We were here for the regatta. And my brother was on one of the rowing crews. But they didn’t race at night.Did they?
No. It was too dark. And nobody raced standing up. Something was definitely wrong.
I squinted again, but they were too far away and the shadows kept them hidden. Maybe that’s where Caspian went. Maybe he was in one of those boats. It still didn’t explain why he’d dragged me to his cabin.
A strong hand gripped my arm, and the scream that was lodged in my throat sliced through the darkness.
“Sssh, Tatum. It’s just me.”
I looked up. “Daddy? What are you doing out here?” He wasn’t in his pajamas.Shouldn’t he be in his pajamas?I pointed out to the water. “Is that Lincoln? Why is he in the boat?”
Just as I pointed, the person in the boat turned his head and looked right at me. The moonlight pushed away the shadows, revealing Lincoln’s face. I held my breath as he slowly brought a single finger to his lips.Sshhh.I could almost hear the sound from here. For some reason it sent an even colder chill up my spine.
Dad scooped me up into his arms and brought me back to my cabin, then tucked me into bed where it was nice and warm. “Go back to sleep, sweetheart.” He kissed my forehead. “When you wake up in the morning this will all be just a dream.”
Right. Just a dream.
The funny thing about dreams was that sometimes they haunted you long after you woke up.
***
One year later…
It was our annual weekend at the lake again, and everyone else was up on the bank at the party celebrating the regatta. Well, everyone except me. I came down here to be closer to the lake. The water was calm and peaceful, but I had this strange feeling there were things under the surface that people couldn’t see, secrets that belonged to the lake.
Every time I tried to ask about the fire, about why Lincoln was in that boat in the middle of the night, Dad gave me this reassuring smile then changed the subject. I wasn’t crazy. I didn’t dream it. But no one seemed to want to talk about it, so I let it go.
Even though it gave me chills, it was quieter by the lake after the race, and I liked the quiet. I liked watching the sun behind the trees and the way it bounced off the water.
Part of me expected Caspian to follow me down here and tell me to come back to the party. He didn’t. Not yet, anyway. But I knew he would.
I never asked him why he dragged me to his cabin that night or where he went afterwards, and he never said. Part of me was glad about that because something told me I probably didn’t really want to know.
Being around him made my heart feel weird—the way it did when I was learning a new dance routine or like riding a bike with no hands. Scary, but exciting.
I stopped thinking about Caspian and listened to the sound of birds chirping in the distance, competing with the music floating from the tent. Sometimes I wondered what it would be like to be a bird, to be surrounded by beautiful songs all day and go wherever I wanted to go instead of only where my parents told me. To be free.
A long walkway that looked like wood but felt like plastic stretched from the embankment all the way over the water until it joined with the boat launch—a big square platform where all the rowing boats were lined up.
A voice came out of nowhere, making me jump. “Hey. What’s your name?”
I spun around to see a girl about my age walking down the boat launch with a bright green shaved ice in her hand. Her blonde hair was pulled up into a high ponytail. She was wearing denim shorts and a light pink T-shirt with sparkly sequins on the sleeves.
“Sour apple.” She got to the end of the long walkway and held the styrofoam cup toward me before I had time to answer her first question. “Want some?”
I blew out a breath and twirled the hem of my baby blue sundress. “I’m good. Thanks.”
“Lyric,” she said, pointing a finger at her chest. “Like the words of a song.”
Lyric.She wasn’t shy, that was for sure. And she wasn’t like the other girls that came for the regatta.
I smiled. “I’m Tatum.”
“Whatcha doin’ out here, Tatum?” She looked out across Crestview Lake.
From the other side of a nearby tree line, you could hear laughter, conversations, and music. My parents were there, hanging out with the other families under big white tents filled with linen-covered tables and fancy foods.
I shrugged a shoulder. “Just looking for someplace quiet. You?”