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She follows my movements with her gaze when I sit down and pull on my shoes.
Hugging her knees to her chest, she asks, “Can’t you stay a little longer?”
I hear the longing in her voice, the desperation. I planted it there when I ensured she’d crave my presence. A year is a long time, but it’s only a drop in the ocean in the bigger scheme of forever.
“It’s almost four.” I keep my voice gentle, softening the unpleasant business of saying goodbye. “It’ll be light soon.”
She nods, biting her lip.
It’s tempting to promise that I’ll visit more often. It’s even more tempting to take her with me. What her father says doesn’t matter anymore.
Instead, I stand.
She’s seventeen.
I shouldn’t forget that.
I’m too weak when I’m with her.
Until she’s eighteen, it’s safer to keep my distance.
Having done too much already, I kiss the top of her head. It’s the only indulgence I allow myself before taking her hand and pulling her to her feet.
I look around. My gaze falls on a sweater draped over the back of a chair. I take it and lift her arms before pulling it over her head.
“Put on some socks and shoes,” I tell her. The mornings are fresh here, cooler than the evenings, and the grass is always wet with dew. “You’ll catch a cold.”
She takes a pair of socks from her dresser and obediently slips them on. I give Pirate a pat on his head while she fastens her sneakers. When she’s ready, I lead her downstairs.
“Put the alarm back on,” I instruct when she’s seen me out.
She hugs herself, nodding, looking small behind the bars of the gate.
“I’ll wait until you’re inside,” I say.
She offers me a last smile before doing as I told her, returning inside and shutting the door. I appreciate the fact that she didn’t make a big deal out of saying goodbye.
When the red lights of the cameras on the walls blink on, I make my way to the rental I parked in the cul-de-sac. The notebook sits snugly in my pocket, the ticket to my rightful place, and in it, the evidence that will change everyone’s future.
CHAPTER
THIRTEEN
Sabella
The news of last night is so exciting, I can’t wait to tell Colin about it. It’s his mom’s turn to drive us to summer school, so I can’t say anything in the car. We arrive at my school, where the mixed classes for the eleventh-grade boys and girls are presented each summer, with only a minute to spare, which means my big news will have to wait until we get home after five.
The whole day, I’m in the clouds. I can’t stop touching the heavy gold ring on my thumb. I barely manage to concentrate on the math exercises. When the tutor asks me a question, I look up from my book in a daze, lost in my daydreaming. Colin, who sits one row in front of me, looks over his shoulder with a frown. I never get a question wrong, let alone having to ask the tutor to repeat the question.
“What’s up with you today?” Colin asks when we finally gather our books at five.
“I’ll tell you later,” I say with a grin, swinging my backpack over my shoulder.
“You need that A for math if you’re to make it to the final selection for uni.” He takes the heavy bag from my back. “You can’t afford to screw this up.”
I skip ahead of him to the exit. “I won’t.”
When we come down the steps, Mrs. Taylor, Colin’s mom, honks the horn to pull our attention to where she’s parked in the shade of an oak tree. She gets out and leans against the car, waiting for us with a smile.
Emmaline Taylor is petite with blond hair and blue eyes. On days like these, when her hair is tied into a ponytail and she’s wearing her gym leggings and T-shirt, the resemblance between her and Clara is uncanny.
Colin dumps our bags in the trunk and shifts behind the wheel. Mrs. Taylor takes the passenger seat in the front. Since we’ve gotten our learner driver’s licenses, Mrs. Taylor lets us take turns to drive when it’s her week to carpool.
“Hi, Mrs. Taylor,” I say, getting into the back.
“Hey, Bella.” She twists in her seat. “How was class?”
“Okay.”
Colin shoots me a look in the rearview mirror, but he doesn’t say anything. He starts the engine and focuses on driving.
Mrs. Taylor asks how my birthday dinner was and if we have news about Ryan and Celeste’s baby. Ryan and Celeste live in Cape Town where Ryan runs Dad’s city office, so we don’t see them very often. They only come to Great Brak River for family events like birthdays and Christmas.
As we drive up our street, I spot my mom’s Audi parked in front of the house. It’s strange, almost as if she left it there in too much of hurry to open the gates. She always parks inside the garage because she doesn’t want her windows to get sticky and dirty from the sea air.
