“I’ll get iced tea.” Amy ran onto her deck and disappeared into her cottage.
Bella leaned against Tony as they walked back to his deck. “Tony, how will we get past this? No one will ever look at Evan the same again.”
Tony tightened his grip around her shoulder. “Bell, I think I remember hearing a story about three girls who snuck out one night, broke into a certain family’s cottage, and drank all the beer in their fridge.”
Bella had buried that memory long ago.
“And the way I heard it, those girls lied about being involved and admitted it only after a certain skinny little blonde puked her guts up.” He stopped walking and shifted his eyes to Amy, heading down the gravel road toward them.
“Do you have a point, or are you just into reminding me that I was once a delinquent, too?”
“First of all, my chunky-dunking, firework-exploding, toilet-carrying friend, you are still a little bit of a delinquent. My point is, did everyone treat those teenagers any differently afterward, or were there a few days of disappointed looks and meaningful discussions to help the girls understand why they shouldn’t have done it?” He arched a brow and kissed the top of her head. “It’s gonna be okay, Bell. We all love you, and I don’t think anyone here will assume the worst about Evan unless you tell us that this was all his doing.”
“What are we talking about?” Amy carried a pitcher of iced tea. She’d thrown a sundress on over her bathing suit and she was juggling plastic wineglasses.
Tony took the pitcher and glasses from her arms. “I was just telling Bella to breathe.”
“That sounds like good advice.”
Jenna joined them on Tony’s deck a few minutes later with a bowl of pretzels and a container of hummus. “Terrible situations make me hungry.” She lowered herself into a chair, then patted Bella’s leg. “Any word from Caden?”
“My phone’s in the car.” Bella rose.
Tony patted her on the shoulder. “I’ll get it.”
Amy stared after him with a dreamy look in her eyes.
“Hey, puppy eyes.” Jenna tossed her a pretzel.
“Sorry. Habit.” Amy shoved the pretzel into her mouth.
“You guys, tell me what you’re thinking right this very second.” Bella prepared for worries about Vera followed by, It sucks to be you. I can’t believe Evan lied to everyone. How can we ever trust him again?
“I’m so relieved that Vera is okay, and I wish Jamie hadn’t looked at you the way he did,” Amy said. “Oh, and Tony’s got a nice butt.”
“You noticed that look, huh?” Bella asked.
“I noticed that look, too. I’m glad Vera’s okay, and I wish you didn’t look so worried.” Jenna popped a pretzel into her mouth. “Oh, and I agree about Tony’s butt.”
“Ugh.” Bella buried her face in her hands. “That look sucked, but I don’t blame him.” She reached for a pretzel. “So, you’re telling me that neither of you is sitting here thinking about how Evan screwed up? Or wondering if he was behind the whole thing, if he sent them to Vera’s?”
Jenna and Amy exchanged a concerned look.
Amy touched Bella’s hand. “Bell, he said he wasn’t involved, and he turned them in. Have a little faith.”
Faith. There’s that word again. “I’ve been thinking about fate, and I do have faith in Evan. I believe him, but I’m worried that everyone else might not be as forgiving. And what if he was behind it? How will I ever face Jamie and Vera again? And Caden? I know he blames himself. I saw it in his eyes.”
“In a case such as this, Bella dear…” Tony dropped her cell phone in her lap. “Do as my mama always said. Wait until the coffee brews to determine if it stinks.” He settled into a seat beside Amy with a loud sigh.
“Come again?” Bella said as she scrolled through her phone.
“Wait until you talk to Caden to worry about what’s next. Don’t stress over things that aren’t clear.” He grabbed a handful of pretzels and handed a few to Amy.
“He hasn’t called.” Bella sighed.
“It might be hours. He’s got a lot to deal with right now, and he’s probably grilling Evan so he can have those kids arrested. The police said they were gone when they got here.” Amy topped off her glass with iced tea. “I’m glad I’m not in that house tonight.”
“Funny, I’d give anything to be right there by his side. No matter how hard it gets.”
Chapter Twenty-One
CHIEF BASSETT’S OFFICE was silent, save for the sounds of Evan’s rapid breathing and the blood rushing through Caden’s ears. Evan sat board straight, with his shoulders pulled back and his hair pushed out of his eyes. He was putting on a brave face, but Caden noticed the slight twitch in the left side of his mouth and his fingers fidgeting with the seam of his shorts. The whole situation sucked. He and Evan hashed and rehashed what had gone down at Vera’s, and Evan told him that two of the other boys were behind the recent rash of breakins. Caden still couldn’t shake the feeling that if he hadn’t let himself get so involved with Bella, he would have been more attuned to what Evan was going through and more attentive to the changes in his behavior. He might even have been able to avoid the situation altogether, but he knew better than anyone that there was no going backward. He knew what he had to do, and that started with teaching Evan a hard lesson about responsibility, which was why they were at the police station.
“It’s all there on my cell phone.” Evan pointed to his phone, which he’d placed in the center of the chief’s desk. “It was Mike and David who broke into all those places—the campground, the cars at the beach and at that auto shop—and it was them at Vera’s too. I swear I haven’t deleted messages or anything. You can even look at the records.” The strain in Evan’s voice nearly did Caden in. “You can do that, right, Dad?”
“Evan, are there any other kids involved besides the two that you’ve told us about?” Chief Bassett consulted his notes. “Mike Elkton and David Farrell?”
“What about Bobby?” Caden asked.
“No. I told you. Bobby didn’t do anything. It was Mike and David who broke into those other places, and I only know David did it because Bobby told me so. That’s why I stopped hanging out with them.” Evan’s eyes pleaded with Caden to believe him, even though he’d already pled his case back at the house. “I thought they were kidding when they said they’d fingered a car at Nauset, but then I started putting two and two together, and I asked Bobby about it and he told me a day later that they weren’t kidding. They’re the ones who were breaking into places.”