The Best of Us (31 page)

“Sure!” she’d said, flinching at the too-high note in her voice. “Just had to use the bathroom. Come on, let’s go join the others!”

Now she flipped over and swam back to shore, fighting the
sea’s strong undertow, and saw Dwight walking toward her. She felt her clothes plaster themselves to her body as she emerged from the water and went to meet him. She leaned up on her tiptoes to whisper into his ear. “Let’s go back now.”

He nodded. Allie glanced at the others and saw Tina watching them, an odd look on her face. Maybe Tina thought Allie was crazy for diving into the water with all her clothes on, or maybe she’d picked up on something else—whatever it was, Allie didn’t care. She’d spent her entire life worrying about others and taking care of them. She was through being the good girl. Where had it gotten her anyway?

Still holding Tina’s eye, Allie motioned to herself, then the stairs and waved good-bye. Tina nodded and turned back to look at the water.

Allie began walking up the stairs with Dwight a step behind her. She could feel another panic attack jabbing at the edges of her mind, and she tried to breathe the way Dwight had taught her.

But before she could push it back, a horrible thought burst free: Would it be worse to learn that her birth father had been tested, or to learn that he hadn’t?

*   *   *

“That was a fantastic idea,” Savannah said as she stepped into the house. “I’ve never seen anything like that pink sky!”

“It’ll be a great story to tell the folks back home,” Ryan agreed. He dropped his voice and mimicked a TV announcer:
“They walked through a hurricane . . . and lived to tell about it.”

“Technically it’s not a hurricane yet,” Gio said. “And it may not even hit us.”

“But it will,” Dwight said.

Savannah whipped around. “What do you mean?”

“It’s going to hit Jamaica,” he said.

“When did you hear that?” she asked.

“Five minutes ago,” he said.

“So what do we do?” Tina asked. “Should we leave?”

“It’s still just a Category Two,” Dwight said. “It’ll be fierce, but the house can stand it.”

“Let’s stay,” Gio said. He reached out an arm and pulled Tina close. “I’ll protect you, babe.”

“Gio, come on!” she said. “You don’t have to prove anything. We should go . . .”

“I’m staying,” Allie said. Savannah looked at her and absently noted that Allie hadn’t been around when they’d all done shots on the beach. Maybe she’d left while Savannah was walking in the direction of her encounter with Mr. Red Bathing Suit. She’d wanted to see that particular spot again, but if there had been any evidence of their tryst in the form of indentations in the sand or the condom wrapper that had blown out of her hand, the wind had erased them.

Still, she’d felt as if the score had been evened up just a bit. Gary knew she’d been with another man, and it hurt him; she’d read it on his face this morning, when he picked up a shirt off the floor of her bedroom. Initially, Savannah had smiled; during their marriage, Gary had forever been tidying up after her. Then she saw him staring down at the shirt, and Savannah realized it was the one she’d worn the night before and had misbuttoned.

“You really want to stay, Allie?” Tina was asking. “I figured you’d be the one telling us we should go.”

“I don’t want to leave,” Allie said. “Besides, didn’t you promise Dwight a superhero cake? Let’s go make it.”

“Okay,” Tina said. “But should we see if Pauline wants to help? It’s her husband, after all.”

“Speaking of, where is Pauline?” Savannah asked, just as Pauline came in from the living room to rejoin the group.

“I’m going to fill some pots with water, just in case,” Gio said.
“The bathtubs, too. Ryan, gather up whatever you can find. Candles, flashlights . . .”

“On it,” Ryan said.

“Savannah?” Gary asked in a voice so low she was the only one who could hear it. “If you’re not going to talk to me, I’ll leave now. I can make it to a hotel before the storm hits.”

She looked at him levelly.
I don’t need you,
she thought.
I can be happy without you
.

It was what finally made her nod and say, “Fine. Let’s talk.”

The others left the room. The moment Savannah and Gary were alone, two things happened: First, Gary took a step toward her, his eyes intent, his mouth beginning to form a word.

Then all the lights went out.

“I’M GETTING SCARED,” TINA
said. “Oh, my God, that sound . . . it’s like someone is being tortured!”

“That’s some serious wind,” Gio said. He moved a few books off the top of a bookcase, clearing space for a fat candle in a glass holder. They were rationing the battery-powered lanterns, so just one was turned on, and the illumination didn’t reach into the adjoining rooms. Only the game room, where they were all clustered, had enough light to see. Whenever people wanted to use the bathroom, they brought along a flashlight and hurried back as fast as they could.

“Betty sounds crazy,” Savannah said. “She’s almost human.”

Tina wrapped her arms around herself, then flinched as a crash came from outside. “What was that? It’s like a horror movie. We don’t know what’s happening out there!”

She could hear her voice growing shrill, but she didn’t care. This was a stupid idea. They should have gotten off the island when they had a chance. People were routinely killed by hurricanes, and yet, they’d stayed—arrogantly assuming they’d be spared. She should’ve remembered the lesson she’d learned from her shifts in the ER: No one was immune from tragedy.

“It’s a tree limb,” Gio told her. “More will come down, so brace yourself for the noise.” It seemed impossible that her husband was so calm. He was moving around the room now, thumping his knuckles against the walls and peering up at the ceiling.

“How long do hurricanes last, anyway?” Savannah asked.

“A couple hours,” Gio said, lifting up an edge of a pinball machine to test its weight. “Ryan, help me move this to the far wall.”

“A couple
hours
?” Tina shrieked.

“We’re going to be fine, Tina.”

Everyone turned in surprise as Pauline crossed the room to sit on the big sectional couch next to Tina. “This house was specifically built to withstand hurricanes,” she said. “Everything is reinforced. It sounds horrible outside, and it’s going to sound like that for a while, but we’ll be perfectly safe.”

Tina looked at Pauline and let out the breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. “Okay,” she said. “Thanks.”

“Is anyone else hungry?” Dwight asked.

Tina clapped a hand over her mouth, then exclaimed, “Your birthday dinner!” She looked at Dwight. “We were going to cook you something special . . . I’m sorry, Dwight. You gave us this incredible vacation and you don’t even get a cake on your birthday!”

“Oh, yes he does,” said a voice from the doorway. Tina looked up.

“Happy birthday to you . . .” Allie came in the room carrying a basket topped with a tall candle. She was holding the basket with one hand and steadying the candle with the other.

She put the basket down on the table in front of Dwight, and he closed his eyes and blew out the candle.

“Who says we need a boring old cake to celebrate a birthday?” Allie asked.

“Razzles!” Dwight said. He reached into the basket and pulled out Pop Rocks in three different flavors. “How’d you find all this?”

“I’ve got my ways,” Allie joked. Tina glanced at Pauline, wondering if she minded Allie taking over the birthday celebration, but Pauline’s face didn’t betray any strong emotions.

Dwight poured some Pop Rocks into his mouth, then passed the package to Allie. “Man, I’d forgotten how good these are!”

“Candy for dinner?” Savannah laughed. “I love it. Someone give me a FireBall.”

“Ooh, those things always burned my tongue,” Tina said. “And whenever I had one I got impatient and tried to bite down and felt like I was cracking my teeth.”

Tina reached for the Pop Rocks and let a few sizzle on her tongue. “It totally freaked me out when I heard Mikey died from eating Pop Rocks while drinking Coke,” she said. “Remember Mikey? The kid from the Life cereal commercials? That might’ve been the first urban legend I ever heard.”

“Mikey’s an adult entertainer in Ohio now,” Savannah said. “He specializes in bachelorette parties.”

“Really?” Tina asked.

“Just wanted to see if I could start another urban legend,” Savannah said. “I have no idea what Mikey’s up to these days. I haven’t been tracking the guy’s career trajectory.”

Tina laughed and welcomed the way some tension exited her body along with the sound. “Ooh, pass me the Hot Tamales,” she said.

“So what did you wish for, Dwight?” Savannah asked.

“He can’t tell us—then it won’t come true,” Allie cut in.

“It’s okay,” Dwight said. “I didn’t make a wish. I feel like I have everything I want.”

The radio announcer’s voice fought through intermittent static: “Betty . . . in minutes . . . Seek shelter immediately . . .
away from trees . . . interior room . . . away from windows . . .”

“Tequila, anyone?” Gio suggested. He put a bottle on the table, along with a lemon with a knife stuck into it.

“Heck, yes,” Tina said. She reached for the bottle and took a sip.

“Ah, tequila,” Savannah said. She winked at Tina, then flicked her eyes toward Dwight. “Are you sure you should be drinking it?”

“It’s fine,” Tina said, glaring at Savannah.

“Do you mean because Tina has a low tolerance?” Ryan asked.

“Yes, that’s precisely what I meant,” Savannah said.

“I do not!” Tina protested. “I only got drunk the other night because I chugged so much during quarters. I can handle a shot of tequila.”

“I’ll have one, too, Tina,” Allie said, grabbing the neck of the bottle. “To Dwight. Happy birthday!”

Everyone cheered: “To Dwight!”

“And thanks for being such a wonderful friend and host!” Allie continued. “You’ve given us the most amazing trip ever!”

Even in the dim light, it was easy to see his spectacular blush.

“Speech!” Gio shouted, and Ryan took up the chant: “Speech! Speech! Speech!”

Was she the only one who saw the hurt flicker across Pauline’s face? Tina wondered. Sure, Dwight might’ve financed the trip, but it was obviously Pauline who’d done all the legwork. She’d even made sure there were vegetarian entrées at every meal for Allie. The whole thing had been Pauline’s idea—Dwight had mentioned that at the very first dinner. Besides, shouldn’t Allie have let Pauline toast her husband for his birthday first?

“And to Pauline!” Tina cried, raising her glass again. “The hostess with the mostess!”

Everyone cheered, and Pauline shot Tina a small smile. Usually
Allie was the one who was attuned to everyone’s feelings, Tina thought. Since when had they switched roles?

“Th-thanks for being such great friends,” Dwight said. “This has been the best trip of my entire life!”

Better than your honeymoon?
Tina thought. Something seemed off. She hadn’t completely warmed up to Pauline, but she felt sorry for her. Pauline seemed to have shrunk away to the margins of the group ever since she’d come back from visiting her mother in the hospital. She’d stayed in the house today instead of coming to the beach with everyone else. Dwight hadn’t seemed too concerned. He’d just been hanging out with Allie . . . like he was right now. The two of them were sharing a love seat, and Pauline and Ryan were across the room. Tina frowned. She’d convinced herself, despite their intimate body language, that Allie and Dwight were just casually chatting by the pool when she saw them in the middle of the night earlier in the week. There couldn’t be anything going on between them. But they’d left the beach alone today . . . No! There couldn’t.

Could there?

“I miss college sometimes,” Savannah was saying. “I don’t think we knew how good we had it back then. At least I didn’t.”

“No one did,” Gio said.

“I wish I’d appreciated my classes more,” Tina said, shaking off her thoughts. “For me, learning got in the way of fun. What I wouldn’t give to be able to take any classes I wanted now! Like art history. Why didn’t I learn about art when I had the chance?”

“I miss being in our dorm room in pj’s, and wandering across the hall to talk to Van,” Allie said. “Or knocking three times on the wall to tell Dwight to come over to study with me. Just always being together.” She turned to look at Gary, who’d been sitting quietly next to Savannah. “Did you feel that way about college, Gary?” Allie asked.

He shook his head. “I worked every weekend in a sandwich shop,” he said. “Friday and Saturday nights, and all day Sunday.”

That was the last thing she’d have expected, Tina thought. She couldn’t imagine Gary serving others.

“Gary hates sandwiches now,” Savannah said. “Never eats them.” She was holding the tequila bottle, and she accepted the lemon wedge that Tina handed her, then she took a swig. “Ahh, that burns!”

“I still have all the ingredients for the sandwiches engraved in my brain,” Gary said, shaking his head as if to try to loosen the long-held information’s grip on his mind. “The owner was crazy, and he held these impromptu quizzes. You had to reel off the ingredients of whatever sandwich he named in under ten seconds, or you’d lose your job.”

“How many sandwiches were there?” Tina asked.

“Twenty-seven,” Gary said. He reached for the bottle Savannah had set on the table and took a sip.

Tina started to ask Gary another question—this new information about him was intriguing, and she wondered if his parents didn’t have money or just refused to help him with college expenses—but a huge crash drowned her out.

“Well hello, Betty,” Gio said.

He stood up, walked over to the candle, and blew it out. “Just in case,” he said. “We don’t want a fire on top of everything else.”

Something rammed into the side of the house with enough force to make the walls tremble. The noise of a spectacular crash carried into the room.

“That didn’t sound good,” Savannah observed. Her tone was light, but she’d moved closer to Gary on the big sectional couch. “It couldn’t be a window, could it?”