He reaches over and squeezes my hand. “I was a pretty good dad back before the dark days. I want to get better at being your dad again.”

I had no idea my dad could speak so eloquently, and I’m actually moved by this. Jules is reluctantly impressed. I place my other hand on top of his. “I just want you to feel good,” I say. “Every day.”

He leans over and kisses my cheek. “Me too.”

And as we sit there, contemplating changes, the biggest question in my life remains. I still don’t know for sure if he has seen a vision—he never answered the question. I still don’t have any of the answers I need.

I am happy that he wants to be a better dad. But I am also tired, and I am sick of seeing people I love get hurt. I just want this trail of visions to end. I just want him to say no, he’s never seen a vision, so that I can remove this responsibility from my shoulders and call it quits on this game of madness. Because if I don’t find out for sure, I’m going to have to start trying to find the twenty-four people we saved and begin this stupid process all over. And I know I can’t do this again.

So after all of that, I just say it. “Okay, well, back to the question, just to clear things up. Have you ever had a vision or not?”

Fear and concern flit across his face. And then he says, “I’m not sure why you’re so fixated on this. But the answer is no, Julia. I have issues that I’m working on, but I’m not that far gone. I’ve never seen a vision.” He hesitates and then frowns. “Have you?”

I look into his eyes, and I know he’s telling the truth. And I feel a surge of hope. Part of me feels a tremendous weight being lifted at the sudden realization: there is no Demarco vision curse.

But then I realize this only makes me look more insane. Does this mean that I am the true source of this vision curse? And does this make me even more responsible than before, now that I have no one to point to?

Before I can say a word to deflect his new concerns, my cell phone vibrates.

It’s Sawyer—Sawyer’s phone, rather—calling me.

Fifty-Three

“Of course not, don’t be silly,” I tell my dad, then point to the phone. “Mind if I take this?”

“Go for it. I’ll be outside helping your mother,” he says, which is so weird. He pats my hand and gets up.

I answer on the fifth ring. “Hello?” I say.

“Hi,” comes a girl’s self-assured voice. “Is this the Jules from the lake?”

I almost laugh. “Yes! Is this the Bridget with the sore ankle?”

“It’s broken,” she says, as if she’s pleased about it. “I’m on crutches.”

“Oh no,” I say. “I was afraid of that. How did you figure out to call me?”

“Well,” she says, “by the time I found my parents and brother, I didn’t see the guy anywhere to give the phone back to him. And by the time we got to our hotel from the emergency room, the battery was dead, and we don’t own a charger to fit this kind of phone. So I had my brother buy one with the twenty bucks I also found in the pocket. And now, duh, it’s working again.”

“Wow,” I say. “You definitely have spunk.” This is quickly becoming an easy word to use.

“And,” she rambles on, “I remembered how you pretty much screamed at me when you saw me wearing this life vest, and yours was just like it, so I figured you must know the guy. And I remembered you said your name was Jules. So I looked in the contacts and found you at the top. Are you his girlfriend or something?”

“Um, well, yes.” I’m blushing.

“Well, can you tell him I’ve got his phone?”

I laugh. “Yes, I will tell him. How can we get it back from you?”

“One sec.” She yells away from the mouthpiece, “Hey, Ma!”

I can hear muffled sounds of the mouthpiece against fabric, and then she’s yelling something to her mom.

She comes back. “Where does the guy live?”

It occurs to me that she hasn’t yet figured out the guy’s name. “His name is Sawyer. We live in Melrose Park outside of Chicago.”

“One sec,” she says again. More hollering.

I walk over to the window to watch Rowan and my parents dig up the lawn for a garden. “What the heck is happening to us?” I mutter.

Bridget comes back. “Okay, my parents said we can bring it over tonight. Text me your address when we hang up.”

I’m confused, and then I realize she means for me to text it to Sawyer’s phone. “Sounds great,” I say.

“Okay, bye.”

Before I can ask if her family is okay, she hangs up.

I text my address to Sawyer’s phone for Bridget, and then text Kate to see if Sawyer is with her.

A minute later Sawyer calls me from Kate’s phone. “What’s up?”

“Bridget is coming to my house to bring your phone back. Can you come over?”

“How excellent. I was just missing you enough to come over anyway. Yeah, I’ll be there in a few.”

I smile. “Cool. Also. My dad just told me he thinks you’re okay.”

“Well.” He sounds pleased. “That’s something.”

• • •

When Sawyer arrives, we sit on the front steps waiting for Bridget. Rowan comes around the house and sits with us. Her hands are dirty.

“Dad thinks you need to see a therapist,” she announces. She looks at her dirty fingernails and scowls. “Yick. What a mess.”