4. Chapter Four
Chapter Four
Wilder Lee
I heard every word she said, but it sounds far-fetched to me.
Fucking unbelievable really.
The letter Carlotta left me has me questioning everything and everyone. Nagging thoughts of the last time I had seen Katie came to mind immediately.
We’d lost Sara the week before.
My days were spent aimlessly walking around. Avoiding contact with everyone. Mom tried to press me about my feelings, but I resisted. How do I explain that I can’t sort it out?
Was I responsible?
Katie was staying away from The Bends.
When I spotted her sitting on the grassy stretch between the Gibson Family Funpark lot and the road, with her bicycle lying next to her, I thought she’d had an accident. Running towards her I called out, “Katie?! Are you okay?”
Looking at me with a dazed expression, wiping away tears from her reddened eyes she answered, “I’m... I’m okay.”
She didn’t act scared of me, but her behavior wasn’t characteristic of Katie. My favorite Gibson by far. Charlie was a self-righteous prick, Mitchell was a whiny brat, and their parents aloof and judgmental. Katie was sweet, talented, observant… maybe too observant.
“Are you sure?” I knelt next to her, where she was busy pulling up blades of grass. “You didn’t come to your guitar lesson yesterday.” Both Grady and I sat waiting for an hour for her.
With her lip quivering, wiping her forearm across her eyes, she nodded. “Uh, yeah, I-I-I just need to go find my brother. Don’t tell anyone you saw me crying, okay?” She hopped up and wiped at her shorts, taking the bike I picked up from me.
Stunned, I watched her get on her ten-speed and head towards the mini putt course.
Was she asking me not to tell Grady? Was he the one that kept her from returning to the Bends until she died? Did she see him do something to Sara? If only I could find the diary, she carried with her all the time. Something tells me she would’ve written down what was upsetting her.
Acting unbothered by Remi’s revelations takes a tremendous act of will. I wanted to tell her she’s insane, I wanted to hunt down Charlie and punch him in the face, then I wanted to tell Grady to go to hell, get on my bike and get as far away from here as I can. Instead, I pulled her in tighter by flirting, clamped my motherfucking mouth shut, and went in search of Marlow.
Because I may be angry at Grady, but I won’t leave him alone to deal with his aunt’s death.
Avoiding confrontation with Truitt and Gibson, I stay a few steps outside Lala’s room as Grady talks with a man in a suit.
Ceily spies me while she shuffles my way, her mouth downturned. “What in tarnation is Gary thinking? Making his son deal with all of this?” That it’s Grady’s punishment for being close to her. Lala never said a bad thing about her older brother, always excusing his behavior. Saying that his anger towards her was misplaced care. That he never understood her siding with the Gibson’s just because she had loved Daniel. But I would argue that she became close with Daniel’s whole family while dealing with his loss.
“Shouldn’t you have your cane?” She’s prone to abandoning it. “Let me go find it, just because you’re in the hospital doesn’t mean you should temp fate and fall.” Taking my arm to steady herself, we walk back towards the nurse’s station catching sight of Cal leaning against the wall by the elevator. He wastes no time stalking our way. His face flushing red, jaw set.
Here we go.
Out of all the inevitable confrontations, I was avoiding this one the most. Our history is tangled. Friend to acquaintance, someone he had to put up with because his sister dated me, friendlier then his arch nemesis. I’d rather not have Ceily witness our exchange because I can tell it will be heated.
“What are you doing back in Lake Hollow?” His voice is seething with layers of emotions I could pick apart for a week.
The thing is, I don’t blame him. The last thing he knew was his sister and I were fighting then she disappeared only to be found dead in the lake the next morning. None of it makes me look innocent in any way.
“I’m not here looking for a fight, Truitt.” He’s not the one I’d pick a fight with. With his easy-going attitude we never had a problem, not even when Sara would rag on him relentlessly. Which she did. Only one year older, Sara made his every move her business. He wasn’t performing well enough in baseball or track, his grades weren’t good enough, his girlfriend didn’t measure up… it went on and on. It must have bugged him, but he didn’t say much to her about it.
Can’t help that Lala’s letter comes to mind. Would he ever? I’m questioning everything now. Even with the way she treated her younger brother, I can’t see Cal hurting her and definitely not Katie Gibson. As much as I dislike Gibson’s pompous ass, I don’t see him doing anything either. That just leaves… fuck. That leaves Grady. I need to see Lala’s proof. How can she be so sure of what she laid out in the letter? Did she know about the necklace?
He huffs in anger, wiping his hand across his jaw. “You’re not looking for a fight, but here you are… showing up holding my girlfriend’s hand. Like you have any right to even be back in Lake Hollow.” Ceily pats my arm before shuffling away with her recovered cane.
I sigh at him before folding my arms across my chest. “Look, Cal, I don’t want any problems with you. Remi and I are… friends? It’s been a long time since you and I have seen each other. Carlot–”
I’m cut off when Cal leans in grabbing my shirt to pull me towards him. “I know damn well that you’re the reason both Sara and Katie are gone. I don’t know why or how, but you’re not going to hurt another person I care about. Do you understand me?” I’m pushing him off me when Remi and Keenan round the corner.
Remi’s eyes widen while she runs towards us. “What’s going on here?”
Cal wraps an arm around her waist possessively, glaring at me. I speak up before he has a chance to, “Not much. Cal was just saying hi.” I force a smile on my face.
There are a lot of things I want to shout at him.
That he has no idea what he’s talking about. He thinks my visions are proof, that arguing with Sara is proof, that closing in on myself was proof. But even if I’m responsible for Sara’s death it never would’ve been intentional, and I’d never… not in a million years harm a hair on Katie’s head. That kid brought a smile to my face any time I was around her.
Remi grabs each of our hands hauling us into the family room, where Charlie is pacing on the phone and Mitchell is sniffling in a chair. “Stay put,” she orders us, turning to leave the room.
Charlie barely looks our way continuing his call, “... but what does that have to do with it?” his voice is rife with agitation. “I have to call you back… no, no, I’ll call you back.” Pocketing his phone, he looks over at Cal and me. “What happened?”
As Remi returns to the family room with Grady behind her, my anxiety reaches new heights. Fuck my life. It’s a reunion from hell. The last time we were all in the same room was at Katie Gibson’s funeral, when it was tense, but no one was blaming me for anything. Yet.
I don’t know why Remi wants us all in the room together, but I don’t like the determined look on her face. She’s going to put herself in danger if she utters a single word about Carlotta’s suspicions. She glances Mitchell’s way. “We’re going to step into the prayer room over here.” She points to the small room with a vaulted ceiling, crosses on the wall, and a couple of pews to sit on… “Just don’t go anywhere.”
The only one of us that follows her without apprehension or hesitation is Grady. Cal mumbles under his breath past me, Charlie looks torn between staying with his wreck of a brother or following her, and I just want to vaporize into thin air, taking Remi with me. What the fuck is she going to do?