Page 40 of Bountiful
“Why thehellnot?”
I gave my head a shake, and Castro clamped his mouth shut. They wouldn’t understand that Zara and I had experienced a rather unique month-long tryst. Sex, conversation, and very few personaldetails.
Benito ran a hand through his hair. “So you just happened to come back to Vermont for another vacation. And you ranintoZara?”
“That’s right.” I dug another business card out of my pocket. “Does somebody have a pen?” When Castro handed me one, I wrote my cell phone number on the card. “Here.” I handed it to Benito. “I didn’t get a chance to give Zara my number today. The conversation we had was really, uh,short.”
Ben studied me, his dark features appraising. “Where did you twoleaveit?”
“How big a dick were you?” Castroclarified.
Thanks, buddy. “Just, I dunno. Medium-sized.” Everyone laughed, even Benito. “I was just surprised. And so I said I’d call my lawyer.” Benito flinched. “That’s all. Zara bolted after that. I’ll apologize to her when she’s ready to hear from me. You can give her that number on the card. The printed one goes to my agent, so I addedmyown.”
He nodded, tucking the card into his back pocket. “All right. She’s my next call.” He took a deep drink of his beer. “But before I go, there’s something you need to understand about myfamily.”
Beneath the table, Castro nudged my knee. His face said,Here itcomes!
“Zara has four brothers,” Benito said. “And two uncles. And we’re horribly overprotective of her, even though Zara is the toughest girl alive.” He smiled fondly. “But when Zara got pregnant, she didn’t tell a soul what had happened. So that led to a lot of speculation. Some of itreallybad.”
“Why?” I wondered aloud. “Why not say that she and I had a fling for a while, but we were shaky on thedetails?”
Benito shrugged. “She’s fiercely private. You kinda have to be in my family. It’s a self-defense mechanism. But also she was embarrassed. I mean—she insisted that there was nothing awful about the story. That she wasn’t protecting anyone. But my family has more testosterone than most, so it only gets yousofar.”
“Okay?”
“I just wanted you to know that there’s been a lot ofspeculation.”
“So he won’t be too surprised when the next brother slugs him?” O’Doul asked, his question dripping withskepticism.
“Something like that.” Benito smiled again. “I haven’t seen my sister in way too long. So if you’ll excuse me, guys.” He drained his beer andstoodup.
“Good night,” Trevi called before he walked away. “That coulda gone worse,” he said when we were aloneagain.
“The man brought us beers,” Castro pointed out. “And I haven’t seen ashotgunyet.”
“The night’s still young,” O’Doul said, and everyonelaughed.
ChapterTwelve
David
There’s a baby crying.She’s wailing. Hard. But I can’t see her. She’s in another room. Even so, I can hear her anguished screams and the ragged gasps she makes between them. It’s a horrible sound.Suffering.
I need to fix it. I would do anything to make thatsoundstop.
But I can’t. I can’t move. Every new wail is like a fresh stab of pain. My head aches, and my pulse is too fast. But my feet are rooted to the floor. There’s something terrifying in front of me. I can’t lift my gaze because I’ll see it again. Ican’tlook.
Still. The screams. Sheneedsme.
The carpeting beneath my feet is dirty. It’s a dull gray color, but it used to be white. And there is a sick, green stain near the toe of my sneaker. It’s thecolorof…
Isat up fast,almost nailing my head on the reading light affixed to the wall. For a moment my eyes darted around, taking in the details of my room in the cabin. Meanwhile, my chest heaved as I tried to take inoxygen.
Kicking off the covers, I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood. My sweaty body needed space. It helped that I’d left the window open overnight, and the sweet Vermont air was good for breathingdeeply.
I closed my eyes and inhaled all the way to my diaphragm, the way my yoga teacher—O’Doul’s girlfriend—encouraged us to do. Then I exhaled the last of mypanic.
What a fucking dumb dream. Crying babies? My subconscious had gone right for thecheapjoke.
