Page 36 of The Four Engagement Rings of Sybil Rain

I TURN AT THE SOUND OF MY NAME AND SEE ONE OF THE H ALIA F ALLS Polaris ATVs rumbling along the edge of the beach, through the darkness. What the…

Then the ATV passes one of the ground lights along the path from the resort to the beach, and I see that it’s Sebastian at the wheel. He parks and hops out.

I wave to Seb, confused as to what the hell he’s doing here, then look back to Jamie, who has frozen on the last step. But he hasn’t walked away, which is something. At least, that’s what I’m willing myself to believe.

“Sybil, I’m so glad you’re still up!” Seb is now standing at my elbow, a little out of breath. “You gotta come see these waves. This storm’s supposed to be a good one. Passing offshore, but the photos will be incredible.”

“What?” I stare at his happy, smiling face, trying to figure out what he’s talking about. “You’re taking photos in the middle of the night?”

“No, silly!” he says, giving me a nudge. “I’m going to get some shots at sunrise. The waves are going to be even better at this place called the Secret Cove a couple hours south, and I gotta get there before dawn to set up. It’s going to be absolutely stunning.”

“Secret Cove? Wait, you’re planning to drive to a different beach a couple hours away in a—is that a stolen Polaris from the resort?”

“Borrowed,” Seb answers with an easy shrug. “And it’s not two hours if I off-road it. Literally only an hour, if I’m reading the map right,” he answers, like this is perfectly sane logic. “You wanna come? A little less reckless than borrowing a boat, right? What do you think?”

“I think it’s an incredibly stupid idea.”

Seb and I both whip our heads over to the stone staircase. Jamie’s arms are folded across his chest, the muscle in his jaw twitching.

“Oh, hey, man.” Seb says. “Didn’t realize you were standing there.” There’s nothing outright hostile in Seb’s tone, but I can feel the tension radiating off his body.

“The resort won’t allow that. And I wouldn’t recommend it anyway in a vehicle like that, in bad weather,” Jamie says stiffly.

“Well, that’s why we won’t tell them.” Seb gives an exaggerated wink but it’s not playful—it’s annoyed. “No one likes a narc, Jamie.” He turns back to me, with the eagerness of a child who can’t wait to open his Christmas presents. “So, what do you say, Sybs?”

“Oh, well…” I look out to the water, and then along the narrow strip of beach, worrying my bottom lip between my teeth.

The waves are picking up, crashing against the shore with more force than I’ve seen so far this trip.

This supposed storm hasn’t hit yet, but I can feel the uptick in the wind, and a heavy moisture in the air.

I’m sure Seb could get some really amazing shots of these waves from right where we’re standing if he just waits a few hours, and the idea of taking a little unprotected ATV out over the dunes in this weather seems like a very bad idea.

Even as I think it, a light drizzle is starting to frizz my hair, and there’s a charged energy in the air that suggests an oncoming thunderstorm.

Or maybe that’s just the crackling animosity between the two men standing before me.

“She’s not taking off with you in this weather,” Jamie says through gritted teeth.

“Um, I think she can decide for herself what she wants, buddy,” Seb snaps back.

“Of course she can,” Jamie says, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “And she doesn’t want to—it’s written all over her face. If you knew her at all, you’d realize that. You’re pressuring her—”

“Bullshit.”

“—and,” Jamie continues, raising his voice over a loud whoosh of wind, “because she doesn’t want to disappoint you, she’s considering doing it anyway. Even if it means she might get hurt.”

“Oh yeah?” Seb says, slinging an arm around my shoulder. His lips twist in a cruel grin. “Is that what she was doing when she almost married you?”

Jamie flinches almost imperceptibly. A brief fluttering of one eyelid. But I know him well enough to tell the blow has landed.

“Jamie,” I start.

“Forget it.” He takes a deep breath, looking off to the side where a crop of palm trees is swaying aggressively. “I just wanted to come say goodbye. Gen and I are flying back home tomorrow.”

“Jamie, wait, please. Can we talk? Things with Seb aren’t what you think—”

“It’s none of my business.”

“It is your business,” I insist. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you that he called me that night during my bachelorette party.

He was just wishing me good luck, I swear.

That conversation is not why I ran off to Vegas.

Or why you and I didn’t…” I can’t say the words: get married.

Spend the rest of our lives together. Come to this very resort on our honeymoon like we were supposed to.

I can feel Seb stiffen beside me. “She’s telling the truth, dude,” he mutters.

“So you’re not—” Jamie cuts himself off with a swallow. He rubs his nose. “You guys haven’t been dating since then?”

“No! God, no.” I shake my head emphatically. “This thing with Seb is…” Completely fake. A stupid ruse to save face in front of you. “… very new,” I say, chickening out.

“Very, very new,” Seb says sardonically.

“What are you—” Jamie starts to say, but Seb cuts him off before he can form the question.

“She’s saying this whole thing is bullshit.” He removes his arm from my shoulders. “We’re not dating. I just happened to be in town at the same time, and we thought it would be fun to pretend.”

“Fun,” Jamie repeats flatly.

“Yeah, and let me tell you, it’s been a real barrel of laughs.” There’s an edge of bitterness in Seb’s voice. He turns and walks a few paces up the beach toward his “borrowed” Polaris, leaving me and Jamie staring at each other.

“So…” I start, a little sheepishly, looking down at my feet.

This isn’t how I wanted the truth to come out, but maybe now that all the cards are on the table, Jamie and I can have a real conversation about what we’re both feeling.

About this undeniable tug that’s been drawing us together for the past few days. He must feel it too, right?

Except, when I look up, I see that the confusion on Jamie’s face has been replaced with an icy stillness. “What else have you lied to me about, Sybil?”

“What? Nothing!” I blurt out, suddenly feeling caught like a deer in headlights. Guilt pummels my stomach, making me feel like I’m going to throw up.

But Jamie ignores me, methodically counting off all the times I’ve lied to him on his fingers. “Your college degree, your fake boyfriend, where you went on our wedding weekend.” What grates the most is how calm he is as he lists my mistakes. “I really thought you’d changed.”

“You said you didn’t care about the college thing!” I hate that my voice rises. I hate the emotion that breaks through when Jamie’s able to stand there like he’s made of stone.

“I don’t care about the college thing. I care that you lied to me about it.

” He says it matter-of-factly. As if that one lie disqualifies me from being worthy of a place in his life.

Any deviation from perfection is enough to get me ejected from Jamie’s meticulously curated, pristinely unspoiled life.

I thought maybe I was ready to open up to him but instead, his words unleash something in me.

“Have you ever spent any time thinking about why it’s so hard to be honest with you?” I shout, taking a step toward him.

A crackle of fire breaks through the ice of Jamie’s expression. “Don’t put your bad decisions on me, Sybil.” Jamie’s voice has dropped dangerously low, and he takes a step toward me too.

“You put everyone you love up on some pedestal and then turn your back when we can’t live up to your insane standards.”

“What are you talking about?” Jamie says, looking genuinely nonplussed now.

“You know, sometimes you say things, and it’s like…

” He runs an exasperated hand through his hair.

“Like you don’t even know me at all. Like you’re describing a totally different person.

” He stalks a few paces down the beach before turning back to me. “I never expected you to be perfect.”

“Your family sure did,” I scoff. “They never liked me. They thought I wasn’t good enough for you, not smart enough, not sophisticated enough.”

“Sybil, we’ve had this conversation.” Jamie puts his hands on his hips. “They aren’t outgoing like you. They don’t express themselves well.”

“So, it’s okay to be aloof and judgmental because you’re not ‘good at expressing yourself’?” I ask, unable to keep the bite out of my voice.

He winces. “That’s not what I meant. Look, I’m sorry. I should have done more to make you feel comfortable, to bridge the gap between you and them. But Sybs,” he says, his voice strained, “you lying to me is not okay. If we can’t be honest with each other, then how are we supposed to—”

“Oh, like you’ve been so honest with me?

” I interrupt. Because some part of me knows he’s right, and yet, I can’t let him have it.

I’m still too hurt, too angry. It’s as if all the wounds and feelings of rejection and abandonment from our wedding weekend have taken over my body and I can’t control what spews out of me.

“I have!” Indignation is creeping back into Jamie’s voice. “What haven’t I been truthful about?”

“How about Genevieve being just your ‘colleague,’ for starts.”

“She is just my colleague.”

“Jamie, she’s always around. Always calling you—”

“Because we’re here for work!”

“Always looking at you like you hung the damn moon.”

Jamie’s affronted expression falters slightly, as if he’s realizing something for the first time. But I just barrel right on.

“It’s more than just that,” I tell him. “You’ve been lying to me since the day you proposed.

You said you loved me because I brought color to your life.

Because I felt things more strongly than anyone you’d ever known.

” Hot, angry tears are forming in the corners of my eyes, but I wipe them away.

“But you didn’t want the reality that came with that, did you?

When things weren’t all sparkly and fun.

When shit got real. You just pulled the plug.

All that bullshit about wanting to ‘set me free’…

that was just an excuse to make yourself feel better, wasn’t it?

So yes, I made up a story about a fake boyfriend.

But you lied to me too, Jamie. And yours was worse. ”

I turn on my heel and start heading for the path where Sebastian stands waiting, fearing that if I stay here one second longer, I will only do more damage, or have to admit that I’m doing it again.

That I’m ruining everything.

“Sybil, come on. Don’t do this,” Jamie says. “Stay here and fight with me.”

I ignore his pleas and continue down the beach.

“Where are you going?” Jamie calls sharply.

I whip around to face him. “To the beach cove. With someone who never expects me to be someone other than who I am.”

“Of course,” Jamie says, the muscle in his jaw jumping. “There you go. Running away… again.”

“Yes, I am. And you can’t stop me,” I add, even though there’s a huge part of me that’s praying he will do exactly that.

Instead, all he says is, “If that’s what you want.”

Then he turns and walks back up the stone steps to the hotel at the top of the ridge.

And I feel whatever delicate threads were keeping my heart together snap.

I march across the beach to Sebastian. As I get closer, I can see the back of the ATV is loaded with supplies—some sort of tarp, and what looks like his tripod and expensive camera gear.

“Sybil, I’m sorry about—”

“That way.” I point to a dirt road that departs from the edge of the beach, away from the resort and to the south.

Seb just raises an eyebrow at me, swallowing whatever he’d been about to say. “Well, hop in, then. No time like the present.”

I jump onto the seat beside him.

He starts the weak engine. “You sure you want to do this?”

“I’m sure.”

Seb turns the stolen key and pushes the pedal, and off we go, bumping up and down over the sand, under a heavy black sky, now entirely devoid of stars.