Now Julie had taken an interest in the conversation. “Are you talking about that freaky girl at the bake shop?”
I walked away from the both of them and got into the jeep. “Matt, get in.”
“Why? I’m staying with Reeve.”
“Fine.” I shut the door. Julie ran to the passenger side and slid in. “I’m coming with you.”
I blasted the radio the whole way home. I wasn’t in the mood to talk to Julie. Far as I was concerned, we had already said everything there was to say to each other.
I glanced at the Rainbow’s End bakery as we drove past. I could see the girl working behind the counter. I wondered if she’d lived in Angel Beach all her life. She definitely had the tan and body surfing skills of a girl who’d grown up on the beach. She’d definitely put Reeve in his place today and that thought twisted my gut into a knot. Reeve was not someone to mess with. He had no conscience when it came to being ruthless.
Julie and I walked into the house. I’d barely tossed my keys on the table when she pounced on me. For a minute I was drawn into it. I grabbed her against me and kissed her. She took my hand to lead me to the couch, but I pulled from her grasp. Profound disappointment shaded her pretty face.
“Jules, what are we doing? We broke up, remember? You deserve someone better.”
She walked over and I knew a slap was coming because they were Julie’s trademark, so I stood and took it. “You need to make up your mind, Jamison.”
I rubbed the side of my face. She’d gotten in a good one with her skinny, little hand. “We both made up our minds to end this. We spend most of our time together fighting. I’m done. I thought you were too.”
She stomped to the bedroom and slammed the door shut behind her.
Reeve’s truck roared into the driveway, and a crew of drunken people climbed out. They were all having a good laugh about something. The door flew open and Matt stumbled in and flopped onto the couch.
Reeve and the others were still laughing.
“What’s so funny?” I asked.
“Reeve threw the empty rum bottle at the bake shop door, and it broke into a million pieces right on the doorstep,” Kiley said through bouts of laughter.
“Shit, Reeve, you’re an idiot.” I walked over to see if Matt was still breathing.
His eyes fluttered open. “Hey, Jamison, old buddy.” Matt lifted his head and then dropped it back down. “I don’t feel so good.”
Courtney was leaning flirtatiously over the back of the couch. “Do you need some nursing, Matty?”
Matt moaned. “Definitely.” Then he lifted his head and puked all over the couch and floor.
I looked at Courtney, who seemed to be turning her own shade of green. “Oh, Nurse, your patient needs you,” I said.
Courtney backed away like the couch was on fire.
I walked over to Reeve. We were nearly the same size now and that bothered him plenty. I glared at him. “You got him drunk, you clean it up.”
Reeve looked just as coldly at me. “You seem to have appointed yourself as his nanny, you do it.” His jaw barely moved as he spoke. Reeve and I had been close as kids, but that was before our dad started making a boatload of money. When his investments began paying off in a big way, the family started falling apart in a big way. Dad’s head grew with his sudden wealth and power. He started having affairs and Mom left. Reeve got sucked into the money-power vacuum, and he’d decided to follow in Dad’s footsteps of being a hardcore jerk. Our relationship grew more strained each day.
“Something tells me, big brother, that you and I are going to come to blows during this summer vacation and it’s not going to be pretty.”
Reeve’s jaw twitched. “Looking forward.”
Silence had overtaken the room. I looked around at the tense expressions, unfurled my clenched fists, and walked to the back door. Courtney covered her mouth and raced into the bathroom to throw up. I smiled back at Reeve. “Great fun so far.” I slid open the glass door and walked outside.
A steady wind was blowing on shore, and the waves were completely blown out. Two people were windsurfing, and a couple was walking along the water’s edge hand in hand, but otherwise the beach was deserted.
I dumped my shoes on to the back patio and headed down to the water for a walk. Earlier this afternoon, I was seriously considering leaving this place. Dad would be pissed at me but then he was always pissed at me. One day and Matt was already totally out of control. I couldn’t leave unless he came with me, and I knew that wasn’t going to happen.
Farther down the beach a couple guys were skimboarding. A green Frisbee arced up high from somewhere near the houses and landed next to them. A dog came bounding after it. It was the same shepherd from earlier. That was when I saw the girl. She stopped to talk to the two guys. I sat up on dry sand. As much as I wanted to walk up to her, I knew that I was the last person she wanted to see. She laughed about something one of the guys said and her smile lit up the beach.
She reached back and tied her shiny hair in a loose knot exposing the kind of long, smooth neck that could drive any guy crazy. One of the guys handed her his skimboard. She studied the water, tossed it onto the surface, and jumped on with her incredibly long legs. She rode the thing like a pro.
Her dog got bored of waiting for someone to throw the Frisbee. He spotted me, loped over with the disc in his mouth, and dropped it in front of me. I stood up and threw it. The girl saw the toy fly up over the sand and turned around to see where it had come from. Her smile faded when she saw it was me, and it felt like someone had just punched me in the chest.
She handed the board back to the guy and walked over to me. Her long, smooth stride had me mesmerized. By the time she’d reached me, her hair had come loose from its knot. It floated around her tanned shoulders. If I’d been mesmerized by her walk, I was in a full trance once her face was near enough for me to see clearly. She was nothing short of beautiful. And from the look in her eyes, it was obvious she hated my guts.
“Is that blond ape your brother?” Her bottom lip jutted out angrily.
“Unfortunately.”
“You guys think you’re going to break us and drive us from this town, but it’s never going to happen.” Her harsh tone was edged with anguish and it hurt to hear.
We’d been here less than a day, and she’d already figured out Dad’s plan. “Just for the record, I’m not anything like my brother.” Before she could speak I stepped forward and put out my hand. “I’m Jamison.”
My overture seemed to render her speechless for a moment. She eyed my hand suspiciously then reached out and took hold of it. “I’m Echo.” She released her hand, but it was not as easy for me. I held it for a second longer before reluctantly letting go.
“How long are you guys staying?” she asked.
I smiled. “Well, we just got here so I think it might be awhile.”
“Stay off my waves and tell your brother to go to hell for me.” She spun around and walked away.
“You should keep clear of him,” I called to her.
She stopped and turned back to face me. Even angry, her face was stunning. “I’m not afraid of him.”
“I know,” I said. “That’s what worries me.”
She turned on her heels. Long, sunbleached strands of hair danced in the breeze as she marched away.
“You know,” I called to her, “you don’t know anything about me.”
“And I plan to keep it that way,” she said with a wave of her hand.
I watched her walk away then turned to head back. Being stuck here with my brothers was bad enough but being stuck here so near that girl and knowing that I would never be able to get close to her made everything that much worse.
Chapter 5
Echo
The giant ovens warmed the kitchen, and the soothing fragrance of baking yeast rolls swi
rled through the house.
Mimi placed a bowl of steaming oatmeal in front of me. “I think we’ll avoid eggs for awhile,” she said with a smile.
“That’s probably wise. Although I think the trouble has already arrived. And from the looks of it, it’s not going anywhere soon.” I got up to pour myself a second cup of coffee. I would probably feel jittery the rest of the morning, but I needed it to clear my bleary head.
It was still the middle of the night for most of the town’s inhabitants, but for Mimi and me it was the start of the day. I stared out the window as I poured the coffee. It was a fogless night, unusual for this time of year. Moonlight cast an incandescent glow on the white sand and the frothy edges of the tide. An eerie quiet pervaded the beach.
“You didn’t sleep well?” Mimi asked.
“No. I was up for half the night.”
Mimi placed her hand over mine. “You shouldn’t worry so much about things. It will all work itself out in the end.”
Mimi had been out on the beach with Riley when the glass bottle had shattered on our front door mat. I swept it up quickly so she wouldn’t see it. But there was no doubt in my mind that there would be more incidences like it.
Mimi took a sip of coffee then peered at me over the rim of her cup. “I saw you talking to one of those boys yesterday down by the water.”
“Who Joey and Mike? They were out skimboarding. I talk to them a lot.”
She put her cup down. “Coco, you know I’m not talking about Joey and Mike.”
“Oh . . . that boy. The nerve of that guy. He actually introduced himself like he wanted to be friends.”
“I couldn’t see him clearly but he had a very striking profile.”
I shrugged and wrinkled my nose. “I hadn’t really noticed.” This was of course a lie. I had noticed and it was one of the causes of my sleepless night.
Mimi had that all-knowing expression on her face. “Is that so?”
“I’m still astonished that he was brazen enough to shake my hand.”
“And did you return the gesture?”
I swirled the bananas around in my oatmeal to stall for time, but Mimi was waiting for a response. I dropped my spoon. “Well, I couldn’t very well not shake his hand. I mean you’ve taught me to always be polite. Not taking his hand would have been rude.”
“Yes.” Mimi smiled behind her cup, and I was almost expecting to see a little star twinkle in her eyes. “It would have been rude not to take his hand.”
We ate our oatmeal quietly. The first crack in the silence came from voices mumbling outside the shop. Mimi sighed. “Well, they’re starting to line up. I guess we should get off our bottoms and get to work.”
I downed the last of my coffee and dropped the dishes into the sink.
“While you’re there, Coco, open the kitchen window a bit. We’ll let some of that delicious steam make its way down the beach.”
I turned and opened the window. Salty, moist air drifted in immediately. “You’re not going to win them over with baked goods, Mimi. Those boys have everything they want and more. Besides, something tells me, they are fast asleep in a drunken stupor.”
Mimi looked at me with puzzled innocence. “I wasn’t thinking about the Freely boys. I just thought some of our neighbors needed encouragement to drop by.” She did not sound the least bit convincing.
“I see.” I tied on my apron. “I’ll start pouring glaze.”
Mimi and I had been at this a long time, and we had the entire operation down to an art. The afternoons were for mixing the massive batches of dough and filling. Evenings were for rolling, shaping, and cutting. Mornings were for baking, glazing, and selling. Then the entire process started again. It was a great deal of work, but the shop had kept Mimi and me comfortable and happy. The business slowed a lot during the school year, and I helped then as much as I could. I never got tired of it. And like Mimi always said, if you love what you’re doing, it really isn’t work.
Friday mornings always brought more customers. While it was still too early in summer for the huge crowds, many people had come to the coast for a long weekend. Once the door of the shop opened, time passed in a blur of steaming hot rolls, paper boxes, and sticky fingers.
It was nearly nine o’clock before the end of the line was in sight.
“Coco, fetch another stack of boxes from the storeroom,” Mimi said.
I ran to the back, grabbed a stack of flattened boxes, and returned to the storefront. Mimi elbowed me lightly as I unfolded a box. She motioned to the window at the front of the shop. The rainbow striped awning of the window still cast a shadow on the front sidewalk, but it was easy to recognize the well-built figure standing out front.
“The wave- stealer,” I mumbled.
“Who?” Mimi asked.
I shook my head. “Nothing.” I could not stop myself from occasionally peeking up from my task to watch him. His hands were shoved deep in the pockets of his Levi’s, and he definitely looked cold. His black hair stuck up in every direction making it obvious that he’d already been out in the water this morning.
Twice I glanced up and our gazes caught, but I pulled mine away quickly. His face had a quality that didn’t mesh with the arrogant, self-indulgent image I’d formed about the Freely family. It was certainly just his extraordinarily handsome face that made it hard to accept that he was a first class jerk.
“I’m going to let you finish up here, Coco. We’re down to the last five customers, and we’re almost sold out. I’ve got some work to do in the office.”
“No problem.”
The line was short enough that Jamison could now stand inside the warmth of the shop. I tried my best to ignore him even though I could feel him watching me while I worked behind the counter. The customer in front of him ordered six rolls, exactly the amount I had left.
The bustle and noise of the busy morning had faded, and he stood there alone and silent, his hands still shoved in his pockets. His light green eyes had much more thoughtfulness and emotion then I would have credited him with. The tips of his hair, the black stubble on his jaw, and even his gunmetal gray earrings had a thin coating of salt.
I lifted an eyebrow. “Were you using my waves this morning?”
He smiled softly. He pulled his hands from his pockets and combed his fingers through his black, spiky hair, dislodging a fine powder of sea salt. “No, I made sure to avoid the waves labeled Echo.”
“You remembered my name.”
“It’s hard to forget. It’s pretty unusual.”
“My mom’s creativity, I’m afraid. She was living in a big warehouse when she had me. She was all alone and couldn’t get to a phone. A passerby heard my cries echoing off the walls and called an ambulance.”
“She must have been scared, all alone in a big empty building and having a baby.”
I was speechless for a moment. I’d told many people that story but never had I gotten that kind of response. Some people thought it was a strange story or even amusing, but no one had ever shown sadness or concern for my mom, the young woman who went through the agony of child birth completely alone. Jamison Freely was certainly working hard at shattering my preformed opinion of him.
He looked at the empty baking pan. “I will be so bummed if you tell me I’m too late for a cinnamon roll. I know it sounds strange, but I swear I could smell them all the way out on the water. My mouth has been watering ever since.”
I glanced back toward the office where the desk light streamed into the dark hallway then turned back to him. “Actually, it doesn’t sound strange at all, but I’m sorry to tell you that you’re too late. The last customer bought the last of them.”
His long black lashes lowered, and he looked truly disappointed. I felt sort of bad about it.
“I forgot one in the pan,” Mimi said as she walked out with a roll on a paper plate. There was
no telling where she’d come up with the extra roll, but with Mimi it was always best not to figure out how things happened. It was just easier to accept that they had.
Mimi poured some glaze on it and handed it to Jamison. “It’s on the house.”
“Wow,” he smiled at the roll, “you made my day.” He lifted the plate in silent thanks and left the shop.
Mimi and I watched him walk down the sidewalk and out of sight.
I looked at her. “That was generous of you.”
“Who can resist a face like that?” She elbowed me again. “Right?” She headed back to her office.
“It’s easy to resist a face that comes with the name Freely,” I called to her. Now I just had to convince myself of it.
Chapter 6
Jamison
I sat down on the patio lounge where I’d slept all night. Julie had stayed in my room and in her obvious state of heartbreak had invited Brandon to join her . . . in my bed. I had been tempted to burst in there and drag them out of my room, but Julie would probably have convinced herself that I had done it out of jealousy. With everybody passed out drunk inside, the patio had looked more inviting.
I was so absorbed in the cinnamon roll, I hadn’t noticed that Matt was buried beneath a beach towel, crashed out on the lounge next to me, until he groaned.
He yanked the towel off his face and sat up groggily. “What the heck smells so good?” His eyes were bloodshot.
I proudly held up the half of the roll I had left. He lunged for it, but I held it out of his reach and he fell off the lounge with another groan.
I took another bite. It was like biting into heaven. “Sure hope that rum and coke was worth all this suffering, Matt.”
He pulled himself back up on the lounge and rubbed his head. “Not really.” He waved his hand lazily toward the ocean. “And I missed the morning swell.”
I glanced back at the house. It was still completely quiet. “How come you’re out here?”
“I couldn’t stand to smell my own puke anymore.” He stared over at my plate. “Shit, that thing smells good. It reminds me of those cookies Mom used to bake at Christmas.”