ʺHow did he… do it?ʺ
ʺStrangled her.ʺ
Ivy shut her eyes, remembering, halfway between heaven and earth, the tenderness with which he had kissed her throat. ʺYou okay?ʺ the woman asked.
ʺYeah.ʺ Ivy took a deep breath, then described the girl she had seen him talking to at the carnival. She did not hide the fact that he had lied, denying that the girl had called him Luke.
Lying, denying, and pretending to care, Ivy thought. Why didnʹt I see Gregoryʹs presence in Guy? When they were done, the officer offered to follow Ivy back to the cottage. ʺIʹm okay,ʺ Ivy insisted.
ʺThen Iʹll tell my partner to expect you.ʺ Ivy nodded.
ʺBe careful. Ivy. Be really careful. We donʹt want to find another dead girl.”
WHEN IVY ARRIVED BACK AT THE INN, SHE SAW A truck loaded with Lukeʹs motorbike exiting the lot and the older police officer following in his car.
Aunt Cindy was still out, but Ivy knew a guest might have spotted the police car and would ask her what had happened. Retrieving a pen and paper from the kitchen, Ivy carried them out to the swing to write a note of explanation.
She put down the basic facts: She had learned Guyʹs name was Luke McKenna and he was wanted by the police; when theyʹd tried to arrest him, he had fled.
The police had questioned her, but she knew nothing about Lukeʹs previous life.
Ivy felt eerily calm as she wrote.
It was as if her heart and mind had shut down before they could fully grasp the horror of Lukeʹs actions. She was signing the note when she heard the cottageʹs screen door open. Beth stood in the doorway, looking out at Ivy. ʺHow are you doing?ʺ
Bethʹs voice had its usual sweetness, and the high coloring in her cheeks had disappeared; if Ivy hadnʹt witnessed the Ouija session earlier in the evening, she wouldnʹt have guessed it had happened.
ʺOkay,” she replied, figuring that Will had told Beth all the ugly details.
ʺDo you want to be left alone?ʺ ʺNo. Iʹm glad youʹre here, Beth.ʺ When Ivy showed her the note, Beth rested her hand on Ivyʹs. ʺIʹm sorry. Iʹm really sorry.ʺ
They were such simple words. Ivy sobbed. The pain was so bad she felt as if she couldnʹt breathe. Beth laid her hand gently on Ivyʹs back.
ʺHow could I have been so blind?ʺ Ivy said, choking with tears. ʺYou were right, Beth. Youʹve been right all along. How could I have imagined that Guy was Tristan?ʺ
ʺI can understand how,ʺ Beth replied. ʺYou still miss Tristan. Youʹre still healing. Your heart wanted so much for it to be him, you convinced yourself.ʺ
ʺBut you and Will warned me. And I refused to listen. Iʹm so sorry.ʺ
Beth remained silent. ʺLately Iʹve been thinking to myself, Whatʹs wrong with Beth? But I was the one acting strangely. And you, you could see me making the same mistakes I made before, trusting the wrong person.” Ivy took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
ʺIt was the night of the séance, wasnʹt it, when we let Gregory come back into our world?ʺ Beth nodded, her light hair tumbling forward, shielding her face.
ʺLast year,ʺ Ivy said, ʺwhen Tristan came back, it was easy for him to get inside Willʹs mind.
Will wasnʹt psychic like you, or a believer like Philip, but Tristan got access because he and Will thought alike. In the same way,ʺ she reasoned, ʺit would be easy for Gregory to get inside a murdererʹs mind:ʺ
ʺEspecially someone his age like Luke,ʺ Beth replied. Ivy shuddered. ʺWhen you were consulting the Ouija board, the planchette spelled out Gregory is here.ʺ
ʺI thought if I could contact him—ʺ Beth began. ʺAnd when I went down and opened the door,ʺ Ivy continued, ʺthere he was.”
ʺHeʹll be back,ʺ Beth said. ʺAt some point, Luke will come back.ʺ She grasped Ivyʹs hand.
ʺDonʹt pull away from me, Ivy. Not now. We need to take care of each other.
Please donʹt pull away.ʺ Ivy put her arms around Beth. ʺNever! Not ever again.ʺ
IVY LEFT AUNT CINDYʹS NOTE IN HER IN‐BOX. ON HER way back to the cottage she glanced toward the barn. She was still feeling too raw to approach Will and start mending the breach between them.
If there was one thing she had learned in the last few weeks, it was that she did not love Will the way she had loved Tristan — with her whole heart and soul — the way she had begun to love Luke.
She could not erase that knowledge and pretend that she did. When Ivy emerged from the shower, Beth was already in bed. ʺYou okay?ʺ Ivy asked. ʺYes, are you?ʺ
“I’m going to be,ʺ Ivy replied with determination. ʺAs long as we stay together,”
Beth said, ʺeverything is going to be okay.”
Ivy lay awake for a long time, staring up at the cottage ceiling. Beth fell asleep quickly, and Dhanya and Kelsey arrived home an hour later. Ivy remained still until she was certain that everyone was asleep, then rose and tiptoed down the steps. When she turned on the lamp next to the living room sofa, she was greeted with a soft meow.
ʺDusty! Youʹre supposed to be out protecting the garden from voles.ʺ
The cat rolled on his back for a tummy rub, then leaped off the sofa and strolled to the door. Letting him out, Ivy glanced down at the screen doorʹs broken latch.
In a place where the doors were usually kept unlocked, there had been no reason to fix it.
For a moment, Ivy considered closing the main door and bolting it, but she retreated to the sofa, leaving it open. Luke was a fugitive from the law and would know better than to show up in a place where others had learned his identity. As for Gregory, bolted doors wouldnʹt stop him.
Ivy worked on the puzzle, almost finishing it before the urge to sleep caught up with her. She turned off the light. Lying on the sofa, she stared out the screen door to the garden, watching the patterns of moonlight and darkness. Then she rolled over, face to the cushions, and fell asleep.
Sometime later she awoke with a start. Staring at the sofaʹs striped fabric, Ivy didnʹt know where she was at first and didnʹt know what had awakened hei^The room was dark, the house still. Suddenly, a hand clamped over her mouth. Luke, she thought, and tried to pull the hand away, kicking backward with her legs, but the attacker was strong, his physical power obvious in the little effort it took to control her.
ʺIvy, shhh! Shhh!ʺ Luke said. She fought hard, moving her head from side to side, trying to bite his hand to make him pull it away. Tristan, help me! Tristan, please! she prayed.
Luke held her spine tightly against his chest but let go of her mouth. Before Ivy could scream, he held in front of her a shiny penny. ʺIvy, I remember,ʺ he said quietly. ʺRemember! Remember what? Killing Corinne?ʺ
He laid the penny in her palm. ʺThe first time we kissed, you were diving for a penny. I saw you lying at the bottom of the swimming pool and I thought you had drowned. I jumped in after you.ʺ
For a moment, Ivy couldnʹt speak, couldnʹt breathe. He laid his palm on top of hers, then twined his fingers around her hand.
ʺThey call me Luke, but my name… is Tristan.ʺ
Her heart pounded the way it had the night of the accident. She turned in his arms, letting the penny slip to the floor. He traced her face lightly with a finger, his own face alight with wonder as he gazed at her. He kissed her, then rested his face against hers.
She could feel his warm tears running down her cheeks. ʺTristan, I thought it was you, but then I stopped believing.ʺ
ʺDonʹt! If you stop believing, there will be nothing but darkness left for me.ʺ