The Dry (Aaron Falk #1)(93)

Falk wanted to tell her she was wrong, but knew she was too smart for that.

“And the day Ellie died?” he said.

Gretchen’s face creased.

“I always knew Luke had lied for you.” Her voice was tight as the tears spilled over. “Because he was with me.”

“Did you hear that?” Gretchen opened her eyes and squinted at the sunlight filtering through the trees. The scrub grass tickled her back.

“Hear what?”

She could feel Luke’s breath against her neck as he spoke. He didn’t move. His hair was still wet, and his voice was sleepy and muffled. Gretchen tried to sit up but was weighed down by his bare chest pressed against her. Their clothes were in an untidy heap at the base of a tree.

They had stripped down to their underwear before diving into the cool river. Gretchen had felt the heat of Luke’s body through the water as he kissed her hard and pressed her up against the bank. The underwear had come off and was now drying on a flat rock.

The river was high, and the water babbled and splashed as it gushed over the rocks downstream. Still, Gretchen heard the noise again. A dry snap deep among the trees. She stiffened. Another one.

“Oh shit,” she whispered. “I think someone’s coming.”

She pushed Luke off, and he sat up, frowning and blinking.

“Quick.” Gretchen threw his jeans at him and tried to fasten her bra, hooking it wrong in her haste. “Get dressed.”

Luke gave a wide yawn, which turned into a laugh at her expression.

“All right, I’m moving.”

He checked that his boxers were the right way round before pulling them on. The path was some distance away and hidden by a thick curtain of trees, but they could hear the footsteps more clearly now.

“Please, will you get your pants on,” Gretchen said. She dragged her top over her wet hair. “We should go. It could be anyone. It could be my dad.”

“It’s not likely to be your dad,” Luke said, but he pulled his jeans on all the same. He slipped on his shirt and shoes, and they stood shoulder to shoulder in silence, peering through the heavy canopy toward the mouth of the path.

Gretchen almost laughed when the slight figure emerged from the tree line.

“Jesus, it’s only Ellie. She almost gave me a heart attack.” She realized she was still whispering.

The girl was walking fast, with her head bowed. At the river she stopped. She stared at the swollen water for a few moments, one hand pressed to her mouth, then turned away.

“Is she down here on her own?” Gretchen said, her voice swallowed by the rush of the river. She thought for a moment she heard another snap, but the path beyond Ellie remained empty.

“It doesn’t matter.” Luke was whispering. “You’re right. We should go.” He put his hand on her shoulder.

“Why? Let’s say hello.”

“I can’t be bothered. She’s so weird lately. Besides, I’m all wet.”

Gretchen looked down. Her damp bra had soaked through her shirt.

“So what? So am I.”

“Let’s just go.”

Gretchen stared at him. The water may have washed away the smell of sex, but the act was written all over his face.

“Why exactly don’t you want her to see us?” she said.

“I don’t care if she sees us, Gretch.” But he was still whispering. “She’s a stuck-up bitch. I don’t have the energy today.”

He turned and pushed his way quietly through the trees, away from Ellie, toward the small dirt track that led back to Gretchen’s parents’ farm. Gretchen took a step after him, then turned, looking back toward Ellie. She was beside a strange-looking tree, crouching down with her hand against a rock.

“What’s she doing?” Gretchen said, but Luke was gone.

“When I heard she’d collected stones for her pockets, I didn’t sleep for three nights.” Gretchen blew her nose on a tissue. “I saw her. If I’d gone to her, I could have stopped her. But I didn’t.” Her words were almost lost in her tears. “I left. Of course. For Luke.”

Gretchen caught up to him a short way along the track.

“Hey.” She pulled at his arm. “What is going on?”

“Nothing, babe.” He took her hand but didn’t stop walking. “It’s just time I got back.”

Gretchen pulled her hand away.

“She knows you and I are together, you know. Ellie, I mean. It’s not a secret.”

“Yeah, babe, of course I know.”

“So why didn’t you want her to see us? Why does it matter if the others know we’re serious now?”

“It doesn’t. Let’s drop it,” Luke said, but he stopped and turned to face her. He leaned in for a kiss. “Look, it doesn’t matter. But what we have is so great. I just want it to stay something special. Between the two of us.”

She stepped away.

“Yeah, right. What’s the real reason? You think there might be someone better on offer?”

“Gretch, come on.”

“Is that it? Because if so, Ellie’s right back there waiting—”

Luke made a noise in his throat and started walking again.

“And there are a lot of guys round here who—”