“I’d say the same about you,” Simon said, resting one arm on top of the open door and ducking his head to look into the car, “but ‘exquisite’ falls a bit short.”
My heart lifted. “Hi.”
“Hey.” He smiled. “Hungry?”
“For some of Winter Harbor’s finest gourmet fare?”
“Also known as some of my dad’s finest charred cheese-burgers?”
“Absolutely.”
He was on my side of the car before I’d unbuckled my seat belt. Opening the door, he held out his hand to help me out. Our fingers had barely touched when I jumped up and hugged him.
In between thoughts of Charlotte Bleu during the drive up, I’d decided to take the day off from trying to decide how to tell Simon the truth. It was a celebration, after all, and I didn’t want to ruin the day for him, Caleb, or anyone else.
Plus, like Paige, I wasn’t thrilled to be near the harbor as it melted. What I’d told her about the deeper water still being frozen was true, but not completely reassuring. Between that, what I’d just discovered about the first year of my life, and making sure I stayed hydrated so that I didn’t collapse in front of the whole town, my head was too overwhelmed to reason with my heart.
So when Simon put his arm around my shoulders, I put mine around his waist.
“You feel warm,” he said as he steered me toward the party. “Do you want me to carry your jacket?”
“I’m fine,” I said quickly. “But thanks.”
I’d had trouble getting dressed that morning. Lately, when I wasn’t wearing my school uniform and a baggy hooded sweat-shirt I was wearing jeans and a baggy hooded sweatshirt, but I’d wanted to look nice for Simon. And I hadn’t been sure how to do that without attracting the attention of every other guy who happened to glance my way. Eventually, I’d decided on jeans, a tan V-neck, and a brown corduroy jacket. I couldn’t hide in my clothes, but I hoped the neutral colors helped me blend into the crowd.
My outfit was a stark contrast to Paige’s. She’d taken advantage of the opportunity to dress up and wore a burnt-orange miniskirt, a denim jacket, and cowgirl boots. Her legs were bare, as was her neck, since she’d gathered her hair in a high ponytail.
Riley was right; she looked exquisite. And as they walked ahead of us, she should have turned the head of every boy she passed.
But she didn’t. A few looked at her and smiled, but then their gazes shifted behind her… to me.
“Don’t worry,” Simon said, noticing me noticing them. “The more they drink, the less they’ll pay attention to anyone but themselves. We should be practically invisible in another ten minutes.”
Simon had said on the phone last night that if things got too weird today, we could always duck out for a while, maybe go for a drive. He thought people might be surprised to see me back in town in the off-season—and us hanging out as more than friends. I didn’t necessarily agree, since along with Justine and Caleb, we were together so much we could’ve been mistaken for a couple long before last summer, but I kept this to myself. I’d rather Simon assume that was the reason people were looking at me.
“There she is!” a familiar voice exclaimed as we neared the cooking stations.
“Hi, Mrs. Carmichael,” I said with a smile.
She opened her arms, and I reluctantly let go of Simon to hug her.
“How are you, sweetie?” she said into my hair. “How are your parents?”
“We’re fine. Hanging in there.”
“You’ll give them our best? And tell them we’re taking good care of the house?”
I opened my mouth to answer, but then spotted Caleb coming toward us with a tray of hot dogs.
“Don’t tell me you’re reneging on your birthday promise already,” he said.
Mrs. Carmichael squeezed me once more, then let go. “Of course not,” she said with a sniff.
Caleb swapped the tray for a spatula on a nearby table. Joining us, he aimed the spatula like a flashlight at his mother’s watery eyes. “She’s been weepy for days because, as she puts it, her baby boy’s all grown up… but I told her she could keep the new car if she just curbed the hysterics tonight.”
“No one likes rain on a parade,” Mr. Carmichael called out from behind a grill.
“You got him a new car?” Simon asked.
Mrs. Carmichael brushed her eyes and laughed. “He could blow out a million candles and that wish still wouldn’t come true.”
“A guy can dream,” Caleb said, turning to me. “Can’t he?”
This time, I initiated the embrace. For several seconds I held him tightly, hoping he could somehow feel Justine’s arms in mine. He tensed at first, and I wondered if it was too much, if I should let him go, but then he relaxed and hugged me back.
“Happy birthday,” I whispered.
“Thanks for coming, Vanessa.”
It had been only a few weeks since we’d left Winter Harbor, but it felt like forever since I’d last seen Caleb. He’d laid low after the night the harbor froze, and throughout the rest of the summer I’d talked to him only when I was outside and happened to catch him leaving for or returning from work. I’d figured pulling back was just his way of healing and hadn’t pressed… but he almost sounded like his old self now. And that made me as happy as I knew it would’ve made Justine.
“Incoming!”
We pulled apart just as a red inner tube landed at our feet.
“I think I’m being summoned.” Caleb picked up the tube and tilted his chin toward the water, where a group of guys waved and yelled for him to join them.
“Have fun,” I said. “We’ll catch up later.”
As he headed for his friends and Mrs. Carmichael joined Mr. Carmichael at the grill, Simon reached for my hand. We found Paige and Riley, who were rounding up other plank-walking competitors, told them we were taking a walk, and then wandered around the marina. The music and noise softened as we followed the water’s edge to the property’s outskirts, where lines of boats sat waiting to be wrapped for the winter.
“It looks different,” I said.
“You’re usually not here now,” Simon said. “When leaves are falling and the harbor’s almost empty.”
“It’s not just that.” I stopped at a dock and looked toward the party’s glittering lights. “It’s the ice. The way it’s melting in some spots and not others. It’s like the whole town’s stuck in place, waiting to be freed.”
He stood behind me and slid his arms around my waist. “It’s getting there. We’re getting there.”
I leaned against him and slowly scanned the water’s surface. I didn’t know what I expected to see. Beams of light shooting up into the sky? Beautiful women dressed in flowing white dresses? Caleb’s friends walking toward them, eyes blank and smiles wide?
I knew one thing I didn’t expect to see: Justine’s and my boat, here on the harbor instead of at our lake house backyard.
“Simon.” I stepped forward, out of his arms. “Is that… ? Did Caleb… ?”
He hesitated, apparently trying to figure out what I was talking about since I couldn’t find the words. “The red rowboat?” he asked finally. “No way. If Caleb had wanted to borrow it, he would’ve asked.”
“But there’s a patch of green in the back, where the paint’s peeling. And the front’s rounded instead of sharp, just like—”
“The fronts of all rowboats get after years of use?”
I looked at him.
His face softened. “I’m sorry. It does resemble your boat… but we’re standing a hundred feet away. And it’s getting dark. It’d be hard to tell a rowboat from a canoe in these conditions.”
I turned back and walked to the end of the dock for a better look.
“It’s stuck in the ice,” Simon said gently, standing next to me. “It was in the water when the harbor froze.”
“Then why wasn’t it brought in? All of the other boats that were in the water that night were chopped out and hauled in.”
“Monty’s removal se
rvices aren’t cheap. Maybe it wasn’t that important to its owners. Maybe they didn’t mind waiting for the ice to melt.”
I knew he meant only to reassure me, and what he said made sense, but I wasn’t convinced.
“Can we make sure?” I asked.
“How?”
“By going out there.” I gave him a small smile. “It could be like walking the plank—another seaside party game.”
He looked out at the boat, then around the rest of the harbor, clearly calculating ice thickness and determining the potential safety issues of the area in question. I felt bad for putting him in this position; I knew he’d do everything possible to avoid saying no to me—but I also knew I wouldn’t relax until I was sure that wasn’t our boat.
“Farther north the ice hasn’t thawed at all,” he said. “It should hold my weight.”
“I’m lighter,” I said quickly.
“I’m stronger. If it gives, I can pull myself out.”
If the ice gave while I was on it, I could breathe under-water until rescued. But Simon didn’t know that. Before I could come up with another reason why I should go instead of him, he stepped toward me and brushed my cheek with his thumb.
“If it’s important to you, it’s more important to me,” he said. “I’ll be there and back in no time.”
“Wait—”
But he was already jogging down the dock. I watched him jump onto the pavement and then run through the brush along the water’s edge. He was slowing down, surveying the ice for the best spot, when an image flew through my mind like a bullet from a gun.
A parking lot. The dim light of a streetlamp. Simon, his face blank, his arms limp. Defenseless against the powerful force pulling him closer.
Zara.
I shook my head sharply and sprinted down the dock. “Simon!” I yelled. “Don’t!”
But he didn’t hear me. That, or I’d actually whispered the warning instead of shouting it—it was hard to tell over my pounding heart. I tried again, but he didn’t even glance my way before starting out onto the ice.
I ran faster, ignoring my drying throat and weakening legs. I rubbed my eyes when white spots popped before them, hating to lose sight of him for even a second. He moved easily, purposefully, like he was in complete control… .
But what if we were wrong after all?
Reaching the rowboat wasn’t worth the risk of finding out. I tried yelling once more, but the effort seemed to sever my shriveling vocal cords. Grabbing my throat against the pain, I veered right, out of the brush—and onto the ice.
The sudden chill beneath my feet stopped me short. The air above the water was colder than the air around it, and my quick breaths formed small, fleeting clouds. I wanted to look down, to see if anyone—or anything—looked up at me from beneath the ice, but I couldn’t. I was too terrified of what I might see.
Instead, I kept my eyes on Simon. He was halfway to the rowboat now, but racing diagonally from here, I could still catch up with him. In desperate need of fuel, I kept my head level and bent my knees until I crouched above the ice. I lowered both hands to the frozen surface; it softened under the heat of my skin, and the salt water shot into my palms like an electric charge.
It was enough to get my feet moving again. I started out slowly, but in seconds I was flying across the ice like my shoes were attached to thin metal blades.
The distance between Simon and me closed. Apparently hearing my approach as I neared, he stopped and turned toward me. I was so relieved that I’d reach him before anything could happen, when he raised his arms, I thought it was so I could run into them.
But then my eyes met his. And I saw their fear.
“Vanessa,” he called out, his voice steady but loud. “Don’t move.”
I slid to a stop.
“It’s cracking,” he continued. “Behind you.”
And then I heard it. Creaking and snapping, like snow-laden branches breaking off trees.
“Stay perfectly still.” He lowered his hands and started backing up, away from me.
He continued toward the rowboat. Instinctively, I took a step forward to follow him—and froze when the ice groaned beneath me. As I stood there, not breathing, I had a clear picture of Simon reaching the boat and pausing briefly before taking something from inside.
An oar. With a trail of shiny red anchors running down the handle.
It was the last thing I saw before the ice split between my feet, and I dropped into the chilled harbor below.
CHAPTER 10
“ARE YOU SURE you don’t want to sneak out to your house?” Paige asked later that night. “Ours is so drafty, we’d probably be warmer in a tent.”
“I’m sure.” I wasn’t worried about drafts. I was worried about what else I might find at the lake house, in addition to a missing rowboat. I’d been whisked off the ice too quickly for a close inspection, but Simon had admitted the boat looked more like ours than not—and ours was supposed to be locked up in the lake house shed for the winter. “But if you’re too uncomfortable, we can always go back to Boston.”
“Now?” She peered out at me from the small opening in the down comforter she was wrapped in. “It’s almost midnight.”
“I can drive. I feel fine.”
“You just stopped shaking, like, ten minutes ago.”
She was right—but that had nothing to do with being cold.
“By the way,” she continued, stretching out on the couch across from mine, “how crazy was it that Grandma Betty and Oliver just happened to be driving by the marina, their car fully loaded with blankets and dry clothes, five minutes after you fell in the water?”
“Not very, considering she’s Winter Harbor’s favorite super senior citizen.”
Paige smiled. “Good point. She probably heard the ice cracking before Simon did.”
Ever since Paige’s grandmother went swimming in the middle of a lightning storm two years ago, she’d had supersensory powers—excluding her vision, which she’d lost. She could apparently hear flowers blooming, whales singing, and hearts beating from miles away. When she’d arrived at the marina, she’d told the crowd gathered around us that she and Oliver (her favorite male companion, as she called him) had been on their way to make a donation to the thrift shop when they noticed the commotion… but the blankets were hot, as if pulled from a dryer only moments before, and the clothes were exactly my size. Thanks to her, I warmed up fast enough to convince Simon I didn’t need to go to the emergency room.
“Did you see anything?” Paige asked quietly a moment later.
I focused on the flames flickering in the fireplace. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, I know where you fell was miles away from Chione Cliffs… but what lives underwater swims underwater, right?”
I looked at her and forced a smile. “I was under for a matter of seconds. I saw ice, darkness, and Simon. That’s it.”
She exhaled. “Thank goodness. Maybe I’ll actually sleep tonight.”
We fell into a comfortable silence. To keep distracted from my own thoughts, I focused on the sounds of snapping wood and howling wind, which were soon joined by the soft sound of Paige’s deep breathing.
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