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“Christ Almighty, can a woman not read in peace?” griped Hattie from the neighboring room.
Wynter swiped a hand down her face. “No, I’d rather we just head to your Keep now. I don’t think you need to ask why.”
He felt his mouth quirk. “No, I definitely don’t.”
“It really is ahorribleway to die, I’m telling you,” said Anabel as she wiped down the kitchen table the following evening. “One of my worst and most traumatic experiences for sure. I still have nightmares about it.”
Delilah paused in sweeping the kitchen floor. “What did you do to upset him so much?”
Anabel did a double-take. “What?”
“You must have donesomething.What was it? Did you insult him? Tease him? Criticize him? Flip him off?”
“He was a shark, Del. I really don’t think any of those things would have bothered him all that much.”
“They don’t just savage people like that for no reason.”
“Well,Ididn’t do anything wrong.” Anabel scrubbed the table a little harder than necessary. “I was surfing, minding my own business.”
“Likely story.”
“It’s not a story, it’s the truth.”
“Maybe he was rabid,” suggested Hattie, drying the plate Wynter had just washed. “That disease can make an animalcrazy.”
Wynter felt her nose wrinkle. “I don’t think sharks can catch rabies.”
“Wynter’s right, they can’t,” said Xavier, taking the dry plate from Hattie and putting it away in the cupboard. “It’s a mammalian disease.”
Delilah looked at Anabel. “Then we’re back to you provoking the shark.”
“I didnotprovoke him,” the blonde insisted. “I can’t believe you’re blaming mefor my own death. Where’s the compassion? Where’s the sympathy? Where’s the distress you’re supposed to feel?”
“Why would I be distressed?” Delilah went back to sweeping. “I didn’t know you back then. You were a whole different person.”
Hattie glanced at Anabel. “This does explain why you wouldn’t watchJawswith us at one of the motels we stayed it.”
Anabel jutted out her chin. “The flashbacks are painful, all right? I see no need to worsen it for myself by—stop it, Del, you’re not funny!”
But Delilah kept on humming theJawstheme tune.
Wynter tossed the woman a look. “Leave her be.”
“I just wanna know what she did to the shark,” said Delilah.
Anabel slapped the cloth on the table. “I didn’t do anything!”
Xavier put away yet another plate. “Relax,Ibelieve you. Now if you were Del, I’d have a different opinion, because she’s a fucking shit stirrer who could rile up even a nun. A shark would be no problem for her. She’d welcome the challenge.”
Delilah glanced at him. “Coming from a fellow shit stirrer, that was an excellent compliment.”
Anabel scowled at her. “He wasn’t complimenting you; he was pointing out that you’re wacked.”
“Aw, don’t be jealous that he likes me better.Everyonelikes me better.” Delilah shrugged. “You’re just too neurotic for most people’s tastes, sweetie. But don’t beat yourself up about it; it’s not your fault. Actually, scrap that, it’s totally your fault, since you insist on using yourself as a test trial subject. I’m curious, did you do that during every life you led? Because it would explain a few things. Like why you’d stupidly taunt a shark.”
“I did not taunt him.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
