“We’ve already played one game.”
She slanted him a glance. “Really? One whole game?”
He ignored the sarcasm. “You never like anyone until you get to know them. Give these kids a chance, will ya?” He lowered his voice. “Besides, the girls are hot. I could really use you as a wingman. Chicks always feel more comfortable when a guy’s got his sister around.”
“Remember that you owe me a favor the next time we’re arguing over who will ride shotgun,” she muttered under her breath and braced for first contact—for her, the equivalent of having a bucket of ice water thrown in her face.
“You can have the front seat for the entire summer,” he said magnanimously.
She would’ve made a wisecrack about the fact that he hadn’t even bothered to negotiate—she would’ve settled for two weeks—but the others were getting up and coming toward them, and she was afraid they might hear.
“Hi,” she said, feeling self-conscious as they drew close.
“This is Penn.” Caden introduced the guy with the curly hair before indicating a much stockier boy, about her height, with blond hair and blue eyes. “Shawn—and Chester.”
Chester had dark skin, brown eyes and a ready smile. Something about his apparent friendliness helped make her a little less anxious. “Nice to meet you,” she said as Caden moved on to the girls, who were bringing up the rear.
“And this is Adrienne, Shawn’s twin sister. Don’t let her size fool you. She’s got a wicked serve, so be prepared for it. I’ve been bragging about how good you are. You can’t let me down,” he joked.
Blond like her brother, Adrienne was maybe five foot two and weighed less than a hundred pounds. For some reason, Caden was always attracted to that sort of girl—the petite kind that made Taylor, at five-ten, feel like Sasquatch. So Taylor guessed Adrienne was the one he was most hoping to impress. Until she looked into the face of the next girl—who was called Jasmine, she was told. Her name fit her well. She looked as though she was of Mediterranean descent and was so gorgeous with her long black hair, olive-colored complexion and liquid brown eyes that Taylor assumed she couldn’t also be nice—then felt guilty for making such an assumption when the girl smiled and said hello.
“I’m Sierra Lambert.” The last girl introduced herself before Caden could even get to her.
Sierra was attractive, too, but in a completely different way. She had short, spiky blond hair with dark roots, several piercings going up each ear, a nose ring and an intricate and very large tattoo of a tree climbing one arm. She wasn’t especially tall, only about five six, but she was lean and well toned. She reminded Taylor of how she’d imagined Lisbeth Salander in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo back when she’d read it. Bold. Smart. Determined. Self-sufficient. And somehow...exciting, probably because she seemed so daring.
“I like your tattoo.” Taylor was being honest; the artist had done a fabulous job.
“Oh yeah? That nearly got me kicked out of the house,” she said with a careless laugh.
“Why? Did you have to lie about your age to get it?”
“I did. But I’m seventeen, so it’s not as if I had it done when I was twelve or something. I don’t think waiting five months would’ve changed my mind.”
“It’s new?”
“I’ve had it for a while, but my birthday is coming up in August.”
“What’d your parents say when they saw it?”
“It’s just me and my dad. And you should see how tatted up he is! But with him it’s ‘do what I say, not what I do.’ He doesn’t consider tattoos to be feminine. Says I’ll never be able to catch a husband.”
“What do you say to that?” she asked, intrigued in spite of herself.
“The truth. I don’t think I want one. Do you?”
Caught off guard, Taylor stepped back. “Um, I don’t know.”
They all laughed at her answer but she’d never considered a future any different than her mother’s. She thought she’d go to college, meet someone, get married and start a family. What did Sierra plan to do that would be so different?
“Let’s start another game,” Penn said, tossing the ball in the air and catching it.
Taylor was eager to do that. She’d much rather play than stand around trying to talk to people she didn’t know. Sports created a sense of camaraderie with her teammates, which made things easier.
She took off her sarong as Caden dropped her bag near the spot where they’d left their own belongings.
“You’re over here with me, Jasmine and Chester,” Caden said as the others ducked beneath the net to go to the other side of the court.
Because Taylor wasn’t warmed up, she wasn’t able to contribute a great deal to the first game, but she did much better in the second. She loved volleyball, but that wasn’t the only reason she was having fun. The longer she played with Caden’s new friends, the more she began to agree with him. They were nice.
The only person she wasn’t sure she liked was Sierra. She was different. But it wasn’t only her piercings, tattoo and cocky attitude that set her apart. It was the way she watched Taylor that put Taylor on edge. Every time she looked up, she found Sierra staring at her with an inscrutable expression. What was she thinking? And why the interest?
When they finally dropped onto the sand where they’d left their towels, sweaty and exhausted from battling out a close three-game set in which her team had finally eked out the win—on her serve—Taylor was slightly relieved when Sierra didn’t join them. She ran down the beach and plunged into the waves by herself, and eventually Penn and Adrienne joined her.
Taylor told herself that this was her chance to relax and get to know the others. But every few seconds she found herself glancing toward the ocean, searching for one person in particular.
* * *
Autumn enjoyed being at the bookstore anytime, but especially when she could be there by herself. On her second day in town, as soon as her mother and Laurie went to the bank, where they were hoping to secure a business loan to put in a coffee shop upstairs, she stood behind the counter and smiled. Being there, gazing out the large front window at the town where she’d been raised, reminded her of when she was in high school. In the afternoons she’d drive her mother’s car over, spread her homework on the counter and complete her studies between serving customers. Sometimes her mother and Laurie would be gone, taking care of various errands, but more often one or the other would be there with her. She didn’t mind either way. She liked the atmosphere and the customers who frequented the store, and she was always excited when she finished her homework, because then she could read for pleasure.