Swans Landing #1 - Surfacing (12 page)

And yet, when I stood to go find the book I needed for my research, I instead found myself heading straight toward Elizabeth.

“Hey, Elizabeth,” I said sweetly, “did you remember to stop by the vet’s office for your flea bath yesterday?”

Elizabeth’s head snapped up and she narrowed her eyes at me. “What did you say?”

“Flea. Bath,” I repeated, enunciating the words slowly, as if she were too stupid to understand. But maybe I was the stupid one. Why was I standing up for Sailor Mooring? “What’s wrong? I thought dogs had excellent hearing.”

The onlookers sucked in a deep breath, waiting for Elizabeth’s response. Sailor kept her head bent over her notebook, but she directed a dark glare toward me.

“Listen, new girl,” Elizabeth said, stepping around Sailor toward me, “you may be unaware of how things work around here, so let me fill you in. I say whatever I want to people like you and you have to deal with it, unless you want another Diet Coke shower. Got it?”

I was in her face before she had finished the sentence, our noses inches apart. “People like
me
? And what does that mean?”

Elizabeth opened her mouth, but Dylan stepped into view from the nearby stacks, his arms crossed over his chest.

“Is there a problem here?” His voice was low and cold, a tone I hadn’t heard him use before during the short time that I’d known him. He didn’t look like quiet, scrawny Dylan Waverly anymore. The lean muscle in his forearms and neck had tensed, ready to strike at any moment, and the blue of his eyes had darkened into something resembling a stormy sky. He stared at Elizabeth with a ferocious snarl, waiting for her response.

Elizabeth stepped back, putting distance between us. She sneered at me, then at Dylan. “You people shouldn’t be allowed here,” she said. “We all know what your kind did.”

Dylan pressed his lips together, but he didn’t say anything.

Elizabeth spun around on her heel and marched toward her friends. “Come on. I can’t stand the smell any longer.”

Once they left, I realized my body trembled from head to foot. My nails had dug half-moons into my palms and sweat trickled down my back under my sweater.

Dylan looked like his normal self again and he sat down next to Sailor, whispering to her while she nodded and tried to wave him away.

“Okay,” I said. “Anyone want to explain what just happened?”

Sailor nearly growled at me. “Next time, stay out of it.”

I laughed. “Oh, because you were doing such a great job of getting Elizabeth to back off on your own?”

Sailor leaped to her feet, facing me. “I was doing what Dylan wanted me to. I’ve dealt with Elizabeth my entire life and I’ve done fine before you ever got here!”

“What does she have against you?” I asked, hugging my notebook to my chest.

But both Dylan and Sailor avoided meeting my gaze. Sailor closed her notebook and stuffed it into her backpack, taking an extra long time to zip it up. Dylan thumbed through a book he had found in the stacks, letting his hair fall over his face.

“Fine,” I grumbled. “Don’t tell me anything.”

“It’s complicated,” Dylan said.

“I’m not stupid.”

But Dylan shook his head. “You wouldn’t believe us.”

“Believe what?”

Sailor slung her backpack over her shoulder. “I’m going to the bathroom.”

She disappeared quickly, leaving Dylan and me alone. But he wasn’t likely to give me any answers either, judging from the way he tried to change the subject.

“I think I found a good book for my research,” he said, showing me the title of the book he’d found.

“Dylan.”

“It has a lot of critical essays about Steinbeck’s work and the times he wrote about,” he went on, as if I hadn’t spoken. “Maybe I can find something to help me write my paper in here.”

“So you’re going to ignore me now?” I asked.

Dylan lifted his head, blinking as he pushed back a lock of hair. “I’m not ignoring you, but I’m not answering any questions.”

“Because?” I prompted.

“Because I can’t.” He looked sad and conflicted, but he shook his head. “I wish I could, but I can’t right now.”

“Will you tell me what’s going on eventually?” I asked.

“Yes,” he said. “When you’re ready to hear it.”

“What does that mean?”

Dylan stood, smiling as he tucked his book under his arm. “Hey, did you notice you actually managed to run Sailor out of the room entirely this time? Not bad for a new girl.”

“I’m getting better in my ‘dealing with Sailor’ skills.” I tapped my notebook. “Guess I should go find these books before the end of the period.”

Dylan nodded. “I’ll be at our table, caught up in this
exciting
reading.” He grinned as I walked away.

I followed the signs on the ends of the stacks, looking for the right aisle to search for the books I needed. The history area smelled extremely musty and the books looked as if they were probably as old as the events written inside them. I pulled one book off the shelf, waving away the cloud of dust that rose up around me. I flipped through the pages, but my mind wasn’t really on the research.

I wandered in and out of the stacks, running my fingers over the spines of the books. A word on one spine caught my eye and I stopped, pulling the book down to get a better look at it.

Fae and Other Creatures
, the book Josh had mentioned. It didn’t look as if anyone had touched the book in a long time. I opened it and scanned the table of contents. Chapter five was titled “Selkies, Finfolk, and Other Water Creatures.”

My heart pounded as I flipped through the pages.

The chapter started out describing the repeated reports of half-human, half-fish creatures that had plagued sailors and pirates for hundreds of years. A lot of times the ships that encountered these creatures soon shipwrecked, leaving only a few survivors to tell the tale of the mysterious beings.

I skimmed ahead, trying to find the section on finfolk.

Tales of finfolk originated in the Orkney Islands off the coast of what is now Scotland. Legends from this area describe beings that are fully amphibious and can move between land and water at will
—

The sound of a quiet conversation in the next aisle drifted toward me and I lifted my head, listening carefully.

“No, I’m fine,” said a quivering female voice. “I wanted to talk to you, that’s all.”

I peeked between the books on the shelf to see Sailor standing in the next aisle, her cell phone pressed to her ear.

“Well,
sorry
for needing you, Josh,” she snapped after a moment. She scrubbed at her cheeks with the back of one hand, wiping away tears. “I thought you cared, but I guess you’re like Dylan—all you care about is
her.
”

A tickling sensation prickled across my scalp. Josh? As in, Josh Canavan?

“Yeah, well, you have a funny way of showing it,” Sailor went on. “You never talk to me anymore…This isn’t even
about
what Elizabeth said, it’s about us. Can’t you see Mara is trying to take you away from me too? She’s already got her claws into Dylan.”

Since when did Josh and Sailor talk? They never even looked at each other in school as far as I could tell.

“Fine,” Sailor said. “Go back to class. Sorry for disturbing you…No, it’s
fine
. Bye.”

I slunk toward the other end of the aisle as Sailor stomped past, but she never looked my way.

Chapter Thirteen

“This is a good restaurant,” Lake said. The lone candle on the table between us flickered in the draft caused by his breath and illuminated the golden glow in his skin, making him appear to shimmer a bit.

“Uh-huh.” I curled the end of my menu around my finger and took a look around the room. We were the only patrons in the small restaurant inside an inn called The Sand Dollar. An older man had greeted us at the front door, but he had disappeared through a door that I assumed led to the kitchen. The bright blue tablecloths, white candles, and silk flowers gave the room a cozy feel.

I might have enjoyed it if I were there with anyone else.

“I sell most of my catches here,” Lake went on. “I can personally attest to the freshness of the oysters.”

“I hate oysters,” I said. A light rain had begun to trickle down the window at my side, forming a curtain between me and a slick, empty world outside. Everyone else was probably at home, curled up on the couch and watching TV. Which sounded like a much better place to be than here with Lake and not having a thing to say to him.

“I recommend the lasagna,” Lake told me as he closed his menu. “Best dish they have. Four different cheeses. Delicious.”

“Uh-huh,” I said again. My eyes scanned over the menu, trying to find something to eat that wasn’t lasagna.

A night out had been Lake’s idea, but he’d sounded stiff and awkward when he offered the suggestion. After two days of avoiding each other since our fight at the beach, I had a feeling that the dinner wasn’t exactly his idea. Miss Gale had most likely put him up to it. Miss Gale probably had a hand in most things Lake did or did not do.

The door to the kitchen swung open and my heart did a flip flop. Josh walked our way, dressed in nice black pants and a bright blue shirt that matched the tablecloths. He looked so strange without his black hoodie, like a person I didn’t even know. He stumbled a bit when he saw us, but then he continued forward, retrieving a small notepad from his pocket.

“Welcome to The Sand Dollar,” he said. “I’m Josh, I’ll be your server.”

I looked up, waiting for him to glance at me, to show some kind of recognition that this wasn’t the first time we’d met. But he seemed to be purposefully avoiding meeting my eyes and stared at the candle instead.

“Hello, Josh,” Lake said, giving him a strained smile. “How is your mother?”

A muscle in Josh’s jaw twitched. “Fine, sir,” he said.

It hadn’t crossed my mind before now that Lake might know Josh, but of course he must. After all, as Lake had told me, it was a small island and the locals all knew each other. But the idea was too weird to consider.

“What can I get you to drink?” Josh asked, holding his notepad higher to block my gaze.

“Water for me,” Lake said.

“Me too,” I said.

Josh nodded. “Be right back.”

I watched the door swing back and forth behind him, making a soft swishing sound until it finally stopped. What was this game he played now, pretending he didn’t know me? Secretly talking to Sailor? I was sure Dylan didn’t know about Josh and Sailor having some kind of relationship. But if Josh was dating Sailor, why was he hiding out at Pirate’s Cove with me?

Had I gotten entirely the wrong signals from him this whole time?

Well, okay then. I could play this game too.

When Josh returned with our drinks, I kept my eyes on my menu and didn’t even bother with a thank you when he placed the glass of water in front of me.

“Are you ready to order?” Josh wiped his hands on his pants and shifted from one foot the other.

“Mara?” Lake asked. “Have you decided yet?”

“I’ll have the grilled dolphinfish.”

“Out of season,” both Lake and Josh said at the same time. Josh jumped back like he’d been shocked, but Lake just grinned at him.

“It’s on the menu,” I pointed out.

“They use the same menu year round,” Lake explained. “They don’t get much business in the off season, so it’s easier not to make a second version. But some dishes are out of season this time of year. Dolphinfish being one of them.”

“Fine. The lasagna then.” I snapped my menu closed and shoved it toward Josh, still not looking at him.

“The same for me,” Lake said, handing over his own menu in a gentler manner.

Josh returned to the kitchen, leaving Lake and me alone again. My gaze drifted around the room, studying the pictures of beach scenes and birds that hung on the wall. Lake cleared his throat a few times, took a deep breath like he was about to say something, but then fell back into silence.

Did other girls feel this uncomfortable with their own fathers? If I had grown up with Lake, had actually known him as a dad, would we be laughing and sharing secrets over dinner instead of staring off into space while trying to think of anything to say?

It was Mom’s wish that I come here after her death. Lake’s parental rights had never been taken away, so legally he was still my next of kin anyway, but Mom had specifically written into her will that I would go to him. But why send me to a man who never wanted to get to know me before now?

“How is school?” Lake asked, breaking my train of thought.

I shrugged and grabbed the salt shaker to dump some into my water. “Fine.”

We fell into silence again. Lake added salt to his own water glass, then drummed his fingers on the table, as if accompanying a tune he heard in his own head.