Lucy
Best friends can be unicorns. It was the first thought Lucy had when she got Reya’s text the next morning.I got his number. Want me to text him for you?
Lucy was getting ready for work. She’d asked Leah for a half day so she could visit Ella at rehab in the afternoon. It had been only a few days, but it felt like ages since she’d seen her. Now Reya had Jep Parsons’s number.
She texted Reya back, thanking her and telling her exactly what to say to Jep.Got it. BRB when he answers, Reya replied.
Lucy was so nervous she could barely choke down her cereal at the kitchen table. She stole a look at her parents seated across from her. They’d been dead serious about staying away from Jep Parsons. The lawsuit had been filed. There could be no mistakes. But she had to know about that note. It was a clue about that night, and it might be a clue for helping Ella.
“Your sister will be happy to see you,” her mother said, as she sipped her coffee. “She’s making so many gains.”
“That’s great.” Lucy glanced surreptitiously at her phone to see if Reya had replied yet.
“The physiatrist took her to the pool yesterday and helped her walk back and forth in the shallow end,” her mother went on.
“You should see her! Walking almost all by herself,” her father said. Lucy couldn’t help but note it was the same pride he’d shown when Ella had been awarded her scholarship, only now it was over her ability to walk.
“Has she talked yet?” Lucy asked. Until the two of them could speak, it was like part of her sister was still gone.
“She’s trying,” her mother said, staring into her mug. So far Ella’s communications had been guttural, unintelligible to the family and frustrating for her. It was heartbreaking for Lucy to sit there and watch her struggle, never knowing what to say. “The good news is, she’s not giving up after a word or two, like before. I can tell there’s something she’s trying to say.”
Her phone vibrated in her lap. It was Reya. She snuck a peek under the table.
He replied. He wants to meet you.
Lucy glanced at the clock and excused herself from the table.Ask if he can meet this morning. At Lighthouse Beach.
I’m coming too.
Fine. Tell me what he says.
There was a long pause while Lucy waited, heart pitter-pattering. Then dots on her screen.He said yes! What time?
If she left now, she could be at Lighthouse Beach parking lot, just across the street from the Sandy Page, in twenty minutes.
20 minutes?She waited, thinking. It was probably too soon. Jep wouldn’t have time to get there. Was she willing to be late to work for this?
A minute later, Reya replied:He said ok. I’m leaving now. WAIT FOR ME!!!!!
Lucy laughed aloud, but her heart was now pounding.
Tell him the bottom of the steps.The overlook at Lighthouse Beach parking lot was set high above the beach. The steps down to the sand were steep and many, but she didn’t want to risk anyone she knew driving by and seeing them together.
Lucy ran back into the kitchen and grabbed the lunch bag her mother had left on the counter. “Leaving already?” her mom asked.
“I’m going to work early,” she lied. “Since I’m leaving to see Ella this afternoon.”
“Alright. Remember, I’m picking you up at twelve-thirty.”
“I know.” She kissed her mom’s cheek and ran out the door for her bike. Jep Parsons had agreed to meet. It was time to ask him about the note.
She pedaled so fast she made it to the lot five minutes early. Lucy left her bike against the guardrail at the edge of the lot and looked around. Neither Jep nor Reya was there yet. Across the way the Sandy Page Bookshop stood empty and still dark; there was no sign of Leah’s car parked along the curb yet. Chatham Harbor glittered cerulean blue beneath a matching sky, thenarrow strip of North Beach Island casting its golden glow between the two. A few cars pulled in and Lucy squinted in the morning sun trying to recognize drivers. What was Jep driving these days since the accident? She recognized none of them. Resigned, she started down the steps to the beach below.
“Lucy!” It was Reya, coasting across the parking lot. She ditched her bike by Lucy’s and joined her, breathless. “He’s not here yet?” They scanned the lot together.
“What if he doesn’t come?” Lucy worried aloud.
“Oh, he’s coming,” Reya assured her.
