Kelli sat on her other side, talking animatedly and using her hands to describe.
Kelli was who I should be looking at.
Katherine Elsie Donahue. Kelli for short. Daughter of Earl Raymond Donahue and heir to their streaming video empire, DoubleFeature.
Kelli could buy my mother and me three new lives and it wouldn’t put a dent in her fortune. More importantly, she’d been dropping hints that she’d be happy to do just that.
My former classmates didn’t know the complete story of my life, but they knew my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. They knew about my inheritance situations. And those unfortunate enough to meet him, knew my grandfather was a raging dick.
Anyone the least bit perceptive understood our wedding would save me from him. From Kelli’s gentle prodding, she was also discerning enough to know my mom would come with me.
Kelli is perfect, I thought. She’s smart, funny, and sweet. She doesn’t tackle me into the dirt. Call me a jackass. Play mind games. Or dump me and then ask me to marry her. I should sit Kelli down that night and lay it all out on the table.
My future budget-planning consisted of buying a secure property, taking on a live-in nurse, and rehiring a driver. Time to find out if Kelli could see that in her future too.
Belle rose from the pool chair, drawing my attention from Kelli. She gestured at her forehead and even clutched the back of her neck for effect, wincing and rolling her head.
“Hey, guys.”
Finnegan, Colton, and Gunnar blocked my view of the pool, standing in front of the sliding door.
Finnegan elbowed Gunnar. “It’s a hot day. Let’s all go for a swim.”
“Yes, please.”
The three tromped outside.
“Nathan.” Owen pulled up a chair at my table. “Do you have the schedule for today? I can’t find my packet.”
“Yeah,” I replied, turning to him. “I had a pic on my phone until I threw that in the sea.”
He laughed like I was kidding.
“Stuffed it in my pocket instead.” Fishing it out, I read the day’s torture. “After this we’re discussing the right way to fight with Evanston. Next we’ve got a free period to get clothes for the party this weekend. Last is movie—”
“Ahhh! Put me down, Gunnar!”
Our heads snapped around.
Finnegan and Gunnar hoisted Belle and Kelli in the air.
I tipped my chair over running outside.
“You ladies looked hot,” Finnegan crowed. “We’ll cool you off.”
They spun them overhead.
The crowd of guys yukked it up while Kelli and Belle’s group shouted at them.
“Stop it, Finn!” Delilah grabbed Gunnar’s arm. “Put them down! When will you two grow the fuck up?!”
Gunnar shook her off. “Fucking relax, Winthrop. We’re just messing around.” He reared, mocking that he was going to throw Kelli in, and her screams reached new decibels.
“Gunnar, don’t! Not in the deep end!” She kicked and flailed. “I’m not a good swimmer!”
Belle was no less vocal. Finn held her under the chest and by the crotch. “Get off me,” she bellowed. “I’m not joking! Put me down now!”
I shoved through the guys. “Hey! What the fuck do you two have between your ears besides urinal cakes and jizz-stained socks? They’re not playing with you. Put them down.”
Finn grinned, edging himself and Belle closer to the rim. “We’re just messing around. Calm—”
Belle threw a fierce punch at his arm socket. “Put me down!”
Crying out, Finn collapsed in the elbow and tipped Belle headfirst at the ground. She punched him again.
“Argh!” Finn reared back and threw her.
Time slowed.
The space between my last breath stretched into an eternity as Belle sailed through the air. She came down screaming and cut its abrupt end on the brutal crack of her skull against the rim.
Belle sank below the depths, billowing a red trail to the surface.
“Belle!”
The crowd surged to help her, steps behind me. I leaped in the water, plunging into the echoey world of shouts, screams, blood, and within it, Belle was still.
More bodies jumped into the pool. They helped me lift her up, keeping her head above water as we rushed her to the steps and carried her out.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry,” Finn cried. “It was an accident!”
“The fuck it was! You threw her!” I ran at him. Finn must’ve known it was coming, but he made no move to put up his hands. My punch snapped his neck around and zinged pain up my knuckles. I cut on his teeth. The blood on my hands was his, mine, and Belle’s. The thought sent me after him again.
“Nathan, stop!” Delilah shot in my path. “Belle needs help. Get her to a hospital. I’ll make sure Mrs. Desai deals with him.”
My heart was so loud in my ears, most of what she said didn’t get through. Except for one.
Belle needs help.
“Call an ambulance,” Kelli ordered. She bent over Belle, preforming chest compressions. “Get Mr. Hendrix or Mrs. Desai. Someone call her—”
Belle jerked. Pool water came spewing on my shoe.
I knelt as her crossed eyes fluttered. Gently, I cupped the back of her head, chest tightening at the weeping wound on her forehead.
“Belle?” I brushed the wet strands from her face, and lingered on her cheek. “You’re going to be okay. I promise.”
“Na... than?”
She spoke so softly that thinking she said my name might have been wishful thinking.
Her head lolled, and for a second, our gaze connected. I could’ve sworn before her eyes shut and she went limp—
That she smiled.
MR. HENDRIX AND I SAT in the waiting room, drinking water out of paper cups. The frigid air conditioner sank a permanent chill in my bones, standing my hair on end, and sticking my drying clothes uncomfortably to my back.
“Yes, Mrs. Lewis-Adler. I absolutely agree. Nothing like this has ever happened before. Believe me, we’re just as upset as you are— No, no, of course we don’t feel as you. I can’t imagine what you’re feeling.”
Hendrix had been on the phone with Belle’s mom trying to placate her for the last forty-five minutes.
Belle taught me the rules of the dame. Never raise your voice. Never swear. Never resort to common insults when proper education affords you a wider vocabulary.
I was pretty certain she broke all three rules five minutes after Hendrix called her with the news.
I felt bad for the guy. What happened wasn’t his fault. But then again, I didn’t know a mother who’d be calm and heed her manners after finding out some idiot cracked her daughter’s skull open and she almost drowned.
“He is gone,” Hendrix repeated. “Mr. Finnegan and Mr. Gunnar are packing their bags as we speak. They’ll be off the island by morning. What would you like to do? We have spare rooms now if you’d like to come and be with Belle. Yes,” he said. “I will. Thank you.”
Hendrix slumped at the end of the call. Sinking in the seat like a puppet with cut strings.
“This a first for you?” I asked. “Gropers and head injuries.”
He shot me a wan smile. “This is my third year helping Mrs. Desai run the event. The first year a couple drove a golf cart drunk through town and crashed into a fruit stand. The second year, the guests decided the parties we hold regularly weren’t enough, threw one in their room, and managed to break a hundred-year-old vase and set fire to the rug. But this... no, I wasn’t prepared for this.” The smile dimmed. “We take our job to look after you thirty-six very seriously. I can’t face calling her mother back if something is really wrong.”