Chapter 11
Drinks at Bob-with-One-Dog’s turned out to be quite revealing.
Wilson took off his shirt, prompted by no one and awkward for all; Rosie revealed a little more than even she was comfortable with in an impromptu game of Twister; and Lily learned quite a lot about Alex King and Dorian Khan.
She didn’t tell anyone except Juliet, and even then, it was in confidence and only to get her opinion.
Juliet was in some ways the best audience, and in others, the worst. Her eyes widened and she gasped in horror at all the right places, but after Lily concluded her recount of what Alex said, Juliet refused to really believe it.
“Surely there was a misunderstanding,” she pleaded on Dorian’s behalf. “He’s been so kind to me, I can’t imagine him doing something like that.”
“Can’t you?” The portrait of Dorian that Alex had painted matched perfectly with the Dorian that Lily had observed.
It was not so great a step from taking Cecilia down a peg, even if she deserved it, to turning on a friend when he posed a threat to his success.
Maybe that’s why Dorian was friends with Casey—because he never challenged him.
“We don’t really know this Alex person,” Juliet argued. “I mean, he seems really nice, but we know Dorian.”
“Hardly,” Lily said, remembering Dorian’s comment the first night she’d seen him. It didn’t bother her, but it had been in bad taste and super arrogant. Her first impression of Alex had been nothing but delightful. “And why would Alex lie?”
“I’m not saying he’s lying, I just—oh, I don’t know.” Juliet paused thoughtfully and reiterated, as if to close the case, “I just can’t imagine Dorian doing something like that.”
Lily didn’t want to argue the point any further.
She loved her cousin, but Juliet was a little too trusting and way too gullible.
Dorian was a practiced actor, well experienced at manipulating people’s opinions of him.
What had Alex gained from revealing the truth about Dorian?
Nothing. He didn’t even want to tell her at first. And if she was being perfectly honest with herself, Lily recognized that she trusted Alex because she liked him.
He was witty and unselfconscious, unlike the reserved and mannered Dorian.
Alex was an open book. Dorian always seemed like he had something to hide.
New Year’s Eve drew closer. The Pippi Beach Progress and Advocacy Committee (known as the Pippi Committee) finalized plans for the races, talent show, and band.
It was a tradition every year: races during the day for all ages (though the eight-to-ten and forty-to-fifty age brackets got the biggest turnout and were always the most competitive), and a talent show at night.
The sign-up sheet was pinned up in the shed at the jetty and attracted all the usual acts, from a princess song written in little-girl-loopy script to a guitar standard scrawled by one of the Bobs or Steves.
He would also take requests. Certificates for the races were printed, the plastic trophies delivered, and of course, out came the big talent show trophy that bore the names of all the winners since Lydia won in 1989 with a rather provocative song and dance that she continued to brag about.
The usual buzz of excitement filled the air, only it had increased tenfold with the prospect that the French backpackers and the Hollywood movie stars would be there to see Pippi at its most quirky.
Lily didn’t care whether Casey and friends came back for New Year’s, except for Juliet’s sake, but she did get a flutter of excitement when Alex mentioned he’d be there.
Wilson, on the other hand, when Lily asked hopefully if he’d be going back to his father’s place in Sydney to watch the fireworks, replied that he couldn’t possibly abandon her on the most festive night of the year.
Win some, lose some, she thought. And she definitely intended to lose Wilson before the countdown to midnight.
On December 31, as Casey had promised, the cliff house yacht motored back into Lydia’s telescope sights.
Immediately after anchoring, Casey ran down to the beachfront house to find Juliet and found himself swamped by the younger teens.
Kat and Rosie, already excited about the festivities, bubbled at great length about the community games on the green.
Casey was absolutely entranced and determined not to miss a single thing.
“I’ll meet you there!” he promised, and gave Juliet a quick, apparently spontaneous and unthinking kiss before tearing back up to the cliff house to alert the rest of them that the races were starting SOON.
Lily strolled down to the green with the others, happy that Juliet’s faith in Casey had not been misplaced, happier still at the prospect of seeing Alex.
Since their chat, they had waved and called out pleasantries to each other, but this would be their first opportunity to spend more time together and Lily had been looking forward to it.
Plus, she couldn’t help imagining with amusement how Dorian’s face would darken when he saw her chatting so easily with this particular person from his past.
They arrived on the green to find the French backpackers already practicing for the wheelbarrow races.
“Rosee! Kat! Come, we need yooo!” they called when they spied the girls.
Lily’s heart rose in anticipation, hovered, and sank again as she scanned the whole area. Alex was nowhere to be seen. Dammit. Where could he be? Surely Dorian hadn’t warned him off? She didn’t put it past him. This was her turf and the thought of him policing it was intolerable.
“Lily!” exclaimed Theo. “Alex asked me specially to say sorry. He wanted to text you, but no number. You want me to give?”
“Oh. Okay.” Lily quickly entered her number in Theo’s phone and received Alex’s in return.
“He had to go back to Sydney.”
“Is everything okay?”
“I don’t know?” Theo shrugged and skipped away.
Frustrated, Lily took a seat on the grass next to Juliet just as the entire cliff house entourage turned up with an extravagantly soft picnic blanket and a gourmet hamper.
They arranged themselves in the shade as though for a scene in a high-budget melodrama.
Casey whisked Juliet away to join them and Wilson quickly slid into Juliet’s place beside Lily.
“I love this! Reminds me of summer camp. Oh, I keep forgetting, you wouldn’t know what that is.” (Lily knew what that was.) “It’s like boarding school in nature with sports. Not to brag, but I am very good at three-legged races and I’m not leaving here without a trophy. Partner. High five!”
Lily miserably clapped hands with him, very aware that Dorian was watching.
Lily and Wilson did not win the three-legged race.
Nor did they win the wheelbarrow race because Lily refused to enter it with him.
She had no desire to see up Wilson’s shorts or for him to see up hers.
Luckily, she had a valid excuse as she’d promised to enter with her mother, which was just as humiliating, really, but also quite funny as Lydia was good at sabotaging everyone else and they ended up coming in second.
Casey won every single race he entered, including the men’s open, although fourteen-year-old Hanson nearly caught him at the end.
Dorian refused to participate, even with Casey’s and Cecilia’s coaxing.
Wilson rolled his ankle halfway along, possibly on purpose, but it was clear to everyone that he had no hope anyway.
During the trophy presentation he became very concerned about a phone call he hadn’t received yet and returned to the house.
Lily stayed on, happy to applaud and cheer her friends and neighbors—and unexpectedly found Dorian at her side, applauding each announcement with a degree of generosity that went beyond politeness.
“Is it always like this?” he asked.
“Sunny, loud, and oddly competitive? Absolutely. The winners change sometimes, but only if there’s been a monumental event during the year. Like puberty. Or a death.”
He seemed shocked, then smiled when he saw her laugh.
They sat in silence as more winners were announced, and Lily had to wonder why he bothered coming down to watch this at all.
And why, particularly, with her? Did he expect her to make conversation?
If she hadn’t felt so completely at home, she may have found it awkward. Instead, she was just mildly curious.
“So are you entering the talent show later?” she asked.
“Me? God, no.” He caught her ironic eyebrow. “I wouldn’t know what to do.”
“It’s been a while since anyone did Shakespeare,” she hinted.
“Why would I do Shakespeare?”
“Someone told me you used to do it at school.”
Lily enjoyed watching the cloud cross Dorian’s face. For someone so reserved, his emotions were always unequivocal.
“I see. Would that someone be Alex King?”
“Bottom was your favorite role, I believe.”
“That was a very long time ago.”
“I imagine so. You don’t seem to be into comedy these days.”
“I love comedy. What I don’t like is being made a fool of.”
“And who could possibly do that to you? When you’re so careful of your image you won’t even take a risk at a community talent show?”
“Careful of my image?” he almost spat. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“That might be true,” admitted Lily. “I don’t know you well. I only go by what I see.”
“And what other people tell you.”
In one quick movement, he got up and walked off.