He handed her a handkerchief, and at last she looked up.

It was Neale.

“Go away,” Kelsey said miserably. “I don’t want to talk to you.” She blew her nose and squeezed her eyes tightly. Already her head was beginning to throb.

“Tell me again what you saw,” Neale said quietly, but Kelsey turned her face away.

“No. I’ve told you a million times already. Look, do you think this is my idea of a joke? That I’d put Justin—or any of you—through all this—” She broke off, and slowly got herself under control. “You…saw him out there tonight,” she went on unevenly. “He was like a crazy person. It broke my heart.”

A long silence drew out between them, beneath the low howl of the wind, and the waves crashing onto the shoreline. Kelsey shivered violently and pressed herself into the sand.

“And what else is breaking it?” Neale asked.

Kelsey stiffened, ready to defend herself with denials. But she just couldn’t fight it anymore.

“My father died. Two years ago.” She waited for some word of condolence, but when it didn’t come she went on. “We were at the beach, and we’d gone out in the boat.” She held her breath till her head felt like exploding. She exhaled slowly. “Somehow…the boat turned over. Dad…” She swallowed painfully, her voice catching—“Dad didn’t make it. He saved my life…but he…drowned.”

Beside her the shadows shifted as if Neale had lowered his head. She felt his thigh against the curve of her arm.

“I still see him, you know…I have these dreams and they keep coming and they’re so real…I see him reaching out to me, and telling me not to struggle, because it’ll be easier if I don’t fight him…”

She couldn’t stop the crying then, no matter how hard she tried to hold it back, but when at last she grew silent, Neale was still there.

“Well,” she said at last, drawing a shaky breath, “now you know. I guess you’re sorry you asked.”

“And I guess I’m supposed to blame you or feel bad for you because your father’s dead and you’re not. Is that it?”

Kelsey was so shocked that she raised up on her elbows. “He died trying to save me! Don’t you understand? He was the kindest, the most loving—”

“A saint, yes, I see.” Neale waved his hand. “Please. Spare me the details.”

She gaped at him. “How can you talk like that? You don’t understand at—”

“I understand,” Neale said slowly, each word distinct, “that some things happen to us that we can’t control. There’s no explanation for them, and they never make sense, no matter how much we want them to. That whether we’re good or bad they don’t really have anything to do with us at all.” His black eyes fixed on hers, drawing her into their depths. “I understand,” he said, “that you’ve been given a second chance. My advice to you is don’t blow it.”

Kelsey felt anger surging up in her, and the look she gave him was scathing. “Well, I might just be dead by morning, thanks to you, and I hope that makes you very happy!”