Down By The Water (2 page)

THREE

“Take me home?” I gaped at him. “I'm not going anywhere with you. I don't even know you!”

Ty stayed low, balancing his weight on his heels. “Totally true. But it looks like you don't know anyone else around here, either.” He glanced at the sky. “And it looks like it's gonna be storming in about twenty minutes. I can't let you sit out here on the side of the road, sweetness.”

I bristled at the endearment. “Don't call me that.”

His eyes twinkled. “Well, you won't tell me your name so I need to call you something.”

I ignored him and looked up at the sky instead. The sun still blazed in a sky thick with heat but a blanket of angry clouds was marching in from the south. Dark blue, descending. Just like water.

I swallowed. “That storm headed this way?”

He nodded. “Nothing severe, I don't think. But it's gonna be a downpour. Probably a little thunder and lightning, too.”

I didn't say anything, just took another drink of water and continued to stare at the sky. Maybe if I closed my eyes and clicked my heels, a little magic would kick in and get me the hell out of there.

“Look, I'll call Jimmy and see where he is,” Ty said. “But even if he can get you towed to the shop, they're not going to do anything with it until Monday morning.”

I turned to look at him. “What??”

“Auto shop's already closed for the day,” he said. “And Sven doesn't work on Sunday. Never has. So the soonest you'll get this looked at is Monday morning.”

I stood up. “I can't wait that long. I'm moving into a new apartment today. I'm supposed to be picking up the keys tonight. In Madison.”

I thought about the email confirmation I'd received from the management office at Oak Terrace apartments. They knew I was driving in from North Dakota, had made arrangements for me to get the keys from the on-site property manager some time after dinner. I had his apartment number, his phone number. I was set.

Except I was still six hours away.

“I don't think you're going anywhere tonight, sweetness.”

I glared at him. “Stop calling me that, dammit.”

He waited expectantly and I sighed.

“Lily.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Is that your favorite flower or something?”

I scowled. “No. It's my name.”

Ty smiled and the dimple in his cheek appeared. “Well. Nice to meet you, Lily.” He fished a set of keys out of his pocket. “Grab your stuff and let's go.”

But I didn't move. I stood there, frozen, as I mulled over my options. It didn't take long because I realized I didn't have many. I could stay with the car and hope Ty was wrong about the tow truck driver. Or I could go with him. If I stayed and Jimmy the tow truck driver didn't show up, I'd be stuck with either staying at the car—with nothing to eat or drink, and no way to contact anyone—or I'd have to hike the four miles into Pelican Lake. I stole a quick glance at the sky. And I'd have to do it in the middle of what looked like it was going to be a massive summer storm.

“Look,” I said, my voice wavering just a little. “I didn't mean to come off like a bitch. I'm sorry. But I don't know you. I'm not just gonna get in your truck with you and go, you know?”

He nodded his head slowly, agreeing. “Yeah, I get that. I could be some serial killer or something. Maybe I'm just making stuff up about knowing Jimmy. Maybe there is no Jimmy.” He said it so casually, his voice so calm, that it sent tingles up my spine.

“I mean, maybe I already offed him,” he continued. He motioned to the highway. “Maybe his truck is just out of sight. Pushed into a corn field or something.”

I listened intently, my heart beginning to race. Holy shit. This was not something I'd bargained for.

“Or maybe,” he said, his eyes returning to mine. “Maybe I'm just a nice guy who wants to help.” He reached into his pocket again and withdrew a cell phone. “Maybe I'll let you use this to call whoever you want. Including your family and the tow truck company. And A-Plus Auto. And my mom.” He grinned. “So she can vouch for me.”

I felt the heat rise in my cheeks.

“I'm a nice guy,” he said gently. He smiled and his eyes crinkled at the corners. “Just looking to help you out. That's it. I promise.” He held the phone out to me. “So. Who do you want to call first?”

I hesitated. Then, before I could change my mind, I took it from him. Without thinking, I dialed a number. I stepped away from Ty, moving back towards my broken-down, piece of shit car.

Jenna picked up on the first ring. “Are you at the mechanic's?”

“No. The tow truck driver never showed up.”

“What? How?”

“I dunno.” I could hear Ty open the door of his truck and I inched closer to my car, lowering my voice. “This other guy stopped, though.”

“Is he fixing it? Or towing it?”

“No.” I chewed on my lip. “He's going to give me a ride into town.”

“What?” Jenna's voice grew agitated. “Where? Where is he taking you? What town? Who is this guy?”

“Relax,” I said. It was weirding me out, hearing my younger, completely screwed up sister freak out about me.

“I'm not going to relax,” she said. “You're in the middle of nowhere. No, that's not true. You know where you are. We weren't ever going back, Lily.” Her voice was laced with panic. “You need to get out of there.”

“I know.” I swallowed against the lump in my throat. “I'm trying. He's just giving me a lift. I'll figure something out. I just didn't want you to worry.”

“I'm coming,” she announced.

“No, you're not.” My voice was sharp.

“You need help.”

“No, I don't.”

“Do you...” she faltered and tried again. “Do you want me to call Dad? Mom?”

I shook my head hard. “No. Absolutely not.”

“But, Lily...”

My voice was almost a whisper “Neither of them were on board with me leaving. They're sure as shit not going to be on board when they found out where my car broke down. And you're not gonna tell them. Got it?”

Jenna didn't respond and I could picture what she was doing. Chewing on her own lip, a nervous habit we'd both inherited from our mother. Tugging on her earlobe, twisting the diamond stud she always wore, her flesh turning an angry pink as she tightened her grip. Probably pulling a cigarette out of her purse, desperate to hold something so she wouldn't shove her fingernails into her mouth.

“Promise me,” I said. “Promise me you won't say anything. I'll be fine.”

“But...”

“No buts.”

“You can't go back there,” my sister said, her voice barely a whisper.

I didn't say anything for a long time, just held the phone to my ear, letting the silence hang over us.

Finally, I spoke. “I don't have a choice.”

FOUR

“Are we good to go?”

I handed the phone back to Ty. “I guess.”

We were sitting in the cab of his truck, my purse and duffel bag at my feet, the air-conditioner on full blast. He'd handed me another bottle of water as I made a few more calls. To the rental office at Oak Terrace, letting them know I'd had car trouble. To Timely Towing, where my call was directed to an answering machine. And to A-Plus Auto, where the recording informed me they were indeed closed until Monday.

He took the phone and his fingers grazed mine. “Let me make one more call.” He tapped at the screen and the phone began to ring. He'd put the call on speaker.

“Hello?” A woman's voice.

Ty smiled. “Mom.”

“Are you going to be late for dinner?” she asked.

“Nope,” he said. He shifted the truck into drive. “Just wanted to let you know I'm bringing a guest. If that's okay.”

“A guest? Not Caroline
—” I wasn't sure but I thought I heard a flicker of hope in her voice.

He cut her off. “No, no. Someone passing through town. Her car broke down. I didn't want to leave her out on the highway.”

“Oh.” She sounded surprised. “Of course. Well, we're having taco bake. And a Jello salad. I hope that's okay?”

Ty glanced at me, eyebrows raised and I bit back a smile.

“I think that's fine, Mom.” He stepped on the gas and the truck lumbered back on to the highway. “We'll be there in a few.” He ended the call and and tossed the phone into an empty drink holder.

“See?” he said. “I'm totally cool. Even if my mom is a bit of a nut.” He rolled his eyes. “Who the hell serves Jello salad with a taco casserole?”

I smiled in spite of myself and the situation I was in. Ty was definitely a good guy.

“Thanks,” I said.

He just nodded and turned the radio up a notch, some country song I didn't know. He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel to the beat, his eyes focused on the road.

I leaned against the side of the truck and stared out the window, trying to steel myself for what was coming. Pelican Lake.

It had been ten years since I'd been there. Since Jenna had been there. Since my whole family had been there.

I wondered if it would look the same, if the images that had been seared into my memory would ring true. I'd clung to the strangest details. The farm on the outskirts of town, the one with a blue barn. It was the first blue barn I'd ever seen. The log cabin home tucked among the corn fields, beautifully rustic and awkwardly out of place. The soft serve shack in the middle of the post office parking lot, a three-foot plastic ice cream cone spinning on the rooftop. It was a swirl cone, chocolate and vanilla, and my parents had promised us girls a trip into town for ice cream before we headed back home. We'd never gotten it.

“You're awfully quiet,” Ty said.  “You feeling okay?”

I squirmed a little in my seat. The water had run right through me and I had to pee. But it was more than that. “Yeah. I'm fine.”

He noticed. “We're almost there. Just a few more minutes.”

The blue barn came into view just as the first raindrops splattered against the windshield. I stared at it as we passed, trying to stem the flood of emotions and memories bubbling dangerously close to the surface. It must have gotten a fresh coat of paint recently because it was vibrant and bright, a beacon of color against the darkened sky. We passed the tiny, local supermarket and the used car lot. A-Plus Auto was out my window, a closed sign hanging in the door, the parking lot deserted. I swiveled on the bench seat and saw the soft serve shack, the ice cream cone still dancing slowly on the roof. And then stop signs where the highway morphed into Pelican Lake's main thoroughfare, streets branching off from it, neat, tidy houses lining those roads. I wondered which one was Ty's, where we would turn.

But he kept driving.

“I thought you lived in Pelican Lake?” But even as I said it, I couldn't remember him ever telling me he lived in town. I had just assumed.

“You been here before?” he asked.

I hesitated. “Once. A long time ago.”

“I do live in Pelican Lake.” The speed limit changed back to 55 and he stepped on the gas. “Right on the outskirts.”

I inhaled sharply. “Where?”

But I didn't need to ask. I knew. Because he slowed down almost immediately, right at the entrance of the one place I never thought I'd see again.

“I live here,” he said, pulling into the gravel driveway of the Lake Land Camping Resort.

I didn't want to remember it, but I did. It was one of those things I didn't allow myself to forget, despite how hard I tried to do so. The wooden sign mounted in a bed of tiger lilies, the orange, star-shaped flowers waving in the breeze, their blossoms darkened by the rain still falling. The two-story, white stucco home that housed the owners of the resort. The rows of fifth wheels and RVs just visible beyond the grove of white birch trees and red pines. And further still, just out of sight, the stretch of tent sites that abutted the river.

I could feel my breath hitch in my throat, could taste the panic on my tongue. My heart slammed into my ribs, bruising them, and the roar sounded again in my ears, a freight train bearing down on me. I didn't think, just reacted. I reached for the door handle and turned. I jumped out of the cab, stumbling as I tried to find my footing. My left foot slid a little, my sandal slipping on the wet gravel but I fought for balance.

The truck screeched to a stop and Ty was instantly by my side. He grabbed me by the shoulders. “What the hell are you doing?”

Lightning streaked across the sky and I struggled out of his grasp. “I can't stay here. I can't be here.” Rain pounded down, drenching me. I welcomed it as it pelted my scalp and skin, as it soaked my thin t-shirt and denim shorts, trailing down my bare legs.

He reached for me again, his fingers digging into my wet flesh. “What are you talking about?”

I couldn't explain to him. I couldn't tell him what being back in Pelican Lake meant to me, what being back at Lake Land resort did to me. I couldn't do it because I'd never planned on coming back.

“Hey.” His grip loosened and I felt his fingers caress my skin. “Are you okay?”

My eyes filled with tears. No, I was not okay. I was a fucking wreck. But there were things I couldn't say—not to people I knew and certainly not to a total stranger.

I swallowed a few times, trying to calm myself down. Deep breaths in and out, just like Dr. Shepard had taught me. I closed my eyes, breathing through my nose, expelling through my mouth. I closed my eyes and counted silently in my head, one to twenty, nice and slow.

I opened my eyes. It was still raining. Thunder reverberated off the in distance. And I was still where I didn't want to be.

But I was okay. For now.

Ty's hand was still on my arms. His eyes were filled with concern. “Are you okay?” he repeated.

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“What the hell was that about?”

“I...I don't know.” I tried to think of something to say, something that wouldn't make me look like a fucking psychopath.

“Well, you just leaped out of a moving vehicle.” He let go of me and folded his arms across his chest. Drops of rain dripped from the rim of his hat but he didn't seem to care. “Figured you must have decided you have a huge problem with eating taco casserole and Jello salad at the same meal.”

I almost smiled. “No, no.” I shook my head. What the hell could I tell him? Not the truth. “I just thought about what you said back on the highway. The whole serial killer thing. And, I don't know. I guess I kind of panicked.” It sounded ridiculously lame, even to me.

Ty's eyebrows drew together in concern. “Oh, shit. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have joked around like that.” He shoved his hands in his shorts pockets and leveled his eyes on mine. Even with his hat on, drops of water clung to his eyelashes and dripped from his chin but, if it bothered him, he didn't show it. “I'm not. Promise. And if you'll get back in the truck and drive another hundred yards or so, you can go in the house and see I'm just a normal guy.” He smiled. “With a really weird mom.”

He was trying to bring some much-needed levity to the situation and I appreciated it. Mostly because it got me off the hook for looking like a lunatic.

I looked down at my drenched shirt and shorts. “I'm going to get your truck soaking wet.”

“Hello?” he said, motioning to his clothes. “
We're
going to get the truck wet.”