“Things I didn’t want to see,” he said.

I closed my eyes, trying to imagine what hideous scene he might be drawing: more nightmare fish? Me drowning, being pulled under?

“Who is on the phone, Jackie?” Diane asked, moving closer to me.

I covered the mouthpiece with my hand. “One of my clients,” I told her.

She looked at me in disbelief. “How would they get this number?”

“Have you ever seen things you didn’t want to see?” Declan asked.

Just then, out the window, I was sure I saw Lexie’s face.

Lexie looking in at all of us, smiling.

“I—”

Diane snatched the receiver, put it to her ear. “Who’s there?” she demanded. She shook her head. “There’s no one there, Jackie. Just a dial tone.” Her look said she thought I was crazy.

Maybe I was.

I checked the window again. There was no one there.

Maybe it had just been my own reflection.

I started walking backward. My heart was pounding. Every part of my body was telling me to run. To get out of there.

“Where are you going, Jax?” my father asked, standing up.

“To the Quick Stop. To get more light bulbs,” I said. “It’s so dark in here.”

“It’s nice and cozy with the candles.” He reached out, wrapped his fingers around my wrist. They were cool, damp, tight as a vise. “Stay with us, Jax.” His eyes flashed me a desperate look. Don’t go. Don’t leave. Please. Not now.

“Okay.” I lowered myself back down into my seat. My father released my wrist but stayed standing. “To Lexie,” he said, raising his glass. “May we all one day catch up with her again.”

Pig had come into the kitchen and was crouched about a foot away from the closed-off door, staring at it, yellow eyes glinting in the candlelight. His ears were back, and he was growling.

Diane put some cheese and crackers on a plate and brought it over to the table. My father walked over to the sink and looked out the window, toward the pool. I could see the reflection of the candlelit room, of my father’s frown turning into a wide smile. “She’s out there,” he said. “I see her.”

I knew I should stand, should go and look, but I felt too afraid to move. It’s Ryan, my logical mind told me. Ryan or maybe Terri. They’re just fucking with us. Trying to scare us.

But then I pictured what I’d just seen: Lexie’s face in the widow, smiling in at us.

Why don’t you all come out and join me for a swim?

My father turned to us and said, “It’s her! She’s here! She said she’d come. She promised.” He turned, looked right at me. “She came back for you!”

She was my wish.

And I was hers.

I shook my head. It wasn’t possible.

He started walking, practically running, out of the kitchen.

“Ted, wait!” Diane jumped up, started following him out of the kitchen at a steady clip. Their footsteps echoed down the hall.

“No,” I yelped, getting up to follow them.

“Ted!” Diane called. “Be reasonable.”

I heard the dead bolt on the front door click as he opened it. “You’ll see,” my father said again. “It’s her. She’s here. She’s here!”

He flung open the door and stepped out. Diane and I followed him into the cool night. The air was still, the sky scattered with clouds that filtered the light from the stars and moon.

The gate gave a loud rusty screech as my father pushed it open, called her name. “Lexie!”

I followed.

The pool smelled dank, rotten.

“There’s no one here,” Diane said. “Let’s go back inside, Ted. Please.”

In the dim blue light, I could make out the flat surface of the water, the rough shapes of chairs on the patio like hunched-over figures lying in wait. I looked back into the house, saw the candles flickering through the kitchen windows, casting strange, dancing shadows.

“She’s in the water,” my father said, looking down longingly. “It’s Lexie. Don’t you see her? I told you!” He grinned so wide his teeth glowed.

Then he jumped into the water. I saw only ripples as the pool took him.

“Ted!” I screamed, running forward like it was still somehow possible to stop him.

Then he surfaced, gasping, “She’s down there. In the water!”

“Get out of there,” I said, reaching a hand out. He swam away from me. “You’ve gotta see this!” he said. “Come into the water, Jax! She wants you to come into the water!”

Then he took a deep breath and dove back under.

“Ted!” I yelled. Only bubbles surfaced.

“We’ve got to help him,” Diane said, moving to the edge, ready to jump in. “He’s out of his mind! He’ll drown!”

I kicked off my shoes. “I’ll get him. You wait here.”

I dove in.

The water was as painfully cold as ever. Stung every inch of my skin and made my muscles feel frozen and slow. Moving was difficult.

Open your eyes, Jax.

What had Lexie seen her last time in the water? Who had brought her out to the pool?

Eliza?

Rita?

Martha?

Or was it simply the promise that maybe she’d get her wish? That I’d return to her, return to this place.

I’m here, I thought, water numbing me, washing everything else away. Lexie, I’m here.

I struggled to see anything in the dark water.

Just like that I was ten years old again. My fingers grew numb. My heart pounded.

I swam deeper down, reaching, and touched something, an arm or leg—Ted, please God, let it be Ted. I grabbed hold and struggled to get back up to the surface. Please let this not be little Rita, face pale and bloated.

“Your sister’s down there,” Ted said once our heads were above the water. “I saw her!”

There’s nothing in that water but what we bring with us.

I dragged Ted to the edge; he was choking.

“Out of the pool,” I ordered. He scrambled at the slippery edge. I pushed him as I treaded water. Diane took his hand and, together, we hoisted my father out of the pool. Once out, he crouched along the edge, shivering and coughing.

“It was her,” he said. “I saw her face!”

I put my hands on the edge, but it was so slick, I couldn’t get a good grip.