“How’s Paige?” I asked.
“Never better.”
I glanced at Mom. She didn’t seem to be aware of Raina’s presence. “Mom,” I said loudly, as if her hearing was the problem, “this is Paige’s mother, Raina.”
I held my breath as she lifted her head.
“I’m glad our daughters found each other,” she said, before returning her gaze to the essay.
Raina was still smiling at me when I looked at her again. “Will that be all?”
My face burned as I nodded.
“I’ll be sure to give Paige your best,” Raina called over her shoulder as she started back across the room. “Oh, and be sure to visit our booth at the first annual Lighthouse Marina Resort and Spa Northern Lights Festival! It’s going to be quite a time.”
“Mom,” I whispered once Raina disappeared into the kitchen. “That was Raina Marchand.”
Nothing.
“Mom,” I tried again, putting one hand over the piece of paper so she couldn’t see Justine’s words.
She raised her eyes.
“Raina Marchand,” I repeated. “Mother of Paige and Zara, daughter of Betty—the Betty, who founded this restaurant fifty years ago.”
“And?”
“Don’t you know her?” I could hear my heart hammering in my ears as I waited for her response.
“I’m sorry, Vanessa,” she said finally, sounding exhausted. “I’ve never seen that woman in my life.”
CHAPTER 20
“THE WINTER HARBOR Chamber of Commerce?” Caleb asked later that night.
I read the sign above the front door of Winter Harbor High School, then looked around. The parking lot was packed.
“Who knew Raina was so civic-minded?” Simon said.
“She’s not,” Caleb said. “According to Monty, Betty never missed a meeting before her accident. After, when she couldn’t leave the house, everyone assumed Raina would attend in her place. But that never happened.”
“Maybe she’s keeping up appearances,” I said. “To deflect attention.”
“Or maybe she’s surveying the entire town for her next victim.” Caleb shrugged when Simon shot him a look. “Kidding. Sort of.”
I grabbed the door handle. Simon put one hand on my knee. “These meetings can last hours,” he said. “Why don’t we go to our house and do some more research? We can come back later to see where she goes next.”
“You heard Caleb. Raina’s here for a reason. I want to know what it is.”
I climbed out of the car before he could say anything else. I felt badly for disagreeing, but we’d sat slouched in our seats for two hours, waiting for Raina to leave Betty’s. She’d driven to the high school so fast, we’d had a hard time keeping her SUV in sight while staying far enough behind that she wouldn’t notice us. After her strange behavior in the restaurant earlier, and after Mom had had no idea who she was, I was determined to learn whatever I could.
I hurried into the school, looking over my shoulder once to see Simon and Caleb jogging after me. Guided by the buzz of voices, I found the meeting easily. It was standing room only, so I weaved through the crowd until I had a clear view of the podium up front.
“What’s Mark doing here?” Simon asked, squeezing next to me.
I followed his nod. Caleb’s surfer friend sat in the front row, next to the only empty chair in the room.
“Good evening, everyone.”
Raina stood at the podium. She’d changed before leaving Betty’s and wore a silky, sleeveless white dress that showed off her toned, tan arms. Her hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail, and her light makeup made her eyes shine. The effect wasn’t lost on the crowd, which fell silent as soon as she spoke.
“Thank you for coming on such short notice to discuss the first annual Lighthouse Marina Resort and Spa Northern Lights Festival. I know it’s difficult to celebrate, given the recent tragedies that have befallen Winter Harbor—including the untimely death of Paul Carsons, the Lighthouse’s primary investor and a firm festival supporter.”
She paused. I glanced at Simon and followed his gaze to the front row, where Caleb sat, whispering to Mark.
“But because of these tragedies,” Raina continued, “it’s more important now than ever that we come together as a community. Our visitors need help getting through this dark time.”
“What visitors?” a woman called out from across the room.
“My business is down eighty percent,” another added. “Most people have left, and those who haven’t are too scared to come out of their houses.”
“It’s up to us to change that,” Raina said. “That’s why we’re here tonight. The festival committee has been hard at work, brainstorming ways to bring people back to town. In addition to exciting entertainment and activities, there are many incentives that you, as business owners, can offer. I’d like each of you to meet with a committee member and discuss these options. Everything from raffles to free samples can increase attendance.”
“Be right back,” Simon whispered.
I reached for his hand, but he was already gone. I stood on my toes to see where he went, but the crowd was too thick.
“I’d also like you to estimate how many guests your booths usually entertain,” Raina continued, “and give the names of ten people you will be personally responsible for bringing.”
“What if we don’t know that many people who will come?” asked the woman whose business was down eighty percent.
Raina’s silver eyes narrowed before she smiled. “You do.”
Chairs scraped against linoleum as people stood and divided into small groups. I took advantage of the activity to move through the crowd. I’d lost Simon, and now I’d lost Caleb and Mark, too. By the time I reached the front row, their seats were empty. Making sure Raina was distracted by the group gathered around her, I stepped onto a chair and half stood for a better view.
The pain blinded me instantly. It wrapped around my head and pulled until my skull felt like it caved inward. My knees gave, and I grabbed for the back of the chair to keep from falling.
“Henry, Alan, and Clifton: see Dominique.”
Zara.
“Thomas, Greg, and Malcolm: see Sabine.”
I stumbled to the back of the room and leaned against the wall. I waited until the pain was dull enough that I could open my eyes without doubling over, and then scanned the crowd. Simon, Caleb, and Mark were still nowhere to be seen. But since Zara milled about, directing people, listening to their conversations, and writing in a notebook, the boys were safer wherever they were.
Careful to remain out of Zara’s direct line of sight, I stayed against the wall and made my way toward Raina. She stood with the meeting’s few female members, who seemed to have more questions and concerns than the men. After spending so many summers in Winter Harbor, I recognized almost everyone—except for the other committee members. They were women of various ages. Some were tall, others petite. Some were blonde, others brunette. None were as striking as Raina, but all held the attention of the men gathered around them.
“I understand your concerns,” Raina said to the cluster of local women as I neared. “What’s happened this summer is just … unthinkable. But we have to band together. We have to be strong.” She lowered her voice. “And let’s be honest—it’s up to us. If we left it to our husbands, we’d all just hunker down and hide out until the storm passed. That’s no way to heal a community.”
Raina didn’t have a husband. And given her previous comments about marriage, she didn’t want one. But these women didn’t seem to care. They liked the idea of being strong. They liked being needed.
I stepped to the left and ducked behind Malcolm, the owner of Squeezed, as Zara looked up from her notebook. She surveyed the room, then leaned down to speak to Sabine, a blonde committee member. Malcolm shifted in his chair, blocking my view; when he shifted back, Zara was gone.
I started to shove through the crowd after her, but then spotted her notebook. She’
d given it to Sabine, and as Sabine turned a page, I got a quick glance at the cover.
The white leather cover. With La vie en rose written in small script.
I took my cell phone from my jeans pocket and changed direction, moving toward the refreshment table. I tried Simon, then Caleb, then Simon again. When the calls went to voice mail, I texted Simon.
Z here. Get C. Meet me @ car in 2 min.
I filled a cup with coffee, grabbed a handful of napkins, and hurried back to Sabine’s group. The pounding in my head grew stronger with each step. As I skirted between chairs and stood before Malcolm, who sat two feet away from Sabine, I forced a smile.
“Malcolm?” I asked, hoping I sounded excited and not nervous. “Malcolm Donohue?”
He tried to peer around me, but I leaned to one side, then the other.
“You own Squeezed, right?”
“Yes,” he said reluctantly, leaning back in his chair. “Can I help you?”
“You can—and you do. All the time. Your watermelon-guava smoothie is the best I’ve ever had.”
“That’s nice. Thank you. Now, if you don’t mind—”
“You guys know what I’m talking about, right?” I nodded to Thomas and Greg, owners of Tommy’s Tunes and Harbor Pets. “Best breakfast on the East Coast.”
“Excuse me,” a soft voice said behind me.
I spun around. My right foot landed on a leather purse on the floor, sending me off balance—and the cup of hot coffee I held onto Sabine’s lap.
“I’m so sorry!” I gasped as she shrieked and jumped up. “What a klutz—let me get that for you.”
“That’s all right,” Malcolm said, nudging me aside as I tried to pat Sabine’s wet knee. “Let’s get some cold water on that. You don’t want to ruin your lovely dress.”
It was a lovely dress. It was yellow with a long ruffled skirt that floated behind her as Malcolm led her away.
It was also more important to Sabine than Zara’s journal, which now sat where it was dropped, in a dark brown pool on the floor.
As Tommy and Greg hurried after them, I crouched down, shook off the journal, slid it in the waistband of my jeans under my sweatshirt, and mopped up the coffee with napkins. “I’ll get some paper towels from the bathroom,” I called out, in case my intentional accident had alerted Raina.
I darted into the hallway and ran.
The pain worsened. Tiny white dots flickered like sparklers in front of my eyes, making it hard to see where I was going. After dead-ending at three locked classrooms, I finally found the main entrance and threw open the door. We’d parked in the back of the lot; if Simon and Caleb were already in the car, they would’ve driven to me to expedite our exit. That they didn’t made me move through the darkness even faster.
“I missed you.”
I slowed to a stop behind a minivan. The Subaru was two rows away, and I couldn’t see it from my hiding spot … but I could hear her as if she stood right next to me.
“Town wasn’t the same without you. I wasn’t the same without you.”
The pain in my head shot toward my chest. She’d found him. She’d found Caleb. I searched the parking lot, praying to see Simon running toward me, or hiding behind another car, waiting for the right time to intervene.
“I missed your smile … your laugh …”
A fresh shock gripped my skull. I lowered to a squat and pressed my forehead to my knees.
“… the way your glasses slip down your nose when you’re reading.”
My breath caught.
Caleb didn’t wear glasses.
I jumped up, ignoring the pain between my ears. I crept alongside the minivan and peered around the back.
“You probably don’t know this … but I’ve been watching you.”
They stood in the glow of a dim streetlight. Zara leaned against the Subaru, her arms crossed behind her back. She tilted her head and gazed up at Simon, who stood before her, his arms limp at his sides.
“I’ve been waiting for you,” she said, “and hoping that one day, you’d notice me.”
“I noticed you,” Simon said, his voice strained. He stepped toward her, his feet moving slowly, awkwardly, like they were weighted down. She remained still until he stopped, their bodies separated by inches, and then she reached for him, taking the front of his fleece with one hand and pulling him closer.
“Don’t,” I breathed. “Please … don’t.”
“You don’t know how happy that makes me,” she said, gently taking his hands and putting them on her hips.
His head snapped up as their chests pressed together. His fingers tightened around her, which made her smile.
“You don’t have a girlfriend, do you?” she asked, her mouth near his ear. “I wouldn’t want to get in the way….”
“Vanessa!”
I was only vaguely aware of the voice behind me.
“Do something!”
Her lips grazed his neck. He gasped.
I fell back behind the minivan like I’d been punched in the stomach. My eyes landed on Caleb in the next row. He crouched next to an old station wagon, gripping his iPod and shaking.
“Please,” he hissed, tears running down his face. “Please make her stop.”
I felt like crying, too, but didn’t know if it was because of the pain in my head or the sudden aching in my chest.
Vanessa … remember the woods….
I squeezed my eyes shut against the images Justine’s suggestion prompted. I remembered the woods. I remembered how easily Simon had been transfixed by Zara, even as I stood right next to him.
Talk to him….
“Why don’t we go for a ride?”
My eyes snapped open. I heard footsteps, doors open and close, a car start.
“Simon!” I yelled, scrambling to my feet. I rounded the back of the van and sprinted toward the car. “Simon!”
The Subaru pulled out of its space and started for the parking-lot entrance. It sped up as I ran faster. Knowing I couldn’t catch up if I followed them, I darted left and shot across the lawn separating the lot from the street.
When my feet hit the pavement, I lunged forward, toward the double yellow line. I closed my eyes, shielded my face with my arms, and braced for impact … but the Subaru skidded to a stop, its front bumper inches from my shins.
“Simon!” I banged the hood with my hand as I ran to the driver’s-side door. I yanked the handle, but the door was locked. “Hey!” I forced a smile as he looked at me through the closed window, confused. “You almost left without me.”
Zara leaned across the middle console, put one hand on his thigh, and whispered in his ear.
“Simon.” I rapped on the window. “Please open the door.”
He turned toward her. It was like he couldn’t hear me.
I pounded the window with my fist. When he ignored me again, I spun around and bolted for the side of the road. I grabbed as many rocks as my hands could hold, ran to the car, and hurled them at the back window. The glass cracked on the fourth try. On the fifth, a hunk no bigger than an ice cube popped out.
“Simon!” I shouted through the small opening. “It’s Vanessa.”
He froze. “Get out of here.”
My heart sank. “Simon, please—”
“Get out.”
I stepped back as he shoved Zara off him. He threw open the door, strode to the passenger’s side, and yanked her out.
“Baby, what are you—”
“They need you inside, Zara,” I said loudly, so Simon could hear me over her. “You should go.”
She turned toward me, her short pink skirt rippling in the light breeze. “Vanessa,” she said, her voice entering my ears like switchblades.
I didn’t respond. It took everything I had to keep my eyes on hers.
“Your boyfriend’s cute,” she said, stepping away from Simon. “Not terribly loyal … but cute.”
I held my ground as she neared the back of the car. Standing so close I could smell her van
illa-scented perfume, she leaned toward me, smiled, and whispered a single word.
“Boo.”
Simon’s arms were around me before I could hit the ground.
“Caleb,” I said when she started across the lawn. “He’s still back there.”
Simon jumped in the Subaru and moved it to the side of the road, then got out and took my hand. We hurried after her, keeping her in sight while staying a safe distance behind. She stopped once and tilted her head, like she was listening. After several seconds she continued walking and disappeared into the school.
“I tried to warn him.”
Simon and I spun around. Caleb stood behind us, still gripping his iPod. His face shone and his shirt was dark with sweat.
“I told him what she is,” he said. “I told him what she does.”
Simon looked at me, then stepped toward him. “Who, Caleb? Who’d you tell?”
His face crumpled, and fresh tears rolled down his face. “Mark,” he whispered. “He said he loved her last night.”
CHAPTER 21
“NO ANSWER.” Caleb snapped his cell phone shut and tossed it on the table.
“There’s nothing on the Internet,” Simon said, closing his laptop.
“The sky hasn’t been so blue all summer.” I nodded toward the window. “Maybe he listened to you and got away.”
Frowning, Caleb returned to Zara’s journal, which I’d learned he’d been translating with the help of a French dictionary in between calls to Mark since returning home the night before. I’d gone right to my family’s house instead of hanging out with them, happy to use Mom waiting for me as an excuse to leave; I understood that Simon couldn’t control his reaction to Zara, but I’d had a hard time controlling my reaction to his. I’d been uncomfortable the rest of the night and welcomed the chance to take a break and process what I’d seen.
By the time I awoke this morning, the only conclusion I’d come to was that I missed him. It was all I could do to down a bowl of cereal and shower before running next door.
“She doesn’t talk about him in here,” Caleb said, flipping pages. “His name’s not mentioned once.”
Siren Page 20
