The Girl in the Lake by Kate Hall

Author:Kate Hall [Hall, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781950291250
Publisher: Lost Window LLC
Published: 2019-09-20T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Despite everything that Darrel and Alyssa have said, I can’t get anyone else back. I’ve screwed everything up enough as it is. Mom finally comes out of her room while I’m cooking a pot of spaghetti big enough to feed everyone in the too-crowded house. She immediately goes to the kitchen table and lays her head on her arms.

“Why were the police here?” She asks.

I sigh. “They weren’t. Just the one. Lyla’s husband.”

Mom nods slightly, and I join her at the table. “It happens sometimes. People think we can bring them back. What they don’t understand is that for someone to come out, someone has to go in.”

I hold my breath. If I let it out again, I’ll speak, and I don’t want to know what I’ll admit if I do. Mom must suspect that I did something to bring Alyssa back, but she hasn’t actually spoken to me about it.

“There has to be a way,” Alyssa says, and I startle. When did she get so sneaky? This is the third time she’s snuck up on me, although the first was the moment she burst out of the water a few days ago.

I simply shrug, this time being the one to avoid her gaze. Despite Mom’s presence, Alyssa strides over to me and pulls my chin up to meet her stormy gaze. We’re so close that I can feel her gentle breath tickling my lips. “I know it sucks,” she whispers, “but we have to.” I can’t help but glance at her full lips, which are pulled into a frown. She doesn’t like this situation anymore than I do. I’m tempted to kiss her, right here in the breakfast nook in front of my mother, but I control myself.

Barely.

“Fine,” I breathe, and she releases me. The absence of her touch, despite her intense stare, leaves a hollowness in my chest.

My phone vibrates from the pocket of my vintage shorts, and I pull it out, glad for the distraction. A photo of Kyle, which Rodney took, fills the screen. In it, his blonde hair is dry and sticking up from the wind, and he stands on the swim deck of Janna’s boat, his tan skin glistening with the slight spray that hit him when I sped past them on the jet ski at Becker’s Point. His wakeboard is tucked under his arm, and his distinctive nose is silhouetted against the trees.

“Hello?” I say, standing up to move toward the living room as to not disturb Mom.

“Hey,” he says, his voice slow. “We were thinking about going on the water again. Everything has been so stressful, especially with that little girl…”

I plop down on the couch and wait for him to continue. Alyssa follows behind me and joins me on the sofa, her thigh inches from mine and the heat immeasurable. We shouldn’t go out—we should stay in and strategize, research, plan.

“We could use their help,” Alyssa says. “And you should get your dad’s jet ski back. We might need it.”

I chew on my bottom lip, considering.

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