“Are you okay? You look as though you’ve seen a ghost.” A voice floats into my ear.

  I look up from my daze as a drink is placed in my hand.

  “A Manhattan,” Benton says.

  Not this guy again. If this is his way of apologizing for earlier, then it’s not nearly good enough. But I could do with another drink about now.

  “Thanks.” I accept it and immediately inhale a sizable gulp. Annoyingly, it’s better than the ones I made myself.

  “Ruby, I’m sorry if I offended you earlier. I wasn’t suggesting Justin killed Bernice, if that’s what you thought.”

  “It sure sounded like that.” I take another sip of my drink. “And don’t try to tell me you don’t think he did it. Everyone here does.”

  My veins feel like they’re buzzing from the alcohol in my system, and I can tell I’m a little drunk because Benton’s flashy white smile that usually has me internally rolling my eyes now has me drawn to his words.

  “I very much believe that a man is innocent until proven guilty,” Benton says. “And as far as I’m aware, they’ve found nothing linking him to either Bernice’s death or his wife’s disappearance years ago.”

  I smile gratefully at this. Finally, I’ve found somebody in this town who isn’t ready to send Justin straight to the gallows.

  I look around the party as I sip my drink and see Felicity is now talking animatedly and laughing with a group of her friends, as though she didn’t just show up fifteen minutes ago in tears. Mory and Hutch, the magnets they are, have found each other and are chatting away in the corner. Cameron and Leo are over at the snack table, giggling as they mix together a cocktail of fruit juice, crushed potato chips and various other things they’ve found. I don’t really know anyone else here, so I guess I’m stuck talking with Benton.

  I drain my glass. “That was good. Show me how you did it.”

  His eyes sparkle and he leads me over to the drinks bar and begins to mix another.

  “So, any news on those photos?” he asks.

  “What?” My mind goes blank and I blink at Benton in confusion.

  “The photos you showed at the meeting. The ones you found at your house?” he clarifies. “You seemed pretty riled up about them.”

  I maneuver myself onto one of the awkwardly high stools at the island. “Oh. Yeah. The photos.”

  I watch Benton focus as he works the bottles expertly. He looks as though he might start doing cocktail tricks.

  I try to catch his eye. “Do you know who those girls are?”

  He passes me the finished drink and leans against cold marble, close to me. “You already asked me that before.”

  “I know. But I’m asking you again.” I take a sip of my fresh drink and enjoy the burn as it runs through my chest. I’m starting to feel a little wild. Maybe I should switch to water. But Benton makes a damn good Manhattan and I can’t let the rest of this go to waste.

  “Like I told you before, I don’t know those girls. But I do think it’s weird, those photos all being hidden around your house.”

  “To say the leasht.” I accidentally add an ‘h’ to the last word. “And it’s also kind of weird that you were the only one with a key all those years…”

  “You think I left them there?” He raises an eyebrow.

  “Yesh.” I add another involuntary ‘h.’

  “Well, I didn’t,” he says, emphatically. “And what exactly is it you think happened to those girls?”

  “I think they’re dead.” I shock myself, having never voiced this thought out loud. “I think whoever took the photos murdered those girls, and these are his trophies.”

  “Did you tell the cops that?” Benton asks.

  “Pretty much. They aren’t interested. Said they’re just old photos. All houses have them.”

  “But you think otherwise,” Benton muses. “Why is that?”

  “Well for one, they’re just weird.” I start counting on my fingers. “The old-style dresses, the same grins, the same poses, the same place? And then there’s the whole thing of where I found them.”

  When I’ve lost count of how many fingers I’m supposed to be holding up I grab my glass again only to see that I’ve already emptied it.

  “And what’s with the texts?” I carry on, powerless to control myself. “You texted allll the other people in the neighborhood about that meeting, except me. You didn’t want me there!”

  Benton is no longer smiling. He’s frowning and looks concerned. “What are you talking about? I sent it out to everyone.”

  “Not me!” I point to my chest.

  Maybe I should have that drink of water. My voice is coming out louder than I’m meaning it to.

  “No.” He shakes his head. “That can’t be right.”

  I grab my phone and pull up the neighborhood text thread, then scroll up, holding it his way. “See?”

  He puts a finger to my screen and moves it downwards. After a moment he finds what he’s looking for. “There it is.”

  I look closer and see his finger on a text that sits between two messages I remember ignoring from somebody on the street advertising her daughter’s dog walking services. Dammit. He did text me the invite.

  “Oh yeah,” I say, suddenly feeling stupid. “Sorry.”

  “That’s okay,” he says. “It was an honest mistake.”

  Quinten comes up behind Benton and slaps a hand on his shoulder, before insisting he come talk to his friend, Barry, who is apparently thinking of selling his house.

  Alone now, it occurs to me that I’ve spent the evening so far speaking only with Benton. I should probably start trying to mingle. The problem is, when I try to slide off the stool I’ve been sitting on, my heel catches on the bottom of it, and I come tumbling to the floor.

  A few people turn to stare and Felicity rushes over from where she’s been putting out more snacks to help me up. “Ruby! Are you okay?”

  I brush my dress down as I stand, laughing to hide my embarrassment. “I’m fine, really. I’m just naturally clumsy.”

  The look on Felicity’s face says she doesn’t believe that for a second. She knows I’m skunk as a drunk.

  “Happy birthday, by the way.” I change the subject. “Forty! Wow.”

  Felicity smiles politely. “Thanks. I can’t believe Quinten managed to pull this party off without me finding out about it.”

  “You’re so lucky to have him,” I begin to babble. “That man loves you. And your boys, too. They’re good boys. And cute! They look just like their dad! And this house? You’ve got everything anyone could ever want.”

  Her brow furrows. She looks like she’s about to say something but for some reason my mouth will not shut up. “But you were crying when you arrived! Why were you crying?”

  Felicity smiles. “Oh, you know how emotional birthdays can be.”

  “That’s what I thought.” I nod, knowingly. “I thought, I’ll bet she’s just freaked out about getting old. Not that you’re old. I don’t mean that.”

  “That’s okay.” Felicity laughs. “I know what you meant.”

  Good. So long as someone does. Because at this point, I don’t even know what words are going to leave my mouth before they make their exit.

  “And really, my life is far from perfect,” she says.

  I immediately reject this, sweeping my arm around the room. “No way. Look at all of this!”

  Nobody has ever thrown me a surprise party, and if they did, there definitely wouldn’t be as many people there as there are here.

  “My life is a struggle, just like everyone else’s,” she insists. “My big house comes with big bills, we’re still paying off debt from the huge renovation we did on this place years ago, we both had to trade in our nice cars for older models, every bit of money we earn goes into the kids’ school fees, my husband is rarely even home and when he is, we’re fighting. I’ll never live up to the kind of woman his mother was, and since she died, nothing has been the same. When we had Leo eight years ago, I thought things would get better but, no. Turns out another baby can’t fix it all!”

  I stand with my mouth half open, shocked by Felicity’s outburst.

  She seems a little shocked, too. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I said all that.”

  For the first time tonight, I’ve got nothing to say. I almost want to thank her. She seems a whole lot more human now, and a lot less Stepford Wives. I say nothing. Instead, I pull her against me and hug her tightly.

  36

  MORY

  My mom is drunk. I’ve been watching her drink cocktail after cocktail, and she’s been getting increasingly louder and more obnoxious with each one.

  At first, she was talking to that cute realtor, Benton, and I was pretty sure they were arguing. Then the next time I saw them it looked like they were getting along. At one point, I even saw her on the floor. Mrs. Parker was helping pick her up. I don’t know what happened exactly but everyone was staring and now I’m completely mortified.

  All the other adults here are drinking too, but nobody else is making an ass out of themselves like my mom is. Although Hutch said his dad doesn’t drink, and he’s planning on following in his footsteps. Which I think is really cool.

  I’ve been staring at him all night. He looks so good. His blond hair keeps falling over his eyes and I just want to swipe it away for him. Twice tonight, he’s pulled me aside where nobody could see us and kissed me passionately before we returned to the crowd and joined back in with the party, like nothing had happened.

  Truthfully, I was a little worried about Hutch when he first got here because his mom was visibly upset when she opened the door, and when I went to go talk to him, he seemed distracted. But he’s okay now and as we sit together on the back patio, I’m a little surprised when he slides his hand into mine underneath the table. His hand is warm and comforting and I keep hold of it to show him I care.

  “You think I should tell her we need to go home now?” I ask him.

  “Your mom? I don’t know. I think it’s kind of funny.” He laughs.

  I nudge his arm with my elbow. “You wouldn’t think it was so funny if it was your mom going around drunk, embarrassing you!”

  “Actually, I think that would be hilarious. I’ve only ever seen her drunk once before, at my aunt’s wedding, and all she did was giggle the whole night.”

  We both laugh.

  I watch as Mom walks outside, this time with a bottle of beer in her hand. She spots me and Hutch and beelines straight for us.

  “The lovebirds!” she sings.

  Oh God.

  “You two are officially the world’s cutest couple!” she coos, turning to Hutch. “Did you know that Mory’s father and I were also high school sweethearts?”

  Hutch doesn’t get a chance to answer.

  “We were just like you two. Young and in love, thinking the world spun only for us.” She’s laughing now. “Hopefully you two don’t end up like we did!”

  “Mom, I think we should be leaving.” I start to get up.

  “No!” She pushes my shoulders back down gently. “No. No. No. You sit here with your handsome beau. I won’t keep embarrassing you, I swear!”

  She whispers the last part loudly behind her hand before getting up and wobbling over to a blonde woman who I know to be one of Felicity’s friends.

  “Kendra!” I hear my mother squeal, before the woman seems to correct her.

  My mom snorts loudly. “Well, Harriet, maybe one of you should get a nose ring or something, so people can finally tell you apart!”

  I turn and bury my face into Hutch’s shoulder. “Kill me. Just kill me now, please.”

  Hutch is convulsing with laugher and I’m pretty sure my face is beet red. I’ve never seen my mom have more than one drink before and she must have had ten by now. I take my face from Hutch’s shoulder and try to ignore the train wreck happening nearby.

  “So, what upset your mom earlier?” I ask.

  A crease forms between his brows. “I don’t know. She seemed weird when we got to the restaurant and then when we were on the way home, she just burst into tears. I asked her what was wrong, but she wouldn’t tell me. Then when we got inside, she wanted to go straight upstairs to bed, but I knew I had to get her into the kitchen.”

  “What did you do?”

  “I didn’t know what to do! I knew she wouldn’t want to enter her own party in tears, but I didn’t have a choice, I knew everyone was waiting. So, I told her I heard a noise in there, and she opened up the door.”

  I look over to where Felicity is standing with some friends. “She seems fine now.”

  “Yeah. I guess.” Hutch doesn’t seem so convinced.

  We sit and talk for some time before I spot my mom turning the volume up on a speaker playing music nearby and begin to dance, her beer bottle held high in the air.

  “Okay. I’m done.” I get up and look around for Cameron. I need to get my mom back home before she ends up doing the can-can on top of a table.

  I rush over to her and grab her arm. “Mom, let’s go.”

  “Mory! Dance with me!” Her hips are swaying to a completely different beat than the music and nobody else seems interested in joining her.

  “No, Mom, it’s late. We need to get Cameron home.”

  I look around, but I can’t see my brother. He’s probably inside playing with Leo.

  I leave my mom shaking it enthusiastically to ‘Crazy in Love’ by Beyoncé, and go inside. The first person I see is Benton, by the snack table. “Hey, have you seen my brother?”

  “Not any time recently,” he says. “But I saw him earlier, running around with Felicity’s son.”

  “Great.” I sigh. “That little brat could be anywhere by now.”

  I’m about to keep searching when Benton puts a hand on my arm. “Hey, is your mom okay?”

  I look out the window to see she’s stopped dancing and is now leaning back against a wall, looking unstable on her feet.

  “No,” I reply. “She’s completely wasted. I need to find my brother and get them both back home.”

  This is stupid. I’m seventeen now. Isn’t it supposed to be me who gets dragged home, misbehaving? Why am I the adult here?

  Benton puts down the food he’s holding and wipes his hands on a napkin. “Listen, you go find your brother, and I’ll walk your mom home.”

  I narrow my eyes. “Uh… I’m not sure that’s⁠—”

  “It’s fine, really. I don’t mind,” he insists, smiling. “I’ll get her home safely.”

  Something in the back of my mind is telling me not to let the attractive, smooth-talking man take my blind-drunk mother home, but it’s getting late and I really need to find Cameron.

  “Um, okay. Thank you.”

  “No problem.” He gives me a wink before heading outside.

  I watch him through the window as he walks over to my mom and they talk for a moment before she nods her head affirmatively and he begins to walk her inside.

  “You’ll bring Cam home?” my mom drawls on the way past.

  I promise her I will and watch as she leaves, Benton guiding her gently by the arm.

  I ask around some more, but nobody seems to have seen Cameron or Leo. I check the living room, the bedrooms upstairs, the craft room, but I can’t find them anywhere. Finally, when I go out to the front of the house I spot them down the street a little, kicking a ball around in the dark. I shout at Cameron to stay where he is while I go back inside to say goodbye.

  “You found him?” Hutch asks when I arrive back.

  “Yeah. I’ve got to get him home now. Can you tell your mom and dad that I said thank you for having us and that I’m sorry about my mom?”

  Hutch laughs and hugs me goodbye. “Sure.”

  I walk back through the house, praying Cameron hasn’t run off again. I’m glad I got to spend some time talking with Hutch tonight, but I’ll bet his dad regrets ever inviting our family to his wife’s party.

  I’m just out the front door when he rushes out behind me and closes it shut.

  “Mory, wait!” He pulls me over to the shadows of the side of the house, pinning me against the wall with his body. “I meant to say something to you tonight.”

  He kisses me gently on the lips, and my entire body tingles.

  “What?” I wrap my arms around his waist and look up into his eyes.

  “I was thinking we could go away for the day tomorrow, somewhere special. Just you and me.”

  “Tomorrow?” I say, confused.

  “Yeah. To my parents’ vacation home.”

  Of course this family have a vacation home. They’re loaded.

  I suddenly realize what he means by this. So far, the most we’ve done together is kiss. He’s never pressured me into anything more. I mean, just a couple of weeks ago it would have technically been illegal. So it makes sense that he was waiting until I turned seventeen to take it further.

  “Just come with me for the afternoon. I can drive us out there,” he says.

  A whole afternoon in a vacation home together. With a bed. Alone. I don’t have to think about it for long.

  “I’d love to!”

  37

  RUBY

  I open up my eyes a sliver, then wince and shut them again tightly. The light sends a pain through my head that makes my skull feel like it’s been split open with an axe.

  My lips are dry and my throat is stinging with thirst. I badly need a drink of water.

  I’m acutely aware that I’m not in my own bed. Something rough and scratchy is underneath me. A sudden image flashes in my mind that makes my blood run cold. The last thing I remember was leaving Felicity’s party with Benton. He had my arm, carrying half my sorry weight, and was telling me to come with him. Where was he taking me?

  Oh God. Where the hell am I? Where has Benton taken me?