signed because you told me to.”
“You signed that letter of commitment because it was the smart thing to do. And now you need to get yourself together and get ready to join them. Now, before they lose interest or find someone else. Goddammit, you’re so stubborn.”
He used to think that was a good thing.
Benny stepped toward her, fists clenched. She braced herself, concentrating on standing firm. Ready. Once again she’d pushed him to this point. It was her own fault. Again.
She hadn’t even realized Sean had joined them from inside. “Hey,” he said. “You guys hungry? We have to clean everything out. We have a ton of peanut butter pretzels.”
Even Sean knew Benny’s favorite snack. But he was not supposed to interrupt practices. She wondered what he’d heard. He was breaking the rules. Except this wasn’t practice. She was the one who didn’t know the rules anymore.
Ria snapped, “Don’t you have some laps to swim?”
Benny laughed. Then, as she bolted, he called to her, “I got you everything you wanted!”
But everything had changed.
Eighteen
Even if it had been Benny’s idea, Ria wasn’t ready to talk to Maggie or Sean. Not with the way her heart pounded and her eyes stung. They’d set her up, with no warning. Sean didn’t even belong to Benny. They knew she was pissed. Either one of them—or both—might show up at her house trying to apologize. Besides, all the telltale wet spots in weird places—over her breasts and hips, her butt—clearly from a swimsuit under her clothes would lead to questions from her parents.
So, instead of going home, she drove to Cotton’s house. She parked on the street and sent him a text before she could decide if that was a good idea. He didn’t answer, but she knew he didn’t always keep his phone with him. Or even on. But then he came around the corner from his backyard and looked up and down the street until he found her car. She got out and leaned against it. She ran her fingers through her hair. It had finally gotten to where it looked healthy and now she’d gone and let the chlorine back in.
“Hi, Ria.” Cotton scanned the street as if there might be someone or something following her. Or maybe that was the way she felt. He met her eyes with his brown ones, then looked upward and to the left, the way he tended to do.
He also looked pretty damn delighted that she was there. He didn’t smile all the time, but when he did, it was worth the wait.
“You’re wet.”
She knew she looked like a wild mess. Disheveled and damp. Hair mussed and sticking out in all directions. She pulled her shirt away from her damp body, tried to will it dry.
“Do you want to come inside?”
“I’m fine here.” She wouldn’t know what to say or how to act around his family.
“You look cold.”
She couldn’t deny it. Not with the way she was shivering now that her fury was fizzing out. “Are you sure I can come in?”
“Yes.”
Standing outside the front door, Ria heard voices inside. She took a deep breath, steeled herself; ready to meet this family who had been through every kind of awful.
Cotton opened the back door and the smell of something baking made her breathe deeply in reflex. Laughter from upstairs rang out and there was a thud of footsteps running overhead. A girl’s voice shrieked from down the hall.
“I hope you weren’t looking for quiet. Because that’s not here.”
“You have a big family.” She knew too many facts and details from all the television coverage to ask questions.
“Yes. There are five children.”
He was counting Esther.
Mrs. Talley came down the hallway then, carrying a wilted but large potted plant, yelling over her shoulder, “Jelly, clean up your soccer stuff. And Bo, turn that TV off and get your homework done.” She paused, then smiled at Ria. “Oh. Hello.” She was taller than Ria, but not as tall as Cotton. Her hair was fair, but Ria couldn’t tell if it was more blond or gray.
“Mom, this is Ria Williams.”
“Nice to meet you, sweetheart.” She adjusted the plant to one arm. “You’re the diver, right? I read about you in the newspaper.”
She was hit with a hot panic, not knowing how to reply. She’d seen their name in the paper too many times to count. She’d seen them sobbing and pleading on television. There had been articles in magazines. But this house was so warm, so happy. If Esther made