Chapter 7: Keep It

"Show me," I said.

Seth pulled a stool up to the bench for me and stayed standing.

He turned the phone sideways and pressed play.

The picture was gray and wide.

The swim platform, the teak steps, the stern rail, and a slice of blue water at the bottom.

There was no sound.

At the top of the frame, people's legs went back and forth with drinks.

Then I walked into the shot in my blue dress and leaned on the rail to look at the water.

I remembered doing that.

I remembered thinking the sea looked cool and I wanted to be in it, and nobody would notice if I was.

Arabella walked in from the left in her white linen.

She put her arms around me from behind.

I didn't hug her back.

On the screen, she looked over her shoulder at the party.

She checked.

Then she took my right wrist in both her hands and put her bare foot flat against the bottom of the rail.

She threw herself backward over the side.

My body went over after her.

Just before she hit the water, she opened her mouth wide to scream.

She'd waited until we were falling to start.

Then there was only splashing at the bottom of the frame, and legs running at the top.

Seth stopped it.

I didn't say anything for a while.

The shed was very quiet.

Outside, a halyard tapped against a mast somewhere in the cove.

"Again," I said.

He played it again.

I watched her look back at the party, every time.

"She checked," I said.

"I know."

"She checked to see if anybody was looking."

"I know, Charlie."

I put my hands flat on the bench.

They were shaking a little, so I pressed them down until they stopped.

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