“I think it’s time for me to show you people a cannonball,” Paul said. He lumbered up to the top deck, jumped with both knees up to his chest, and landed with such force that Sherri swore the entire lake could have emptied out. The splash startled and soaked Val. She sat up and looked around, confused after being woken up so abruptly from her nap. “What the actual fuck?” Everyone laughed. Sherri was happy—her party was beginning to feel more lively. The boat rocked from the ripples in Paul’s wake, followed by the sound of metal on metal. Sherri thought nothing of it, nor of the commotion on the first deck of the pontoon.

“Arthur, will you jump?”

“How about I go backwards? I have a special move I’ve perfected over time. I’m not as good as one of the Acapulco cliff divers from Wide World of Sports, but I’m trying. This is why I got a double-decker pontoon.”

Sherri clapped. “Do it!”

He gave her a kiss and winked before walking to the edge of the boat. “Anything for you, Sherri.” He made a big show of it, which surprised Sherri, because he didn’t seem like the kind of person who sought attention. He bent his legs, lowered his arms, and with great force drew them up over his head before he vaulted up and back, high into the air. The sun was setting just behind him, and a crack in the clouds revealed a dazzling blast of orange and yellow light. His jump seemed to happen in slow motion. It was a thing of beauty to see Arthur in the sky, his dark hair hanging down, arms outstretched. She was certain in that moment that she loved him.

But then she heard the most awful sound. It was quick and definitive, like the sound of a baseball hitting a metal bat. Glunk.

All the people below deck saw what Sherri didn’t. A collective chorus of screams and groans burst out. Sherri couldn’t make sense of the sound, but she knew it was bad. She ran to the side and saw Arthur’s rowboat tied to the pontoon. “What’s the rowboat doing here?”

As if in a dream, she ran down the stairs to investigate, feeling like she couldn’t move fast enough. She was followed closely by Val and Danny, who pulled up short when they saw Curtis standing hunched on the deck, looking dumbfounded.

Distantly, Sherri heard someone ask what he was doing there, but her only concern was looking past him, eyes scanning the water. Where was Arthur?

It was so simple. All that needed to happen was for Arthur to surface. But he didn’t. She told herself that he’d gone down deep, and would take time to come up for air. The horrible sequence of events was taking shape in her mind.