Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 95956 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 480(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95956 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 480(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
“I’m glad you’re here,” Charlie says, hugging me, and I’m pulled down to join them by the pool, a drink deposited into my hand, and Susi and Rella proceed to ask me a million questions about my life. I do my best to answer although it’s hard not to feel like I’m in the middle of a deposition in a courtroom and one wrong thing can send me to jail forever. But no pressure.
“Did your dad actually mine coal or is that a really rude thing to ask?” Susi says, grinning at me huge, and I don’t get the sense that she’s being insulting—I just think she’s incredibly earnest and says whatever comes into her head.
“No, the mines closed a long time ago, and my dad ran off when I was two. My mom married my stepdad and he was an auto mechanic kind of guy, although he bounced between shops a lot. He’s an asshole.”
“We know all about assholes in this family,” Rella says, nudging Calvino. “Speaking of which, anyone talk to Damon? Is he really going to stay away and sulk all day?”
“Damon’s not coming,” Vince says with a scowl. “Hate to break it to you, sis, but he’s not as interested in grilling Calvino’s girlfriend as you are.”
“I don’t know why,” Susi says, bouncing slightly in her chair. “I mean, we’ve heard rumors about him allegedly dating other women, but we’ve never actually met any of them.”
I feel a little spike of excitement in my stomach, which is almost as bad as the jealousy—I shouldn’t care that I’m special enough to bring home and that I was all worried over nothing. I’m only here because it’s a job, not because Calvino actually cares about me, though I catch him watching me and smiling a little bit like he’s enjoying the show.
“Maybe let’s not talk about my past relationships,” Calvino says casually. “I mean, my current girlfriend is right here.”
Rella waves a hand in the air. “Those girls are dead to me now. All we care about is Grace.”
“Oh, Grace, you have to tell me about your high school. Was there a cheerleading team?” Susi beams at me as she sips a margarita.
“The girls were homeschooled by private tutors,” Vince explains. “They didn’t get the typical American upbringing and Susi’s going through a phase.”
“It’s not a phase, I just want to know what normal girls went through is all. The tutoring was such a drag.”
“It was all bullshit, if you ask me,” Rella says. “Sure, it’s nice to never have to take the bus, but I don’t know. We missed out on a lot.”
“I always wanted to be a cheerleader,” Susi says wistfully, and I could easily see her fitting in with a squad. She’s beautiful and outgoing and easily would’ve run any high school she attended.
“It’s not all it’s cracked up to be,” I say with a little shrug. “I played tennis but that’s about it. My high school was pretty small and boring, honestly. Everyone knew everyone and it was all just a bunch of horny teens sleeping with each other, drinking down by the quarry, and getting into fights.”
“Sounds like a dream,” Susi says with a deep sigh. “Like a TV show.”
“Sure, except everyone’s a lot uglier in real life and nobody ever actually leaves town.” I laugh a little and shake my head. “I’m being too cynical, but I guess I was one of those people that didn’t love high school.”
“I didn’t either,” Charlie says, sounding bashful. “I had a tough time back then.”
“Really?” Vince seems surprised. “You’re so gorgeous and outgoing. I would’ve thought you’d have the school eating out of the palm of your hand.”
“I was a late bloomer,” she says and stands up suddenly. “Grace, want to go for a little walk down to the beach? It’s a gorgeous day and I could use the exercise.”
“I’d love to,” I say, making sure I don’t glance at Calvino although I can practically feel his excitement.
Rella and Susi both invite themselves, and the group splits up by gender. I take off my shoes and enjoy the feeling of sand between my toes as we walk leisurely along a path between the dunes that ends on a crisp white-sand beach.
We chat about easy stuff like the Sandtrap and what it was like growing up with the boys until Rella slips her hand through my arm. “So, Grace, how did you meet my brother?”
“At the club,” I say a little evasively since we never got our story straight—which in retrospect was extremely stupid.
“Really? When you were working?”
“He hired me, so I guess that’s how we met. And then things just sort of, you know, progressed.”
Rella frowns at me. “You guys didn’t meet before that?”
I bite my lip and look toward the ocean, my heart racing, and I realize I’m missing something. I don’t know what Calvino told her and I try to search my memory for any hint of what he might’ve said—but there’s nothing.