“Did you feed the little angel?”
“Your brother gave him a little snack. They’re both back asleep now, but I—I couldn’t sleep.” A tear slips down her brown cheek, and I’m instantly alarmed. Holly never cries.
“What’s wrong. Are you sick?”
She shakes her head and swipes at the tear, which is promptly replaced by another. “No, I had to rescue a turtle today. He got caught in a trotline on the river.”
Awww, my poor friend. “Was he… Did he make it?” I ask cautiously.
Holly rolls her lips in and out a few times, her head bobbing in the affirmative. “Yeah, he’s okay. I just…” She looks away from me, blinking up at the corner of the room.
Then it hit me.Turtles. “It made you think of Evie,” I surmise in a gentle tone, and her face crumples.
“Y-yes. He was a Sabine map turtle, not a sea turtle like Evie loved. But I still couldn’t stop thinking of her the entire time I was disentangling him.”
“Oh, Holls. I’m so sorry. I’ve been thinking of her too.”
She looks back at me, her head tilted to the side. “Because you’re in a tropical location? Like where she went missing?”
My own tear escapes my eyelid and tracks down my face. “Yeah, Evie’s always on my mind when I think of the ocean. She loves the beach so much.”Loves, present tense. Notloved, past tense. Because even after seventeen years, I can’t bear to think of my full-of-life friend not being out there. Somewhere.
Holly scrubs at her face. “What if I hadn’t gone straight to bed that night? She said she was going to the ice machine. I should have walked with her. I didn’t hear a struggle or anything. Why didn’t I hear anything, Jules? How could she just disappear off the face of the motherfucking earth?” She was getting worked up, a mixture of grief and anger turning her skin ruddy.
My sister-in-law and I first met in college, and a group of six of us went on a Spring Break trip together, including Evie Bouvier. The hotel was unable to place all our rooms together, so while I was on the third floor, Evie and Holly’s rooms were on the seventh.
“Holly,” I say soothingly, “don’t start spinning. It’s not good for the baby.”
She closes her eyes and nods, taking several deep breaths to calm herself. “You’re right,” she finally says, lifting her eyelids. Her hazel irises shine with the guilt I know she always carries with her since she was the last person to ever see our friend alive.
“It’s not your fault,” I say for about the millionth time since the disappearance. “When we’re done talking, I want you to go get in bed and cuddle up with Bubba. And if you’re not feeling better tomorrow, maybe you should call your therapist.”
Holly sighs. “Okay. I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m like this.”
My heart pinches in sympathy but I attempt to lighten the mood. “I hate to pull the pregnancy hormone card, but it does heighten your emotions. Remember the McDonald’s ice cream incident when you were pregnant with Aiden?”
A scowl falls over her face, her mood instantly shifting. “Seriously though, is it too fucking much to ask to get a caramel sundae at midnight on a Thursday? It’s absolutely ridiculous that their ice cream machine is always down. Is there some kind of ice cream machine repairman shortage that I’m unaware of?”
“It’s completely absurd,” I agree, stifling a laugh, but she notices anyway.
“Don’t laugh at me, bitch. I’m fragile.”
I can’t hold back anymore and snort with laughter. “Oh yes. You’re a delicate flower, Holls.”
“Distract me,” she demands with a wave of her hand. “Tell me what’s going on with you and Sir Forearms.”
Sinking back into my chair, I rake my teeth over my bottom lip. “Girl, he’s so fucking hot. I’ve had more sex in the past few days than I’ve had in the past year.”
“But is itgoodsex?” she asks with an arch of her dark eyebrows.
“Phe-nom-en-al,” I sound out, syllable by syllable. “I would let that man disrespect me in any way he wanted to. Like, I’d give up every ounce of dignity I possess for five seconds of his rude-ass mouth.”
“Ohh, I love when they get rude,” Holly groans. “Your brother does this one thing where—”
“Ah, ah,” I scold, holding up both hands and scrunching my nose. “Let me just stop the kinky train before you pull it into the station, sis.”
She lets out one of her hearty laughs. “Right. You don’t like it when I talk about your brother banging me like a barn door in a hurricane.”
“And yet you continue to do so,” I reply archly, tapping my fingertips against my lips before continuing. “Anyway, he’s got this filthy mouth while we’re engaged in our… activities. But when we’redone, he’s a total dreamboat. And not just the regular aftercare. He gets really sweet and praises me.”
