Page 59 of Summer Ever After
I hopped onto the pontoon boat and Trey pushed away from the dock. “I almost left without you.”
“I’m glad you didn’t.” Although, I realized that he was heading to the mainland, not back to the dock at the staff cabin. “You’re taking me to the mainland?”
“I thought that was the plan.” He chuckled. “I met your stepmom tonight. What a lady.”
My heart sank. Christina had recognized me. “Yes. Quite a…” I cleared my throat, it was tough to call Christina a lady. “Character.” I improvised.
“She told me that you’d been working so hard, she’s got a surprise for you. I dropped her at the marina on the last trip. She’ll meet you there to pick you up.”
Trey shone the spotlight at the marina and my heart started to pound. Not in the good, Max is touching my ass way, but in the oh my god, what does my evil stepmother have up her sleeve kind of way. I felt like a caged animal being led to a slaughterhouse.
I took a deep breath as Trey pulled into the end of the dock.
“I’ll be fine.” I gathered the skirt in my hand and hopped onto the dock.
Trey paused. “It’s a ghost town here.”
“I’m sure she’s just getting the car.” I wasn’t sure. This could’ve been Christina’s surprise, leaving me stranded at the marina. It would take me all night to walk home.
“I’m going to go back to the island, but I’ll swing by to make sure she shows up.” Trey reversed the boat.
“That’s not necessary. I’ll be fine.”
Trey’s phone rang and he pulled it from his pocket. His lips turned up into a smile. “I have one more passenger to deal with.” The look on his face was the same as when he stole the meat from Tara’s sandwich. “Go deal with your passenger.” I winked.
Trey looked torn, so I decided for him and pushed the boat away from the dock. “Go. Get your girl.” I waved.
He shook his head but turned and was soon out of eyesight. I took off the shoes and looped the straps around my fingers. If Christina was abandoning me at the dock, I had better start walking. The ten-speed was still stashed at the Stone Oven, so it wasn’t a total disaster.
“Nice haircut.” A voice spoke from the shadows. “Did you think that you could fool me?” Christina stepped out of the alcove into the beam of the light.
“I didn’t plan on going to the ball. I swear.”
Christina shook her head. “You ruined Chloe’s chance with the Starling’s son.”
I blinked. “I think that Chloe did that on her own.” I knew that it was a stupid thing to say, but I’d just about had enough of Christina. Max’s vow to protect me felt like a shield, and I could finally say the words I’d bitten back over the years. “He would never be with a girl like her.”
Christina stepped closer to me. She ripped one of Jessica’s earrings from my lobe and rolled it around in her palm. “Give me that back.” I held out my hand.
“You cost me a lot of money tonight. This barely makes a dent in our lost opportunities.”
“Give me the earring.” I seethed through gritted teeth.
Christina closed her hand and when she looked at me, all I saw was pure evil. “I found out something today. I can’t believe that I didn’t think about this earlier.”
“What’s that?” My eyes were glued on Christina’s hand. It wouldn’t surprise me if she were to toss it into the lake, just to spite me.
“Let’s just say you better start pulling your weight around the house.”
My blood was boiling. “Or what?” It sounded like a threat.
Christina took the earring and hooked it into her own ear. “Ooh. This is nice. Heavy. I’d guess it’s four carats.”
I wanted to pull her ear off her head. “Give me the earring. It’s not mine.”
My stepmother crossed her arms. “Smarten up, Daze. You’ve been taking a lot of risks lately. I’d hate for tragedy to strike. As your trustee, I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if something happened to you. Although I sure know how I would spend your money.”
Narrowing my eyes, I tried to figure out if Christina was bluffing.
