“I found some pills,” Diver interrupted. His face was pale. “She told me they were just over-the-counter stuff, diet pills someone at work gave her. I made her throw them away. I figured…I thought she was okay.”
“Well, she’s not okay,” Dr. Lewis said grimly. “Marquez could be on the road to a serious eating disorder. I’m going to give her the name of a support group that meets once a week here at the hospital. Your job is to encourage her to get some help, got it?”
Diver rubbed his eyes. “I told her how beautiful she was. I told her she didn’t need to lose any more weight—”
“It’s not about losing weight, Diver,” the doctor said gently. “For people with eating disorders, it’s all about getting control over their lives. This is the only way they know to do it. Has Marquez been under a lot of stress lately?”
“Her family lost their house and business and moved to Texas. They were really close,” Summer said. “And she didn’t get into the college she wanted, and she caught her boyfriend in bed with another girl—”
The doctor cast a dark glance at Diver.
“No, not Diver,” Summer added quickly. “Her former boyfriend. And she’s been having money problems and working what seems like quadruple shifts.”
“So the answer is a definite yes,” the doctor said as she stood. “Look, it’s important for her friends to be supportive, but in the end what Marquez really needs is professional help. Do what you can, okay?”
“We will,” Summer promised.
“Can we see her?” Diver asked.
“Of course. Maybe she’ll be a little more talkative with you than she was with us. They’re taking her up to the third floor, east wing.”
Diver and Summer headed to the elevator. “I should have done something,” Diver said. “I should have known.”
“I was thinking the same thing.”
“I can’t let anything happen to her, Summer.”
“I was thinking that too.”
Marquez’s room was lit only by a small light over her bed. Beneath the peach blanket, she looked impossibly frail. Her hair fanned over the crisp pillow in dark ribbons.
When they stepped through the door, she closed her eyes. Her lower lip trembled. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, and then Diver and Summer ran over and hugged her and yelled at her and cried with her, and then they did it all over again.
“You don’t have to walk me down,” Summer told Diver as they waited at the elevator half an hour later. “I’m sure I can find the cafeteria. I’ll just follow the smell of overcooked cabbage.”
“I don’t mind. I wanted to talk to you alone. We need to really keep an eye on Marquez, okay? You and me together, I think we can pretty much cover her all the time.”
The doors slid open. Diver stepped into the empty elevator, but Summer just stood there, contemplating him.
“What?” Diver demanded, hands upraised.
“Nothing.” Summer entered the elevator and jabbed the button for the first floor.
“No, what?”
“It’s just…I look at you here with Marquez. You practically arm wrestle the night nurse into submission till she agrees you can sleep in Marquez’s room. You’re ready to turn into the Pill Police to help her. And the way you were just so…so there for her tonight.”
“Is there a problem with that?”
“No. I’m really glad for Marquez. I love her too. She’s my best friend, don’t forget. It’s just that—” She shrugged. She was tired. She shouldn’t have started this. She was upset about Marquez and upset about Austin. She most definitely shouldn’t have started this. She and Diver had already had this discussion.
The doors opened. Diver stepped into the empty corridor. “It’s just that I couldn’t be there for Jack and Kim and you back in Minnesota, right?”
Jack and Kim. He could never, ever bring himself to call them Mom and Dad.
“I’m sorry I brought it up. I’m tired, is all. We’ve done this, Diver. Let’s not go through it again.”
Summer followed a sign that pointed toward the cafeteria. But Diver persisted, trailing her down the hallway. Other than the occasional nurse or orderly, the hospital seemed deserted. Summer checked her watch. It was so late. She wondered if she should call Seth in California when she got home. It was three hours earlier, but he’d probably be in bed already. Still, it would be nice to hear his voice after this awful night.
“Summer.” Diver grabbed her arm, forcing her to a halt. “Jack and Kim are my biological parents. But they were my parents for only two years. I had other parents—” His voice caught. “Bad parents, but still, parents.”
“They kidnapped you, Diver. I’d say that rates right up there on the bad-parent scale.”
Diver grimaced. “When you found me last summer, it was too much too fast. You pushed so hard. You wanted me to be the brother you’d lost, Jack and Kim wanted me to be the son they’d lost…I don’t know. I couldn’t live up to your expectations.” He paused, searching for words. “With Marquez there aren’t any expectations. That’s why I can be there for her. It’s easier.”
“That’s always the deal with you, Diver. You always do what’s easy. You walked out on Mom and Dad without even giving them a chance because it was easy, and now they’re divorcing. I’m glad it was easy for you.” She choked back tears. “It wasn’t so easy for them.”
“Please, Summer, whatever there is between us,” Diver said, “whatever bad blood, we need to work together to help Marquez.”
“Marquez is my best friend. I’m not the one who needs lessons in loyalty—” She stopped when she saw Blythe and Caroline come through the doors of the cafeteria.
Blythe waved when she saw them. “So? How’s she doing?” she asked, walking over.
“She’ll be fine,” Summer said, trying to collect herself. “She just, uh, overdid it.”
“Thank God. Someone needs to slow that girl down a little. Oh, Diver, this is Caroline—”
Caroline gasped. “Oh, my Lord!” she shrieked. “I swear, it really is you, isn’t it?” She grabbed Diver by the shoulders. “Paul? Paul Lamont? Don’t you recognize me?”
Diver shook off her grip and took a step backward. “You’ve got the wrong guy—”
“Car, this is Diver Smith, Summer’s brother,” Blythe interjected.
Caroline frowned. “Wow, this is really eerie. I mean, you look exactly like this next-door neighbor of mine who—well, never mind, it’s a very long story. Are you sure you never lived in Virginia? Positively sure?”
Diver offered up one of his patented charming smiles. “I’m sure I’d remember if you’d been my neighbor,” he said. “Sorry to disappoint you.”
Caroline frowned. “But I—”
“Gotta go,” Diver interrupted. With a quick glance at Summer, he headed off down the corridor, practically jogging.
“Boy, I could have sworn that was him,” Caroline said. She nudged Summer. “You’re absolutely sure he’s your brother?”
Summer sighed. “You know, Caroline, sometimes I really wonder.”
4
What Diana Wants, Diana Gets.
The apartment seemed terribly lonely when Summer got home. The truth was, it wasn’t really even “home” yet—she and Diana and Marquez had just moved in a couple of days earlier. And now, with Marquez in the hospital and Diana in California, it felt alien, as if Summer were staying in an empty hotel. A hotel with a really cheesy interior decorator.
After a long search, Summer located Diana’s cell phone and dialed Seth. By now she knew the number by heart.
Seth was doing an internship for a company in California that built racing sailboats. He shared an apartment in Newport Beach with some guys from the sailboat company.
Summer wondered if he and Diana had managed to get together that weekend. Diana was in California with her mom, a romance author who was on a book-signing tour. Summer had encouraged Diana to stop in and say hi to Seth if she could find the time. It wasn’t n
early as good as visiting Seth herself, of course. But at least she could get the lowdown on Seth’s apartment, his roommates, that sort of thing. And more important, she could get a feel for how he was faring without her. It was so hard to read people over the telephone.
The phone rang three times before someone finally picked it up.
“Hello?” The voice was low, throaty, a little annoyed. A girl’s voice.
Summer winced. Seth had two guy roommates. This was probably someone’s girlfriend. She hoped she wasn’t interrupting anything.
“Um, I’m sorry to call so late. Is Seth Warner there?”
A long pause. “Summer?”
“Yes?”
“It’s me, Diana.”
“Oh, I…I didn’t recognize your voice. You sounded sleepy.”
“Well, it is late.”
“So you caught up with Seth okay, huh?”
Another pause. “Oh, yes. We had a very interesting evening, actually.”
“You want interesting? We’ve just had the evening from hell here. I came home tonight to find Marquez passed out on the floor—”
“Oh, my God! What happened?”
“She’s okay. Just a cut on her head. She’s staying overnight at the hospital for observation. But the doctor says she needs some counseling.”
“The dieting, right?” Diana sighed. “I already tried to get her to see someone.”
“You did?”
“Right before I left for California. She wasn’t interested. Damn. I knew she was in trouble.”
“Diver thinks we’re going to have to keep an eye on her, all of us.”
“Yeah.” Diana sighed. “Assuming she’ll let us.” She fell silent.
“Well, um, I guess if you could pass me on to Seth—”
“Seth?” Suddenly Diana’s voice was animated. “Yeah, hold on a minute. He’s right here.”
Summer heard whispered voices, some shuffling, then the sound of someone grabbing the receiver.
“Seth?”
“Yeah, I’m here.” The edge in his voice startled Summer. “Where were you tonight, anyway? I called before.”
“I—at the hospital. Marquez—”
“Diana just told me. I’m glad Marquez is okay. I meant before that. Where were you before?”
With Austin, Summer answered silently. With Austin, saying good-bye.
Suddenly a terrible thought came to her. What if Diana had told Seth that Austin was living on Coconut Key? Summer had asked her not to mention it. But if it had slipped out accidentally, Seth, being Seth, would no doubt be assuming the worst….
“Seth, what’s wrong? You sound kind of weird. Are you upset about something? Is everything okay?”
A short exhalation of breath, then silence.
“Seth?”
“Look, Summer, I’m flying back to Florida with Diana. I’ve got a little cash saved, and Diana’s going to front me the rest till I can pay her back. I’ve got to see you.”
“Oh, Seth, that’s so fantastic! I need to see you, too, so badly.”
“I’m flying back with Diana day after tomorrow, if I can get a flight.”
“How long can you stay?”
“I don’t know. As long as it takes.”
Summer frowned. “What do you mean? Are they giving you time off work this soon? What about the internship?”
“Screw the internship. I just have to see you, okay?”
“Me too. It’s like you read my mind. I hate being separated this way. It’s so hard.”
He didn’t answer.
“Seth?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you, Seth.”
“Do you?” Seth whispered. “Do you really, Summer?”
“Of course I do,” she said. The line hissed with static. “Seth? This is the part where you say ‘I love you’ back.”
“You already know that,” Seth said softly, and then the line went dead.
Diana watched Seth as he hung up the phone. His smooth bare chest glistened in the moonlight. He was so beautiful. And so close to being hers completely.
“Are you sure about flying back?” she asked softly. “Maybe you should wait, let things sink in. You’re awfully upset right now.”
“I’m not ending this over the phone. I want to see her. I want to hear her tell me to my face that it’s over.”
Diana began kneading his tight shoulders. “I don’t know…maybe you’re right. Maybe it’s better to get this over with quickly. Better for you and for Summer.”
“And for you?” he asked caustically.
She let it go. He was angry at her for telling him the truth. It would pass. She could wait. All that mattered was that she was the one in his room at that moment, touching him in the darkness. Not Summer.
“She said she loved me.” He said it pleadingly, a question that needed answering.
Diana brushed the nape of his neck with her fingertips. She had to choose her words with care. If she handled this right, Seth would turn to her when he realized it was really over with Summer. But if she pushed too hard, he’d come to see Diana as part of the messy breakup and leave her behind when he left Summer.
“I think Summer probably does love you, Seth, in her way,” Diana said carefully.
Seth turned to her. “I have to be sure,” he said. “I’ve got to see her one more time before I…you know. Before I end it.”
“I know,” Diana said. “I understand.”
That wasn’t what she’d had in mind. She’d pictured a long-distance breakup, courtesy of AT&T. The usual, with lots of accusations and sobbing and Kleenex. Then Summer would fall into Austin’s arms—where she’d spent plenty of time already—and Diana would stick around a while longer to provide Seth with the necessary aid and comfort. By the time his internship was over and he returned to Coconut Key to finish out the summer, they’d all be the best of friends.
Or at least on speaking terms.
Or at least no one would be facing homicide charges.
But if Seth went back to Florida right away, there could be problems. Summer could string him along the way she had the last time, when he’d caught her with Austin. Seth was vulnerable that way. He’d fallen for Summer’s promises before.
And then there was the little matter of the engagement ring. That had been a gamble, sure. Diana knew it was only a matter of time before Summer heard about Diana’s little ruse.
She’d be furious, of course. First, that Diana had found the missing ring and held on to it. And second, that she’d used it as evidence of Summer’s infidelity.
Diana knew what would happen. Summer would explain to Seth how she’d really lost the ring accidentally, and Marquez would back her up. She’d beg Seth to reconsider and give her another chance.
No, the ring maneuver had probably not been one of Diana’s smarter moves.
On the other hand, it had gotten her this far. Into Seth’s arms.
“Lie down,” she whispered. “I’ll give you a massage. You’re so tense, Seth. You need to relax.”
She straddled his waist and ran her hands over his back in slow, deliberate strokes. Her own muscles were as tight as his. She felt anxious and a little guilty.
She could have any guy she wanted. She didn’t need these underhanded tricks, this seduction routine. She could look at a guy, crook her finger, and have him running to do her bidding.
Any guy, that is, except Seth.
“Feel better?” she murmured.
“You don’t have to do this, Diana.”
“I want to.”
Maybe it would work out okay after all. They’d fly back, and Seth would see Summer and Austin together, the way Diana had seen them so many times. After all, Austin worked in their building. He would be impossible to avoid. Even if Summer tried to cover up her relationship with him, it would just be a matter of time before Seth caught a shared glimpse, a subtle touch…something that would give Summer’s true feelings away.
It would be the final nail in
the coffin. The end of Summer and Seth.
The beginning of Seth and Diana.
Diana trailed her long nails down Seth’s spine. “Seth, I don’t think it would be a good idea for you to tell Summer I was the one who told you about Austin.”
“Don’t you think she’ll figure that out on her own, Diana?” Seth said sarcastically.
“All Summer knows right now is that you have a sudden desire to fly home and see her. You’ll see for yourself what’s going on with her and Austin when you get there. You’ll see your ring is no longer on her finger, and that’s all you’ll need. She doesn’t have to know I was the one who started it all.”
“What do you care what Summer thinks? I mean, after what we just did…”
“You’re not sorry, are you?”
“At the moment I don’t feel anything, Diana. Except maybe like shoving my fist through the wall.”
“She’s not worth that kind of anger, Seth. And as for my caring what Summer thinks…look, I don’t approve of the way she’s treated you or I wouldn’t have come to you this way, but I’ve got to keep living with the girl. I just signed a lease for the summer. Besides, she’s my cousin.”
Seth rolled over so that she was sitting on his chest. He looked up at her with a smile that threatened to turn into a sneer. “So then you get it all, huh, Diana? No blame, plus me. What a deal.”
“I don’t get you, Seth, not the way I want. I know you’re still in love with Summer. You’ll probably always be in love with her.”
“Not after this,” he said bitterly.
“I know it hurts.” Diana combed her fingers through his hair. “I’m so sorry.”
Seth stared at her, shaking his head. “I have to tell you, Diana, I just don’t see what you get out of this arrangement.”
She bent down, brushing her lips against his. “I’m so glad you asked. Allow me to explain.”
5
To Sleep, Perchance Not to Dream
Diver shifted in the uncomfortable chair beside Marquez’s bed. She was sleeping soundly, her mouth open slightly, exhaling in long, slow breaths.
He wished he could be so lucky. All night long he’d been slipping in and out of the same awful dream. Each time he awoke he was bathed in sweat, his heart hammering wildly, his teeth clenched.
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