I spent the rest of the night holed up in the pool house. The laughter from Maverick and his friends drifted through to my room, but I did my best to ignore it, jamming my iPod buds into my ears and turning up the volume.

The next morning when I woke up, Dad was already waiting. His shirt was pressed, matching the undisturbed bed sheets on the sofa bed. Since I hadn’t heard him return, I figured he’d never made it home. But there he was, sitting at the small breakfast bar as if everything was fine.

“Morning,” he said, a guarded smile playing on his lips. “I’d wondered when you were going to show.”

“What time is it?” I yawned, ignoring the bright pink elephant in the room he had failed to address yet.

“Nine-thirty. You must have needed it. Did you enjoy the game?”

I shrugged, going for the coffee pot. “It was okay, I guess.”

“I thought you’d stick around for the party, but Kyle said—”

“You saw Kyle?”

“Yes, he’s in the house. Rebecca is insisting they have breakfast as a family. I made our excuses though.” He blew out a long sigh. “I’d like to clear the air … and apologise.”

Propped against the counter, cup in hand, I clipped out, “I’m listening.”

“Eloise, please, be reasonable.”

“Reasonable?” I clenched my jaw. “Are you kidding me? You ambushed me, Dad. And as if it isn’t bad enough, I had to find out from Kyle that the others all knew about her. Talk about a knife to the stomach. How long?”

His eyes widened a fraction. “How long what?”

“Don’t play dumb, Dad. How long have you been seeing her?” I couldn’t bring myself to say her name.

He blanched, but I wasn’t going to give him an easy ride.

“It has to be before the move, right? I mean, that’s why we’re here. For her. So, I figure it’s got to have been going on a while. Maybe even before Mum—”

“Eloise, please,” he snapped, but quickly regained his composure. “It’s complicated.”

“That’s your reply? It’s complicated? Seems pretty simple to me,” my voice was shrill as I glared at him.

“Eloise, this isn’t how I wanted to do things.”

“Oh, please, Dad, tell me how you wanted to do things? Enlighten me. Because from where I’m standing, you walked me into that fancy restaurant knowing exactly what you were doing. Did it ever occur to you to talk to me first, instead of dropping her on me and expecting me to be okay with it? Mum just died, she just…” Tears rushed from my eyes and I doubled over, reaching behind me to place the cup down, overcome by emotion.

Dad hurried from his stool and tried to comfort me, but I pushed him away. “No,” I yelled. “You don’t get to do that. You don’t get to pretend everything is okay. Everything is not okay!”

The ounce of colour left in his face drained away. “I messed up, didn’t I?”

“You think?” I stared at him incredulously. “I don’t even know how we come back from this, Dad. You lied. That’s all on you. You can’t just expect me to accept it. Accept her.” Swiping at the tears with my hand, I sucked in a ragged breath. “You brought me here, left me in this bloody house, and what? Just expected me to be okay with it all? I don’t even know who you are anymore.”

“Lo,” his voice cracked and a small part of me felt guilty, but I was too angry to be reasonable. Too hurt to care.

“I need time, Dad. You need to give me time.”

He nodded, defeat shining in his eyes as I walked away and back into my room. I wanted him to follow me, to make me listen, to make me understand his reasons. But he didn’t.

And it spoke volumes.

I picked up my phone, sent a text, and headed into the bathroom. Maybe if I stood under the water for long enough, it would wash away all the pain.

Maybe.

~

“That sucks,” Devon said as he slathered sun lotion over my shoulders. 

“Yeah, I feel like a fool for not realising, but I haven't exactly been checked into life for the last few months.”

He dropped the bottle into my bag and leaned back onto his elbows. I'd texted him to see if he wanted to hang at the beach with me and Laurie, but she hadn't shown up yet. 

“Want to talk about it?”

“Not really.” I was thankful for my sunglasses. They hid the pain I knew would be reflected in my eyes. 

“I get it, but if you ever need to talk, I'm here. No strings, okay?”

I nodded, my head laid on my folded arms. “It's so beautiful here.” 

“What's England like?”

“It's okay, I guess. I lived in the country so it was very green. Lots of fields and farms. It's worlds away from here.” My eyes wandered over to the sea where a group of kids ran in and out of the white-capped waves lapping at the shore. “I could get used to this.”

“It's home now, Lo. You don't have to get used to it, you just have to embrace it.”

Home.

The word sounded strange. Was this really my home now? 

When Dad announced we were moving, I hadn't been lucid enough to fully understand the implications. My relationship with Chris had reached toxic levels, and I was drunk or high more than I was sober. I just wanted a way out. 

An escape.

So, I went along with it because I couldn't stand the look of desperation in Dad's eyes every time he found me barely conscious, strung out on my choice of poison at the time. But now, I wondered if he was desperate to save me or to escape himself. To leave behind the memories, the suffocating reminders of Mum and Elliot. They were in everything: our house, the walls, the furniture. 

Could I really blame him for wanting to leave? 

“Lo?”

“Huh.” I twisted my head back to Devon and smiled. “Sorry, I zoned out.”

“It's cool. Listen, I was wondering—”

“I'm here, I made it. Sorry, Mom wanted to bond.” Laurie made air quotes and sighed. “What'd I miss?”

“Not much. Devon was just telling me he wanted ice cream.” I stifled a laugh as he protested, but Laurie cut him off, “Ooh, yeah, get me one? Thanks.” She flashed him an eager smile, and he rolled his eyes, wiping his hands down his board shorts as he stood up.

“Guess I'm going to get ice cream.”

“Thanks,” we both said in unison. When he took off toward The Shack, Laurie laid out her towel beside mine and slipped the thin summer dress off her body. “So, this looks cosy.”

“Laurie,” I warned, and she laughed.

“I’m only joking around. I get it. Friends only, right?”

“It’s all I’m capable of right now,” I said.

“So, the chat with your dad was that bad, huh?”

I let out a groan and shifted onto my side, propping my head up with a fist. “I love him, but he’s so clueless sometimes.”

“Tell me about it, families are the worst. But I’m glad you texted. We can hang out and then if you don’t want to go back to the house later, you can stay over at mine. My parents are out of town for the night.”

“That’d be okay?”

She nodded enthusiastically. “Of course. Autumn’s brother is back from the military so she’s busy doing family stuff and I don’t like being home alone. We can watch a movie and get pizza, then I’ll drive us to school in the morning.”

“You don’t know how good that sounds.” I needed space. Away from Kyle, away from the house. Away from a certain brooding Prince who refused to stay off my mind.

“Two ice creams, at your pleasure.” Devon appeared over us. “You both owe me three dollars.”

“Devon,” Laurie gasped and I let out an amused chuckle. She glanced between us. “What?”

“Ask Lo, here. She seems to take issue when people try to do nice things for their friends. Isn’t that right?” He gave me a pointed stare as he held out my ice cream. I sat up and took it from him.

“Look, I like to pay my way, okay?” I shrugged, running my tongue around the dripping cream and then licking the top clean off.

Devon grumbled something under his breath, thrust Laurie her ice cream, and stalked off.

“What was all that about?” I craned my neck to watch him backtrack to the diner.

“For real? He’s totally got it bad for you.”

“I told him I’m not interested.”

“You know that, and I know that, but he’s a guy, Lo. They have a one-track mind. He might say he’s cool with it now, but one day he’s going to want more, and then what?”

I grabbed my cover-up, balling up the chiffon, and threw it at her. “Stop, okay? We’re just friends. He said he’s cool with it.” But the look in her eye told me she was anything but convinced.

~

We spent the rest of the day hanging out at the Bay. Some of Devon’s friends joined us and by the time we were ready to leave, they were trying to persuade Laurie to have a party. I’d shook my head discreetly and mouthed, “No more parties.” I just wanted to hang out with her and give myself time out to catch a breath.

“Laurie, you’re killing us here. You have a free house, you have to let us come hang,” a boy called Jared said with a suggestive grin.

“Bite me, Jared. You know I’m dating… was dating Kyle,” she corrected herself. Jared closed the distance between them, caging her against her car.

“Come on, Stone’s out of the picture. We could have some fun together.”

I watched them out the corner of my eye, hoping Kyle didn’t appear out of nowhere. Because although they weren’t official, something told me it was only a matter of time.

“Like you’d know what to do with me,” she shot back, shoving him backward. He barked out a laugh and shook his head as she rounded her car to the driver’s side.

“You don’t know what you’re missing, babe.”

“Give it up, J, she’s Stone’s.” Devon stepped up beside me. “Sorry about Jared, he gets…”

“Don’t sweat it.” I nudged his side with my elbow. “Thanks for hanging out with me today. I’ll see you tomorrow at school?”

There was a spark of some unknown emotion in his eyes as he looked down at me, and I braced myself, but all he said was, “Yeah, of course. But if you girls get lonely later and want company, you know where to find me.” Devon winked and jogged off to catch up with his friends and I climbed inside Laurie’s car. She looked flustered.

“Something you want to tell me?” I said with a smirk.

“He’s just so… ugh!”

“You will have to be a little clearer than that. Are we talking about Kyle or Jared?

“Jared?” Her eyes bugged. “Puh-lease. He’s a dog. I’m talking about Kyle, that infuriating cousin of yours.”

“Why don’t you just smooth it over with him?”

“If only it were that simple.” She turned the key, and the car whirred to life. “We can stop by yours and grab your stuff and then go straight to mine, okay?”

“Sounds good.”

Ten minutes later, we pulled up outside the house. It was the first time I’d seen the driveway full of cars. The only one missing was Maverick’s.

“Front or back?” Laurie asked, and I remembered she’d been here before, when her and Kyle were officially dating.

“I guess we should go through the house.”

She looked as excited by that prospect as I did. I dug out my key and opened the door. “Hello,” I called. “It’s me.”

“Lo? We’re in here.” Rebecca’s voice floated out from the kitchen. I nodded to Laurie to stick close by. Her face scrunched up, but she followed.

“Hey.” I lifted my hand in a small wave as I entered the kitchen. Rebecca was busy fussing over a pan on the stove while Summer and Gentry were seated around the island. Macey was in one of the chairs outside, catching the last rays of the afternoon. Kyle and Maverick were nowhere to be seen.

“Did you have a nice day, honey?” Rebecca’s eyes widened when she spotted my friend. “Laurie, is that you hiding behind Lo?”

“Hi, Mrs. Stone-Prince.” She stepped out from behind me and raised a stiff hand.

“Enough with the formalities. Please, call me Rebecca. It’s so good to see you again.”

“Lo, Laurie,” Uncle Gentry flashed us a smile and went back to his papers.

“Hey, Summer,” I said, silently asking her if everything was still okay. She gave me a tight smile.

“What have you two girls got planned for this evening? I’m making lasagna, if you’d like to join us?”

“Actually, I’m going to stop at Laurie’s for the night. Her parents are out of town and she doesn’t want to be home alone.”

Rebecca paused from her stirring and turned to me. “Does your father know?”

Like he cares. “I’ll text him.”

“Sounds good. Oh, how exciting.” She clapped her hands together. “Your first slumber party.”

“Mom, I think they’re a little old for slumber parties,” Summer added, surprising all of us. When she realised we were staring in her direction, she ducked her head and continued doing her homework.

“Well, I’m going to pack a bag and then we’ll head out. If you need me I have my phone. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Don’t stay up too late, and Laurie, I’m sure Kyle will be disappointed he didn’t get to see you.”

Laurie stifled a snort as we hurried out of the kitchen and cut across the garden to the pool house, ignoring Macey.

“That was… weird.” Laurie said once we were inside. “I get a total Stepford Wives vibe from her.”

“She’s not so bad. It’s like she tries too hard, you know?” I went into my room and started packing a bag. “I bet she’s on the phone to Kyle right now telling him to hurry home so she can play matchmaker.”

“Bitch,” she shot back. “Come on, let’s get out of here quick, in case you’re right.”

Five minutes and one overnight bag later, we were back in her car and reversing out of the driveway.