Chapter 9
Andy tried to concentrate on Mr. Paulsen’s review for the upcoming science final—he really did—but Kelle Vaughn’s long, blonde hair smelled so damn good that it was distracting.
AP Chemistry was the only class they shared, and Andy had spent the entire school year sitting directly behind her, doing his best to hide the crush he had on her.
She was way out of his league—way, way out.
And it killed him that when school ended for the summer break, he probably wouldn’t see her again until September.
If he were lucky, she would be in one or two of his classes during their senior year.
In his eyes, Kelle was gorgeous, and as if her physical features weren’t enough, she was smart as hell, too, and among the top five candidates for valedictorian when they graduated next year.
And that just made her even more beautiful.
While Andy was a mostly straight-A student, he struggled in a few classes to maintain a high grade point average—English, Spanish, and, of course, phys ed.
A jock he was not. Seriously, who the hell wanted to get all sweaty during their first period, an hour or so after waking up and taking a shower?
So, yeah, Andy wouldn’t be in the running for valedictorian or even salutatorian, but that was fine with him.
He might still win a few of the many scholarships his guidance counselor had helped him apply for.
While he knew there was money from their parents’ life insurance policies and the lawsuit settlement, he didn’t want his college tuition to eat through it all.
Acceptance to his top three choices—the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania, and Duke University, located in his home state—didn’t come cheap.
“Andy?”
He blinked several times before he realized Kelle had turned in her seat and was staring at him.
Her blue eyes were the color of the Caribbean waters.
He still remembered the trip to St. John’s that his family took two years before his parents were killed.
Kelle’s eyes always reminded him of what a great time they all had.
Around them, the other students gathered their things and headed for the door. When the hell had the bell rung?
“Um... w-what did you... um... say?” God, why was he so shy when it came to her? He could talk to any other girl in the school—well, at least the ones that talked to geeks like him—but he got all tongue-tied when it came to Kelle.
She smiled, and his breath caught at how it transformed her face to that of an angel.
“I said, some of us are having a cram session and quizzing each other in the library after school. Do you want to join us?”
Did cows moo? Of course, he wanted to join them if it gave him more time with Kelle. “Um, s-sure. That sounds great.”
“Awesome.” She stood and picked up her book bag. “We’ll be in the second-floor study room. See you there.”
She spun around and sashayed up the aisle to the front of the classroom.
Andy scrambled to gather his things so he could follow her.
However, by the time he hastily stuffed everything into his backpack, Kelle had exited the room and disappeared into the crowd of bustling students making their way to their lockers or their next class.
Damn it. Well, at least he knew he’d see her later. Four more periods to go.
Hurrying into the hall, he weaved his way through the throngs.
His math class was completely on the other side of the school, so he didn’t have time to swing by his locker.
If he didn’t stop to talk to anyone on his way, he usually could make it with thirty seconds or so to spare before the bell rang again.
Mrs. Chang was a stickler for being on time and for not allowing cell phones in her classroom.
If she saw you using one, she took it and placed it on the small shelf under the whiteboard at the front of the room, and you had to pick it up at the end of class.
Andy would have to wait until lunch period to text his sister to let her know he was staying late to study and ask if she could pick him up after the cram session.
Their temporary home in Whisper was outside the school district, so his only option, aside from Tess driving him, was to take public transit and change buses twice, which was a pain in the ass.
He could take an Uber, but it was hooked up to Tess’s credit card, and he didn’t want to abuse his access to it.
Thankfully, she had a meeting with a contractor at their house, so she wouldn’t have to drive far to get him afterward.
Ten minutes later, Mrs. Chang talked about what would be on her final exam, but Andy couldn’t recall a single thing she said. He was too busy fantasizing about Kelle.
Tess and Andy had been home about thirty minutes, after she’d picked him up from his study session, when there was a knock on the back door.
Leaving him at the table, eating the penne alla vodka she’d quickly reheated for their dinner, Tess stood and hurried over to the door, silently hoping it was Brian.
She hadn’t heard from him since he left there last night, and she wondered if he’d been at the shooting that morning.
When she opened the door, she found it wasn’t Brian standing on the porch, but an older couple, a younger woman about her age, and a black dog that appeared to be a Labrador mix. The gray-haired man grinned at her and held out his hand. “You must be Tess—I’m Brian’s uncle, Dan Malone.”
Her eyes widened as she automatically shook his hand. “Oh, Mr. Malone. Hi. Thank you so much for letting my brother and me stay here. I’m so grateful.”
He waved her off. “No thanks necessary. This beautiful lady is my Bonnie, and this one is her niece, Grace, who is engaged to Brian’s brother, Sean.
And the brat who just walked by you like he owns the place is Jinx.
” The dog sniffed around the dining area and the living room.
“We just stopped by to see if you or your brother needed anything.”
Tess shook hands with both women. “It’s nice to meet all of you.
Please, come in.” She held the door open for them, then closed it after everyone had entered.
She flashed a hand toward her brother. “This is Andy. Andy, this is Agent Malone’s uncle, Dan Malone.
And this is Bonnie and Grace.” She would have used their last names had she known them.
“Mr. Malone owns this house and is letting us stay here.”
“Please, call me Dan, and I’m glad I could help you both out.”
Tess tilted her head toward the older man while glaring at her brother. It took a moment before he realized she wanted him to say something. As a typical teenager, Andy toasted the man with a forkful of pasta. “Thanks, uh... Dan.”
Shaking her head, she rolled her eyes before turning back to the trio. “Sorry. He’s at that age when the less said is better.”
Dan Malone chuckled as Jinx rejoined them, his tail wagging. “Try having three of them at that stage. KC, Brian, and Sean brooded like the best of them.”
She wouldn’t be surprised if that were true.
Photographs of the brothers were scattered throughout the house, taken at various ages, some with and without their parents, and a few with their uncle.
While Tess completely understood what it was like to lose both her parents at once, Brian and his brothers understood it more from a teenage boy’s perspective.
“We didn’t mean to interrupt your dinner,” Bonnie said. “We just stopped by to see if you needed anything and to take a walk on the beach. It’s such a beautiful evening.”
Tess gestured to her empty plate. “Oh, no worries. I’m finished. Andy eats like he’s got a bottomless stomach. If I don’t grab any food within the first minute of setting it down, it would be all gone.” When her brother scowled at her, she scrunched up her nose at him. “Just kidding.”
“If you’re done eating, would you like to take a walk with us?” Grace asked.
“Um, sure.”
“Andy, would you like to come too?”
He shook his head and swallowed the last bite of the meal. “No, thanks. I’ve got two finals tomorrow that I have to study for.”
Dan stepped toward Andy. “Have you found a job for the summer yet? Brian mentioned you were looking for one.”
“Uh, not yet. I figured I’d start asking around on Saturday.”
“Well, if you’re interested, I could use some help at my hardware store in town. The young man who’s been working for me for the last few years has a chance to study in England for the summer semester, so I’ll be shorthanded for the next two months.”
Andy glanced at Tess, then back to Dan. “Um, what would I be doing?”
The man shrugged. “Stocking shelves, helping customers find things, cleaning up, letting me know when some stock is low, stuff like that. Pays fifteen dollars per hour—thirty-two hours per week. I would need you on the weekends, but you’d have Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays off.”
Tess gave her brother a subtle nod, encouraging him to say yes. She knew he would put off looking for a job until the last minute, despite her urging. Although he didn’t seem thrilled about it, Andy replied, “That sounds okay. When would you need me to start?”
“Is this Saturday all right with you? Eight to four? Jimmy can train you for two days before he has to leave.”
“Sure.”
Dan smiled. “Good.”
“That will leave you some time each week to do some volunteer work too,” Tess reminded her brother.
“I can volunteer in the fall, after I go back to school.”
She knew better than to argue with him, especially in front of other people.
At least he had a paying job for the summer.
One out of two wasn’t bad. She trusted him to get the other stuff done, too, since he knew how important it was for the scholarships he wanted to apply for.
As long as he had it done before the end of the year, it would still qualify.
“Well, then, on your days off, you can take the driver’s ed course and get your provisional license. ”
While he’d been eligible to get it for a while now, he hadn’t seemed to be in a rush to take the course after getting his permit, so Tess hadn’t pushed him. But last week, he’d expressed his interest in it, so she figured it was time.
“Really?”
“Of course.” Once he completed the class and had over sixty hours of supervised driving under his belt, she wanted to buy him a safe used car, so he wouldn’t have to borrow hers.
But that wouldn’t be for another few months.
For now, he kept his bicycle in the storage shed beneath the house and could use it to get to and from work every day, since it was only about seven or eight blocks into town.
That made things easier on Tess—she wouldn’t have to chauffeur him around for most of the summer.
She pointed to the table. “Do me a favor and clean that up while I take a walk. Just put the dishes and glasses in the sink, and I’ll wash them when I get back.”
A few minutes later, she enjoyed a pleasant barefoot stroll down the beach with Dan, Bonnie, and Grace.
Jinx was on a leash now, a ball clamped proudly in his mouth as he darted back and forth along the edge of the surf, dancing away each time the waves chased him up the sand.
The sun was sinking to the west of Whisper, its low light spilling across the sky in streaks of rose and gold.
Out over the water to the east, the horizon was darker, with a pale wash of lavender and silver where the waves caught the last of the light.
The sand was cool now beneath her feet, the breeze lifting her hair and carrying the briny scent of the tide.
Seagulls wheeled overhead, their cries sharp but somehow peaceful against the steady cadence of the surf.
Her companions were all friendly and quite the matchmakers, it would seem.
Their conversations on different topics always seemed to include Brian in some manner.
It was obvious, even to her, that they were talking him up.
She could have told them not to bother since the man was clearly not interested in her for more than a brief fling—if that—but she didn’t.
Instead, she found herself entertained by their stories of him and his brothers.
They were a tight-knit family, and that caused a small ache in her chest. At least the Malone brothers’ uncle had been there for them after their parents died.
Tess and Andy only had each other, and she’d been thrown into the role of parent to boot.
When they returned to the beach house about a half hour later, Dan handed her a business card for his hardware store. “My cell number is on the back. If you need anything, just give me a call or let Brian know.”
“I will. Thank you again for everything. You, too, Bonnie. The food you left for us is delicious.”
The older woman gave her a motherly hug.
“I’m glad you’re enjoying it. If you’re free on Saturday and would like to have lunch with us, stop by my shop on Main Street—it’s called Petals.
Dan’s hardware store is a few doors down, and Grace’s physical therapy office is across the street, so we tend to meet at my place for lunch at noon on most days. ”
“Thank you. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to make it this Saturday, but I’ll try. That’s the day when I usually do laundry. I hope you don’t mind me giving the washer and dryer a workout.”
Dan waved her off. “Don’t worry about it.”
She bid the trio farewell, then headed to the kitchen to do the dishes. As the sink filled with hot water, she wondered if Brian stopped by Petals for lunch on Saturdays too.
Shoving the unwanted thought from her head, she shook her head and chastised herself.
Stop daydreaming about the guy who doesn’t do relationships! Besides, you don’t have time for one either. Someday, but not now.