Текст книги "The Other Boy"

Автор книги: Hailey Abbott

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THE

OTHERBOY ! ! !

Hailey

ABBOT

Contents

Chapter One

With the beat of a Gwen Stefani song pounding in…

1

Chapter Two

Maddy froze. She could feel the blood draining from her…

10

Chapter Three

Ow!” Weighed down by two huge duffel bags and dragging…

15

Chapter Four

Here we are!” Her dad’s voice was offensively cheerful. Mom… 21

Chapter Five

When Maddy’s cell rang at dusk, she snatched it like…

30

Chapter Six

Maddy! Rise and shine, little bean!”

34

Chapter Seven

When she got to the house, Maddy rushed into the…

50

Chapter Eight

Maddy.” Mom’s voice came through the door of Maddy’s room. 56

Chapter Nine

Maddy woke up at six and lay in bed for…

71

Chapter Ten

Back at the house, Maddy hurriedly peered into the fridge…

84

Chapter Eleven

Maddy wandered along the sidewalk. After a couple of awkwardly…

94

Chapter Twelve

Mouth agape, Maddy stared up at the Robertsons’ concrete and…103

Chapter Thirteen

Maddy tucked the edges of the old quilt around the…

112

Chapter Fourteen

Maddy sat with her parents in the living room that…

127

Chapter Fifteen

The interior of the gray pickup was hot, but David…

134

Chapter Sixteen

I’m so glad Dad agreed to go with the cream…

143

Chapter Seventeen

Mads,” Maddy’s father said, coming into the kitchen the next… 151

Chapter Eighteen

From her perch on the old wooden porch swing on…

157

Chapter Nineteen

Maddy! Come on, we’re ready,” Maddy’s mother called from

downstairs.

170

Chapter Twenty

Where are we going, Mom?” Maddy asked. “I’m starving.”

She…

179

Chapter Twenty-One

On Sunday night, Maddy wandered out to the orchard after…

186

Chapter Twenty-Two

Bright sun streamed onto Maddy’s face. She closed her eyes… 196

Chapter Twenty-Three

Maddy stood at the kitchen counter, holding a giant chopping… 203

Chapter Twenty-Four

Everyone was already sitting around the table. Maddy tried not… 209

Chapter Twenty-Five

David!” Maddy called, running breathlessly up the path to the… 219

Chapter Twenty-Six

Maddy collapsed onto her bed and stared up at the…

227

Chapter Twenty-Seven

The radio in the kitchen was on when Maddy knocked…

232

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Maddy was folding T-shirts into her blue suitcase when there… 238

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Maddy inhaled a deep breath of the crisp Napa air…

244

Chapter Thirty

Tears almost blinding her, Maddy grabbed her suitcase off the… 255

About the Author

Other Books by Hailey Abbott

Credits

Cover

Copyright

About the Publisher

Chapter One

!

With the beat of a Gwen Stefani song pounding in her ears, Madeline Sinclaire clipped up her long blond hair and slid into the hot tub on her parents’

deck. Steam rose up from the bubbling water, momentarily obscuring her friends’ faces. She inhaled deeply and eased downward. Suddenly, something grabbed her feet under the water.

“Brian!” Maddy screamed.

Her boyfriend’s sleek, wet head surfaced next to her, and everyone burst into laughter.

“What? Did I scare you?” Brian Kilburn asked, flashing his sexy little smile that curled just the edges of his mouth. After dating him for almost a year, Maddy still thought he was the cutest boy she’d ever 1

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seen. Brian’s sleepy blue eyes could always melt her annoyance.

“Yes, you did, jerk!” Maddy said playfully. She punched him on his well-toned arm.

“Don’t hurt him too badly,” Morgan Gainsley called from the other side of the hot tub. “He’s the only one left who knows how to tap a keg—Dave already passed out.” She pointed to a dark shape lying in a heap on a lounge chair, barely visible through the San Francisco night.

“How is that possible?” Maddy giggled at her best friend. “The party just got started!”

“She’s not going to hurt me,” Brian growled. “Not before I . . .” He trailed off as he stood up in the water, grabbed Maddy, and tilted her back in his arms.

“Eeek!” She giggled, hoping she wasn’t flashing the rest of the hot tub. Her D&G string bikini top didn’t allow for a lot of gymnastics.

Brian went for her neck like a vampire. He started to run his mouth lower, but Maddy struggled upright and shoved him away.

“Okay, hornball. Save it for later,” she said with a laugh.

Reluctantly, Brian released her and sat down again. Maddy settled back contentedly in the hot water, Brian’s arm around her tanned shoulders. Light spilled over the deck from the open French doors behind her. The glow 2

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reached the manicured gardens at the edge of the twoacre lawn. Most of Richmond Country Day’s upperclassmen, plastic cups of Miller High Life in hand, were packed into Maddy’s living room, where the leather furniture had been pushed against the walls to make a dance floor.

On the deck, couples were cuddling on lounge chairs with beer bottles strewn on the ground next to them. Rob Davis had started a game of drunken tackle football on the lawn. “Touchdown!” a huge, hairy guy screamed as he grabbed the ball and landed headfirst in the shrubbery at the side of the yard. Maddy smiled. Her first official house party of the summer was only an hour old, and she could already tell it was going be a great night. In fact, it was going to be a great summer—maybe the best ever. Maddy’s other best friend, Kirsten Owens, slid up next to her. “So when did your parents leave?” Kirsten asked, resting her elbows on the edge of the tub behind her, looking sleek and athletic in her navy blue Speedo. Maddy laughed. Even though Kirsten’s idea of a relaxing Saturday was running a ten-mile race, Maddy still found it funny that she insisted on wearing a one-piece suit to a party full of bikinis and boys.

“This afternoon– finally,” Maddy replied. “They should be arriving in Napa any minute now.”

“I cannot believe you have the house to yourself for 3

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two whole months!” Morgan squealed, splashing across the tub to join the other two girls.

“I know, right?” Maddy agreed. “You know, at first, they actually tried to tell me that I had to help them fix up that little midlife crisis—I mean, vineyard. But they couldn’t resist my powers of persuasion—”

“And that A in AP English, you nerd,” Brian teased. She gave Brian a push. “Go get me another beer,” she ordered playfully, admiring the muscles of his back as he climbed out of the hot tub and shook the water out of his dark hair. A tan line showed where the waist of his baggy navy trunks had dropped down a little. She heaved a sigh of delight as she thought of her and Brian—and her big, empty house—together, all summer.

“Girls, we’re going to have so much fun!” she declared, stretching out her long legs and watching her toes bob in the bubbling water as her two best friends flanked her on either side. “First of all, we finally got to throw the party we’ve been planning since finals. And for the rest of the summer, we’ll have shopping in Noe Valley, the beach every afternoon—”

“Parties at your place every weekend!” Morgan finished for her, sending a splash of steaming water toward each of the girls. “You have the best party house in San Francisco, Maddy.”

“No question,” Kirsten said, looking across the artfully lit pool to the view of the bay. Behind them the 4

The Other Boy

sprawling six-bedroom Spanish-style house pulsed with Rihanna’s latest album.

Maddy smiled her agreement. Everyone was getting what they wanted: Mom and Dad were living their dream up in Napa, and she was experiencing sweet independence down here in the city.

“I should probably go mingle, guys,” she told everyone. “I am the hostess, after all.”

Brian splashed back into the tub next to her just in time to catch her last words. “Don’t go too far,” he said, winking at her meaningfully. Maddy laughed at him and pulled herself onto the deck, knowing he was enjoying watching the water run off her slim, tanned figure.

“If you tap that new keg, I might have a special treat for you later,” she said flirtatiously.

He grinned back. “Wait, I want my party favor right now!” He grabbed for her, but she dodged his grasp and draped a silk sarong around her hips, slipping a gauzy linen shirt on top.

As Maddy made her way to the foyer, she saw Brian’s best friend push through the oak front door. “Mad-eline!” Chad yelled, crushing her with a bear hug. The hall filled up with huge, brawny boys lugging an extra case of beer. Two skinny blondes appeared behind them, each waving a bottle of vodka. Maddy shook her head—

for two of the richest girls at school, Taylor and Sunny certainly managed to look remarkably cheap. 5

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“We brought Grey Goose!” Sunny called.

“Your place is so awesome, Maddy!” Taylor squealed.

“Thanks,” Maddy said. “Why don’t you stick the vodka in the kitchen?”

“Oh my God, is that Scott Winters?” Sunny screeched in reply, staring into the living room. “Doesn’t he play for UCLA?” She and Taylor hustled past Maddy, nearly knocking her over.

Within an hour, her house was filled with basically every person she knew—and a bunch she didn’t. Maddy felt like the queen of summer. When she looked around again, Morgan and Kirsten were dramatically debating something with Taylor. Sunny was making out with a guy from Cathedral Prep. Someone had put on the Ying Yang Twins, and couples were grinding in the living room and making out on the sofas. Rob Davis broke a Lalique vase, and Maddy was drinking vodka tonics way too fast.

She needed a breather. So she made her way back onto the now-deserted deck, trying not to stumble too much. “Mmmm,” she murmured, collapsing onto a canvas lounge chair. She closed her eyes and let the pounding music behind her wash through her mind. She could feel someone standing over her.

“I’ve come to collect my party favor now, hostess,”

Brian whispered as he slid onto the chair next to her. Maddy smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck. 6

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He pulled her on top of him. “I am so glad your parents are gone.”

“Me too.” She loved the feeling of his whole body pressed against hers. She twined her fingers in the wavy hair at the back of his head and kissed him gently. His body tensed, and excitement shot through her. Mmm. Brian was so yummy. His lips always tasted like cinnamon. He wrapped his arms around her and flipped himself over, taking her with him. Now he was on top, gazing down at her. “It’s going to be a great summer, Madeline Sinclaire,” he said softly as he pressed his hips against hers. She closed her eyes and he kissed her again, this time parting her lips with his tongue.

I couldn’t agree more, she thought. She ran her hands up and down his bare back under his T-shirt as he shifted to the side a little and slid her shirt up. She shivered at the sensation of the fabric brushing her skin. After a few blissful minutes, Maddy drew back and glanced at the diamond-encrusted Bulgari tank watch her parents had given her for her sixteenth birthday. Ten o’clock. By now, Mom and Dad would have unloaded all the wheelbarrows and pitchforks and whatever the hell they used to resuscitate a run-down vineyard and would be sipping wine, happily oblivious to the biggest party in Sea Cliff. “I should probably go make sure no one’s throwing chairs out of windows or something,” she said. 7

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Brian groaned and reached for her.

“Don’t leave yet.”

She smiled and tried to pull him up. “Come with me!”

The packed living room was grinding to the heavy bass line. The crowd had spilled up the stairs—Maddy could hear some sort of thumping from her parents’

room overhead—and into the kitchen.

“Rob, what are you doing in there?” Maddy called over to the brawny football player. Rob Davis had apparently given up on running around the yard and had just taken the top off of the blender.

“A little something I like to call Robbie’s Late Night Bean Special,” Rob answered with a grin. “You’ll love it, Sinclaire.”

The whir of the blender was just audible over the music. In the very back of her mind, Maddy briefly wondered if he was trashing the kitchen but decided it didn’t matter. After all, she had two whole months to clean up, and right now, dancing to Beyoncé was her main priority. Your love’s got me looking so crazy right now. Brian’s arm slid around her waist. He pulled her up tightly against him and handed her a cold beer from the freshly tapped keg. Maddy wrapped one arm around his shoulders, swaying her hips to the music, and took a sip with the other hand. “Mmmm,” she murmured and buried her face in his neck. Your touch got me looking so crazy right now.

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From behind her, she could hear Morgan shrieking,

“Oh my God! She did not!” Somewhere, glass shattered. Maddy shook her hair back from her face and raised her arms in the air, swaying to the music. Brian took her chin in his hand and leaned down.

“You’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen,” he murmured into her ear, his lips brushing the side of her face. Their eyes met as he slowly brought his mouth to hers.

Maddy felt like her whole body was electrified. She ran her hands down Brian’s back as he dipped her backward.

“Ow! Ow! Go, Maddy!” Kirsten giggled, bumping her shoulder.

Maddy twirled around, her eyes closed, singing as loud as she could, “Got me looking so crazy in love!”

In the distance, she could hear someone calling her name. But the music drowned out the voice. She’d deal with it when this song ended. Beyoncé could not be ignored. Then the call came closer.

“Maddy! Madeline Sinclaire!”

That sounds like my father, she thought dreamily. I won- der if they even have stereos in Napa.

“MADELINE! SINCLAIRE!”

Wow, that really does sound like Dad. Maddy smiled to herself. But when she opened her eyes, her father was not smiling back.

9

Chapter Two

!

Maddy froze. She could feel the blood draining from her face. Brian stumbled into her.

“Wha—” Then he looked up and went totally rigid.

All around her, the party was still going on. No one else had noticed her parents yet. Morgan stumbled out of the kitchen, a bottle of vodka in her hand. “Maddy!”

she yelled. “Are there more glasses—oh, sh—Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Sinclaire,” she said, quickly regaining her composure. “Happy Fourth of July. Isn’t patriotism just the best part of being American?”

Neither of Maddy’s parents had moved from the doorway. Her father’s face was beet red and his eyes widened to cover about half of his face. As his body 10

The Other Boy

tensed, his head looked like it was sinking into the collar of his shirt. Her mother’s face was completely white.

“Morgan,” she said in a strangled voice, “please turn off the music.”

“Right. Right away!” Morgan bounded over to the stereo and cut Beyoncé off mid-cry. Everyone stopped dancing and looked around.

Quickly sizing up the situation, Chad cupped his hands around his mouth. “Busted!” he bellowed. “Every- body run!”

Pandemonium broke loose as people shoved out the back door, yelling, “Get out!” No one had the nerve to go past Maddy’s parents, still standing in the living room doorway. Maddy’s mouth was dry and the walls were spinning. Through her fog, she felt Morgan and Kirsten squeeze her hands as they ran toward the back door.

“Call me,” Morgan managed to whisper.

And all of a sudden, everyone was gone. Only Maddy and Brian still stood together in the middle of the floor.

“Arrhmmm!” Bob Sinclaire cleared his throat pointedly. Maddy winced. “You’d better go,” she muttered to Brian. “I’ll text you.”

“Um, bye, Mr. and Mrs. Sinclaire,” he tried weakly, giving Maddy a sympathetic glance. He awkwardly squeezed through the doorway.

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Once the three of them were alone, Maddy’s mother slowly walked into the room and sat down on the leather sofa. With a cry, she jumped back up, soaked from the pool of beer on the cushion. Her father’s face was purple. Her mother gingerly perched on a sofa arm. Not looking at Maddy, she muttered, “We forgot the Vineyard Association paperwork.”

Ah. Maddy righted an upturned chair and slowly sat down. She buried her face in her hands. She wasn’t quite sure which was worse—the guilt she felt looking at her mother’s face, or the regret that she was probably in the biggest trouble of her entire life. Her parents were silent, obviously waiting for an explanation—but really, what could she say? She should at least try to dig herself out of this, though. “Guys,” she began, “I’m really sorry—”

“Sorry!” her father exploded. “What are you talking about? We leave this house for five hours, after spending a month going over the summer rules. All we want is to get a box of files and what do we find? A hundred drunken teenagers trashing our house!”

“Daddy—”

“And who is responsible for this? Who? Our daughter, who assured us that she would take care of everything this summer! ‘Don’t worry, Dad,’ you said. ‘I’ll be just fine.’

Well, this doesn’t look like ‘just fine’ to me, Madeline!”

Maddy took a deep breath. “Look, Dad, just let me explain.”

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“Explain what, Maddy?” Mom said. Maddy’s stomach sank all the way to her ballet flats. “This situation seems perfectly clear to me. We trusted you. You broke that trust.”

Maddy had a horrible feeling she knew what was next. She desperately tried to head it off with a pitiful stream of babbling.

“I’m so sorry, guys! I promise, promise, promise it will never happen again—ever! It was going to be my only party, I swear, just a little reward after school, before senior year, to celebrate summer. I—I—” She searched around for something, anything, to appease them. “I won’t even stay here this summer! I’ll go live with Morgan—Mrs. Gainsley is incredibly strict.”

“No,” her dad said firmly. “You are going to spend the rest of the evening cleaning up this house, and then in the morning, you’re going to Napa with us. So get started.” The calmness in his voice sounded terrifyingly final.

Maddy let out her breath. “Okay, Dad,” she said in a barely controlled voice. “I understand that I screwed up and that I should go to Napa for a while to help you guys out as my punishment. But how long are we talking about? A week?” She had to stop to control the tremor in her voice. “Two weeks? I’ll help you clean and mow or whatever. . . .” She broke off. Both of her parents were staring at her.

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“Maddy,” Mom said.

“What?”

“Your father isn’t talking about a short visit. You’ll be helping out at the vineyard for the rest of the summer.”

Clunk. As silence fell over the room like a dead weight, Maddy’s visions of the beach, Brian, and freedom floated out into the now-foggy San Francisco night.

“The entire summer. . . ?” she croaked. Her dad skewered her with a stare. He spoke as if Maddy were someone of severely limited intelligence.

“Do . . . you . . . truly . . . think . . . you’re . . . staying . . . here . . . after . . . all . . . this?” Maddy swallowed. Debbie Sinclaire got up from the sofa and went into the kitchen. “This discussion is finished,” she shot over her shoulder. There was a pause. Then an eruption.

“Madeline Sinclaire! Can you please explain why the hell there is bean dip all over this ceiling?”

Maddy watched her dad stiffly walk onto the deck. He stood illuminated by tiki torches with his hands on his hips, staring at a lawn chair floating upside down in the pool. As Maddy stood to walk to the kitchen, she saw her father’s shoulders slump as he slid his head into his hands. And she felt the best summer ever slip right through her fingers.

14

Chapter Three

!

Ow!” Weighed down by two huge duffel bags and dragging a giant suitcase behind her, Maddy stumbled as she stubbed her toe on the edge of the door frame. She managed to squeeze the bags through the door and wrangle them down the steps. The morning was fresh and dewy, with puffy white clouds skating overhead in the deep azure sky, but it might as well have been sleeting as Maddy crammed her stuff into the trunk of the Lexus RX hybrid. Good-bye beach, bye shopping, bye sleeping until noon, bye hanging out with Morgan and Kirsten. And mostly, bye Brian. She had texted him that she was being kidnapped. Rescue me! she had typed, without much hope.

“Maddy! Did you remember your hiking boots?” her 15

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mother’s voice called from the house. The woman had no right to be this perky at seven a.m. “The terrain is pretty rocky up there!” Her mom sounded like she was relishing the thought.

“I did, Mom!” Maddy sang out through gritted teeth.

“Well, we’re leaving in just a minute. Dad’s just checking the air-conditioning one more time.”

Suddenly, Maddy heard a car engine behind her. She whirled around to see Brian stepping down from his yellow Nissan XTerra.

“Hey, babe,” Brian cooed. He was still wearing his clothes from the party, and his hair was all matted on one side, sticking up on the other. She could see sleep sand in the corner of one eye as he bent to kiss her forehead.

“You look awful,” she noted. “Have you been home yet?”

He scrubbed at the side of his face with his hand.

“No, I crashed on Chad’s couch. I can’t believe I’m awake this early. But I couldn’t let you leave without saying good-bye.” He leaned down to kiss her just as the front door slammed. Maddy clutched at Brian.

“Don’t let them take me!” she whispered. “I am going to absolutely die up there.”

He kissed her forehead again. “I’ll call you every night.” The garage door opened and Brian looked up.

“I’d better go.”

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Maddy watched forlornly as he backed down the driveway and floored the accelerator. As he sped away, an arm appeared out of the driver’s window and flapped a few times. She lifted her own hand in response and kept it up until the car had disappeared around the corner.

“Okay!” Mom came out of the house. She seemed to have recovered her good humor now that they were almost on their way back to Napa. “Got all your stuff in the car?” she asked Maddy.

“Yep.”

Dad bustled up and slapped his hands together.

“Everyone go to the bathroom?”

Oh. My. God. Was the entire summer going to be like this? She looked up at the sky, hoping to fight the overwhelming feeling that her world was shrinking beyond recognition. She climbed into the backseat and buckled her seat belt, planting her sneakered feet firmly on a box of dishes. “Let’s just go already, okay?”

Her parents exchanged a classic our-teenage-daughteris-such-a-pain-in-the-you-know-what glance. Good, Maddy thought. We’re all on the same page. I think you guys are a pain in the ass too. She closed her eyes and leaned her head against the leather seat back. She could hear a double bam-bam as her parents got in and shut their doors. Maybe she could just sleep the whole way. 17

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Peaceful silence filled the car as her dad wound through the streets full of Spanish-style and Victorian mansions and then bumped over the railroad tracks. He drove through a Hispanic neighborhood, where the bodegas and shops selling quinceañera dresses were crowded together with skinny brownstones. The brownstones gradually gave way to warehouses and car dealerships. They turned onto the highway. The soft hum of the engine and the comforting voices of NPR hosts filtered into the backseat. Maddy drifted away, her head lolling on her shoulder.

“Madeline.” Her father’s voice jerked her awake.

“Huh?” A trickle of drool had reached her chin. She wiped at it furiously.

Her mom twisted around to face the backseat.

“Daddy and I want to talk to you about this summer.”

Maddy groaned.

Her dad went on. “We’re going to need you to pitch in and do some work on the vineyard grounds. You’re starting at zero on the responsibility scale. This vineyard is very important to your mother and me, so we expect you to take this seriously.”

“Umm?” Maddy tuned them out when her purse started buzzing. She slid her BlackBerry Curve out of her Kooba bag. chat request from morgan. She held it down by her side and pressed start conversation. how r u?

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awful, of course—what do u expect? Maddy typed without looking at the keys.

k and i miss u already! at orchids 4 brunch. Maddy’s stomach rumbled at the thought. Orchids had absolutely the best strawberry waffles in the city. thanks for that. i’m probably heading off to eat gruel all summer.

going to the beach later—it’ll be so weird without u. i know. all i want is to hang out with you guys, sleep in, and see brian. but i’m going to be slave labor for the next two months.

poor girl! maybe k & i can come rescue you!

that would be so great. i don’t think u could get past the prison guards tho.

k & i will be thinking of you. xoxo!!

Maddy pressed end conversation, heaved a gusty sigh, and stared out the window at miles and miles of pine trees; rocky, sandy soil; and distant, bluish hills. They passed a vegetable stand with a sign in the front that read tomatoes $1/lb.

Of course, Maddy had seen pictures of Napa and its acres of twisty grapevines wrapping around the hills and spreading across the valley floor. But even though the vineyards were less than two hours from the city, Maddy had never actually seen one before. She leaned a little closer to the window. The land was completely covered 19

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in vines, stretching as far as she could see. Low stone walls lined the two-lane road. Hand-lettered signs reading wine tasting today and north ridge winery flashed by. Occasionally, they passed a palatial gate with the name of the vineyard spelled out in iron letters at the top. Past these gates were long, groomed gravel driveways lined with towering trees. Maddy settled back into her seat, comfortably wiggling her shoulders into the cushy leather as she pictured a massive stone villa, surrounded by acres of manicured lawn. She’d be clad in a clingy black dress, pouring wine for a clutch of sophisticated vineyard visitors. “This is our newest blend, a merlot-burgundy,” she imagined herself explaining. “It has very strong legs.” Everyone nodded, impressed with her knowledge, and sipped delicately from their long-stemmed glasses. Maybe this won’t be so bad after all, she thought as she dozed off. 20