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“Maybe you’re right,” she admitted. She kept watching the path, the night, though. Something tingling, a sense of unease, of foreboding.
Cricket moved toward the house, the whole thing dropped as though it never happened.
“I’ll be right back,” she said. “I’m just going to see what’s going on with my workaholic boyfriend.”
Hannah observed Mako watching Cricket with something like petulance on his face. She ignored it as she dropped her robe and climbed into the tub. Oh, the water. It felt so good.
She glanced at the clock on the wall inside. It wasn’t as late as she thought. Not yet midnight. It seemed so much later.
And was that thunder? She listened but it was hard to hear over the hot tub jets. She watched the sky for the telltale flash, but didn’t see anything.
Florida people were always staring up at the sky, watching for those big thunderheads, waiting for the air to chill with the approach of a storm. As kids it was drilled into you; if you hear thunder, come inside. And as kids, they’d always pushed the edge of that warning, waiting for the next rumble, or to see a distant skein of lightning in the darkening sky before racing out of the pool or the ocean and inside to safety.
Now, as a mom, she was inside even at the most distant sound. But they weren’tinFlorida; they were deep in the woods in Georgia. Gigi was safe at home. And, Mako was right about one thing, shewaspleasantly buzzing. She let the water bubble and soothe, wash everything else away.
“Where’s the big guy?” asked Mako.
She rolled her eyes. “Where else? Working. He said he wouldn’t be long. Must be something in the water. Can’t get the men around here to take some time off.”
“I’mhere,” said Mako. “Present and accounted for. Ready to protect the women from ghosts and shadowy figures on the property.”
Mako leaned his head back, closed his eyes again. And Bruce’s words rang back to Hannah. She tried to keep the guilt, the worry off her face. She didn’t want to think about real things right now—ghosts and strangers in the woods were preferable to the real dynamics of family.
“He’s a good guy, Hannah,” said Mako. When she looked over at him, he was gazing at her. “You seem happy.”
Hannah studied her brother’s face, saw something she didn’t recognize and didn’t like. A sadness. This was the moment to ask him if he’d taken the test, what he’d found. They might not have another moment alone.
“How’s Liza?” she asked instead.
She was eager for her sister-in-law to rejoin the group. Poor Liza had left the table so suddenly, looked so unwell. The migraine, Chef Jeff’s story, the big platter of meat. It had clearly been too much for her; Hannah had seen the strain.
And Hannah did not love the energy between Cricket and Mako. It was always annoying. The Cricket and Mako show. But it was also that they were bad for each other. Had Liza picked up on that, too? She was so sensitive.
“Sound asleep,” Mako answered. “She didn’t even move when I came in to change, and I tried not to disturb her. Those meds are hardcore. She’ll be okay in the morning.”
Hannah remembered that Liza hadn’t wanted to take the medication. But maybe she’d changed her mind, the pain finally winning out.
“I didn’t know she got migraines.”
“She hasn’t had one in years. Since college she said.”
“Everything okay?”
She expected a blustery blow-off:Of course, of course, everything’s perfect. Liza’s perfect.But instead his eyes glanced off to the side. Another Mako tell.
“There’s been some stress. Work. And, you know, we’ve beentrying...”
Hannah felt a little rush of joy. It was one of her dreams—a big bunch of kids, a couple more for her and Bruce, at least two from Liza and Mako. They’d raise their kids together happily, with lots of sleepovers, family nights and big vacations, matching Christmas pajamas.
“For a baby?”
The look on his face tamped down her excitement and it morphed to concern.
He nodded. “But—”
“Oh my gaawd! What a gorgeous night!” Cricket returned. Svelte, skin bronzed, in a white bikini.
Hannah felt suddenly self-conscious about her mom bathing suit, the simple black one-piece she’d ordered online.
