Lies I Told(45)

Logan laughed a little. “Sucks to be the normal ones, right?”

“Definitely.” I laughed with him, surprised either of us could find any humor in the situation.

“Well, now we have each other,” he said, his eyes never leaving mine.

I’d never wanted something to be more true.

He paid the bill and we wandered down to the pier. It was cold and dark, the lights from the boardwalk and Ferris wheel reflecting off the water, making it look like the sea was strung with thousands of Christmas lights.

Logan looked up. “How do you feel about Ferris wheels?”

“I’ve never been on one,” I admitted.

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“Well, we have to fix that right now,” he said, pulling me toward the ticket booth.

We got our tickets and stood in line. Logan put his arms around me from behind, pulling me close while we waited our turn. Surrounded by flashing carnival lights and squealing children, Logan’s warm body against mine, I almost felt normal. When it was our turn, we ascended a small flight of stairs to a metal platform under an empty Ferris wheel seat. A man with a scraggly gray beard and clear blue eyes lifted the safety bar, and Logan took my hand as I climbed into the seat. It rocked slightly as I sat down, and I had a moment of vertigo where the sky and sea tilted. I clutched the side of the seat, fighting a wave of panic. Then Logan was next to me, his arms around my shoulders, and everything seemed to steady.

The bearded man smiled his encouragement and lowered the safety bar before putting his hand on a big metal lever. My stomach lurched as we were swung backward. We stopped a second later as the man assisted passengers into the next seat, a step that was repeated several more times, each one taking us higher and higher into the night sky, the sea receding farther and farther below us.

Finally, the Ferris wheel lurched to life and stayed that way, swinging us up and up, closer to the top. I clutched the side of the seat with one hand and grabbed Logan’s knee with the other, terrified to look beyond the safety of our little bucket.

“Grace,” Logan whispered in my ear.

I dared a glance up at him.

He smiled. “It’s okay. I’ve got you. Look around.”

But I couldn’t tear my eyes away from his. Secure in the safety of his gaze, the way he looked at me that said everything would be okay, I was too scared to look anywhere else. I shivered, and he kissed the top of my head, pulling me close. Heat seeped from his body into mine.

“Look, Grace,” he said softly. “It’s all for you.”

And that time I did. I saw the sweep of beach, a smudge against the darkness of the sea, as it curved in and out, all the way to the cliffs of Playa Hermosa in the distance. The lights on the water from the pier gave way to the mystery of open sea that went on and on. And far below, people laughed and shrieked, lost in their own wondrous moments.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Logan said in my ear.

I looked up at him with a smile.

It was. And so was he.





Thirty-Four


I was still light on my feet when we headed back to the car hand in hand. High above it all, Logan and I had been in a world all our own. I still felt a little untouchable. Like nothing in the world could hurt us.

We were almost to the car when Logan slowed his pace. “What the . . . ?”

“What’s wrong?” I looked around, following his gaze.

He was looking at the BMW, parked about fifty feet ahead. At first I didn’t know what he was seeing, but a second later my eyes adjusted to the dark and I caught sight of the hooded figure, bent down near the driver’s side window.

“Hey!” Logan shouted, hurrying toward the car. “What are you doing?”

The figure straightened, turning toward us. I couldn’t make out the person’s face in the split second before he took off sprinting in the opposite direction.

I followed Logan, stopping a few feet away when I caught sight of the damage. Someone had keyed the driver’s side, and a deep gash ran all the way from the rear tire well to the front bumper.

“Oh, my God . . . ,” I said.

“Stay here, Grace.” Logan took off after the man.

“Logan!” I looked around, not sure what to do. “Be careful!”

A gust of wind blew in off the ocean, and I wrapped my arms around my upper body, scanning the parking lot, suddenly aware of how alone I was. I don’t know how long I stood there before I heard footsteps pounding the pavement in the distance. I peered into the darkness. A rush of adrenaline hit my system as a figure came into view beyond the streetlight casting a weak yellow glow across the pavement. Could it be the vandal coming back to do more damage?

I braced myself to run. The promenade wasn’t that far away, and we’d passed plenty of people walking to and from it on our way to the parking lot.

But a second later the figure emerged under the streetlight. It was Logan.

I hurried toward him. “Are you okay? What happened?”

He bent over, panting, trying to catch his breath. “I found a cop. They’re going after the guy. Told me to wait here.”

I nodded, looking back at the car. “Who would do something like that?”

“I don’t know. Let’s just hope they catch him.”