Page 22 of Summer Ever After
Trey disappeared around the cove and I kicked off my motorcycle boots, rolled up my jeans, and stuck my feet in Windswan Lake for the first time that year. I’d trade my wingtip shoes and Armani suit for board shorts and flip-flops if I could. This place felt like home more than the penthouse in the city I’d owned for the last ten years.
I didn’t like the new staff at the main house. We treated our employees like family, and the idea of strangers milling around our family estate, people who hadn’t built up trust with us, irked me a little bit. I knew Trey and Mrs. Graham’s intentions, and that their hearts were in the right place. Over the years we’d had family drama leaked to the press, expensive jewelry stolen, and even before my mom was out of the picture, women trying to get into my dad’s pants.
The day after the fundraiser couldn’t come soon enough. Until then, I’d stay away from the epicenter of the madness as much as I could.
My phone buzzed with a text, but I ignored it. I wasn’t ready to deal with any more questions about catering, fireworks, or lighting. What I needed, was to get out of my sweaty clothes and into Windswan Lake.
After changing into my boardshorts, I slung a towel over my shoulder and grabbed a beer from my fully stocked fridge. A firey sparkle from the dish above the sink caught my eye and I picked up the stone that had sat there since the end of last summer. I’d put in a valiant effort trying to find its owner, Daisy, although I doubted that was even her real name. No one seemed to know who she was. I held it up to the beam of sunlight streaming in through the picture window.
“Who are you?” I spoke to the gem.It pinged as I dropped it into the dish. “And why did you lie?”
I took a sip of my beer and picked up the stone again. “Maybe I should pull the old lady at the end of theTitanicand drop you into the lake.”
“Who are you talking to?” I dropped the stone and whirled around. My sister padded over to the fridge, her flip-flops slapping with her sassy stride.
“No one. What the hell are you doing here?” I hoped that Jessica hadn’t heard my reference to both theTitanicmovie and the Britney Spears song – I’d never hear the end of it.
Jessica took an open bottle of white wine from the fridge and pulled out the cork. “I left my wine here.”
“You’ve been hanging out at my place?” I glanced around the kitchen, the clues obvious once I looked…the wine glasses in the dish rack, the pink towels slung over the glass railing. I shouldn’t have been thinking about Daisy, I should’ve noticed that Jess had been squatting at my place for who the hell knows how long.
Jessica took a wine glass from the rack and poured herself a glass. “It’s crazy over at Dad’s place. I needed a little peace and quiet.”
She sidled up beside me and took the ruby from the dish. “Still pining over the mystery girl?”
“Nah.” I shrugged. “You can have that if you want it.”
“Really?” Jessica slipped it into the little pocket in the front of her jeans. I hadn’t expected her to actually take the ruby. “I want to make Ginger a new name tag.”
“That’s a pretty nice name tag for a cat.” Jessica and I had adopted our cats at the same time – two identical orange cats – Fanta lived with me and was currently being spoiled by my city cat sitter. Florence. Jessica brought Ginger to the lake for the summer. If I wasn’t so busy going back and forth with work, I’d have Fanta with me at the lake too.
“She started her life in a dumpster, I’m making it up to her.” As if on cue, the chunky orange cat sauntered into the kitchen and rubbed her face on my calf.
“Jessica!” I picked up Ginger and tried to sound as mad as possible as she purred and head-butted me. “What is this fatso doing in my cottage?”
Jessica shrugged as she sipped her wine. “I think that you already know the answer.”
I did know the answer. “You’ve moved in here until that damn fundraiser is over?” It wasn’t a question, so much as a statement.
“It’s so crazy over there, Max. They’ve got all these new staff that I don’t know. It feels like I’m being watched. In all fairness, I didn’t think that you were coming up until next weekend.”
I laughed. “Oh, okay. That makes it better, the fact that you were going to camp out here and not tell me.”
“You would’ve said no.”
I probably would have. “Not necessarily. I wouldn’t want to be around all of that either.” I pointed to Dad’s island. “Let’s make a deal.”
Jessica looked at me with narrowed eyes. “What kind of a deal?”
“I let you stay here for the summer…”
“I’m listening.” She tilted her head and had a hint of a smile.
“If I let you and Ginger stay here for the summer,” I clarified. “I’m bringing Fanta up the next time I come here and you have to look after him for the entire summer.”
Jessica thrust her hand at me. “Deal.”
After shaking, the two of us, followed closely by Ginger made our way to the dock. Jess reclined on one of the striped loungers while I dove into the lake. There was something transformative that happened when I was immersed in the cold water, and not the in the pants shrinkage kind of transformation. I emerged from the water with a clear head and a relaxation that I hadn’t ever been able to recreate with meditation, breathwork, or weed.
