Chapter 3
Don’t be a coward. Just get out of the damn truck and go inside. It won’t be as bad as all that, I tell myself.
I’m sitting in my truck, parked along the winding private driveway of my parents’ white beachfront mansion, trying to amp myself up.
Empty cars and trucks sit between me and the marble front steps. My brothers and sisters are already inside. The clock on the dash says I’m a half an hour late.
The thing is, I already know what I’m going to get when I head inside. My brothers will chuck me on the arm. My sisters will tell me they’ve missed me lately, and politely inquire about my dating life. My stepdad, Sam, will make small talk about business. My mom will tell me about her friends’ eligible daughters.
I know all of this, because I’ve done this before. Sure, it’s Cole’s engagement brunch instead of a graduation party or a beach barbecue. But I’m still asked the same questions.
Have you met someone special? Are you settling down? Getting married? Having babies?
Now that Cole, the least emotional and most businesslike one of the bunch, has successfully found himself a fiancée, the pressure for me to find my soulmate has only increased.
If I’m being perfectly honest, my family is great, but they are a lot.
Sighing, I force myself out of my truck and up the sandy driveway. It’s just turning to spring on the Georgia coast, and the sky overhead is miles and miles of unbroken gray steel. I feel the light patter of raindrops as I bound up to the front door. The raucous sound of laughter immediately washes over me as I elbow my way inside.
See?I tell myself. It’s not so bad.
I enter the high-ceilinged entryway and spot my mother. Holding Charlie on one hip, she turns and breaks into a huge grin when she spots me.
“River!” she crows. “I was wondering where you were. We’ve been waiting on you to start eating.”
“Sorry,” I say. I rub my hand on my khakis and smile as I bend down to kiss her on the cheek. “Glad to be here, Mom.”
“Uncle River!” Charlie bleats. He slides down my mom’s hip. I kneel down and throw my arms out. Charlie runs into my embrace and hugs me hard.
“Hey, little man. What’s up with you today?” I sweep his shaggy mop of dark hair away from his face.
He grins at me like I’m paying him to show me as many teeth as he can. “I’m going to science camp this summer!”
“That’s exciting. You’ll learn about dinosaurs, I bet.”
Excitement lights his grin. “And sharks! It’s gonna be cool.”
“I bet.” Before I can say another word, Cole calls Charlie’s name. Charlie races off toward him, and I shake my head. “That kid is so excited about anything science related. Plus, he’s smart. He’s probably going to be a nuclear physicist or something.”
My mom gives me another side hug. “Undoubtedly. Now come on into the living room. Eden is here visiting from New Orleans. You didn’t get to see her much because she left the engagement party so early.”
“Really?” My sister’s presence is a surprise. “I thought Mark had her under some kind of spell that prevented her from visiting,” I joke.
My mom gives me a tart look, and warns me in a low voice. “Be nice. I don’t want you offending her, or Mark, with your razor-sharp sense of humor. He could be your brother-in-law someday.”
“Come on, Mom. Even you can’t want Eden to settle down with Mark. He’s so completely dull.” I make a face as we step into the living room to join the rest of the family. Mom’s jaw tightens and I stop her, leaning in close to whisper. “I promise I’ll play nice.”
The words are something to ease Mom’s mind. I fully do not mean a word of my promise.
She gives my shoulder a quick squeeze before Charlie calls her away with a squeal. “Mimi! Mimi! Come see!”
My gaze slides around the room. Eden catches my eye first and gives me a little wave. She’s wearing a light pink dress with a puff decoration on one sleeve that’s the size of her head. Typical Eden; no matter what everybody else is wearing, she’ll be dressed to the nines in something ostentatious.
I make a beeline for her, and give a hug while trying not to crush the delicate pink pouf on her dress.
She pulls back with a soft smile. “You’re looking like a million, zillion bucks.”
I grin. “I take that as a huge compliment from the girl that always looks like she just wandered off a runway in Milan, and may be very lost.”
She wrinkles her nose and elbows me, then turns to her boyfriend beside her. “You know Mark, of course.”
Even though he is a good six inches shorter than me, Mark somehow manages to look down the bridge of his nose at me. His tweed coat and his black slacks are somewhere between not quite matching and clashing atrociously. He looks as if every exam proctor I ever had was smashed together to create a single, exceedingly dour, adjunct professor.
“How could I ever forget Mark?” I ask, offering a handshake. “The man, the myth, the legend.” Apparently, if I can’t be sarcastic, I’m overly complimentary to the point that it becomes trite.
Mark takes my hand with an expression bordering on distaste. “Hello again, Brooks.”
I cough into my hand to hide my surprise at Mark casually mixing me up with my younger brother. My family went to Big Sur for a week, five years ago, and invited Mark along. It not like he’s never met me. It’s also not like Eden and Mark weren’t at same damn party as I was at last night.
Then again, there are a lot of faces in our family. “Err…”
Eden grabs Mark’s hand and squeezes it. “You mean River, honey. Brooks is over there.”
“Hah! River and Brooks. I get it.” Mark squints at me and shrugs. “Sorry. You Bennetts are confusing sometimes.”
“There’s nothing to get. Brooks’ given name is?—”
“No!” yells Brooks. I thought he was far enough away not to hear, but I guess I was wrong.
I cup my hands around my mouth to be heard. “Sorry!”
“Brooks is sensitive about his first name,” Eden fills in. “It’s best not to antagonize him.”
“Anyway, as you were saying.” I give Mark a cool smile. “Bennett isn’t actually my last name. I’m one of the Taylor clan. When my mom married Sam, she hyphenated her last name. But Brooks and I still have our father’s name.”
I am totally sick of telling people this. Not to mention the fact that Eden should be handling her boyfriend’s questions.
Mark furrows his brow like he’s trying to balance a goddamned algebraic equation. “Huh.”
“I’ve explained this to you before,” Eden murmurs to Mark. She doesn’t seem upset in the least as she smiles and brushes a speck of lint from the shoulder of his jacket. “We’re a blended family.”
“Ah. Right.” He looks bored. “Sorry, sugar dumpling.”
Sugar dumpling? Ugh. Dude is the absolute worst.I hide my reaction behind a stiff smile. Throwing Eden a look that says ‘Are you kidding me???’ I take a step back. “I’m going to say hi to everyone else.”
I veer away from them and swerve over to the next group. Savannah and Cole are there, beaming at each other. Gross. Beside them is my brother Brooks, who is dressed like a lost member of Nirvana in a black T-shirt, loose fitting blue jeans, and a red flannel shirt tied around his waist.
Brooks is staring daggers at Eden and Mark. My lips twitch. I secretly love that Brooks and Mark get along like cats and dogs. Seeing Brooks glaring in Mark’s direction tickles me.
“What, I don’t even get a hello?” I complain to Brooks and Cole.
Brooks meets my gaze, and he jerks his chin upward in greeting. “Hey.” Then he immediately goes back to scowling at Mark.
“River!” Savannah chirps. “Thanks for coming last night. I didn’t really expect you to stay until the place closed!”
The back of my neck heats. I definitely stayed because Pearl was still there and I thought there was a chance that I might get some more alone time with her. Unfortunately, I didn’t.
“I did stay kind of late. And then I had a work meeting super early today.” I see a chance to change topics and launch into it whole-heartedly. “You know, I’ve been slammed at work lately. The real estate brokerage is super busy. Plus, since Rex and Cole have been working together on the baseball training camp, I’m trying to get a resort community built to accommodate the guests that the camp will draw in.”
Cole scratches his chin. “Did you get the South Shore planning board on board with the schematics yet? You’d think they’d be all over this resort idea.”
Cole asking about the idea I have for Delta Jackson’s property gets me excited.
I nod. “Not just any resort. I want a luxurious five-star hotel, a high end eighteen-hole golf course, twenty upscale private bungalows, and a brand-new boardwalk where resort guests can find the designer brands they love. I am putting in a ton of hours to make a presentation that will knock the socks off potential investors. You and Rex are planning on raking it in with the training camp. I want to position our family at the other end to make massive amounts of money after the resort is built.”
“You mean you want to position yourself.” Cole pins me with a steely gaze. “It’s all well and good to talk a big game about how our family will profit. Just do me a favor and save that bullshit for Dad. You aren’t selling us on jack squat.”
He reaches out an arm and rubs Savannah’s lower back. Being that close with another person isn’t one of my life goals, but I am a bit jealous of how free and easy the engaged couple is with each other. It must be nice.
Savannah smiles gently, and fidgets with her huge engagement ring. “Well, I think your resort sounds fun. If Cole and I weren’t already so busy with building the training camp, I’d say that we should team up.”
“Don’t forget that we’re planning a wedding, too,” Cole chips in.
I haven’t exactly forgotten. Not only are Cole and Savannah engaged, but they are getting special treatment from my mom and Sam because they are settling down.
I’ve heard through the family grapevine that Cole is even getting his trust fund early because Sam approves of Cole settling down with Savannah. It’s extremely unfair because everyone in the family knows that our trust funds aren’t supposed to kick in until we’re forty years old. Damn. If I only had access to that trust, I would have more than enough money to play real estate roulette for a hundred years.
How do I get a piece of that action?I wonder.
“Yeah, well. Maybe I need to recruit you two to join the project. Then Sam would actually start taking it seriously.”
“What does that mean?” Cole asks.
Before I can answer, my mom’s voice cuts through the party like a hot knife through butter. “Lunch is served!” she calls, clapping her hands to call the family’s attention. “Everyone, find your seats in the dining room, please.”
I move toward the dining room slowly, letting my family filter around me to find their seats. When I get in the dining room, I move slowly. Everyone else hurries toward food.
Not me, though. I don’t know if it’s dread or avoiding the conversation that is undoubtedly about wedding planning, but my footsteps are glacially paced. As I wait for everyone else to sit, it’s almost like I’m watching a movie. I decide it’s called Happy Family Eats Meal Together: Now With Awkward Additional Brother Who Does Not Believe In Their Values System At All.
Because I am last to the table, I end up sandwiched between Mark and my mother. I don’t mind. My mom is busy fawning over the newly betrothed, and Mark is, as ever, only interested in Eden.
I slip into my chair, and my youngest sister, Lucy, grins across the table at me, wiggling her eyebrows. She’s the sibling I always connected with the most. She’s also the baby so I can’t help but indulge her. Being seated across from her is actually a relief.
I smile at her. “I heard you were at college all week on some kind of studying lockdown.”
She shrugs a shoulder and toys with her place setting, moving the heavy pewter fork around and shifting the precise placement of her ornate crystal water glass. Lucy is always moving objects around, either out of boredom or some personal sense of feng shui that no one else gets. I think it’s part of being an artist. Some innate need to make things slightly more beautiful than they are handed to her.
She doesn’t meet my eyes as she says, “I needed a break. Dad sent the family private jet to pick me up since I’m just down from the city for the day.”
Lucy is acting evasive, which is kind of strange. But she has to know that I don’t care what her reasons are for doing any damn thing that she pleases. My being nonjudgmental is one of the reasons we stay close.
I give a low whistle. “Now that’s how you travel in style.”
Lucy gives me a mischievous smile. “I know. It’s totally gauche. But it’s way more luxurious than driving four and a half hours just to be here for lunch.”
The kitchen staff appears with plates of food. I snag my napkin off my plate and sit back as a spring salad is laid before me. A woman comes around offering dinner rolls, while a third server pours me a glass of white wine.
I sigh silently. This is my parents’ normal level of pomp and circumstance for any family gathering. Fine china, crystal goblets, a full coterie of maids, and servants, and butlers, and chefs.
Me? I own a huge house with nothing set up in it but my bed and a book case. My parents are maximalists. It’s how they show love.
My mother leans over to me. “The wine is a Chablis that Sam and I found in France on our little winter getaway. It’s very delicious.”
I smile and taste the wine to appease her. I have to mask my immediate response, which is to spit it out like a child might a forkful of peas. The wine is so dry that it tastes almost astringent.
“It’s nice,” I mumble. “Seems very French.”
My mom beams at me. “I’m glad you like it. Sam says that he doesn’t care for this particular Chablis. I keep telling him that he just needs to expand his palate more.”
I spear a huge forkful of salad and give her a look. “I’m sure that he loved being told that he isn’t refined enough to enjoy something.”
Mom darts a look at her husband and gives me a wink. Then she pulls out her phone. “While I’ve got you here, River, I wanted to show you a couple of girls that are single and ready to mingle, as they say. These are the daughters of my friends Elen and Christine.”
I scowl. “I don’t need you to set me up on dates, Mom.”
She waves a dismissive hand. “Oh, I know that! And I know that you aren’t interested in getting married right away. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t meet people!”
She hands her phone to me, and I can see that she’s pulled up the Instagram account of a reedy blonde girl in yoga pants. If you added a mini-bouffant, she’d look exactly like my mom. Gross.
I frown and pass the phone back to her. “She’s very nice. But I’m not interested in the daughters of your friends. I don’t need a matchmaker.”
“Oh, River.” Mom screws up her face and releases a tremendous sigh. “I just want you to be happy.”
“I’ll be happy when I figure out the financing for the resort I’m going to build near South Shore.”
And when I rescue the damsel in distress that presented me with this opportunity. I have no time for distractions. But Pearl may just be worthwhile.
Just thinking about her warm body pressed against mine while she gazes up at me, just a little breathless? I suck in a breath and cough into a hand.
Yeah, when I secure the financing for this deal, I’m definitely taking Pearl out to celebrate. Possibly the party can take place with both of us buck ass naked and Pearl moaning my name…
“River,” my mom says. “Hello, earth to River.”
My neck heats. “I’m listening, Mom.”
Sam, who until now has just been listening to our conversation, clears his throat. “That resort is a pipe dream, son. Even if you had a concrete plan in place and investors lined up, you would still have to buy the land out from Delta Jackson. And Ms. Jackson is never going to sell. That land has been in their family for over a hundred years. There is no way that she willingly lets it out of her hands.”
I try not to let my annoyance with my stepdad’s words show on my face.
“Delta’s niece, Pearl, already told me that her great aunt had a big property tax bill that she didn’t know how to pay.” I set my fork down and eye Sam, vindication rising inside my chest. “One way or another, that land is going to be distressed. The only question is whether it’s our real estate firm that gets it, or whether some huge, out of town conglomerate scoops it up and starts building god knows what on the land. At least with my plan, the family will get enough money to start over somewhere else.”
I cross my arms and give him a defiant stare.
Sam pushes his plate away from himself, plants his elbows on the table, and leans forward. He points a meaty finger at me. “You don’t go celebrating someone else’s downfall. There aren’t a lot of Black landowners, period. Much less ones who own such a large swathe of land, or ones who’ve owned the land for a century.”
His voice booms out, drawing the attention of my siblings. Everyone falls quiet and turns toward him.
I clench a fist but otherwise try to keep my true feelings out of my voice. I can’t have it seem like I’m an unhinged madman screaming at an old man. “And I respect that. But if the property taxes on Ms. Jackson’s land go unpaid for long enough, it will be auctioned off by the government for pennies on the dollar. I’m talking about helping her out, and keeping control of the land in the community. Otherwise, some corporate landlord will just gobble it up.”
A vein stands out in Sam’s forehead. “If Ms. Jackson needs money to keep her land, I’d rather pay her taxes out of my own pocket than see anyone take advantage of her plight.”
I feel my neck heat. “Nobody said anything about taking advantage of her. I plan to write her a huge check.”
Fuck. There goes that dream. Now if I don’t get my trust fund, I’m going to be without capital for this project. And I can’t have that…
“My point still stands.” He glares at me as though spoiling for a fight. “Let the members of the Jackson family decide what should be done with their own land. Keep out of it.”
“Daddy.” Lucy puts her hand on Sam’s shoulder, her tone cajoling. “Please, don’t let your blood pressure spike. I’m sure that River didn’t mean to upset you.” She gives me a pointed stare. “Right, River?”
The only thing I hate about Lucy is her steadfast obsession with Sam. I’ve never understood it, but Lucy has always been Daddy’s little girl. This is, unfortunately, pretty typical behavior for her.
When Lucy calls me out like this, I feel like I really have no other option but to back down. No matter how I may silently seethe in rage.
I shake my head. “I didn’t mean to raise your ire, Sam. I’m just–”
“River!” Lucy pleads, cutting me off. “Read the room.”
I look around at my siblings. Cole coughs to cover a chuckle. Brooks has a smirk that he’s trying rather unsuccessfully to cover with his hand. Eden is glaring at me.
Oh, that’s right. I forgot for one goddamned minute that I am the black sheep of this otherwise happy little family. My lips twist in a sneer. I toss my napkin down as a precursor to standing up and getting the fuck out of here.
When my mom cuts in, her voice is no-nonsense. “Everybody just needs to cool off. No more business talk at my table. It gets you all so heated!”
”But—” Lucy starts.
My mom gives her a quelling look. “Please, everyone. Can’t we all be civil? Just one more hour and then I promise to release you out back like a pack of wild wolves.”
I drum my fingertips. Lucy glares at Mom. Brooks manages to look stoic. Eden is whispering something in Mark’s ear.
My mom gives us all a strained smile and pats Sam’s arm. She turns to look at one of the servers stationed by the doorway. “Miss Delphine, would you please clear our plates? We’re ready for y’all to bring in the main course.”
The rest of the meal is filled with my mom asking all of us questions about things that are coming up in the future. I tune out for most of it. All I can think of is my half-cocked plan to secure the rights to build on Delta Jackson’s land, and the linchpin of my plot.
Pretty Pearl Brown. She of the sharp dark eyes and megawatt smile. Lover of cinnamon whiskey and blush pink skirts. Waitress and the only relative that Ms. Jackson seems to listen to. When Pearl told me about her quandary, I didn’t have an answer. But now, I do.
Clearly the solution is to talk to Pearl… and probably kiss her too. Then if I can get Pearl to agree to talk to her great aunt on my behalf, I feel like my resort project will have a real chance at success.
Once we finish eating, the family begins to drift outdoors toward the beach. Before Lucy can follow, I pull her into the living room. “You know Pearl pretty well, right?” I ask her.
Yes, I know that Lucy was my enemy only moments ago. But she’s the most solid of my sibling relationships.
And there’s the fact that she happens to be good friends with Pearl too.
She narrows her eyes at me. “Yes. She was a senior at Agnes Glen when I was an incoming freshman. Why are you asking?”
“Don’t you worry about that.” I cross my arms and offer her a mischievous smile. “Do you happen to know where she’ll be in the next few days? I might like to stage a run-in. But I don’t want it to seem creepy.”
Lucy cocks her hip. “Do you want to run into Pearl because you’re going to rope her into your latest scheme?”
Scheme. Sounds a lot like Lucy’s general attitude toward my ventures.
“Nah. I just want to see her.” It’s not exactly the truth. More like… truth-adjacent. But I do find Pearl appealing, in a girl next door kind of a way.
Okay, that’s not exactly correct either. Pearl is an absolute knockout. Anyone with eyes can see that she’s easily the most beautiful girl in the room. Literally wherever she goes, she fucking lights up the people around her.
So I choose to lean into that now.
Lucy studies me for a moment and then sighs, shaking her head. She pulls out her phone. “I know where she’ll be tomorrow night, the first Thursday of the month. But you have to promise to show up with an open mind.”
“What does that mean? Am I going to be weirded out? She’s not a member of a cult, is she? Because I have been there, done that for a date. And the Regentologists do not want me back in their temple. I’ve been banned for life.”
Lucy’s lips turn up at the corners as she sends me the info. “It’s definitely not church. Bring a snack and a blanket.”
That gives me pause. “What? Why would I need those things?”
“Trust me.” Lucy grins and jerks her head towards the huge plate glass door. “Now can I please go outside with everyone else?”
“Of course.” I catch her hand and pull her into a hug. “Thanks sis.”
“Remember, you promised an open mind…” She squeezes me and then pulls me toward the door.
Her smirk makes my stomach flip flop. But I’m set on this idea now, and I’m not going to let anything get in my way.