“I’ll explain later,” he says, taking his place next to her again. “Just trust me.”
I pull Sam to face me, and reluctantly, he looks at me.
“You can do this. I’mtellingyou to. I know that it goes against everything you are, but this is the only way. Unless you know someone else who wants to step in and kill me, you’re up, Bishop.”
“I’m going to have to hurt you. How can I do that?”
“Because you’re going to. That’s the deal.” I lift up on my toes so that I’m closer to his height, and I rub my nose against his. “And then you’ll make up for it later,” I whisper.
He gives in and lets a smile come through. “You’re something else, Stella.”
I turn back to the water and confidently take his hand. “Let’s go.”
Together, we walk into the water, only letting go of each other’s hands when our feet leave the sand.
Costa swims to a spot a good forty-five feet from the shore and stops. “About here.”
The way he’s looking at Sam pains me. This is where it happened—where his son died. Of course he’d remember the place where his world crashed. How could he not?
Sam swims in behind me, and I flinch sharply.
“Hey, hey, easy,” he says. I have no idea how he can remain so solid in this place of hell. “I’ll tell you when.”
“Sorry.” I hate that I just reacted that way to Sam’s touch. “I’m just a little jumpy.”
“You can’t be,” Amy says with too much of a critical tone.
“It doesn’t help that you’ve been such a bitch to me,” I say angrily.
We all tread water, the only sound the small splashes we make.
“You’re right,” she says. “I apologize. I have a few bad habits to break.”
“Like your hideous snoring?” I’m apparently still able to grin in the face of tragedy.
“That’s not a habit.”
I splash her full-on, and she laughs.
She wipes lake water from her eyelids. “Okay, okay. Like…treating you as if you’re the worst sister in the world when you’re really the best?”
I just look at her. I don’t want to answer this.
“Just say yes. I know it’s true. And you are the best,” she says.
“Youusedto be the best,” I say. “I want you to be that again.”
“I’m going to try. I swear, I will.” For once, her sincerity is undeniable.
“Then, say it,” I demand.
“Say what?”
“You know. Say it.”
She sighs. “Oh, fine.” Amy paddles for a few moments, and finally, she relents. “I love you somush.”
“Good.” I wink. “I love you somush, too.”
