Page 107 of It Happened on the Lake

He’d had a crush on her for all of his life. It was bad enough when you fantasized about a friend’s girlfriend, but what did it say about him that he ached for his brother’s chick? How sick was that?

He closed his eyes, his pulse accelerated as he remembered . . .

Oh God, he couldn’t go there!

Gripping the rails, he stared through the gate to the big house, barely visible though the tower lights were on.

He thought of Harper inside.

Pining for Chase.

His insides turned cold.

He expected that Chase, after the fight with their dad, would seek Harper out. He’d probably take the boat out and “go dark” without running lights, skimming across the water, as he had in the past. A reckless, dangerous ride.

Levi’s gut twisted a bit at the thought, and his hands clenched over the bars of the gate. He told himself he was being stupid, that Harper was off-limits, but they’d been in the same class in school, known each other since kindergarten. Chase hadn’t paid any attention to her until he was a senior and she a sophomore in high school, when she’d blossomed from a long-legged coltish kid into a beauty. They’d started dating the end of her sophomore year, and even though they’d had their share of breakups, they were together, she willing to do anything for him, it seemed.

But maybe not for long.

Chase had confided to Levi that he’d been seeing other girls at college and he’d spent more than a little time at the house at the end of the street, a place where cars came and went at all hours. A spot where drugs and booze were plentiful and sexy girls hung out.

Harper deserved better.

If she were Levi’s girl, he would do better by her.

But she was out of reach.

Turning away from the gate, he shoved his hands in his pockets and kept walking. Mixed with his conflicted feelings about Harper was the memory of the horrid fight, still replaying in his mind. Dad had been madder than ever and Chase had pushed it, maybe still was.

He walked several miles on Northway before crossing the west-end bridge and making his way along the road that wound along the hillside, where the houses were built on pilings that stretched out over the chasm and offered expansive views of the water far below. He caught glimpses of the lake through the trees and met a handful of cars on the high slope, their headlights bright and stark in the night, their taillights winking red.

The rain started again just as he reached the summit. From there it was only a hundred yards or so to the trail that wound downward through the trees to the end of his street. It was darker in the woods. He stumbled a couple of times over dirt clods and fallen branches. Cussing himself for not bringing a flashlight, he had to remember how angry he’d been when he left. Fired by a little booze and a lot of testosterone, without a plan, he’d just started walking. Now, though, the alcohol had worn off and his fury had subsided by leaps and bounds. He was still upset, but he could handle his emotions now.

He picked his way down the familiar path, guided by the dim street lamp near the Hunts’ house.

As he was about to step out of the woods, he heard the slap of footsteps. He froze. From the shadows he saw a tall man running down the street as if Satan himself was chasing him. As the runner reached the rental house at the end of the road, he cut quickly into the yard. Not breaking stride, he ducked around the corner to the back near the dock and out of sight.

Levi had just taken a step forward when the guy reappeared, closer, on the near side of the cabin.

Levi watched as the guy raced up the outside stairs. At the doorway he paused and gave a quick knock. A door cut into the roof opened. The guy’s hood fell back, and Levi caught a glimpse of pale blond hair as he greeted whoever was inside, then as the door opened wider, dim light from inside exposed his face—a man in his twenties that Levi didn’t recognize.

But the guy greeting him? On the inside? Levi had seen him before—a guy with long hair, thick sideburns, and John Lennon glasses. His teeth were a little crooked, one front tooth overlapping the other. Levi had seen him sometimes in a green Corvair with a bad muffler. Sometimes in a rattling VW van with a peace sign painted on it. Didn’t matter which vehicle. Every time he drove down the street, Old Man Sievers’s dog would go ape-shit.

Now he had a pissed-off look on his face. He let the blond guy inside and shut the door.

Levi figured there was probably a drug deal going down. He’d heard that there was a guy who was dealing out of the place. He studied the cabin for a minute. Behind the window shades, lights flickered. The porch light was glowing and casting light over the cars and vans that littered the driveway and street, all parked haphazardly, the Corvair among the rest.

He wondered what exactly went on inside and cast one last look to the attic door. It hadn’t opened again.

Time to head home.

He stepped onto the street, hands deep in his jacket pockets.

As he was almost past the cabin, a girl slipped out the front door only to close it behind her. Her red hair was wild, held in place by a headband, a fringed vest barely covering her breasts as she sat on the steps.

“Hey!” She waved to him and smiled. “Whatcha doin’?” she asked, standing near a macramé hanger where a near-dead plant hung from a hook screwed into the roof’s overhang. “Want a hit?”

He paused as she lit a joint and sucked hard.

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