4: 4
There were no flights back that day, so I checked into a bed-and-breakfast.
I wasn't answering my phone, so they could only tag me in the family group chat.
Rodney:
"I checked your location. You're still in Colorado."
"I've already paid the balance on the wedding. Just show up tomorrow and be the bride."
My father smoothed it over:
"Blanche, stop making a scene. Whatever's upsetting you, we'll talk after the wedding."
My mother's voice message was a lot more direct.
"Can you not be so willful and turn the whole family upside down?"
"Milly's just a young girl who loves pretty things and dreams about weddings, so she wanted to try it out."
"You're the older sister. Do you really have to be this petty?"
I left the family group chat right then.
Went out, bought a new phone, and threw the old one away, tracker and all.
I had dinner at the bed-and-breakfast.
The owner was chatty.
She gave me a glass of hard cider on the house.
"Miss, we've got a local legend around here. Watch the sunrise over Emerald Lake and good luck will come to you."
I nodded.
The sweet cider carried a trace of bitterness, then turned sweet again.
The next morning I bundled up in a long coat, got up early, and claimed a spot in the front row.
The water of Emerald Lake was right at my feet.
The sun rose off the surface, gulls wheeled on the wind, and everyone around me broke into cheers.
I heard a familiar voice too.
I turned, and my eyes met Millicent's.
I turned to leave.
Using the crowd for cover, she reached out and shoved.
I was falling backward, straight toward the water.
In that instant I grabbed her, and we went down together.
The last thing I saw was the panicked faces of my parents and Rodney.
Their mouths all shaped the same word at once: "Milly."
After the staff fished us out.
I was still coughing.
Millicent already had the strength to accuse me.
"Sis, why did you drag me into the water on purpose?"
I hadn't even finished coughing when my mother rushed up and slapped me.
"You animal, how could you hurt Milly!"
"Why don't you just go die!"
My father was gutted too: "Blanche, could you possibly be any more vicious!"
They weren't looking at me like a daughter. They were looking at me like an enemy.
Rodney stepped in front of me.
"Uncle, Aunt, I'm sure Blanche didn't do it on purpose."
I looked up at him. His shadow fell right over my head, throwing a patch of shade.
He turned back to me, his face all worry.
"Blanche, apologize, now!"
My coughing finally stopped.
"Third time," I said.
"What?"
"That's the third time you've told me to apologize, Rodney. Three strikes."
Just then someone in the crowd said timidly: "I saw it just now. She really did pull that girl into the water."
I got to my feet and spat out two words: "Call the police."
"Weren't you saying I hurt her? Call the police. Let the law decide."
A flicker of panic crossed Millicent's eyes, then quickly settled.
"Sis, you think I'm lying?"
"There are no cameras anywhere around here. What good is calling the police?"
So she'd already checked that there were no cameras nearby.
Rodney gripped my shoulder.
"Blanche, stop it. Haven't you embarrassed us enough!"
I'd been out of the water this long, and not one of them had asked if I was all right.
But Millicent had all three of their jackets draped over her.
I just found it darkly funny.
The staff, though, had called the police long ago.
When the officers questioned us, I handed them the personal camera I wore around my neck.
"Please check how I actually fell in. It should all be recorded."
Millicent's face went white in an instant, and the next second she came at me screaming, grabbing for it.
"Impossible! You definitely set me up on purpose!"
"Mom, Dad, Rodney, grab it and smash it, quick!"
The more she panicked, the worse the looks on Rodney's and my parents' faces got.
I took the towel a kind stranger handed me.
Turned and looked back at them.
"See you at the station."
