His words stunned me. "Seriously? You think you were wrong?"
"I was furious and frustrated. Your family, your friends, were stonewalling the investigation. But perhaps I overreacted."
"So you don't blame me anymore? You don't think I'm responsible?"
His gaze hardened. Before he could answer, Brooklyn shouted impatiently from the open door of the limo. "Willow. We will leave without you."
I believed her. "I have to go."
"Don't you want answers to your questions?"
"I know the answers. What I don't know is why you're here or what you're up to. Don't come to the wedding, Drake. If you like Kelsey at all, don't mess this up for her. She doesn't deserve that."
Hearing my name called again by a furiously impatient Brooklyn, I hurried down the path. As I squeezed into the limo, I was surprised at how quiet it was. Drake had put a pall over the entire group. For the first time since we'd all boarded the ferry, I wasn't the only one remembering the past.
Melanie's Diary—June 18th
Summer is here! I'm so excited to see my friends. Any minute now, Willow will get off the ferry and come staggering down the pier, probably seasick or falling asleep on Dramamine, but I don't care. I can't wait to see her. We're going to have so much fun in the next two months. Hopefully, some fun I can write about.
Mom gave me this diary for my sixteenth birthday four months ago. She thinks I need an outlet for my feelings. But it has been so dull on Hawk Island, I haven't felt inspired to write anything down. Hopefully, that will change soon.
In the meantime, I'll tell you about Willow. We were twelve when we first met, but it took us two years to become friends. Willow is shy and quiet and is always in the background. At first, I thought she was kind of boring, to be honest. But then she got a camera and became this super cool, imaginative kid who wanted to explore the island. And since that's what I love to do, we got to be best friends.
We've been all over the island together. Willow wants to be a professional photographer and travel the world. I think she'd be great. She sees amazing things through the lens of a camera. I look at flowers and just see flowers, but Willow sees patterns and designs in the petals. She sees the tiny spiderweb wrapping its way around a stem. She sees drops of water on a stone that looks like a seagull. I feel like I see the world differently when she's around.
But Willow doesn't think she's special at all. She's always fading away. Sometimes we'll be at a party, and she'll be right by my side. Then I'll turn around and she's gone. I'll find her later in the shadows somewhere. She always seems surprised that I was looking for her.
Anyway, I have one more year of high school and then I'm leaving Hawk Island. It's not that I don't like it here. It's just too small. The kids who come in the summer have such exciting lives. I've had the same friends since my family moved here when I was in the second grade. I love Gabby and Jenny. Ben and Dillon are like brothers to me. My high school class has forty kids in it. I know everyone inside and out. They're great, but I want more.
Instead of watching the ferry come in, I want to get on it and go somewhere else. I just wish I could leave now. Willow is a year older than me, and she's going to college in San Francisco in the fall. I'm so jealous. She'll have so many adventures. It will also be good for her to get away from her family. She needs to find her light instead of being in their shadows. I don't need to find my light; I just need to be free.
I know I should write more about myself and my feelings, except I'm kind of scared to write them down. That's probably why I've been talking so much about Willow. Maybe next time.
Chapter Three
My mother, Monica Kent, stood by the lunch buffet, which had been set up on a massive deck overlooking Puget Sound. She wore a long-sleeve, body-hugging teal dress that showed off her curves and accentuated her blonde hair. In her late fifties, she could have easily passed for mid-forties, thanks to her dedication to fitness, diet, and cosmetic surgery. She loved when people were surprised that she'd had three kids. Sometimes, I was surprised as well, not because of how she looked, but because she'd never seemed to enjoy being a mother.
Oh, there were some things she cared about, like shopping with Kelsey. That had always been one of their favorite things to do together. With Brooklyn, my mom could talk business, because Brooklyn had followed in my mother's footsteps, going into the investment company that my mother's family had started fifty years ago.
My mom loved me in her own way. I didn't really doubt that. But we had never found common ground. We didn't like the same things or the same people. We just didn't connect. I exasperated her, and she frustrated me. I hadn't really noticed how distant our relationship was until I got to know Melanie and her mom, Sylvie. They would laugh and tell inside jokes. They had such an ease and affection for each other, it made me envious. I'd wished I could find that connection with my mom, but it had always eluded me. Whatever closeness we'd had when I was a child had faded as I grew up and continued to disappoint her with my life choices.
My mother had wanted me to go to college in Seattle; I'd chosen San Francisco. She'd wanted me to either work for her or for my dad's law firm. I'd done neither. I'd had seven jobs in seven years in a variety of industries, most recently real estate. She'd wanted me to live near the family and vacation on the island the way we used to. She thought I should have gotten over that tragic time in my past years ago. But then, she'd never really known how close Melanie and I were. She'd never known a lot of things.
It was weird to look at the woman who gave birth to me and not really feel that much. Was the problem with me? Was it with her? Maybe it was with both of us.
I accepted a glass of champagne from a passing server, who was prepping the crowd for the first of what would probably be many toasts over the next several days. I wasn't going to drink, but I would need to clink my glass with everyone around me.
My sisters had joined my mother now, standing on either side of her, a trio of beautiful blondes. I didn't see anyone waving me to join them. My dad, Larry Kent, was off to the side. He was also attractive and looked younger than his years as Mom made sure that they both kept in shape. His dark hair held no streaks of gray, contributing to his youthful look.
My father stood next to Gage's dad, Sean Chadwick, and his wife, Eileen. Sean had brown hair and eyes, while Eileen was a curvy blonde with a sweet smile. Next to them were Marie and Michael Connelly. Michael was looking at his phone, a bored expression on his face, which was not unusual, while Marie, a born cheerleader, was giving my mom all her attention, obviously wanting to show her support. Most people in our circle of friends believed that Marie and Michael were in a loveless marriage, but Marie had all the money, so Michael would never divorce her.
The younger members of the wedding party were gathered in front of the bar, James and Rachel Connelly, Carter Chadwick and his big brother, Preston Chadwick, who had his arm around his wife, Gabby, while their five-year-old girls were coloring at a nearby table.
The Hamiltons were also present, Louise and Rob and their son Alex, who had come in on the ferry with me. Trina and Dahlia were hanging with Alex and Peter. There were a few other people my parents' age I didn't recognize, but that wasn't surprising; they'd always had a lot of friends.