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CHAPTER 18 ANOTHER ACCIDENT FOR JESSICA

Frozen in horror, Matt stared across the low, dark dune. His breath burst out in loud gasps. He had the urge to turn and run, but knew he had to see what was huddled there on the sand.

Walking unsteadily, trying to focus his eyes in the darkness, he made his way to the dune. When he saw her there, sitting in black tights and a long-sleeved black top, her legs pulled up, her arms encircling her knees, her head bowed, he stopped in surprise.

“Jessica?”

She didn’t respond.

“Jessica?” he repeated more loudly, taking a hesitant step toward her. He stood over her now, staring down at her mane of red hair.

“Hey—Jessica?”

He saw for the first time that her shoulders were trembling.

And when she finally lifted her face up to him, he saw the tear-soaked cheeks, the wet eyes, her quivering chin, and realized that she’d been crying.

“Sorry,” Matt said, and took a step back. He felt awkward, overcome by embarrassment. “Sorry,” he repeated. He didn’t know what to say.

She blinked several times. It seemed to take her a while to recognize him. She seemed confused, as if she were so deep in her thoughts, so deep in her sadness, that there was no room in her memory for someone from the outside world.

Then she forced a wet smile, closing her eyes and raising both hands to wipe the tear tracks from her cheeks.

“I—I didn’t know it was you,” Matt stammered, trying to decide what to do with his hands. Finally, he just lowered them to his sides. “Are you okay?”

“I guess,” she replied, her voice muffled in her throat. She sighed, and added, “I don’t know. I can’t seem to stop crying.”

“About Todd?” Matt asked, and then felt like a fool. Of course she was crying about Todd. “I mean—”

“I just keep thinking I’m going to run into him on the beach or in town,” Jessica said, the words pouring out. “I can’t believe it. I can’t believe I was the last person to see him. I can’t believe any of it, you know? I mean, I’ve never known anyone who died. Never.”

“Yeah,” Matt said quietly, turning his eyes to the water. “It is unbelievable. He was my best friend, you know.”

She didn’t reply. Shaking her head sadly, she pulled herself to her feet and brushed away the sand that clung to her black tights. Then she stepped closer to Matt, close enough that he could smell her perfume, tangy and pungent even in the heavy sea air.

“I knew him for such a short time,” Jessica said, allowing a single tear to descend down her cheek. “But I felt so close to Todd.”

“He was a good guy,” Matt said, staring into her hypnotic eyes, feeling guilty for thinking about how good-looking Jessica was while talking about his dead buddy.

The ocean wind seemed to circle them, to draw them together.

Matt felt strangely dizzy. Was it her perfume? Was it the swirling wind? His sadness?

“I don’t understand why Todd tried to swim so late at night,” Matt said, unable to release his eyes from her stare.

“I don’t either,” she said softly. “He teased me about going for a swim. You know, taking off our clothes and jumping in. I knew he was just joking. At least, I thought he was joking.”



“Weird,” Matt replied, shaking his head, trying to shake away the dizziness. “Todd wasn’t much of a daredevil. He was pretty timid, you know?”

“I know,” she said, turning her gaze beyond Matt, her eyes surveying the nearly deserted beach. “That’s why I thought he was joking about skinny-dipping so late at night. When he dropped me off at my cottage, I was sure he was going to go straight home.”

“Weird,” Matt repeated, his head spinning.

“The next morning, when I heard—” Jessica started. But her voice caught, and instead of words, she uttered a pained cry.

Without thinking about it, Matt put an arm around her trembling shoulders to comfort her. She sobbed silently for a moment, then smiled up at him.

Her perfume was so strong, so sweet, so intoxicating, it seemed to penetrate to his brain.

“Did you cry too?” she asked as they started to walk together across the sand, his arm still around her shoulders. She felt so warm and . . . fragile, he thought.

“Yeah,” he admitted. “I went a little berserk, I think, when I found him. I mean, I sort of lost track of what happened. Some fishermen found me with him. I guess I was a little out of my head.”

“I haven’t stopped crying,” she said softly, closing her eyes and leaning against him. “You’re the first person I’ve been able to talk to.”

She rested her head on his shoulder, for the briefest moment. He felt her soft hair brush his cheek and felt a shiver of excitement run down his body.

I wonder what she’d do if I kissed her, Matt thought.

A wave of guilt swept over him. Here we are talking about Todd. Here she is sharing her sadness with me, confiding in me, trusting me—and all I can think about is kissing her.

She smiled at him, the sadness fading from her pale face.

To Matt’s surprise, her smile was a knowing smile, as if she knew what he was thinking, as if she shared his thoughts.

“Should I . . . uh . . . walk you home?” he asked, his arm sliding down around her slender waist.

Again, her hair brushed his face as she turned to gaze into his eyes. “No. Let’s keep going,” she suggested in a whisper, so quietly he had to lean closer to hear. She pointed toward the rocks that led up to the steep, black cliff. “Let’s just keep going and going and going, Matt,” she whispered. “You’re making me feel better. You really are.”

“I’m glad,” he replied.

Suddenly she pulled away from him and started jogging toward the cliff, taking long, steady strides.

Startled, he immediately missed her touch, missed her warmth, missed the feel of her under his arm. “Hey—wait up!” he called.

Without slowing, she turned back to him, a mysterious smile on her face.

“Jessica—wait up!” he repeated, and began running over the beach, following her as the sand gave way to smooth rock, following her up, up toward the cliff ledge, the water crashing noisily below, crashing like his heartbeat, louder, faster, harder.

“Come on—stop!” he called, running at full speed now, staring at her hair that flew behind her like a proud pennant.

Her laughter floated back to him on the swirling wind.

They were both high above the beach now, running across the smooth, flat cliff ledge.

“Hey—slow down!” he warned, breathing hard.

He saw her expression change as she neared the cliff edge, saw her mouth open wide with fear and surprise.

She tried to stop.

But her sneakers slid on the slippery slick stone surface.

She raised her hands as if to grab on to something. But there was nothing to grab on to.

“Jessica—no!” Matt cried.

But his words couldn’t stop her, either.

She slid right off the edge of the cliff.

He heard her terrified scream as she went over the side.

Saw her arms flail the air as she began to drop.

Then silence.

Then he was alone up there.

All alone.

 

 



Date: 2015-04-20; view: 630


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