Chapter 19
The simple phrase cuts me to the core, and my stomach sinks.
My brain knows better—this is a stupid fortune card from an antique fortune teller that was built before I was alive.
But I can’t ignore my gut. I read that phrase: “Someone you trust is not who they seem,” and a bell inside me tolls.
The card spotlights something I’ve sensed at a hidden, visceral level since I got here.
The question is, who do I trust? Eric? Olivia? Laelynn? My mother?
“What’s it say?” asks Eric, leaning over my shoulder, his voice tinged with curiosity.
The fragrance of his woody cologne wraps around me, pulling me from the dark thoughts.
Suddenly, I realize I’m alone in this office with him with the door closed.
I hold the card up to the light, allowing him to read it for himself over my shoulder.
He lingers near my neck. I bite my teeth together.
“Someone you trust is not who they seem,” he says, his warm baritone in my ears. He’s inches away from me now, and part of me hopes he’ll wrap his arms around me and we can forget all about this unnerving fortune teller.
When I can’t stand it any longer, I turn to meet his gaze, our faces inches apart. I’m half tempted to close my eyes and pucker up, but then I notice his forehead crease and his lips drop into a frown. “Hmm,” he says.
Not the reaction I was hoping for. “Hmm, what?”
He takes a step back. “Oh, nothing. Usually, the fortunes are more positive. You know, ‘You will come into a large sum of money,’ or something like that. This one’s a little ominous.” A corner of his mouth teases upward, and I feel mine matching his. The moment stretches, charged.
“My thoughts exactly.”
He reaches for the card, and his fingers graze mine, but he doesn’t pull away, and neither do I. He stares at me, deep-green eyes penetrating. I bite my lip. I have no idea what’s happening, but I’m in a trance, unable to break away. Magnetized.
The door of his office flies open, smashing the moment. The antique dolls vibrate on the shelves, their faded glass eyes rattling in their sockets. Laelynn stands in the doorway, her face tight, a vein bulging in her forehead.
“What are you doing down here?” she says to me, not even glancing at Eric. Her gaze is locked, cutting.
I backpedal, blindsided by her tone.
“Oh…um…nothing. Eric was just showing me his fortune-telling machine.”
“I thought you were watching the girls.”
“I was watching them. But then O—”
“I went upstairs, and they were all alone. With scissors.”
My eyes shoot skyward. Typical Olivia. She probably got bored watching Emma and Penelope, went for a swim, and now I’m left holding the bag.
It’s not the first time she’s vanished and left me in the fallout.
Once, we went to a movie at the local independent theater.
By the time the credits rolled, the place was dark, and Olivia hopped the counter to swipe a bag of gummy worms. I followed her—of course I did—but when the manager came back, she slipped away while I got my foot caught on the edge of the candy case.
I was splayed out like a beached whale when he found me.
Mom had to buy an annual movie pass just to smooth things over.
But here’s the thing: I still can’t fathom why Laelynn is this angry.
When I was a kid, I played alone all the time, and we definitely used scissors for arts and crafts. They’re eight, not two. Still, something tells me arguing over child-safety guidelines isn’t a battle I’m going to win.
I raise my hands in a gesture of peace.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize scissors were off-limits.”
She snorts, and her eyes dart to Eric, clearly expecting backup. “I don’t forbid it. It’s common sense, Charlotte. You don’t leave eight-year-old girls alone when their dog just died—and you definitely don’t leave them alone with sharp objects.”
I straighten. “They didn’t even know their dog had died when I left. They were having fun.”
“Well, they know now. They heard us talking to the vet.”
Eric takes a step toward his wife and reaches for her shoulder. “Babe, I understand you’re upset, but let’s try to put it into perspective.”
Laelynn wrenches away before he can touch her. The room feels half the size of a minute ago. “You’re not any better, mister. Our Heathcliff dies, and minutes later, I find you flirting in here with her.”
My mouth drops open. Is this woman really going to talk to him as though I’m not even here? My eyes dart to Eric.
A flush crawls up his neck, blooming across his cheeks, a dark, damning color. His hands drop to his hips, clenching. “Okay. No one is flirting with anyone. I was just showing her the Grandmother’s Predictions machine.”
She looks at it in disgust but slows her pacing, losing steam. “Why do you keep this piece of junk, anyway? You know that thing gives me the creeps. And it smells like my grandparents’ basement in here.”
“I know, I know,” he says in a soothing voice. He puts his hand back on her shoulder, and this time she accepts it. He turns her away from the machine and speaks gently into her ear. Their backs turned to me like I’m another piece of furniture. Heat rushes up my neck.
He whispers to her, “This is my fault. I left to check on the twins and got distracted by the fortune teller. Why don’t we go upstairs and see if we can cheer them up?”
I watch her shoulders soften at Eric’s words. The yin and yang of their relationship becomes clear. The two of them move toward the doorway. Eric looks back at me and gives me a small shrug. Sorry.
As they walk down the hallway, I place my hand on my forehead and sigh.
I’ve never done well with confrontation.
I curse myself for getting into such a compromising position with Eric.
Laelynn needs no more excuses for disliking me.
But that’s Eric. He pulls you in like a black hole.
All I can do is keep a safe distance. I sense a stress rash breaking out on my chest, a keepsake from the fight.
I stare at the card in my hand, and my skin prickles.
The card speaks the truth. There’s something toxic running beneath the surface of this island.
And it feels like it’s steadily poisoning everyone and everything that’s here.
I need to leave. But I can’t bail on Olivia and the family after their dog just died.
I can survive one more day. Slipping the card into the pocket of my workout shorts, I step out of Eric’s office and close the door behind me.
I walk down the hallway back to my guest room. I hear Eric and Laelynn talking on the landing upstairs. Eric mumbles something inaudible. But I hear Laelynn’s reply clear as day.
“Why can’t you admit you made a mistake?”