Текст книги "Out of the Shallows"

Автор книги: Samantha Young

сообщить о нарушении

Текущая страница: 8 (всего у книги 13 страниц)

I probably looked murderous. It was the momma bear in me.

Dustin returned with his phone and took Claudia’s number, promising to text her soon with the details of their date. He gave her another awkward hug and we left.

As soon as we stepped outside the building, Claudia sagged into Beck’s side and he wrapped his arm around her waist. “You okay?” he asked, concerned.

She shrugged. “It wasn’t so bad, right? He seems nice?”

“He seems really nice,” Jake assured her.

“Dinner will be better.” I smiled. “Just the two of you. It’ll be less uncomfortable without listening ears and Bitter Pill Pedra.”

Claud laughed shakily. “Yeah, what was that?”

“Ignore her. You didn’t come here for her. You came for Dustin and he seems really happy to meet you.”

She grinned, finally relaxing. “He did, didn’t he? Ahh,” she exhaled. “Let’s go explore and get something to eat. I’m starving.”

* * *

The guys knocked on our door half an hour ago to tell us they were ready to face the day, but Claudia and I had just woken up. We promised to meet them for breakfast at a café across the plaza and then rushed around the hotel room to get ready.

As we did so, Claudia chatted about Dustin.

Something niggled at me about how well things were going for her with her real father. Perhaps it was the cynic in me, or maybe I was terrified of my friend getting her heart broken, but it took everything within me to not warn her to be careful. I didn’t want to ruin this for her.

We dressed in shorts and tank tops since we’d woken up to a particularly hot day and headed along the plaza to meet Jake and Beck.

“So, Dustin says he wants to paint me.” Claudia smiled. Though her eyes were covered with oversized sunglasses, I could hear excitement in her voice.

“Would you do that?”

“Sit for him? Yeah. He wants to do a portrait.”

“Well, you’re beautiful and he’s an artist, of course he does.”

“Yeah, but also, I’m his daughter,” she added, a little indignantly.

“Of course. I just meant… of course he’d want to draw you, daughter or not.”

She grimaced. “I think he might have painted my mother nude. I asked if he painted her and he got all shifty and uncomfortable.”

I laughed. “Oh, he definitely painted her nude.”

Claud shuddered. “My mother. The disloyal muse.”

We crossed the plaza toward the café. “Have you spoken to your mom since you got here?”

“No,” she snorted. “My parents are pretending this isn’t happening.”

Typical.

“Well, my folks emailed last night asking about you. They hope everything’s going great with Dustin and said that they love you.”

“I adore your parents. Do you think they would adopt me?”

I would’ve answered but I was too busy staring across the street at the café. Sitting at a table on the sidewalk was my boyfriend and Beck. They weren’t alone. Two girls were sitting in my and Claudia’s seats and Jake and Beck were laughing.

Something unpleasant pinched my chest.

I felt a nudge at my shoulder and turned to look at Claudia.

She lifted her sunglasses off to meet my eyes. “Hey. You okay?”

I sighed, glancing back at the flirting girls and our flirting idiot male counterparts. “Jake and I are in a great place, but I thought the whole jealousy thing was behind me. But I see that girl, laughing into his face, and he’s not doing much to put her off and I want to kill him. He was like this in high school.” I wrinkled in my nose in annoyance. “And he used to accuse me of being a flirt.”

“You are a flirt.”

I frowned. “I am not.”

“Oh, please. You can’t even help it.”

“Well, what about you?” I waved a hand in the direction of the café. “Doesn’t it bother you anymore to see Beck flirt?”

It was Claudia’s turn to scowl. “We’re friends. And girls flirt with him. If we were anything more than friends, I’d have to get used to that fact. Just like you have to get used to the fact that your boyfriend is hot and I hate to say it, babe, but since you two got back together, there’s this light around him… it’s totally attractive.” She patted me on the shoulder. “I guess you’ve only got yourself to blame for the hot señorita flirting with him right now.”

I groaned. “Okay. So how should we play this? Cool, unaffected… or pissed off?”

“Let’s be grown-ups and play it cool and unaffected. You know Jake loves you. You don’t need to be jealous. Ever.”

I shoved the horrible feeling away and let rationale take over. “You’re right,” I agreed, studying her carefully. “When did you get all wise and mature?”

Claudia tilted her chin up in thought. “Hmm… I think it’s a fairly recent development.”

“I like it.”

“We’ll see how long it lasts.”

Laughing at her, I followed as she crossed the street toward the café. Jake caught sight of us and when our eyes met, I felt our connection zing through me as always. I raised an eyebrow, nodding my head toward the girl next to him, but I wore a smile so he’d know I wasn’t mad. Anymore.

He shrugged and then tapped Beck on the arm. Beck looked over, his eyes instantly moving to Claudia. He straightened in his chair. Jake turned to the girls and said something. Whatever it was, it had them looking over at us walking toward them. The girls gave us curious looks but got out of our seats, waving flirty goodbyes to our boys.

A few seconds later, we rounded the table and as soon as my ass was in the chair, Jake wrapped his hand around my neck and pulled me in for a slow, sweet kiss. I smiled softly as I pulled back. “Good morning to you too.”

“Soooo…” Claudia drawled, relaxing back in her chair. “This is what you guys do with your time when we’re not around. Flirt with gorgeous Spanish girls? It’s a little unfair. If we’d known, we would’ve taken up with those two hot guys on mopeds who asked us if we wanted a private tour of the city.”

I looked at her with both eyebrows raised.

She smirked. “Guess it didn’t last long,” she said, referring to her wisdom and maturity.

I laughed, shaking my head. When I looked at Jake, he had an annoyed furrow between his brows. “Guys? Mopeds?”

I shoved him playfully. “Claudia’s lying.”

I thought his expression would clear but now Jake looked worried. “The girls just came over. We didn’t invite them to sit.”

“You are so whipped,” Beck muttered, reaching for a glass of cold orange juice.

Unamused, I glared at him. “Jake’s dating me. I’m freaking awesome. I love him and he’s getting it regularly and it is mind-blowing. Even if he is whipped, he’s sitting a lot prettier than you right now.”

Jake and Claudia burst out laughing and Beck smirked, his eyes filled with mirth as they met Jake’s. Jake pulled my chair closer and I turned to find his face inches from mine. His eyes danced happily. “You’re wrong. You’re not freaking awesome. You’re freaking phenomenal.” He brushed his nose alongside mine. “About that getting-it-regularly thing,” he whispered against my mouth, “I miss you.”

I missed him too. We hadn’t slept together since we’d gotten to Barcelona. Three nights might not sound like a lot but they were a lot after having slept with each other every single night in the past few weeks.

“You know what I’m thinking,” Claudia said loudly, bringing our attention back to her. She was smiling at Beck. “I’m thinking you and I should spend the day together. Leave these two to be all icky and in love. I could do with a breather. It’s nauseating.”

I knew she was teasing but that sounded like an amazing idea.

Beck grinned back at her. “You’re on.”

“I’m good with that,” Jake murmured in my ear.

A shiver rippled down my spine and I felt my body respond to the promise in his voice.

Suffice it to say, we shoveled down a light breakfast with Claudia and Beck and said a hasty goodbye. Jake practically dragged me by the hand all the way back to the hotel. When the elevator doors shut, he was on me, pressing me against the wall, kissing me voraciously, like he couldn’t get enough.

I panted as he hurried out of the elevator and along the corridor to my room. We got the door clicked open and shut and Jake yanked off my tank top and quickly pulled his own shirt off. I unbuttoned my shorts and shimmied out of them as Jake divested his jeans and then I was in his arms again, sprawling over him as he took us to the nearest bed.

Jake groaned as my searching hands found him hot and hard. He kissed me as I touched him, sliding his hands around to unclip my bra. He pulled back as it fell away from my chest and he whispered, smirking, “We have such good friends.”

I laughed in agreement, the sound soon swallowed up in his hot, deep kiss.

* * *

“I told you, I’m not going.” I shook my head stubbornly and stared at the posters and street art lining the sidewalk.

Jake laughed. “It’s not in use. They don’t do that anymore.”

“I’m not going to La Monumental and that’s that.” I shot him a warning look and he gave a huff of incredulous laughter but shut up.

It was day five. Claudia had left us an hour ago to go see Dustin again and Beck had decided to give Jake and I some alone time. Honestly, I think he was just sick of our honeymoon phase. While Beck was happily wandering the streets of Barcelona by himself—or not by himself, as I knew how easy it was for him to pick up random girls on his travels—Jake and I wandered the streets of Barcelona in the opposite direction.

We’d wandered about half an hour northeast of the hotel and were closing in on the famous bullring, La Monumental. Jake was right. The bullring hadn’t been used as such since 2011 after Catalonia banned bullfighting, but still, I hated the idea of it all and wasn’t interested in seeing the place.

“You are so obstinate,” Jake said, throwing me a small smile so I’d know he wasn’t irritated.

“You bet your ass I am.” I flashed him a cheeky grin. “Good luck with that, by the way.”

“You’re lucky I like my women stubborn.”

“Your women?” I snorted. “Am I part of your harem?”

He pulled a face. “What? You thought you were the only one who appreciates all my fineness?”

“Are you taking lessons from Matt on how to talk to women now?” I chuckled, taking a hold of his hand to move him away from the touristy stuff for sale on the sidewalks.

“I think his technique is flawless,” Jake replied deadpan. “Every day my man crush grows stronger.”

Remembering Beck’s reaction to Matt’s “technique” with Claudia, I winced. “I think he might be in trouble with Beck when we get back to Edinburgh. That guy is… I have no words. He’s so overprotective and possessive. Such an oblivious tool.”

Jake cleared his throat. “Actually…”

I stopped in the middle of the street, tugging on his hand so he’d stop avoiding eye contact. “Actually?”

He shrugged. “Nothing. I just… I think Beck is more aware of how he feels for Claudia than you realize. He’s got his demons. But he cares about her and I think he’s maybe coming around.”

My eyes narrowed. “Do you know something, Jacob Caplin?”

“Charley, I love you, but there are some things I can’t tell you.”

Nosy and curious and desperate to give my friend what she wanted, it didn’t sit well with me that Jake may be holding the answers and the key to Claudia’s future happiness. However, I understood. “Girl code,” I grumbled, “but for boys.”

“Exactly.”

“Ah, I get it.” I snuggled into his side. “Maybe, just in case, though, we should set them up for dinner alone tonight? I know Claudia had a fantastic day with him yesterday.”

“Why don’t we just let them sort themselves out? They did that favor for us.”

I frowned. “Stop being right. It’s throwing me off balance.”

He laughed, pulling me close, and we walked back to the hotel in perfect contentment.

We were waiting for the elevator when I caught sight of a familiar figure out of the corner of my eye. I turned to see Claudia striding into reception and my breath was knocked out of me by her appearance.

Her eyes were bloodshot. She had no color in her cheeks. Worse… There was something so desolate in her expression that I felt panicked. “Claudia!” I called out, my voice trembling.

She glanced over at me in surprise, her feet abruptly stopping their momentum.

And then suddenly, she rushed toward me, her face crumpling as she impacted with me. I wrapped my arms around her as she sobbed into my neck. My arms tightened as I looked over her head at Jake. We exchanged worried looks and a silent message that we needed to get Claudia somewhere private.

I got her into the elevator, Jake shadowing us protectively. I tried to ask what was wrong but she just kept crying these deep, shuddering, heartbreaking sobs.

Jake let us into our room and I settled her on a chair, crouching in front of her.

“Claudia, please talk to me,” I begged.

She hiccupped as she tried to control the tears. I waited patiently for her to pull herself together enough to look at me. Jake handed her tissues and she blotted at her face, fingers shaking.

“Dustin…” her voice cracked, “after being so cool and excited about us… he told me today he can’t do it.” Her tears fell silently now. “He doesn’t want the responsibility of being a dad and he thinks anything else is just confusing. He thinks it’s best we don’t see each other again.”

SON OF A BITCH!

Fury shot into my blood and it took a huge amount of self-control not to march out of that room and go and hunt down the weak piece of shit.

Another man. Another parent… rejecting her. I hated them so much for doing this to her.

“Claud,” I whispered, reaching for her hand, “I am so sorry.”

She shook her head. “Don’t be. I should’ve known. I got my hopes up and I should have known.” She started crying again and I reached forward, pulling her into my arms.

“Ssh,” I attempted to soothe her. “It’s okay. It’s going to be okay. We love you, babe. You don’t need them.”

Her arms tightened around me. “I don’t want to be here anymore,” she sobbed.

Jake’s expression looked as murderous as I was sure mine was. He stepped forward and I read his body language. I gently eased Claudia out of my arms and Jake took my place. Claudia clung even harder to him, soaking his T-shirt with her tears.

He stroked her hair in comfort. “We’ll get you out of here,” he promised.

13

Iowa, November 2013

My parents were surprisingly okay with my announcement that I’d be missing out a few days of school to drive across six states with Jake, Beck, and Claudia. It helped that the LSATs had passed. I wasn’t sure how it went. One minute I was sure I’d done okay, the next I was filled with doubt.

That was kind of a theme for my life right now.

Anyway, I’d have accompanied Beck on this quest to find peace over his father’s death even if my mom and dad had been against it. A promise was a promise and my friend needed me. My parents… they actually understood, however, and even if they had reservations over Jake’s presence, they didn’t bring it up.

That’s how, almost two weeks after Beck arrived on our doorstep, I found myself in Jake’s dad’s borrowed SUV with the aforementioned. I was nervous. Beyond nervous, especially after Jake’s cold attitude toward me last time I’d seen him. However, I was determined to mask my nerves with cool silence and the occasional smart-ass remark.

Claudia and I had gotten the shuttle from Purdue to O’Hare and Jake had picked us up from there. Beck had gotten out and helped us with our bags and then promptly sat in the back with Claudia, leaving me to haul my ass up into the passenger seat beside Jake.

Awkward didn’t even cover it. I said hello and was surprised to get a perfectly nice greeting back. However, silence fell almost immediately between us. Claudia and Beck spoke quietly in the back and every time I looked in the rearview mirror, they were sitting close, heads together. Beck seemed better than he had before. Claudia had been chatting to him almost every day and now that he had focus, something to do, he was coping with his father’s death better than any of us could’ve expected.

It helped that Claudia was in his life now. I knew it did.

I had to wonder about that—about Claudia’s intentions. It was such a delicate subject I hadn’t wanted to bring it up in case we started arguing about it. Yet, I was curious to know what their behavior with one another meant. Had Claudia decided to give him a shot?

I mused over this in silence as Jake drove us down the I-80W. We’d driven through Illinois. Much of the snow that had fallen a few days ago had been cleared and was disappearing, so we made good time. We’d been driving for about three hours when we hit Davenport, Iowa.

“Pee break?” Jake asked.

“Yes, please,” Claudia said. “I didn’t want to be a total girl and ask but my bladder has been ready to burst for the last half hour.”

I glanced back at her. “That’s because you drank almost two bottles of water.”

“It’s warm in here.” She shrugged.

I eyed Beck and the fact that his left side was glued to her right. Of course she was warm back there.

“I was thinking we could stop for something to eat in Des Moines and then stop somewhere near Lincoln for a motel,” Jake suggested.

I nodded. “You’re driving so you should decide. That’s a while to be behind the wheel.”

He shrugged now. “About eight and a half, nine hours in total.”

“We can stop before then.”

“Well, we left Chicago at eight o’clock. It’s just coming up for eleven now. We’ll get to Des Moines about one thirty. Break for an hour. We should get to Lincoln by five. I’m cool with that.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Beck agreed.

I was concerned Jake was going to be exhausted constantly on this trip. “I can take over driving if you want.”

He surprised me by shooting me a small smile before turning his attention back to the road. Where had the moody, snappy version of Jake gone? “No worries. Beck’s on my dad’s insurance. He and I will alternate days.”

Jake pulled over at a gas station in Davenport and we got out to see to our needs. Afterwards, as Claudia and I were washing our hands in perhaps the world’s nicest gas station bathroom, she said, “You need to start talking to Jake or this road trip is going to be beyond awkward.”

I grinned at her. “I thought you were too busy cozying up with Beck to notice what was going on in the front seat.”

She made a face. “No. You and Jake are acting like there’s a plate of soundproof glass between you. I was hoping you could at least try to get along.”

“We’ve been perfectly pleasant with one another. We’re not going to whisper in each other’s ears and brush one another’s hands and press up against each other like you and Beck—all of which is questionable behavior and note that I am keeping my nose out of it.”

Claudia snorted. “That’s you keeping your nose out of it?”

I rounded my eyes in mock innocence. “What? I didn’t ask one question about you and Beck and whether this means you’re going to start seeing each other…”

Her answer was to punch me in the arm like a five-year-old and prance out on a huff. I think I struck a nerve.

Smirking, I followed her out and into the gas station where we bought some snacks to tide us over until we hit Des Moines.

Keeping Claudia’s comment in mind, I attempted to make small talk with my ex-boyfriend as we got the show back on the road.

“It was good of your dad to let you borrow his car.”

“It’s safer than most vehicles we could’ve afforded to rent. Dad’s borrowing mom’s while we’ve got this.”

I opened a bag of potato chips and offered them to him. He took some, eating one-handed. “How are they? Your family?”

He finished munching and shot me a quizzical look. “They’re fine but isn’t that the question I should be asking you?”

“I believe you’ve already asked that question.”

“I did. Two months ago.”

I shot him a droll look. “Let’s just say not much has changed.”

“I wouldn’t know. You never told me how things were to begin with.”

I sighed. Apparently Jake and I couldn’t do small talk. Hoping a little music might quell the tense silence, I reached over to turn on the radio. Unfortunately, Jake had the exact same idea. Our fingers brushed and a frisson of electricity sparked between us. We snapped our arms back at the contact, and I hurriedly glanced out the window, willing the heat coursing through me to cool.

Just like that, my whole body was aware of him. I was aware of every time his hands shifted on the wheel, every little sound he made, or when he’d look into the rearview mirror to answer a question from Claudia or Beck. That awareness had me stealing glances at him. Little glances, little stolen snapshots of his enviously long eyelashes, of the two little freckles on his left earlobe, of his large, masculine hands, of the slightly fuller lower lip that had fascinated me since we were sixteen…

I was flooded by memories.

Those memories hurt all over.

Clenching my hands into fists in case they reached out to involuntarily touch him, I tried to remember a time when Jake wasn’t a part of me, but the memories of when he was were just too overwhelming.

They won and I lost. But I’d gotten really good at pretending that wasn’t true.

* * *

There were no words to describe how happy I was to get out of the car when we reached Des Moines. Beck was in the mood for lunch at IHOP, so Jake used his dad’s GPS to find us the nearest one. It took us off our main route, but as soon as Beck mentioned it, I couldn’t stop picturing pancakes, waffles, scrambled egg, bacon, and maple syrup.

But mostly, I was just glad to be leaving the world of awkward silence, stifling tension, and unspoken words.

The four of us slid into a booth and, after we ordered, I remembered the last time the four of us dined out on a trip together.

Things had been so different back then. Hard to believe it was only a little over seven months ago.

“Okay, let’s play a game.” Claudia grinned at Beck and Jake across the table. I noted the mischievous twinkle in her green eyes.

“Do we have to?” I asked.

“Yes, Grumpy Betsy, we do.”

I snorted. “Grumpy Betsy?”

Claudia waved off my teasing. “Never mind. Anyway, Beck and I play this game all the time.”

“Maybe IHOP isn’t an appropriate place for a game you and Beck play,” Jake offered slyly.

I laughed because he’d beaten me to it.

Our eyes met, his smiling into mine like he knew exactly what I was thinking.

“Get your minds out of the gutter,” Claudia scolded. “It’s not like that. The game is you choose a couple, or two friends or whatever, who are eating out together and you have a conversation for them. We’ll show you.” She glanced around the room and then surreptitiously pointed. “There.” She gestured to a young couple who sat with their elbows on the table, leaning a little across the distance so they could speak in lowered voices. “Beck.”

He looked at the couple and smiled. “Baby, you smell better than apple pie and taste better than maple syrup.”

I groaned but grinned.

Claudia gave an exaggerated sigh of happiness as the girl tilted her head to the side, causing her hair to fall away from her neck. “It’s my new perfume. It’s called Eau de IHOP.”

We laughed and Claudia nudged me. “Your turn. You and Jake.”

And that’s when I understood her plan with this stupid game. “I don’t know.”

“Ah, c’mon, it’ll pass the time,” Jake encouraged. He pointed across the restaurant to an elderly couple. Although it was cold outside, it wasn’t freezing, but both were wearing layer upon layer. The woman, wearing an ugly multicolored hat, was eating quietly, while her husband ate and tried to read the newspaper. His face was bent low over the paper as he chewed.

The woman looked at him over her spectacles and started to speak.

I smiled. “Could you get any closer to that paper? Are there naked women in it or something?” I filled in for her.

As the man replied, Jake said, “If there were, I wouldn’t know it. Last time I saw a naked woman, I’d just helped oust the Nazis from Holland.”

I could hear Claudia and Beck laughing but I managed to stay in the game as the woman apparently snapped something at her partner. “Don’t remind me. I had to get a cream for the itch you brought back.”

The older man peered up from his newspaper and Jake said in his stead, “I’d treasure that memory. It’s the most daring thing that ever happened to you.”

I choked on a chuckle and replied as the woman tapped a hand on the newspaper. “That’s it. You better start looking in the classifieds for your own place.”

The man didn’t say anything, but he took a bite of omelet as he looked at the woman. He started to speak and Jake answered with, “I think you’ll find it’s my name on the deed to the house.”

The woman leaned over the table to him and I said, “If I left, you wouldn’t know what hit you. Do you think just anybody would wash out your skid marks and deal with the glasses of false teeth you leave lying around?”

“Ugh,” Claudia giggled.

“Me? You think I’m hard to live with?” Jake replied. “What about all those ceramic owls you got lying around the whole house? I can’t move an inch without walking into a damn ceramic owl. And don’t get me started on the pot pourri.”

I shot a look at Jake and mouthed, “Pot pourri?”

He grinned.

Looking back at the couple, I watched as the woman dug into her breakfast but continued to speak to the man. “If I didn’t have pot pourri everywhere, the house would smell of cigars and feet.”

“Don’t start in on me about my cigars, woman,” Jake snapped as the man waved his fork at his wife. It really did look like they were arguing about something. “My cigars mask the smell of that damn pot pourri and chicken. Don’t you know how to cook anything else?”

“How about arsenic and apple pie?” I answered in mock anger.

The two didn’t say anything for a few seconds and then the man patted his wife’s hand and she gave him a small smile.

“I can deal with the pot pourri and chicken if you can deal with my cigars and teeth,” Jake said quietly.

As the woman nodded and replied, I said, “Sure. And tonight… I’ll let you leave the light on.”

“Aw, sweetheart, that’s real nice of you but I think we’d both get on better with the light off.”

Our eyes met at that, Jake’s twinkling with laughter, and I found myself giving into that laughter, feeling it for the first time in as long as I could remember. By the time the food arrived, the tension between us had eased and we dug into our food, our foursome joking and chatting about meaningless things and enjoying the peace of the momentary distraction from all the meaningful things.

I tried not to meet Claudia’s smug, satisfied gaze.

* * *

The drive from Des Moines to Lincoln, Nebraska, was about three hours, give or take. The light chitchat from the restaurant carried over and the hours seemed to pass faster now that Jake and I could talk without stumbling over the big stuff.

We found a cheap motel in Lincoln just off the I-80. We got two rooms and Jake said he was taking a nap before dinner. Claudia and I had just dumped our things in the room when she turned to me.

“I’d like some time alone with Beck. Will you be okay on your own?”

I studied her a moment, trying to understand what was going on. Finally, I said, “Of course I’ll be fine. But I’ve got to ask—”

“I don’t know,” she cut me off abruptly, throwing her hands up in the air. Her beautiful eyes shimmered with emotion. “I really don’t know. All I know is that I’m the one person who can lift Beck’s mood. I’m the one person he can talk to about anything… and these last few weeks…” Her expression seemed to plead with me. “Charley, he’s letting me in. For the first time I really feel like he’s letting me all the way in. And life’s too short, right? We both know that.”

It wasn’t that I wasn’t happy for her. I truly believed she and Beck were meant for one another. But I also believed that there was a time for everything and I wanted to make sure she was doing this for the right reasons, and that she was ready for it. “And everything from before… the reason you decided to walk away from him for good. You’ve worked all that out?”

Claudia blew air out between her lips, looking a little lost. “If I’m honest, no. But I’m starting to wonder if I go on the way I am, I’ll always find an excuse not to trust someone. If I don’t see where this is leading, if I don’t try, I’ll regret it.”

“And Will?” I said, reminding her of the TA.

She looked a little ashamed as she said, “I broke that off a few days after Beck’s dad passed.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You kept that quiet.”

“I knew if I told you, you’d make assumptions about what’s going on between me and Beck.”

“Assumptions that would turn out to be right.”

“Charley, you wanted me to see Beck in this light for a long time. I need you to support me in whatever happens here.”

“I do.” I pulled her in for a hug. “I always will. But Beck is going through this huge emotional upset right now and I just don’t want you to get chewed up in it.”

Claudia held me tight. “He wanted to try something serious with me before his dad died, remember?”

“Yes. It’s the only thing stopping me from grabbing your hand and running a million miles away from him while he’s going through what he’s going through.” I stepped back and gave her a small smile. “I’m here no matter what. Why don’t I go check out the bar while you guys talk?”

She smiled gratefully. “You wouldn’t mind?”

“Not at all.”

I left my friend to it and made my way across the lot to the on-site restaurant and bar, my mind on Claudia and Beck. I did want it to work out for them, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t terrified for Claudia. She’d been disappointed by so many people who were supposed to love her. I didn’t know if she could take any more disappointment, and I was only ninety percent sure that Beck would remember everything she’d gone through and treat her carefully while he dealt with his own demons.

Totally lost in thought, I’d only taken two steps inside the almost empty bar when my feet faltered. A blond woman sat in profile at the bar.

“Andie?” I whispered in disbelief.

My heart slammed so hard I thought it was going to launch itself out of my chest. Sweat slickened my palms as my body froze to the spot.

Then just like that, the blond turned to smile at the bartender.

It wasn’t Andie.

Of course it wasn’t.

How could it be?

Tears pricked my eyes and I stubbornly shoved them back as I marched up to the bar and slid into a stool.

“I’m going to need to see some ID.” The middle-aged bartender smiled kindly at me. He was tall, broad-shouldered, and he looked like he could handle himself. He also looked like he wasn’t born yesterday. Thank God I was twenty-one now.