“Ash…”
“Are you coming or not?”
“Yeah,” I said finally. “Yeah, I’ll be there.”
Mostly to keep an eye on him. He was nosediving into the worst version of himself. I had some experience with that.
Ash wandered off, and Maddox found me a few minutes later.
“Whoa, did you see Ash Talmadge?” He whistled with his hand out like an airplane and then made a crashing sound.
“Well, he’s been through shit. He invited me to a yacht party on Monday. Want to go?”
“Nope. We only went before because of Lila.”
“Yeah, but I’m worried about him.”
“Can’t blame the dude.”
“No, me neither.”
Still, just because I got Lila in the breakup didn’t mean that I couldn’t check on Ash. I just wouldn’t tell her about it.
“Don’t you think Derek will be there?” Maddox asked once we were in the car again.
“Fuck. I didn’t think about that,” I muttered. “Well, I’ll be there for Ash. I can avoid him, right?”
“Probably not, but maybe you can tell him to go fuck himself again. He might deserve that,” Maddox said, white-knuckling the steering wheel.
I stared out the window. I didn’t want to see Derek. Especially after what had happened with the will. But I wouldn’t let him run me out of events either. Ash needed someone to help him, and if his Derek wasn’t doing it, then I’d try.
8
Savannah
Present
“You’re doing what?” Josie asked on the Bluetooth in my car as I drove to the Savannah Yacht Club.
“You heard me.”
“But why, Mars?”
“You didn’t see him, Josie. He’s a wreck.”
“Well, yeah. You were there. You know what happened.”
“Yeah, and it’s kind of our fault.”
Josie snorted. “Don’t put that on us. They all made their own choices. Ash Talmadge was never good enough for Lila anyway.”
I didn’t know about that. She’d been happy with him. But all of that was over now. He didn’t deserve to be miserable.
“I’m still going.”
“Are you going to tell her?”
I shook my head. “No way. Lila doesn’t need to deal with his baggage. That’s why I am.”
“I swear you’re a saint, Marley.”
I laughed. “Not by half.”
“Speaking of people not good enough for my friends, are you going to see Derek while you’re there?” Josie asked as if she were being nonchalant.
I hadn’t told either of my friends about what had happened with the will. I needed to get it out there, but I was still so mad that I didn’t want it to even exist. And I knew they’d both come running. I wasn’t prepared for that.
“Yeah. I think he’ll be at the party.”
I could practically see her wicked smile. “And he’s divorced, right? Officially.”
“I don’t keep up with him.”
“Well, have fun at least. You deserve some fun after Gran.”
I cleared my throat. “Love you, but I’m here. I’ll call you later and tell you how it went.”
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
“There’s nothing you wouldn’t do,” I muttered.
She laughed. “I wouldn’t hook up with my best friend’s ex.”
I gagged. “Ew. I couldn’t even think that.”
“See, there you go. You’re good.”
I laughed and then hung up. I pulled my bag filled with everything I needed for a day out on the water out of the trunk and walked out onto the dock. Ash’s yacht technically belonged to his father, but Ash used it more than his dad. He always had. Ash and Derek had their love of the water in common. I tried not to think of all the times I’d been on the water with Derek as I stepped onto the yacht and found two-dozen mostly naked women on board.
My eyes rounded in surprise. I didn’t recognize a single one of them. They were all probably a decade younger than me, giggling with White Claws in one hand and their phones in the other. There was nothing wrong with any of that, but I certainly didn’t fit into any of those descriptions.
“Marley!”
I turned to find Amelia Ballentine in a two-piece white suit. She was as stunning as any of the doe-eyed blondes on board. Honestly, I’d never guess she was twenty-eight to my thirty. She still looked exactly the same. Those Ballentine genes were something else. Though I was sure it was a lot of hard work to stay so physically fit. She’d been Miss Georgia and Miss Georgia USA, having competed in both the Miss America and Miss USA pageants.
Amelia pulled me into a hug. “It’s so good to see you.”
“Hey, Mia,” I said, hugging her back. “You too. How have you been?”
“Busy! Working full-time at the boutique and coaching pageants.”
“I really should swing by the store. I haven’t been since you opened.”
“Yes, come by. I’d love for you to try on my new collection.” She twirled in a circle. “This is one of my latest.”
Amelia had gone to Parsons in NYC for fashion design. She’d worked in high-end fashion after but ultimately come home to open her own shop right here in Savannah. I still found it hard to believe that she’d wanted to leave everything behind. But she seemed happy doing her own thing. She always had.
“I love it. Better than my Target bathing suit.”
She laughed as I stripped out of my tank top and shorts.
“Oh, shush. You’re adorable.”
“You’re sweet.”
“I’m glad that someone else with a brain is here,” Amelia said with an eye roll. “The entire thing reeks of desperation.”
My gaze traveled over the lot of women and then found the source of their excitement. Ash Talmadge had appeared shirtless in baby-blue swim trunks and Ray-Bans. He still looked like a hot mess, but he was sure faking it for his adoring crowd.
“Yeah. That’s kind of why I’m here. I saw him at the liquor store. He looked…”
“Rough?” she offered. Amelia threw her long, dark hair off of her shoulder. “Of course he does after what happened. What I don’t get is why all these girls are throwing themselves at him. He needs time to recover, not whatever this is.”
I shrugged. “He’s encouraging it. You can’t blame the women.”
“Yeah. Well, at least he has an excuse,” she said venomously. Then she shrugged a petite shoulder. “Come on. I secured the best tanning location.”
She dragged me away from Ash’s shitshow and to the other side of the yacht. I lathered sunscreen on my pasty self and was grateful that there was an umbrella that I could use to shield myself. Otherwise, I’d be a lobster within minutes.
I pulled out a book. I’d brought one for fun. Usually I was reading the latest articles from the neuroscience field to try to keep up with my research. But since I had the semester off, I could pick up a fiction novel. I’d settled on Sarah J. Maas’s A Court of Thorns and Roses because who didn’t like hot Fae and a Beauty and the Beast retelling?