How to Save a Life Read online

  PRAISE FOR THE TWO LILA BENNETTS

  “Intriguing . . . Chapters headed ‘Captured’ and ‘Free’ alternate, each describing a parallel reality . . . Along with two perfect endings, this satisfying thriller offers food for thought. Flawless pacing will keep readers on the edge of their seats.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “The Two Lila Bennetts is a thought-provoking thriller that will have you thinking about the choices you’ve made and how your life could change in an instant.”

  —PopSugar

  “Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke create an imaginative and unpredictable story of modern life, the choices we make, and their consequences. The Two Lila Bennetts is an excellent summer read.”

  —Authorlink

  “Buckle your seat belt. All by itself, the title of this book, The Two Lila Bennetts, suggests we’re in for a ride twice as wild as the average thriller. Coauthors Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke deliver mightily on that expectation. Page by page, chapter by chapter, these consummate storytellers capture our psyche and our breath as they invite us to solve this ‘who’s-doing-it’ masterpiece.”

  —BookTrib

  “The Two Lila Bennetts is heart-pounding action from start to finish. It’s Sliding Doors with a killer twist. I couldn’t put it down!”

  —Aimee Molloy, New York Times bestselling author

  “One fateful decision. Two unexpected endings. A perfect summer read! The Two Lila Bennetts cleverly weaves together two sides of one story in an engaging thrill ride that keeps readers on their toes—and turning pages. Thoroughly enjoyable!”

  —Wendy Walker, author of The Night Before

  “Liz and Lisa have done it again. The Two Lila Bennetts is a deliciously dark tale of regret and retribution, of new beginnings and the road not taken. Sharp, clever, and insidious, this one shines all the way to the pitch-perfect ending.”

  —Kimberly Belle, author of The Marriage Lie

  “The Two Lila Bennetts, by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke, begins with one of the most intriguing premises that I’ve encountered in a novel and ends with two jaw-dropping conclusions. In Lila Bennett, Fenton and Steinke have created a tough, complicated character whose life splinters into two very different directions the moment she makes a life-altering choice. Toggling back and forth between each of Lila’s fates, Fenton and Steinke masterfully blend both threads together, propelling the stories forward with hand-wringing tension. Clever, unpredictable, and obsessively unputdownable, The Two Lila Bennetts is psychological suspense at its finest.”

  —Heather Gudenkauf, New York Times bestselling author of The Weight of Silence and Not a Sound

  PRAISE FOR GIRLS’ NIGHT OUT

  “Girls’ Night Out is a heart-stopper of a thriller, rippling with suspense from its opening pages. But it’s also much more: Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke plumb the intricacies of female friendship with skill and depth and heart. It’s a deeply satisfying read, and one you won’t want to miss.”

  —Megan Abbott, national bestselling author of You Will Know Me

  “It’s trouble in paradise for three best friends struggling to make amends in the latest thriller from the dynamic writing duo of Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke. Girls’ Night Out is a chilling page-turner full of secrets and hostility that will leave readers shocked again and again . . . and again. I loved it.”

  —Mary Kubica, New York Times bestselling author of The Good Girl and Every Last Lie

  “A wild ride into a high-powered girls’ trip to Mexico. Suspense at its best. Liz and Lisa have taken their writing partnership to a new level!”

  —Kaira Rouda, USA Today bestselling author of Best Day Ever

  “This suspenseful novel is full of twists and turns and makes clever use of chronology. It will make you think twice about going on a girls’ night out!”

  —Jane Corry, bestselling author of My Husband’s Wife and Blood Sisters

  “In Girls’ Night Out, Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke guide readers on a suspenseful international tour of friendship at its best and worst. As enviable fun takes a turn through suspicion toward pure fear, you’ll find out just how wrong a trip to paradise can go.”

  —Jessica Strawser, author of Almost Missed You and Not That I Could Tell

  “Set against the idyllic backdrop of tropical Mexico, Girls’ Night Out twists its way through the dark recesses of friendship, proving that nothing is ever uncomplicated or quite as shiny as it seems. An exciting new thriller from a proven team.”

  —Roz Nay, author of Our Little Secret

  “Girls’ Night Out is an utterly enthralling read that is impossible to put down. The dual timelines are captivating, just days apart, as they unfold both the frantic search for a missing friend and the circumstances that led to her disappearance. This is a book that makes you question how well you truly know even your closest friends and also what you yourself might be capable of doing.”

  —Kathleen Barber, author of Truth Be Told

  “Liz and Lisa’s Girls’ Night Out is a strong follow-up to the bestselling The Good Widow. Three friends go on a girls’ trip to Mexico to try to repair their friendship. But when one of them goes missing after a night out drinking—and fighting—they’re left trying to puzzle out what happened the night before. Sparkling characters, real friendships, and a fast-paced mystery: What more could you ask for in your next read?”

  —Catherine McKenzie, international bestselling author of Hidden

  “Lisa Steinke and Liz Fenton have conjured up the tropical vacation of your nightmares. After reading the unsettling Girls’ Night Out, you’ll never look at a tequila shot the same way again.”

  —Janelle Brown, New York Times bestselling author of Watch Me Disappear

  PRAISE FOR THE GOOD WIDOW

  A PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BEST SUMMER BOOKS 2017 SELECTION, MYSTERY/THRILLER

  “Fenton and Steinke deliver a complicated tale of love, loss, intrigue, and disaster . . . This drama keeps the pages turning with shocking twists until the bitter end. A great read; recommended for admirers of Jennifer Weiner and Rainbow Rowell.”

  —Library Journal

  “Fans of Joy Fielding will appreciate the story’s fast pacing and sympathetic main character . . . A solid psychological thriller.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “Fenton and Steinke’s talent for domestic drama comes through . . . For readers who enjoy suspense writers like Nicci French.”

  —Booklist

  “A fantastic thriller that will keep you on your toes.”

  —PopSugar

  “Accomplished authors Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke make their suspense debut with great skill and assurance in this enthralling novel of marital secrets and lies, grief and revelation. The Good Widow led me along a winding, treacherous road and made a sharp, startling turn that I didn’t see coming. Unputdownable!”

  —A. J. Banner, #1 Amazon bestselling author of The Good Neighbor and The Twilight Wife

  “Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke’s The Good Widow begins by asking what you would do if your spouse died in a place he wasn’t supposed to be in with a woman he wasn’t supposed to be with. What follows is a gut-wrenching thriller, sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes darkly funny, but always a page-turner. And as you read it late into the night, you’ll look over at the person in bed next to you and wonder how well you really know him. A wild, skillfully written ride!”

  —David Bell, author of Since She Went Away

  “An irresistible and twisty page-turner, The Good Widow should come with a delicious warning: this is not the story you think it is.”

  —Deb Caletti, author of He’s Gone

  “The Good Widow is both heartrending and suspenseful, deftly navigating Jac
ks’s mourning and the loss of her less-than-perfect marriage. The writing is sharp and evocative, the Hawaiian setting is spectacular, and the ending was a wonderful, twisty surprise. A quintessential summer beach read!”

  —Kate Moretti, New York Times bestselling author of The Vanishing Year

  “The Good Widow is a fresh take on your worst nightmare—your husband dies, and he isn’t where, or with whom, he said he was. I ripped through these pages to see where Fenton and Steinke would take me, which ended up being somewhere unexpected in the best kind of way. You will not be sorry you read this!”

  —Catherine McKenzie, bestselling author of Fractured and Hidden

  ALSO BY LIZ FENTON & LISA STEINKE:

  The Two Lila Bennetts

  Girls’ Night Out

  The Good Widow

  The Year We Turned Forty

  The Status of All Things

  Your Perfect Life

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the authors’ imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Text copyright © 2020 by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

  Published by Lake Union Publishing, Seattle

  www.apub.com

  Amazon, the Amazon logo, and Lake Union Publishing are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc., or its affiliates.

  ISBN-13: 9781542005098

  ISBN-10: 1542005094

  Cover design by Faceout Studio, Lindy Martin

  To Dad:

  I miss you every day.

  Love, Lisa

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  ABOUT THE AUTHORS

  CHAPTER ONE

  MAY 2010

  This bulge in my pants is making me sweat.

  But this is no ordinary bulge. This protrusion is the result of a one-carat round-cut diamond ring sitting inside a small square box. I adjust my position slightly, and the sharp edge of the box stabs me in the thigh. I shift again, causing Mia to ask me if I’m okay. I swallow hard and nod.

  But the truth is, okay is not the right word. I’m excited. Exhilarated. But I’m also terrified. It feels like that time my best friend, Lance, made me cliff dive in Kauai. I wanted to, I swear. As I stood on the edge of the rocky cliff, I could almost feel the tepid water and my feet slicing through it. But when it was time to vault off, all I could imagine was what could go wrong. Hitting a sharp rock. Nailing the side of the cliff. A hungry great white shark circling below. That’s probably why Lance pushed me—he’d seen the way I’d frozen up. But as I flew through the air, all the fear vanished in a whoosh that left me breathless. In that moment, between leaving the safety of the ground and landing in the water, I saw a glimpse of who I could be. A man with no inhibitions.

  And now, sitting at the oceanfront table I requested at the Pacific Coast Grill in Solana Beach, I feel like I’m perched on another peak, ready to take a different sort of leap with the beautiful redhead who sits across from me. I watch as she spoons the delicate coconut cheesecake into her mouth, closing her eyes in pleasure. She holds the next bite out to me. “You’ve got to try this, Dom!”

  I open my mouth obediently and make a big deal out of how delicious it is. But I don’t taste a thing. I pat the box in my pocket and tell myself what I’m about to do is like cliff jumping. It’s scary but also amazing and wonderful, if I can muster the balls to do it. I think of the way I felt when my body hit the surface of the water. Like I could do anything. Be anything. Anyone.

  And right now as I sit in this restaurant, the tables around me all filled with people eating their fish and going about their lives, all I know is I love this woman with me. Sure—she’s gorgeous. I’ll never forget the first time I saw her dancing in the quad at San Diego State. But she is also wicked smart. Incredibly kind. Delicate but also fearless in this wonderful way that makes you want to be fearless too. A life with her would absolutely include cliff diving. And this time I wouldn’t have to be pushed.

  I refuse to hesitate any longer. I hand the server a credit card as she passes by. “We’re ready to go,” I say as Mia takes her last bite. I nod toward the beach beyond the window. “It’s so nice out. Want to take a walk?” She nods her approval, like I knew she would. The beach is her happy place. And it has also become a living, breathing part of our relationship. I told her I loved her for the first time while the waves lapped our toes down the coast in Ocean Beach, and we kissed with such force that I didn’t notice as the tide moved in and soaked us. Or maybe I noticed and didn’t care. That’s what Mia does—she makes everything else fade away. It is easy to get swept away in her. She’s my sea.

  Like now, as I take her hand and lead her to the water. We take off our shoes and let our feet sink down into the wet sand, our footprints washed away with each wave that rolls in. The sun is slowly making its way to where the skyline meets the sea. A family of four huddles on a blanket a few yards back, patiently waiting for the sun to set. Men and women in wet suits sit on their surfboards and let the water rock them back and forth. Mia leans down to uncover a seashell, brushing her fingers through the sand until it’s free. Time stands still as I pull the velvet box from my pocket and palm it in my hand. Mia uses the seawater to wash off the shell and holds it out, her face shining. “It’s perfect!” she declares.

  “So are you,” I say as I drop down on one knee. Mia’s eyes widen. My voice sounds far away, as if I’m listening to someone else. I have a whole speech planned, but my mind is blank. So I say what’s in my heart: “Mia, you are the only girl I’ve ever loved. Will you marry me?”

  “Yes!” Mia gasps and jumps into my arms. I hold the ring tight in my right hand and balance her lithe body with my left as we embrace. The perfect seashell drops and is washed away, but Mia doesn’t seem to notice. I gently set her down a few moments later and place the band on her left ring finger. Everyone on the beach is cheering so loudly that Mia insists we take a bow. We bend down and wave our arms wide. Mia is grinning. She’s in her element for sure. But it makes me feel slightly uneasy, as if we’re putting on a show. The thought falls away quickly as the applause fades, and she grabs my waist and pulls me back against her. “We’re going to have a great life,” she whispers, and I kiss her in response, believing every single word.

  CHAPTER TWO

  TUESDAY, JUNE 9, 2020

  TEN YEARS LATER

  At first, I’m not sure it’s her.

  She reappears in the damnedest of all places—a hipster coffee shop wedged between a refurbished-furniture store and a hemp-purse boutique on Coast Highway in Oceanside, California. Somewhere I would never ordinarily be. But I am. And so is sh
e. I nearly choke on my flat white when I realize the woman with the thick strawberry-tinted hair debating between a hot or iced vanilla–almond milk latte is the one who got away. My biggest regret for the past ten years.

  It’s a fluke that I’m at Revolution Roasters today. The man behind the counter with the dark-blue beanie and the handlebar mustache is not my barista. Mine is Diane, a short woman with a shock of white hair and a smile that always makes my morning.

  Yet here I am.

  And there she is.

  Mia.

  It took me nearly forty-five minutes to drive to Oceanside from downtown San Diego to meet a source for a possible story. When he’d suggested it, I had balked at the location, but he’d convinced me—something about his college-age daughter working here and the lattes being well worth their eight-dollar price tag. He’s the source, and I’m in desperate need of a story, so of course I said okay. As I nurse my coffee, which is, in fact, quite good, I check the time. My source is late. By almost thirty minutes. I begin to wonder if I should leave. I study the moose taxidermy on the wall, the long wooden oars hanging next to it. I watch the man at the table next to me, who is wearing a baby and studying something on his phone; a plate of half-eaten avocado toast sits in front of him. I can see the side of the child’s cherub cheek, his eyelids, which are closed. Next to the man is a longer table packed with people with their noses deep in their laptops. I start to wonder, as the journalist in me often does, What is everyone’s story? Is the man the baby’s father or manny? Is the woman nearest to me—clad in shorts, a tank top, and Birkenstocks and studying the stock market on her computer—a student? Or the owner of a million-dollar tech company? And what would any of them think of me? A Latin guy with a head of unkempt curls wearing khakis and a button-down, with sleeves I rolled up after feeling firmly out of place? I hope the stories in their heads are better than the actual one—single, thirty-four, a local-news producer who hasn’t found a hard-hitting story since his Daytime Emmy five years ago. Should I add that I have a roommate? Own a leather couch? Probably not.