Such a Beautiful Family: A Thriller(59)

Nora drew in a shuddering breath. She’d kept the story locked inside her for so long that now, with each word spoken, she felt a heaviness being lifted from her shoulders. Despite her parents’ plea for her to keep what had happened private, she knew that telling David was the right thing to do, no matter what he might think of her when she was done. She should have told him years ago.

“You didn’t drink it, did you?”

“I did.” She clasped her hands to keep them from shaking. “I knew Shane. I trusted him. It tasted like Kool-Aid. Not a hint of alcohol.” She swallowed. “Allina wasn’t in the backyard, so I went upstairs. Shane, under the pretense of helping me find my friend, followed me to the second floor, to a smoke-filled room where two guys and a girl were going at it on the bed while people hooted and hollered. It was gross, but I quickly moved on, determined to find Allina. That’s when two guys grabbed my arms, one on each side of me. One of them was looking over me, his attention on Shane, the boy who gave me the punch. That’s when I knew.”

“Knew what?”

“That I had been set up and that I was going to be raped. What I didn’t know in that moment was that he had spiked my drink. My legs felt wobbly, though, and I remember feeling nauseous. I thought fear was making me feel off-kilter. But I knew I had to get out of the house quick. So I kneed one of the guys in the groin, and I ran.”

“Good for you.”

“I ran as fast as I could.” Nora looked at David. “I had never been so scared in my life . . . and relieved when I finally slid into my car parked at the curb. The sun was gone by the time I buckled up and took off. My head was pounding, and my heart was racing.” She placed a hand on her chest as if she were in the car at this moment. “My main worry at the time was leaving Allina behind. No way could I go back inside, so I drove off knowing I would call Allina’s brother as soon as I got home. If he wasn’t there, I was going to call the police.”

“Is that it? You got home safely? Did something happen to your friend?” David asked when she failed to say anything more.

“No. I wish it were the end of my story, but it’s not. It wasn’t until I was merging onto the highway that I realized I was having a difficult time concentrating. Not only did my body feel heavy and hard to hold up, but my eyelids felt like bricks. I knew then that Shane must have slipped something into my punch. I knew something was wrong. I needed to pull off the road, but I was overcome with fatigue.” She had to stop to catch her breath. Tears ran down both sides of her face. “I closed my eyes, David. It felt like a long blink.”

The silence was deafening.

David said nothing. He just stared at her and waited.

Nora didn’t want to tell him the rest, didn’t want him to hate her as she’d hated herself for so long. “When I opened my eyes, all I could see were two bright lights—headlights—coming right at me.” She swallowed the lump in her throat. “Of course, I learned later that I was the one heading toward them. Not the other way around.”

“But you weren’t hurt?”

“One of my lungs had been punctured, and I had some lacerations, but I was the lucky one. I was alive. A married couple and their eight-year-old boy had been in the other car, heading in the opposite direction. The boy’s parents died instantly. The little boy was in a coma for close to a month. His name was Lucas. He was a fighter, but in the end, he lost the battle.”

She was sobbing now. David wrapped his arms around her and did what he could to comfort her. “It wasn’t your fault. You had no idea your drink had been spiked.”

“But I sensed something was off. I was dizzy, and my legs were wobbling. I should have known.”

“You were young and frightened. You wanted to help your friend.”

She wiped her eyes. “I lived, and they didn’t. We were sued. My dad said he would take care of everything, and that’s what he did. There was a large settlement. It cost him everything he had worked so hard for to pay off relatives and to keep me out of the courtroom. I was ashamed. I still am.”

David squeezed her hand.

“I do know my dad visited Lucas nearly every day and that when Lucas died, something inside my dad died, too. I know he didn’t blame me, but I also know he felt guilty for what had happened. His daughter had driven across the divider and hit and killed a family. And he took on the responsibility, as if he had been the one behind the wheel. As if he were the one who spiked my drink. Mom and Dad had to sell their house. We moved to Whispering Pines to live with my grandparents, here, in this house. I finished high school and then left for college. But our family was never the same. I got counseling, but Mom and Dad refused to talk to anyone. They wouldn’t even talk to me about the accident. I wanted to tell you what happened when we were dating, but Dad had made me promise never to tell a soul.”

“What about the boy . . . the one who slipped something into your drink . . . Shane? What happened to him?”

“Mom knew I was worried he would come after me, since I gave the police his name. She told me there were other girls who had come forward and testified against him, and that Shane would be going to jail.”

“And you’re telling me all this now because your mom mentioned you were in an accident?”

“I’ve wanted to tell you for years. But yes. I was shocked when Mom mentioned the accident. But now I’m realizing it had to be Dad who wanted to keep quiet about the accident. Not Mom.”