Page 1 of Collateral Damage
Prologue
Agirl stands inside an aging gazebo overlooking her favorite beach, strawberry curls tangling in the summer breeze. She imagines the crashing surf below is orchestra music, and the mostly bare vines climbing the gazebo are covered in flowers. Between small hands, rests a massive bouquet of handpicked white magnolias and blue hydrangeas—her favorites. Her dress is also white, of course. She’s getting married today. She wishes she had a real veil, but for now, the pillowcase tied like a headband will have to do.
Across from her stand two boys. Her favorite boys.
Lots of favorites today.
Their mom made them bring suits to the beach house this year. The boys said the suits were for fancy dinners.Perfect. They’re nice enough outfits for today, but the boys wear them uncomfortably, saying the itchy fabric is a million-and-one degrees. The best grooms donotact so annoyed and certainly don’t scratch under their suit jackets.
“Cooper, stand there,” the girl instructs, moving the boy with the brown eyes to stand in front of her. “And Ethan, you’re over here. You’re the minister, so you have to marry us.”
The boy with blue eyes stands between them, a cheeky grin on his six-year-old face. “Whatever you say, Valentine,” he teases.
He thinks this whole thing is one big joke, but the girl doesn’t mind too much, not when they call her that. She rolls her eyes whenever they use her nickname, but her lips turn up in a smile.
“Remember what we talked about?” she says to Ethan. “You can’t call me Valentine for the ceremony. It won’t count. You have to use my real name. Sybil Laurence.”
Ethan nods solemnly.
“Can we hurry?” the groom whines. “It’s too hot.”
Sybil eyes the way his cheeks have gone red. He’s complaining, but he’s right. It’s scorching, and everyone would rather be swimming, but Cooper agreed to get married after a harrowing game ofrock paper scissors, so there’s no turning back now.
“Do you want to marry me or not?” Sybil challenges, her green gaze narrowing into tight slits. The boy nods, mostly because he wants to get this over with, but also to beat his brother and collect his prize. When Sybil said she wanted to hold a pretend wedding, the twins both wanted to be the groom. That wasn’t going to work. There can only be one groom.
Sybil straightens her spine and motions for Ethan to proceed.
“Our dearly beloves,” Ethan says, and Sybil almost corrects him but decides better of it. “We are gathered here today?—”
Despite the heat, Cooper takes Sybil’s hands and squeezes, holding tight to his girl.
The happy couple proceed to get married, complete with an innocent peck on the lips. It’s their first kiss, but it might be their last. Not ten minutes later, Cooper pushes Sybil into the pool, and she comes up sputtering, demanding a divorce.
Cooper laughs it off when Ethan, always the hero, says he’ll marry her instead.
“I accept,” she replies haughtily, shooting her now ex-husband a dagger-glare from where she floats like a cupcake in the water. He could’ve waited for her to change into her swimming suit! “We’ll get married another time, though. Maybe tomorrow. I’mdonewith weddings today.”
“Yes, maybe tomorrow,” Ethan agrees. “I’m going to get changed.”
He sprints off, but Cooper stays, staring at the girl for a minute—his bride, his valentine, favorite person, best friend, and now his ex-wife. He fought so hard to win that game, and he messed it up. In his defense, he only pushed her into the pool because Ethan teased them about the kiss. He was trying to pushEthaninto the pool, and she got in the way.
“Well, what do you have to say for yourself?” she demands, hands on her hips and water dripping off her upturned face.
“I meant to push Ethan, not you,” he confesses desperately.
She rolls her eyes. “Yeah, right. You just don’t want to be married.”
Rejection hurts. Anger seems appropriate.
“Not to a drowned rat, I don’t!”
Cooper can’t even say the truth. She won’t listen. She’s like that sometimes. Stubborn as a mule, her daddy says, not that Cooper knows what a mule is.
“You’re the rat!”
He hides his embarrassment by cannon-balling into the pool and soaking Sybil all over again.
Part One
