“Most of you?”
I swallowed. “Amir said that my brother is drunk all the time. It’s even worse than it was when we were kids. And he’s ruined what was left of our home, the garden, and the orchard.”
I knew from Will’s expression that he was wondering what was left to be ruined—in his eyes, the property was already a wreck the one time he’d seen it nine years earlier. My pride stung. But Will was unfailingly polite; he didn’t say what he was thinking if there was a chance it would be hurtful. I supposed that, in a way, he had taught me to do the same.
“Amir loves Horseshoe Cliff. When he came to live with us, he immediately felt a connection to the land. He’s like my father in that way.”
“And you, too,” Will said. “I know how special it was for you.”
I did not dare look him in the eye for fear that he would see what I was thinking: that he could never really understand what Horseshoe Cliff meant to me. “Amir says he won Bear’s portion of the land in a poker game. Bear signed a contract.”
Will’s eyes widened. “Poker? Was Bear drunk?”
“Amir says Bear doesn’t even care that he lost the land. He says there are witnesses, and that Bear isn’t fighting it.” I twisted my fingers together in my lap. “The Bear I know would have fought anyone about anything. Especially Amir.” I sighed. “And now Amir wants to kick Bear off the land he’s lived on hiswhole life. But the thing is, I still own one-third of Horseshoe Cliff.”
The side of Will’s jaw twitched. “So Amir’s plan is that the two of you own the land together.”
“I could let Bear stay. If I decided that’s what I wanted to do.”
“And have you decided?”
I shook my head. “I can’t honestly believe I’m considering helping him. He’s a monster.”
Will’s expression, shifting throughout our conversation, settled now into one of sympathy. “But you’re wondering if maybe hewasa monster, and now he’s just a drunk getting swindled out of his home.”
“I don’t know! I don’t know. I think I have to go up there. I need to see him for myself.” I looked down at the ugly rug below our feet. “Amir is driving up in the morning. I’d be back tomorrow night.”
A pause swelled in the air. After a moment, Will kissed my shoulder. “Do you want me to go with you? I don’t like the thought of you getting in the middle of something between those two.”
I almost laughed. I had been in the middle of something between Bear and Amir since the moment Amir stepped out of my father’s truck with his mother’s big blue coat. Bear had always been set on punishing Amir for making me happy, and on hurting me by torturing Amir. Amir and I were two parts of a braid, and Bear had always been the third.
“I’ll be fine.” I leaned into Will. He readjusted himself, settling into the sofa as though for a nap, and I stretched out beside him. I felt his chest rise and fall. Even after our late night of drinking and dancing, I was too agitated to rest. My skin felt so warm that I wondered if I was getting sick. After a moment, I stood. Will’s eyes flicked open.
“I’m going for a swim,” I whispered.
His eyes shut again. I thought he’d fallen asleep, but as I left the den, I heard him murmur for me to be careful.
IWAS STILLwet from my swim and had my towel draped around my shoulders, the cool sand below me, when I picked up my phone. I had three missed calls from Emma. Instead of returning her calls, I called Ronnie. My thoughts had raced in circles, a dog chasing its tail, the entire time I’d been in the water. Ronnie had met Amir briefly at the party the night before, and I had seen in the way her gaze moved from him to me that she was curious about our relationship. She knew a little of my childhood, but I had never spoken of Amir—she knew only that I had grown up on a farm and that my parents had died when I was young.
“It’s him, isn’t it?” she asked rather breathlessly as she answered the phone. “Back in college, I was always so sure you were pining for some mysterious guy from your past... and then when I met Will I thought,This is the guy!But Will isn’t the guy, is he?”
“No.”
“It’s Amir!”
“Ronnie—”
“What happened between the two of you? Why didn’t it work out?”
The cold water had invigorated me. I thought I could feel my blood pumping more strongly through my veins. “It’s complicated. I believed for a long time that he did something... something truly terrible... and then he disappeared. He’s been gone nine years. I found out this morning that I was wrong. He didn’t do it. And he disappeared because he thought I was leaving him, which I never would have done...” I trailed off. “I haven’t been home in all that time. But there’s something going on with my brother, so we’re going to drive up there tomorrow.”
“You and Amir? Just the two of you?”
“Yes.”
I could practically hear Ronnie’s sharp mind ticking away like a timer winnowing down on a set moment. I supposed this was why I had called her.
“And Will isn’t bothered by this?” she asked. “You going away with the guy who it turns out didn’t do the awful thing? Who didn’t actually mean to break your heart? Who was looking at you last night like the Prince of Troy catching his first glimpse of Helen?”
