was totally off her rocker. And not because she’d been completely rude.
It was because she’d spoken a truth, at least in some small part, that Eva hadn’t been able to admit to herself.
But Angela was wrong about one thing. “I did come here for Brent, yes. But I came here for myself too. To figure out if life could ever be colorful again.”
Her sister-in-law took a step closer and ever so gently placed a rock into Eva’s hand, curling Eva’s fingers around it, securing it. She met Eva’s eyes. “Then embrace that fully and stop acting like Brent is the only reason you’re here.”
Eva felt the cold solidity of the stone. “You’re right.” Her chest heaved as her fingers propelled the weight across the water.
33
Angela couldn’t sleep.
She’d been trying for—she clicked on her watch light—nearly two hours. At first she’d blamed her insomnia on the sounds of other competitors talking, the picking of a guitar some volunteer must have busted out, the rustle and zipping of nearby tents. But for at least an hour now, all had been quiet except for distant birds squawking and crickets buzzing.
She sat up on her sleeping mat, and the air felt charged with static. Her body was certainly exhausted enough to fall into a deep sleep, but her mind wouldn’t let it.
Sighing, she rubbed her eyes. She’d been too severe with Eva earlier this evening. Her sister-in-law had nearly wilted at her words, and Angela had done her best to salvage the situation. At least by the time she’d left, Eva hadn’t seemed mad at Angela anymore. Just in deep, tortuous thought.
How was Angela so capable of diagnosing Eva’s problems and yet she hadn’t been able to ferret out why she couldn’t quite forgive Wes?
What a hypocrite you are.
Ugh. No way she was going to go back to sleep right now. She needed air.
As quietly as possible, she slipped from her sleeping bag, and a cold draft hit her thinly covered thighs. She threw on her tennis shoes and jacket, grabbed her emergency communications device as a precautionary measure, then unzipped her tent and stepped through the flap, praying the sound wouldn’t wake anyone. Thankfully, the full moon provided plenty of light for her to walk through camp without using her mini flashlight, but she clicked on the beam once she left the camp and headed for the lake. She selected a different path this time, one that wound around the entire lake, hugging the shore and flirting with the water’s edge.
Angela inhaled the crisp night air, smelling the combined scent of the earthy dirt and pine. The beam of the flashlight reflected off a large spider web tangled in trees that seemed to lean together, creating an arch across the trail. She stepped over rocks as she made her way around the glittering lake on her right.
Up ahead, a faint bluish-green glow by the bank caught her eye, right at the base of a tree that grew next to the water. Angela switched off her light again and approached the gleam, which flickered as she drew nearer despite the stealth she’d attempted. An entire bush of undergrowth radiated flashes of light.
Glowworms.
She plopped herself onto a patch of dry dirt, mesmerized by this unexpected discovery.
A memory surfaced. Did she dare speak it out loud? To . . . Wes? It’s not like he’d really hear her, but Eva had once said that talking to Brent made her feel better.
No one around to call her crazy. So why not?
“Remember that time we were walking on the beach after our third or fourth date, and we saw that bioluminescent algae glowing bright blue in the water?” Angela kept her voice soft as she grabbed a nearby twig and poked the dirt next to her feet. “I started spouting off all of these facts about why bioluminescence happens, and you laughed at me. And in that quiet way you had, you pulled me into your arms and said, ‘All of that is good to know, but let’s just enjoy it for now.’”
She swallowed at the recollection. “I guess even then you were more sentimental than I was. More about experiencing the moment.” A knot in the twig rubbed against the upper padding of her middle finger as she pushed it through the soil and sand.
“And experience it we did.” He’d kissed her for the first time, and she had felt it down to the tips of her toes and knew without a doubt she’d found her person.