“I can just tell he doesn’t care for me.” I definitely didn’t want to bring up the conversation in the theater.

Cole looked over at Finley. “Isn’t that interesting?”

Finley nodded. “Why, yes it is.”

“If you two are going to continue talking in secret sibling code, I’m going to take a swim over to the deep end. I’ll send up a flare if I get lost out there.” I pushed off and swam toward the far end of the pool, which was a good distance away. Two laps in this pool would be a full workout. I was halfway across when I heard Finley call out for Some Pig. The sudden urgency in her voice made me turn back quickly.

“Where is he?” Finley cried. “Cole, find him, find him, please.” Cole pulled himself out of the pool just as I reached the small island. Finley was sucking in short gasps of air, and her face was white with worry. “I knew something would happen,” she cried. “Some Pig is gone and it’s all my fault.” I climbed up on the island and sat next to Finley. Her shoulders tensed up around her ears as she struggled to get a solid breath.

“I’m sure Some Pig is fine,” I said, but she didn’t hear a word. I felt completely helpless. I took hold of her hand, but she didn’t react to my touch. She was fading into her own panic-filled world. Water splashed over the island, and Jude’s head popped up from the water. Fully clothed, he pulled himself up onto the island and knelt behind his sister.

Gently he kneaded her shoulders and lowered his face near hers. “Breathe, Finley, breathe.” He looked at me. “I’ve got her. Go help find the pig. He likes the shade tree by the rose garden.”

I jumped into the water and swam quickly to the side. I hoisted myself up and ran toward the path. Cole joined me.

“He’s not under the tree. I already checked.” He motioned toward the house. “See if he went back to the house, and I’ll check out by the tennis courts.”

I raced back to the house and noticed immediately that the screen door was pushed open. Some Pig glanced up lazily from the rug in front of the television, completely unaware of the chaos he’d created. I turned to race back to the pool with the news. Some Pig got up and trotted after me. We jogged down the path side by side as if we were out running the track together. “You sure caused a stink, S.P. Let’s hurry back.” As soon as my foot hit the path leading to the pool area, I called out. “I’ve got him!”

I rounded the corner just as Jude was carrying Finley out of the pool. She looked sickly pale and her thin shoulders shook.

“I found him!” I called again.

Jude and Finley looked up. “Some Pig,” Finley cried as she spotted us. “Where were you?” Her voice was weak and shaky as if she’d just gone through something traumatic. And, I guess to her, it had been.

Jude lowered Finley’s feet to the ground, and Some Pig ran over to greet her as if in apology.

I pressed my hand to my chest to catch my breath. “He was curled up by the television.”

Cole came around the back of the pool house. “Oh good, you found him.”

“Cole, take Finley back to the house. She needs to get out of the sun,” Jude said.

Cole placed an arm around her shoulder and led Finley back toward the house. Her pig followed.

I collected our towels and shoes. Jude’s shadow loomed over me, and I sped up my movements to get away from him quickly. I had this sinking feeling he was going to lecture me or give me the big I told you so look. Arms full, I spun around and nearly smacked into him. Obviously, my clean get away was not going to happen.

The wet white t-shirt clung to every curve of his muscular chest and arms as he assessed me coolly with his disconcerting gaze. “You did all right out there,” he said quietly. “You kept your head.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but I’d been so ready to defend myself, his compliment caught me off guard. I tucked my hair behind my ears with trembling fingers. The entire incident had left me more shaken that I’d realized. Having Jude stand so close was definitely not helping matters. His gaze lingered on my face and lips and then floated slowly down my body to my feet. I cursed myself for not taking time to cover up with the towel. “I know— my suit is embarrassingly ugly. You don’t have to tell me.”

His long black lashes lifted, and he stared at my face again. “What suit?” He turned and strolled back to the pool house without further comment, and I race-walked back to the house.

I headed upstairs to change into dry clothes.

Cole was just coming out of Finley’s room. “She’s all right now. I’m sure you can go in.”

“I’m just going to change,” I said. The tremble in my hands had subsided, but my nerves were still on edge. The adept way in which both of Finley’s brothers had sprung into action made it obvious that these episodes happened frequently, and I had the sinking feeling that this had been only a minor incident. We’d resolved the problem quickly by producing her source for the panic attack. Jude had gotten to her so fast, I hadn’t even seen him race over from the pool house. I wasn’t completely sure that I would have been able to help her at all. Finley seemed to only respond to Jude at the time. That made the prospect of him leaving somewhat daunting. In fact, once he left and Cole returned to work, it would be completely up to me to take care of Finley. I hated to admit it, but that thought terrified me some.

Chapter 8

I pulled my hair up into a ponytail, changed into some shorts, and walked over to Finley’s room. My knuckles tapped the door lightly. “It’s me.”

“Come on in, Eden.”

Finley was sitting on the floor sliding off Some Pig’s Hawaiian print shirt. “I think we’ve both had enough of the pool scene today. He wants to spend the rest of the day in the raw.”

I sat down across from them and glanced around. Every wall was covered with a mosaic of old movie posters, pictures, and paintings. There was a long shelf filled with tennis trophies.

“Did you win all those trophies?”

“Yeah, I was a pretty good tennis player at one time. But my anxiety issues got in the way, and I lost my edge in competition.” There was sadness in her chuckle. “Now I can’t even walk out to the tennis courts my dad had built for me. It’s like there’s an invisible perimeter around this house, around my world, and I can’t cross it because I will freak out. My issues control every aspect of my life.” She lifted her round blue eyes and looked at me. “I hope you don’t leave, Eden. I really like having you here.”

“I’m not planning to leave, if that’s all right with you.”

She reached over and hugged me. “It’s definitely all right with me.” I got up and walked over to the paintings. One was a portrait of Finley sitting next to one of the dogs. Another was a portrait of her father from his younger days in the band. I leaned closer but could not make out the signature. “These are amazing. Who painted them?”

“Jude. He’s pretty good.”

“Your brother, Jude?”

“I know. He’s such an ass, it’s hard to believe.”

I smiled to myself. “He’s actually really good. That would explain the chemical smell. Does he work with paint thinner a lot?”

Finley walked over to a closet and opened the door. “Yeah. Sometimes it smells like he bathes in the stuff.” She walked inside the closet, which was bigger than my parent’s bedroom, and reappeared with a large box. She dropped it on her bed, and I plopped down next to it. “I promised to show you my collection of voodoo dolls. I made them myself, and I have to say they’re pretty cool.”  She opened the box, reached inside, and plucked out a tiny hand-sewn doll with yarn hair and small blue t-shirt with the words bad pet owner embroidered in black thread. She held it up and reached inside the box. This time she pulled out what appeared to be a fake piece of dog poop, like a prank you’d get from the joke shop.