Shit. I’d said way too much.
“Nothing.”
She squinted her eyes at me and moved closer. “Fucking tell me, Pierce, or you’ll regret it.”
Her nostrils flared, a warning I had only seconds until she attacked. Fine, if she wanted to drag it out of me, she’d learn the truth. “I bought the bed-and-breakfast for you. To keep the shitty historical landmark, you love so much alive. I want you to work there and oversee the changes.” She had to be blind to not see how every piece I moved helped her.
The car fell silent, only my heavy breathing as I battled to get my emotions under control broke up the silence. I loved the smell of the ocean, but as Katy’s lilac perfume coated the inside of my small car, I realized nothing would compare to her fragrance.
“Why would you do those things?” The question was quiet, almost whispered, the most delicate I’d ever heard Katy.
I sighed, irritated with myself that I’d lost control. “Sometimes, Katy,” I said with a shake of my head. “Sometimes, I really don’t know.”
There was nothing left to say between the two of us, so I hit the unlock button and the resounding click was so loud I flinched.
Katy looked at me for another beat or two and then her gaze swept away from mine to settle on my home. She shook her head twice before opening the car door and slamming it immediately after she let herself out of the space.
I rolled down the passenger window and leaned over the middle console, speaking loudly so she could hear. “Stay away from the high school!”
She turned around in a flash with her middle finger in the air and waved it at me before storming into her home.
7
Katy
The sun beat on Pierce’s deck boards as I walked across them the next morning. Quiet surrounded the house, meaning he probably hadn’t hired a replacement after firing his last housekeeper once he caught her stealing.
I would never ask, but I questioned if he thought of his staff the same way his grandfather did? As something disposable, to use once or twice and then throw away. Did he sleep with her? Hell, I’d found her attractive, so I’m sure he did too. It was none of my business, but I wouldn’t put it past him. I didn’t miss the fact he always hired cute staff.
With a special flourish, I shook my head to clear my thoughts. It didn’t matter who Pierce hired. He could have a whole damn harem and I wouldn’t care. What I found frustrating was how I hadn’t been able to let go of everything he said yesterday in his car. At first I wrote it off as lies, but parts of what Pierce said was true. It had to be.
I did have unusually cheap rent. Contrary to his belief, I didn’t always accept his rationale as truth. Even I realized he’d get more for my two-bedroom one bath home because of its vicinity to the ocean. Even as a vacation rental he could bring in more than six hundred dollars a month, but at the time he’d rented it to me, I didn’t want to ask questions.
Truthfully, I was too emotional about someone else getting to live there. My Nanna lived in the home for thirty years. As I helped pack her possessions, getting her ready to move into the nursing home, I couldn’t bear the thought of the house going to someone else.
It’s why I didn’t question his story about the rent. I was happy to have a place that meant so much to me growing up. I wanted to continue the traditions my grandmother started in that home years ago.
I had issues wrapping my head around other things, though. I understood exactly why I didn’t accept his story, but why did Pierce tell it to me? Was I another charity case? And were the rest of his shitty comments true? The discounts he gave me in lawn care? Letting me take over renovations on the Pelican Bay B and B. Why would he do those things? I didn’t need or want his charity and I didn’t want him thinking about me as someone he needed to help. The Kensington family had a reputation for philanthropic endeavors, but only when someone chiseled their name into a bronze plate and hung it some place for the world to see.
I assumed Pierce considered me a conquest. He wanted to take over this town and I—next to Pearl—was the one thing in this town he couldn’t buy. Pierce Kensington didn’t own me regardless of his money, stature, or good looks. Pearl and I were both hard as stone standing against the turbulent waves he created by buying up every piece of property.
The difference was Pearl had to be at least in her late sixties—no one really knew her age—and I’d been born in the same decade as Pierce. No way would he honestly be attracted to me. Our families had too much history and there was nothing special about me. I was just a regular boring person in Pelican Bay.
My family didn’t have money or social standing. There would be no reason for Pierce to truly want a relationship with me. Nothing long term at least. People like me weren’t worth more than a quick romp in the hay on occasion. I didn’t have any false beliefs on where I stood in his life. Newsflash, it wasn’t by his side.
We were sworn enemies, and I wasn’t about to risk going out like a Shakespearean character just to see what would happen if we allowed ourselves to hook up a few times. People murdered and poisoned themselves for less. Blood gave me the willies. No way did I plan to stab myself in the chest after Pierce did something obviously foolish.
To the left of Pierce’s back door, he had a small window above his washing machine that I’d used to sneak into his home in the past, but on a weird hunch I tried the doorknob and found it unlocked. It’s stupid to leave your doors open to everyone when you owned one of the largest houses on the coast, but on the other hand I was the only person who wanted to cause Pierce harm.
He understood if I ever acted out on my anger, I’d do it to his face, not sneak up on him in the middle of the night.
I inched the door closed so it didn’t make a sound but then thought better of it. What if he left it unlocked to catch me in a breaking and entering situation? With that in mind I turned, opened the door again, and slammed it so hard the cabinet on the side of the wall shook.
Pierce’s house reminded me of a miniature version of the Louvre. I’d never been to France, but I heard it’s a vast museum. The noise probably didn’t make it to wherever he was plotting his world domination since he didn’t come barreling out of a faraway room. Quiet echoed off the tile floor in his kitchen, the constant tick of a clock somewhere in the near vicinity the only noise.
“Pierce!” I hollered through the home when he didn’t come running to see who wanted to kill him after the door slammed.
“I’m upstairs,” he yelled back a moment later.
