jerk for even wondering if one of his oldest friends was hiding something.
That was bad enough, but as he reached Coastal Comfort, he saw something that upset him all over again. His brother had wasted no time in coming to North Hampton Beach. Houston’s Ford Expedition was in the driveway.
Wondering how Lucy was faring with his brother, Ford parked in the driveway, too, instead of pulling into the garage, and jumped out of his vehicle. But when he barged into thehouse, Lucy wasn’t there. He found only Houston, watching the golf channel.
Ford didn’t even greet this brother. He glanced around the kitchen, then at the deck beyond the wall of windows that faced the sea and down the hallway toward the master bedroom. “Where’s Lucy?”
“Don’t know,” he said with a careless shrug. “She left.”
Irritated that Houston would crash the best summer of his life—his only chance to enjoy being with Lucy—he stalked into the bedroom and saw Lucy’s things were gone.
Immediately pulling out his suitcase, he started tossing his clothes inside.
A creak sounded in the hall just as he was zipping it up.
