Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 102394 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 512(@200wpm)___ 410(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102394 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 512(@200wpm)___ 410(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
“Jesus.”
“I didn’t go in it for the rest of the summer. Even the next year, I couldn’t bring myself to go near the water, so my mother finally had the entire pool drained and refilled. But it wasn’t really about the water. Every time I looked at that pool, all I saw was that man’s gray, bloated face.”
“Did you know him?”
I shook my head. “Years later, I was watching Law & Order, and a character drowned in a pool. The police and the medical examiner came, and it hit me for the first time that no one had come to our house except for my dad’s friends. It was never on the news, and no one ever spoke about what had happened again.”
“That must’ve been hard to understand as a kid.”
I smiled sadly. “I still don’t understand most things that have to do with my father. Namely, why he chooses to lead the life he does.”
“I’m not making excuses for him, but I’m guessing it’s what he knew. His father and uncles were in that life, and sometimes when you grow up around crazy shit, it starts to seem normal.”
“I think that was true for me when I was little. I didn’t realize other dads didn’t hold business meetings at home while blasting music, just in case the house was bugged. But the older I got, the more I understood, and the more distance I wanted from my dad.”
Wes smiled. “Can’t get much farther apart than New York to California and still be in the US.”
“I probably should’ve moved to Hawaii.”
The sun started to sink, casting a golden hue over the marina. Wes and I sat in comfortable silence, watching a sailboat pull in and dock.
“What about you?” I asked. “Did you go into the family business? Was your dad a cop? Is that why he got away with abusing your mom?”
He shook his head. “My dad’s an electrician. At least that’s what he was before he took off when I was ten.”
“That must’ve been difficult.”
“Not really. I was relieved he couldn’t touch my mother anymore.” He shrugged. “And my mom gave us a damn good life.”
“What made you want to become a policeman?”
Wes finished the rest of the wine in his cup. “When I was fourteen, my older brother didn’t come home one night. Luke was seventeen, and unlike most brothers who are close in age, we were tight. I wanted to be just like him. That night, he was walking home after a party and passed a gas station where a guy was yelling at his wife and getting in her face. Luke stepped in, and a fight broke out. The guy wound up stabbing my brother eight times.”
My hand covered my heart. “Oh my God. I’m so sorry.”
Wes nodded. “It took the police twenty minutes to show up after it happened, and my brother bled out—he couldn’t be saved. All I remember from that night is sitting in the hospital with my mom, and she kept asking over and over why no one came sooner. Nobody had an answer. I decided right then that I wanted to be the reason someone’s brother made it home.”
“You’re pretty amazing, Wes. You know that?”
He caught my gaze. “So are you.”
We watched the beautiful sunset until the sky’s show was over.
“It’s really nice to be able to talk to someone and be so open and honest,” I said. “My entire life, I’ve had to pretend my father is an upstanding businessman. It’s such a relief to just be myself.”
Wes’s eyes dropped to my lips. They lingered for a long time before he abruptly stood. “We should get going.”
“Oh. Okay.”
He unloaded the snorkel equipment we had to return and held a hand out to help me off the boat. The wine and sun must’ve hit me harder than I thought, because when I stepped off, I lost my balance and tripped. Wes caught me in his arms. Our faces were close, and I debated leaning in and pressing a kiss to his lips. But before I could find the courage to do it, Wes was already pulling back.
The ride home was quiet, which seemed to have become a pattern with us. We’d grow close, and then Wes would put distance between us, sometimes while we were still physically next to each other. The silence continued in the house as we walked up the stairs to our respective rooms.
“Thanks again for today,” I said.
Wes nodded. “You’re welcome.”
I opened the door to my bedroom, but Wes stopped me from going in.
“Juliette?”
I turned.
“I wouldn’t have met up with her.”
I felt my forehead wrinkle. “Who?”
“My booty call from earlier. Even if I’d been in California, I wouldn’t have gone.”
CHAPTER 11
* * *
Juliette
The following morning, I walked out of my bedroom to find Wes on the phone with someone. My first inclination was to admire his shirtless physique, and the way his hair was beautifully messy in the morning. But immediately I could see that something was off.