I grabbed the backpack Mason was shoving my way, unable to take my gaze away from the gargantuan home. My mind was working overtime trying to figure out who lived there.
“You’re free to go,” Mason said, shooing Lenny away.
I turned finally. I was annoyed with how Mason seemed so unconcerned about sending Lenny on his way after kidnapping him and scaring him half to death.
I was about to let him have it when a young guy came bounding down the staircase to greet us.
“Are my eyes playing tricks on me or is this the pretty boy himself?” the guy said, totally happy to be laying eyes on Mason.
I laughed at the pretty boy comment. I wasn’t sure who this guy was, but he was stunning. He smiled at Mason and then took a look at me as Mason talked his ear off.
“Get inside and you can fill me in on the rest of your wild ride, man,” he ordered, heading back up the stairs in his designer jeans and vintage t-shirt.
The inside of the house was huge and seemed to go on forever in every direction. I felt so small looking around.
I waited patiently for Mason to tell me his name. I kept staring at him—he was flawless.
I couldn’t imagine he was that much older than me.
“So, Mason, are you going to introduce me to your gorgeous sidekick? Or are you still that rude when it comes to beautiful girls?” He flashed a perfect set of white teeth in my direction, his crisp baby blues sucking me in further.
“This is Kendall. Kendall, this is Jay Archer,” Mason said, leaving me in shock.
I couldn’t believe this was the Jay Archer—the one I’d heard so many bad things about.
I couldn’t believe what he looked like. The guy I had despised all these years was hot. And that was saying a lot because Mason was hard to beat in the looks department. Jay was gorgeous in an entirely different way—he looked so wholesome and all-American.
My heart sped up. My attraction was quite possibly obvious as I looked at him.
“Mason has always talked about you. It’s almost like we’ve already met,” Jay said with a smile. He winked, leaning against the counter as Mason and I came into the kitchen.
“Good things, I hope. Although with Mason you never know,” I joked.
Mason gave me a weird look, trying to figure out my sudden good mood.
“Nothing but. This kid has talked about you since the beginning of our friendship,” he told me, cracking another mind-blowing smile.
Mason seemed a bit embarrassed Jay was letting me in on his little secret. It didn’t surprise me.
“Well, then, I’m glad,” I said, shooting him another smile myself.
Jay touched my shoulder, sending a shiver through me.
“I love the accent. You’re very southern like the southern belles in the movies,” he said, his hand still on my shoulder. His smile remained as our eyes met. He didn’t look embarrassed in the least.
“Uh, thanks. I’ve never liked the way I sound. Makes me feel different.” I blushed. “I love the way you talk, though.”
Mason cleared his throat, breaking into our moment.
“Yeah, Kendall hasn’t shaken the hillbilly yet. Anyway, can we grab a bite to eat and a shower?” Mason asked, helping himself to the refrigerator.
Jay backed off, looking at Mason with concern. He was puzzled by Mason’s sudden change of mood.
My eyes never left Jay as he helped Mason make sandwiches.
“Kendall, do you want a water?” Mason asked.
I nodded.
Jay leaned across the counter grinning at me. He grazed my hand as he put the sandwiches together.
“Do you like pasta, Kendall?” he asked, going to the stove to tend to the boiling water.
“Yeah, it’s one of my favorite things to eat.” I bit down on my bottom lip, drawing it in as he stirred the pasta.
Mason dropped my plate on the countertop and headed for the dining room. My sandwich fell on the floor.
That got my attention, and now I was pissed at his foul mood. I quickly started to clean up the mess Mason made all over the marble floor.
“I’m sorry,” I said softly. My face burned with embarrassment.
“Why are you apologizing for Mason?” he asked, taking the food out of my hands. He opened up a door on the cupboard and tossed the sandwich in the trash. It didn’t seem to bother him at all.
“I think he’s mad at me,” I said, trying to find the words to explain what was going on, even though I wasn’t really sure myself.
“You did nothing wrong. And you’re a guest in my home. So take my food, eat, nap, do whatever you want. Don’t worry about Mason.” He touched my hand, trying to comfort me after Mason’s tantrum.
“I don’t feel so hungry anymore,” I said, pushing the plate away. I knew I needed to find Mason and smooth things over.
“Bull, you look hungry to me. Don’t bullshit me…eat! Mason will be over this in no time. Mark my words,” he said, giving me a wink.
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” I told Jay. Mason knew I was attracted to Jay. So, unless things didn’t turn around, it could get ugly fast.
“Guys are jealous of just about anything. He’ll be okay.” He squeezed my shoulders and didn’t let go until I agreed with him.
I finally nodded and smiled.
“Okay, I’ll let you be right this time. But that doesn’t mean I don’t know him a lot better than you,” I insisted, taking the sandwich. He was right, I was starved.
It had been days since I had anything close to food.
JULY 10
TH
IT WAS ALMOST MORNING and I still hadn’t slept.
I was sitting outside on the patio chewing my nails obsessively. Aunt Wanda and I were no longer together. Even though I hated her, it still didn’t stop part of me from feeling like I was incomplete. I didn’t trust anyone like I did her—besides Mason.
My thoughts ran wild with what kind of trouble we were probably in. I wondered how many police departments were on the lookout for us. I wondered if there were sketches of us out there.
I feared my life was going to be cut short. That I wasn’t going to get a chance at a good one. I was scared of everything.
Someone touched my shoulder, and I jumped. An older woman with drab blue eyes. She pulled the shawl she was wearing closer to her fragile frame.
She took a seat in the chair across from me. She smiled and pushed her hair behind her ear, several rings adorning her knobby fingers.
“It’s just amazing out here,” she said, letting out a breath of air as she smiled into the pre-dawn sky.
I agreed, watching her as we soaked in the beautiful view together.
“Everything about this place is amazing,” I said. I loved the smell of the water nearby, and the way that, even in July, there was still a coolness that gave me goose bumps.
“I grew up ten minutes from here in a little town called Oran. My father was a fisherman—a good one.”
“I’m sure it was a good life living so close to the water.”
I smiled at her. She seemed at ease talking to me.
“It was the best life one could ask for. What is your name?” she asked. “In all my rambling I forgot to ask.”
“Kendall,” I said.
“Mason always talked about you in all the years he and that tramp of a mother passed through,” she said. She tightened her grip on her shawl as the wind grew stronger. “Pardon my French, but I have always thought that woman was just awful.”
“No problem. She is and probably always will be,” I said with a nod.