Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
M y fingers crinkled over the envelope. I still hadn’t opened it.
Pulling my knees up to my chest, I glanced out my bedroom window to stare at the Riley’s house. The breeze off the ocean twirled my curtain and brought the giggle of a girl. Hell, it could be girls. I couldn’t tell.
I continued to convince myself I didn’t care what Cole was doing or who he had over. It wasn’t my business. The deal we made gave him no say over my personal life, and I had none over his.
He could have a harem of girls at his beck and call. I wouldn’t be one of them.
I didn’t know what my role was, but I was beginning to rethink our arrangement if it meant dealing with whatever was happening next door.
It wasn’t a normal Riley party. I’d call this a small get-together, but the fact I was irked for some reason bothered me more.
A girl laughed again, a throaty sexy giggle.
I slammed my window closed, and my eyes returned to the wrinkled letter. This could change your life. It’s only a few months.
With this money, I could apply for a college transfer. I could pay my tuition for the entire year. Room and board too. The money wouldn’t last much longer past a year, not with the debt I needed to pay off, but a year w ould give me time to work and save my earnings for the following year. Hopefully, it would be enough.
I had to make it enough.
The bigger problem was figuring out what to tell my father.
I considered calling Frankie for a brainstorming session since she was all team Cole, but despite the sandwich and sugar making me feel less woozy, I didn’t have the energy required to talk with my best friend.
Sitting in the silence of my room, I went through my options and concluded it didn’t matter what excuse I used.
“Dad?” I called softly as I rounded the hallway corner into the main living space.
His eyes lifted from the book on his lap. He sat by the side table, the lamplight casting a tender glow for him to read by with a half-drunk gin and tonic, perspiration clinging to the glass.
A sentimental smile brushed at my lips. Sadie must have gone to the library and picked him up a new stash of novels, something we used to do growing up. It had been one of my favorite traditions. Every Saturday morning, we’d head to the library and scour the shelves for new stories to devour during the week, and on the way home, we’d stop into Country Donuts, a family-owned bakery for our ritual glazed donut and coffee. I’d had chocolate milk, of course.
The memory tugged at my heart. We hadn’t been back to the library together since before his accident. Despite being more than capable, Dad had turned into a recluse.
For a moment, I forgot how much our life had changed, how much he had changed, and that I was no longer a little girl looking up to her father.
“Arie,” he said, closing the book and setting it on the table next to the drink, which he grabbed.
The glimmer of memory lane vanished when he put the drink to his lips and finished it off in one go.
That’s who my father was now.
I went to the couch and sat at the end closest to him, the coffee table between us. Picking up one of the worn throw pillows, I hugged it to my chest. “Is the book any good?” I asked.
“It’s decent. I haven’t figured out who the killer is yet.” Dad loved a good crime story. He prided himself on predicting who had done it before the reveal. He was pretty spot on with most books, a testament to how many he’d read.
“Perhaps you were a detective in another life.”
“Did you eat?” he asked gruffly. “I think Sadie saved some leftovers and put them in the fridge.”
“I’m fine. I ate earlier,” I said, unable to stop thinking of Cole. “Actually, I wanted to let you know that I won’t be around most evenings. I took another job, and the pay is too good to pass up. I’ll still be working my shifts at the diner, so I might not be around as much this summer.” The lie rolled off my tongue too easily despite the bitter taste of betrayal stinging my throat.
His weathered face tightened. “You work too much, Bee.”
I wanted to tell him I had no choice, but I swallowed the bitterness rising in my throat.
“It’s my fault,” he added, the familiar guilt on his face. “Don’t think I don’t know it. You shouldn’t be taking care of me. It’s my job to take care of you.”
“I’m a big girl now. I don’t need anyone to take care of me. I know what I’m doing, and we need this.” I need this , I silently added. “Things will get better around here, just wait,” I assured, reaching over to squeeze his hand.
“Arie, I?—”
“Don’t,” I interrupted, shaking my head. “I know what you’re going to say. And I don’t want to hear you tell me how sorry you are.”
He went to pick up his glass again, only to realize it was empty. “I can’t help but feel like I’m holding you back. You shouldn’t be stuck taking care of your old man.”
“You’re not that old,” I argued with a smile, trying to make light of the situation. I couldn’t handle deep emotions right now. My body was beat, and it wouldn’t take much to send me tumbling into a dark place.
A fter days of strong winds and gloomy skies, the sun finally glared brightly, chasing away the lingering cooler air and heating the earth. It felt fucking wonderful on my face as I walked to work.
The bell chimed as I pulled open the diner door, my steps lighter than they’d been since I was sixteen, thanks to the check I deposited to the bank this morning, and until my shift ended, I would ride this financial freedom high. Only then would I allow myself to think of Cole and the bargain we struck.
When I pulled my hair back into a claw clip, the wavy, blue ends waterfalled over the fastener. I had on my usual attire, my diner polo, a pair of cutoff jean shorts, and my once white sneakers. The diner didn’t have a strict dress code. The only requirement was the logo shirt, but even then, Ann didn’t mind if one of her girls showed up without as I had a time or two, stumbling into my early-ass-morning shift still drunk from the night before.
Those had been rare instances, which was why I suspected Ann never said anything but forced me to drink her hangover cure and eat before starting my shift. She’d always taken care of us, especially me.
In a way, all the girls who worked for Ann and Forest were misfits and often in need of something. I believe she hired us for a reason. We were her girls when she couldn’t have children of her own. She cared for us when often no one else would or could.
Ann stood behind the counter, wiping down the surface, her white, glossy hair pulled into a loose bun, tendrils framing a face that defied her age by at least ten years. The same couldn’t be said for Forest, her husband. He looked every bit his sixty-two years, and then some. What I loved about the couple was their I-give-no-shit attitudes. They weren’t what I would call a sweet old couple. They were rough around the edges much like the diner itself, which reflected the owners perfectly.
“What are you doing here?” Ann asked, her surprised blue eyes lifting when the door clattered closed behind me.
I strolled to the counter, setting my bag down as confusion lines crinkled on my forehead. “Don’t I have a shift this morning?” Had I mixed up my days?
“Not anymore,” Ann replied, her voice raspy from decades of smoking a pack of cigarettes a day. Her tone wasn’t harsh, not like an employ er who was firing an employee. If anything, her expression looked as perplexed as I felt. She seemed to be under the assumption that my not having a shift wouldn’t be news to me.
But it was. I would remember quitting a job I desperately needed. Even with Cole’s money in my bank account, I had no intention of stopping work. “What do you mean? Are you firing me?” My heart plummeted to the bottom of my stomach. Never in a million years had I ever thought Ann would let me go.
I’d made some questionable choices over the years, but I’d always considered myself a reliable employee. What could I have done to upset her so much that she would let me go?
Ann dropped the rag in her hands. “Of course, not. There seems to be some confusion. Your fiancé came by yesterday?—”
“Whoa. Back up. Fiancé?” I shrieked.
“He’s quite the looker.” She winked, smiling proudly at me. “A little pretty for my taste, but I am old enough to be his grandma. You never mentioned you were engaged.”
I hadn’t mentioned I was dating! Kind of hard to be engaged when you don’t have a boyfriend. Ann knew something was up. “Cole,” I hissed under my breath, my fingers tightening at my sides.
That son of a bitch.
Who did he think he was interfering with my life?
Ann snapped her fingers, a smile forming on her mauve lips. “That’s his name. Cole. Oh, honey, you snagged yourself a rich one, haven’t you? Never thought I’d see the day when Arie Quinn lost her heart to a summer boy.”
I technically hadn’t snagged anyone. I wasn’t going to comment about my heart because it pounded with fury right now. What fucking game is he playing at? “He came into the diner?”
“After your shift ended. You should have told us. We would have gladly given you the summer off.”
I choked. “Summer?”
“It’s about damn time you had some fun, my Arie girl. Love strikes when you least expect it and often fast.”
I’m going to fucking kill him.
“We’re not getting married,” I said, my mind already a million miles away, contemplating how I planned to murder my neighbor.
“Is everything okay?” Ann asked, tilting her head to the side as she regarded me. “Do I need to worry? You look a little flushed.”
Did I? It sure as hell felt like my skin would melt off. “No. Everything isn’t fine. I’m sorry, Ann. I need to deal with this,” I said.
A sympathetic expression lit her features. “Take all the time you need, honey. We’re always here for you. With or without the job.”
“Hey, Arie,” Mir greeted as she came out of the kitchen, a pot of coffee in hand.
I gave an automatic half-smile at Mir before shifting my gaze back to Ann. “Are you sure you don’t need me? I can come back?—”
She waved her hand. “We got it covered. A few of the girls were here when your fiancé”—she paused, noticing how my scowl deepened—“came by and offered to pick up a few shifts. Everyone needs the extra cash these days.”
Goddamn it.
Is he trying to destroy my life?
Nodding, I snatched my bag off the counter, slinging it onto my shoulder. “I’ll call you later,” I mumbled because I didn’t know what else to say, half afraid I might spew something regretful and project my anger on the wrong person.
Beyond fuming, I turned and stormed out of the diner, my palm slamming on the glass door as the bell overhead chimed again. If I were a cartoon character, steam would be spouting out of my ears.
The sun blasted me in the face, no longer bright and sunny but blaring and furious, much like my mood. Cole needed to learn the world wasn’t a playground for his rich ass to toy with. The fucking audacity of him to interfere with my life.
I made it two blocks to the corner before I stopped and screamed, unconcerned about the people turning to stare at me.
Fueled by rage, I made it to the Strand in record time and soon stood outside the Rileys’ house. Striding up the porch, I pounded on the front door, waiting exactly two seconds before I incessantly rang his doorbell like I was five. When the spamming of the bell didn’t work, I went back to pounding my fist until my hand hurt.
And now I had another thing to add to my growing list of why I hated Cole Riley.
Fed up and impatient, I stalked to the side of the porch, following it to the backyard on the off chance he might be in the pool. After the late-night social gathering, I might find him passed out in the hammock.
Or…on the fucking beach?
Unexpected but not surprising.
I spotted him from the edge of the pool fence. If it hadn’t been for the elevation of the house, I might not have seen him at all. Kudos to the builder for giving such a killer view of not just the ocean but the sandy shore as well.
Letting the iron gate clatter shut behind me, I stomped through the sand, kicking my shoes off as I went. They slowed me down, and I had to get what I had to say to Cole off my chest before all the pent-up rage I’d collected the entire walk here faded. Before he could disarm me with his damn smirk or use whatever “Cole charm” he used that got him everything he wanted. I doubt he ever heard the word no in his life.
I sure as hell hadn’t said no to his offer.
Now look at the tangled mess I was in. Never make a deal with the devil unless you’re prepared to lose. Look where I was, and it was only day one. How much would I suffer before the end of the summer?
The thought terrified me.