Page 15 of Lake Hollow Curses

“A lot of good it did. I’m sorry I’m late.”

We order our creative combos that are fast becoming a tradition when we come here, mine root beer and pink lemonade, hers coffee and cotton candy. As we make our way to a booth in the corner, I lightly touch her lower back, an impulse to hug her is thwarted by her distracted mood. “Maybe we all need to ban together and convince him to see a doctor. It’s not normal. His incidents.” I stop myself from adding that they may have no answers, because they’re all a farce.

She closes her eyes, making a pleasured sigh with a spoonful of her ice cream in her mouth. Licking her lip, she pulls her purse to her lap. “I got you something. It’s dumb, but…”

There isn’t a thing she could give me that I would discount that way.

She sets a rubber duck sitting on an innertube wearing a sunhat on the table between us. “I found it at Hidden Treasures, it made me think of you. It reminds me of the story I heard about Katie and her rubber ducks on opening day at the funpark.” This time her smile is full wattage as she winks at me. “I wrote a note on the bottom.”

I stare at the duck and back at her.

Words pile up as I sit here stunned at her thoughtfulness. She thinks about my sister. With tears in my eyes, I pick the duck up to look at the bottom. ‘She lives on beyond your memory inside your heart.’How does she do that? Even more proof that Remington James is irreplaceable.

“Rem, this is.” I clear my throat. “This is the most heartfelt thing I’ve ever been given. Thank you.” My grandmother used to always say that you should never give someone a gift early in a relationship, because they’d fall in love with your hand and not your heart. It was ingrained in me. But I’ve always done it. There wasn’t much of a worry with the frogs that she would be like that. I’d give her anything, and even if the duck is simple, the meaning is on par-our hearts are linked.

I’m reaching for her hand, when she goes back into her purse to pull out something else. This time it’s a rubber frog with sunglasses connected to a keychain with a key on it. “This isn’t the way I planned to tell you. I had imagined all of us together. I want to start by saying that the way I feel about you hasn’t changed, and this isn’t a forever goodbye.”

Here it comes. I dangle the key up in front of me. “About art school?” No reason to be coy about it. She must know that Natalie can’t help herself.

Her eyes widen as she nods. “You heard already? From who?” Not from her, which made me wonder if she was nervous to tell me.

“Nat let it slip. What’s with the key?”

Biting her lip while playing with her spoon, she says softly, “The keys for my new student apartment. They arrived yesterday. I was hoping you’d come see me? I’ll be back over breaks, but I don’t want to wait that long.” She swallows before continuing, her voice laden with emotion, “Charlie, I can’t lose what we have. If my leaving for art school is a deal breaker, if y-”

“Stop.” I shake my head and grab her hand. “Just stop. You’re not losing me. In a couple weeks I head to Wyoming for my dad, then I’ll figure it out from there. Florida is nice in the fall, right… or is that hurricane season? I don’t care.” I chuckle as her smile spreads wider. “I’ll be around so much you’ll get sick of me. Promise.”

I want to ask about Cal, Wilder, and Grady, but it’s enough right now, knowing that she wants me in her future.

Chapter Eleven

Remington James

Relief over Charlie’s response floods me. He’s always been steady and even keel, there was no reason to think he’d drop me, but a long history of not mattering still affects me from time to time. Seeing his reaction to the gift, eases any doubt I had over his possible guilt. That paired with Detective Hemminger’s response to my meeting him today.

“Can I ask you something?” It still crosses my mind too much and I need to put it to rest. “When Cal showed me Lakeside Park and the gazebo, he said that all of you grew up playing there. You, too. But on the Fourth of July didn’t you say you get sick from the vortex anomaly?” Carefully watching for his reaction, I try to keep my tone nonchalant.

“Cal said… why would…” Charlie’s brow wrinkles in confusion. “I’m not sure why he would include me in that. Maybe you misunderstood him?”

Did I? I remember him talking about Charlie, don’t I? Now, I can’t be sure. My heart screams at me to stop this inquest, but I keep going. I’ve always been a curious person who questions things, but the stakes here are the highest they’ve ever been. I want to know as much as I can. “Do you remember any of the other drowning victims? I’m sorry for bringing this up. It’s just, thinking about Katie…”

I grab the fabric of my knee length dress, pressing down to keep my legs from jiggling with my fraying nerves. Charlie doesn’t look phased by the question in the least. “Of course. It’s hard to forget.”

“Do you think they’re all connected, or do you know of any connections between them?” I put the last spoonful of the mixed ice cream in my mouth. I’ve heard what Wilder could remember, now I’d like Charlie’s perspective.

Charlie leans back, folding his arms over his chest. “I’ve always said that it’s too coincidental that they’ve all been at a specific spot near The Bends.” He frowns before going on, “I didn’t know the two tourists very well, but the rest all grew up here. As for connections, I don’t know what they could be.”

“So, you think it’s possible?”

He nods before saying, “I’d say it’s hard to believe otherwise.”

Satisfied that Wilder, Grady, and Charlie are all concurring that there must be a thread connecting the drownings, I tell myself if Cal would open up he might too. His reluctance to talk about the past isn’t enough to point a finger his way. I used to deflect the shit out of discussing Relia, the landlord of the womb I came out of.

Charlie throws our empty ice cream cups away, returning to the table he asks, “What’s Skip been up to? It’s been a few days since he called me in a panic.”

“Just freaking out over a bug in the security cameras, but Wilder got to the bottom of it. Then he started to come up withschemes to get Gary Marlow to sell him some land.” I shake my head with a laugh. “Still delusional.”

“Say what? He had camera issues?” Charlie rubs his cheek. “What did Wilder do exactly?”

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