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She’s watching the patio light flick on and off like some sort of drug dealer signal when Tessie calls. Flopping onto the bed, Ash slides her finger over the screen of her phone and lets out a heaving sigh as a hello.
Skipping dinner seemed like the best option. She couldn’t face Nathaniel without a game plan, without dissecting her emotions, her fuck-up. And she needs her cousin to talk her through it.
“Well?” Tessie says, sounding harried. “Let it rip.” All that’s visible are her nostrils. The camera jostles like a found footage film and then steadies.
Ash squints. “Are you in the bathtub?”
“I’m in my overwhelmed mommy era,” Tessie hisses. Fullyclothed, she pulls the shower curtain around her. “I have to hide every chance I get.”
After explaining what happened at the pool, Ash says, “Nothing, and I mean nothing, will ever top the shock of this reveal. The audible gasp that came out of my mouth when I saw her…” A shudder racks her at the memory.
Tessie studies her, head tilted and dark eyes thoughtful. “So you’re saying you feel bad?”
“Of course I feel bad.” Ash chews her lip. “I ruined people, Tessie. I actively worked to dissolve a union with malicious intent.”
“You’re not a serial killer, Ash.”
“It feels like it.”
“You were hurt. After Jakob.”
The hardness in Tessie’s voice brings back flashes of the moment she physically tackled her cousin on the front lawn of her parents’ house to keep her from rushing to Jakob’s apartment with her power saw. “We’ve all been where you’ve been,” Tessie continues. “Where we want to fuck up the person who hurt us. And sometimes, when we can’t, we take it out on everyone else.”
“I was in the wrong, though. All this time, I thought he was a devil, a cheater, but—”
“But he’s tolerable.”
Ash scoffs. “Hell no. He’s literally the worst person I’ve ever met. But he is taller than me. So there’s that.”
“Not a cheater. And he’s tall? And he saved you in a rockslide? I don’t know, Ash.” Tessie’s brown eyes sparkle. “Sounds like Nathaniel Whitford might not be the worst.”
“I don’t like this. This opposite thing we’re doing. I’m the one who gives advice, and you’re the one who complains.”
Tessie laughs. “Tough. I’m your vacation fairy godmother living vicariously through you.” With a grunt, she reclines in the tub. Rubs her belly. “Take a photo of him for me. I want to see what he looks like.”
Ash stifles a laugh. “Hard pass.”
Tessie pouts. “Please, I’m bored, and Solomon has no plan to leave my side for the next four months.”
“You love it,” Ash hisses.
“I heard that.”
There’s a growl in the background. Then the shower curtain is torn open. A grinning Solomon stands tall behind Tessie. Peggy Sue sharks along the side of the tub. Bear screeches and hurdles over the edge. Tessie squeals and bobbles the phone as she hugs him to her with her free arm.
“So what do I do?” Ash shouts, knowing she has about five seconds before it’s chaos.
“Apologize,” Tessie orders as she’s rocked by her son and her image goes blurry. “It’s the oldest trick in the book. And guess what? It works!” Tessie and Solomon erupt in wild giggles before the screen goes black.
Ugh, they’re too cute for words. Heart sinking, Ash tosses her phone onto the nightstand. She hates everything about this day.
Once again, the light to the patio flickers on. Then the silhouette of Nathaniel’s tall frame passes by her room. He’s waiting. Most likely to murder her. And she wouldn’t blame him. That fifty-foot drop to the beach sounds pretty good right now.
The light flicks off.
Her blood churns faster in her veins as her thoughts spin out.
The photo she saw was a setup.
