Page 71 of Try Me

Declan rubbed his neck in a gesture Pearl recognized as stalling. Declan never rushed into anything. On the water, he was brash and bold, but on land, he was a different person. Methodical in everything he did, Declan didn’t waste movements or words.

“It’s not a great story,” he said, getting up from the table and going to stand by the window that looked into the backyard. “You might not like it.”

Pearl joined him at the window. She slipped her arms around his waist and tilted her face up to his. When they touched, she felt a little jolt of electricity. She knew Declan felt it too, because his eyes flared when he looked down at her.

“Try me,” she invited.

His hands settled on her shoulders and he held her at arm’s length. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my past,” he said. “Everyone thinks the reason I haven’t come home in two years is because I was surfing my way around the world, leaving a string of broken hearts behind me.”

Pearl grimaced. It’s exactly what she’d thought. It’s what everyone thought.

“So, why haven’t you been home in two years?” she asked, bracing herself. “And why don’t you want to surf in the Duke?” If he said Linda’s name, she would feel it like a knife in her chest.

Declan paused as if gathering his thoughts. “Two years ago my best friend Eddie died.”

“Vietnam?” Pearl asked in a quiet voice. It was the most common cause of death for men their age.

Declan shook his head. He bit his bottom lip, then released it. “Nah,” he said. “Not ‘Nam.”

“What then?” Pearl asked. She pressed her face against his chest. She could hear the thud of his heart against her ear.

He was silent for a long time, holding her in the quiet of the tinkling rain.

“A surfing accident,” Declan said. “It was all my fault. I did nothing.”

Pearl stiffened in his arms, and tears blurred her vision. She was glad her face was pressed against Declan so he couldn’t see her. The story struck a familiar chord. Too familiar.

“You couldn’t have known,” Pearl said, repeating the words she told herself when guilt took over reason.

“I blamed Keoni,” Declan said. “I told him it was his fault he didn’t save Eddie.” His voice was devoid of emotion. Hollow. “Keoni is this big hero,” Declan said. “He’s known for his dramatic rescues. But he couldn’t save Eddie? Our best friend?” His words were so raw, so cold and quiet. “God, I was such an ass to say that. But it was so horrible.” His voice cracked and regret spilled out like hot lava. Uncontainable. “So fucking horrible,” he said. Usually a man of few words, now Declan couldn’t stop talking. The words flowed out of him. “When we pulled Eddie out of the water, he was already blue. He was gone. There was nothing we could do. Keoni went to work on him, anyway.”

A sob escaped Declan’s throat, and Pearl held him tighter. Tears flowed down her cheeks as she thought of her own tragic past. Her mother’s strong straight back as she disappeared under the waves.

“Keoni pounded Eddie’s chest and yelled at me to rub his arms and legs. We tried for a good ten minutes to bring him back, but it was useless. He was dead. He was dead before we even got to him. And the night before…”

“What?” Pearl asked, pulling back to look at him. “What happened?”

Declan’s mouth thinned. “Me and Linda…we hooked up.”

“Linda?” Pearl asked with a sneer.

“She was Eddie’s girl.”

“Linda was Eddie’s girlfriend? You had sex with your best friend’s girlfriend?” Disgusted, Pearl wrenched free of Declan’s arms, swiping at the tears that wouldn’t stop.

“We didn’t have sex,” Declan said.

Pearl narrowed her eyes at him. “Liar.”

Declan flinched. “Not yet we didn’t. That night we just fooled around. She and Eddie broke up after high school. Linda went to college on the mainland and then moved for good. She was home visiting when it happened.”

“So, she wasn’t Eddie’s girl,” Pearl said. This didn’t make her feel that much better. She still felt like ripping Linda’s long pretty hair out by the roots.

“Linda will always be Eddie’s girl. Eddie loved her. He told me and Keoni the morning he died that he was going to ask her to marry him. He showed me the ring.” Declan shook his head. “I was too much of a coward to tell him what I’d done. And then he died.”

“Then you had sex with her later?” Pearl clarified, desperate to know even though she knew the answer would hurt.

Declan nodded, hanging his head. “I guess I did,” he admitted, looking up at her with a shameful expression. “Only I was too wasted to remember what happened.”

---