“Two petty theft arrests under the age of eighteen isnota criminal record,” I remind her through gritted teeth. Before I can add that the first arrest was at nine, because my mom made me steal cigarettes, and the second was at fourteen when I stole from the grocery store because I was starving, Finn interrupts. “He’s donating a kidney to my sister, who is in kidney failure from her lupus.”
My head snaps around to glare at Finn. He shrugs. “What? Everyone was going to find out eventually.”
“Oh my lord,” Mrs. Green puts both hands to her chest. “How did I not know Terra was sick?”
“Because she didn’t want people to know,” I say to her as the wind picks up again and Mrs. Green’s hat goes airborne. Cassidy and I chase after it. Finn tries too but almost loses his towel, so he stops, much to Cassidy’s dismay.
I fetch the hat as it lands on a rock and carry it back to her. She smiles up at me gratefully and actually reaches up and pats my shoulder. “You are a special child Jake Maverick. You defied all the odds, had nothing stacked in your favor, but yet you made something of yourself. You should be very proud.”
Oh God, I’m going to end up on her damn blog again.
“It’s such a shame your mom doesn’t know what a good boy you’ve become,” Mrs. Green goes on. “Have you even seen her since you got back? She’s living in that trailer park off of Cascade Road. The one the golf course put up a huge line of hedges to block from sight because it was such an eye sore.”
“You never told us why you are hiding out in the rocks, Mrs. G.” I say to get the topic off my mother.
“Hiding out?” She lets loose one of those jarring giggles again. “We were exploring tide pools, just beyond the rocks. It’s where you can find sea glass at low tide. I collect it and make jewelry out of it. I have a booth booked at the Christmas Market. Be sure to come by and check it out in December. You can pick up a little something for Aspen, since you two are still… hanging out.”
Oh hell no. She heard us.
“You boys have a blessed day,” She and Cassidy walk over to the other car in the lot, get in and drive off.
Finn finishes pulling off his wetsuit. I stand there numb from panic and fighting the urge to puke. “She heard you say I slept with Aspen.”
“Maybe not,” Finn replies, tugging on some sweats under his towel. Nausea rolls through my belly like the waves on the ocean a few feet away. “Maybe she just heard me saying you were hanging out with her on your last day for sex.”
“I’m gonna puke,” I announce and bolt to the garbage can by the restroom entrance, making it just in time.
“Shit, you still do that?” Finn remarks, surprised. I don’t have much in my stomach so it doesn’t take long to empty it. When I stand up, Finn is fully clothed now in a hoodie and sweats and he reaches into his car and tosses me a pack of gum. “I didn’t know you still had that nervous stomach thing.”
“It comes and goes,” I mutter and unwrap a stick of gum.
I toss the pack back to him and walk back to the car and finish changing too. I pull on some black sweats with the OPFD logo on them and a charcoal Henley and shove my feet into some sneakers.
“Listen, even if she heard the Aspy part, she’s got a bigger scoop now. Hawkins kid gets kidney transplant from award-winning firefighter. That’s the real scoop.”
“Terra is going to kill you for telling her,” I remind him.
Finn doesn’t look the least bit worried. “Let’s be honest, in this town, it’s a miracle no one found out she was sick before now. And when both of you are wandering around town all stitched up and stuff, people are gonna talk. Now we’re controlling the message. It’s a PR move.”
“I’m sorry, but who are you? You look like Finn and Logan but you sound like Declan,” I ask cocking my head to the side and squinting like I truly don’t recognize him.
He gives me a shove and laughs. “Don’t tell Deck but sometimes I listen when he talks.”
“I gotta go meet Aspen,” I tell him. “You better tell Terra Mrs. Green knows before it ends up on the blog.” He nods and waves as he jumps into his SUV and I slide into the Jeep. Ten minutes later, I’m back on the beach but at the other end in front of the Five Seasons hotel. It’s the newest building in Ocean Pines, and the tallest at ten stories. It was built to blend with the historic town so on the outside it’s wood shingles and wrap-around verandas like a mansion more than a hotel, but inside it’s all modern rooms with gleaming marble and posh furnishings. Aspen is beside me and Major is bouncing like a lunatic in front of us as I hold up a tennis ball.
“Just a couple throws, Jake. Major is an old boy now and he will start limping if we throw it too much,” Aspen explains. Her curly hair is plopped up haphazardly on top of her head. She’s not wearing makeup and there are shadows under her eyes.
I toss the ball and Major takes off like a rocket. “How long until you can get into your old place again?”
“Still fighting with the insurance companies, mine and the building’s,” Aspen sighs. “I’m looking at other options now. Get a whole new place.”
“And working a lot I see?” I say and nod toward the circles under her eyes.
She gives me a wry smile. “Always know how to make a girl feel special, Jake.”
“Sorry,” I mutter. “You need to take extra care of yourself now.”
“I know. I am, I promise. But you’ve got me worried about you now,” she counters and pulls her phone from her pocket and shows me the screen. “You text me last night to confirm the meeting today and added something crazy about needing me to be your emergency contact. Isn’t that what the twins are for?”
