13
I didn’t get a chance to talk to Lana alone until the following morning.
We had just arrived at the little beach with the picnic hamper. We arranged the towels and blankets on the sand. I waited until Leo was a little way off, then I made my move.
“Lana,” I said in a low voice. “Can we have a chat?”
“Later.” She brushed me off. “I’m going for a swim.”
I watched her make her way to the water’s edge. I frowned. I had no choice but to follow.
The water was flat like glass; Lana swam all the way to the raft. I swam after her.
When I reached the raft, I climbed up the ladder and onto the platform—and flung myself on my back, gasping for air.
Lana was fitter than me, scarcely out of breath. She sat there, hugging her knees, staring at the horizon in the distance.
“You’re avoiding me,” I said, when I finally caught my breath.
“Am I?”
“Yes. Why?”
Lana didn’t reply for a second. She shrugged. “Can’t you guess?”
“Not unless you tell me. I’m not psychic.”
I had decided the best way to handle Lana now was to play dumb. So I gave her an innocent look and waited.
Finally, she spoke. “That night at your apartment…”
“Yes.”
“We said a lot.”
“I know we did.” I shrugged. “Now you’re avoiding me. What am I supposed to make of that?”
“I need to know something.” Lana studied me for a second. “Why are you doing this?”
“Doing what? Trying to help you?” I met her gaze directly. “I’m your friend, Lana. I love you.”
Lana looked at me for a moment, like she didn’t believe me.
I felt a flicker of irritation. Isn’t that crazy? In all these years, never one cross word or a disagreement—a mutually adoring friendship, free of all conflict—until I got involved in her marriage problems.
No good deed goes unpunished, I thought. Who said that? They were right.
I was in a tricky position, I knew. I mustn’t press her too hard. I risked losing her. But I couldn’t stop myself.
“I’m sorry. I cannot stand by and watch you be abused. It’s not okay, letting them treat you like this.”
No reply.
“Lana.” I frowned. “Answer me, for Christ’s sake.”
But Lana didn’t answer me. She just stood up—and dived off the raft. She disappeared in the water.
* * *
After the picnic, we walked back to the house.
But Lana didn’t go inside.
She lingered on the veranda, acting as if the climb up the steps had tired her, and she was catching her breath. I knew better. She was watching Kate, on the lower level.
Kate was wandering away from the summerhouse, in the direction of the olive grove—toward the ruin.
I knew what was in Lana’s mind. I pretended to yawn. “I’m going to have a shower. See you in a bit.”
Lana didn’t reply. I wandered inside into the living room—then stopped just inside the door. I hovered there a moment. Then I went back outside. And Lana had gone. Just as I expected, she was descending the steps to the lower level.
I followed—keeping my distance, so she wouldn’t see. I needn’t have worried; Lana didn’t look back once. Nor did Kate, as she made her way through the trees, blissfully unaware she was being followed by not one, but two people.
At the clearing, Lana hid behind a tree. I stood a little farther back, at a safe distance. We both watched the scene unfold at the ruin.
Jason and Kate spoke for a while. Then Jason put down his gun and approached Kate. They started kissing.
How strange it must have been for Lana to watch them kissing. I imagined all her defenses collapsing at that moment—her denial, delusion, her projection of her anger onto me—crumbling into dust. How can you deny what’s right in front of you?
Lana’s legs suddenly gave way. She sank to the ground. She fell onto her hands and knees, in the dirt. It looked like she was kneeling in prayer, but she was crying.
It was a pitiful sight. My heart went out to her.
But it would be dishonest not to admit that part of me was relieved. For if Lana needed more proof than an earring, then fate had just supplied it.
Jason sensed Lana’s eyes on him. He looked up. But he was blinded by the sunlight and didn’t see her there.
Lana turned and lurched away from the ruin. She went back through the olive grove, toward the house. She was walking fast. I followed.
I had an uneasy feeling about what she might do next.