For a second, Ocean wondered if she was the only teenager on the planet actually rooting for her parents to split. She hated bullies. Hated people who took advantage of others. She might only be fifteen, but she knew it wasn’t just a high school problem. Her father was living proof. The way he treated Skye? Straight-up bullying.
He wouldn’t ask for a divorce. Why should he? He had it made. Her mom made money, held everything together, took care of him and Ocean on a daily basis between working her jobs. Meanwhile, he got to fool around, knowing Skye either didn’t know, or worse, wouldn’t do a damn thing about it.
Argh.
Ocean shoved the phone in her pocket just as her mom came through the front door.
“Ready?”
“Ready.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“You’ve got that look on your face,” Skye said.
“What look?”
“Like you’re about two seconds away from either blowing a gasket or bursting into tears.”
“I don’t know what a gasket is, but I’m not doing either one.” Ocean popped her sunglasses on and headed for the door. Crazy, how her mom could read her mood without her saying a word.
“Walking or driving?” she asked.
“Driving, since I have no idea if that one boutique that used to be in town is even still there,” Skye said, snagging the car keys.
“Shopping first, then sightseeing? Or the other way around?”
“Neither. We’re making a surprise stop first.”
“Surprise? Where?”
“It wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you now, would it?” Skye said with a quick smile.
The afternoon was gorgeous. Way more people were on the sidewalks now than when they’d first arrived. Ocean tilted her head back and sighed. “Four days. We’ve been here only four days, but it feels longer.”
“Ready to go back to California?” Skye asked.
“No. I mean good longer,” Ocean blurted it out fast, almost panicked. “Harbor View is so cool. I want to figure the place out. Get out and explore.”
“But you don’t have any friends here.”
“I have Jo,” Ocean said with a grin.
“I mean someone you can actually go to the beach with. Someone real.”
“Give me time, Mom.” Ocean drew out the words in a classic teenage whine. “We’ve been here four days, remember?”
Skye pulled the car up in front of this giant, rambling house that looked like it had come straight out of some old movie. The place was massive, with porches wrapping around it like they couldn’t decide where to stop, chimneys poking up everywhere, and so many peaks and roof angles it looked like the architect had been high. The shingles were gray and weather-beaten, like no one had cared about them since forever, and the front door was just hanging open. From what she could see, the inside was almost totally gutted. Sunlight streamed through broken windows onto bare floors and piles of dust.
It didn’t look like any house Ocean had ever seen back in California. It was too big, too old, too…abandoned-princess-castle. And yet, even with construction going on, it kind of had this vibe, like the walls probably remembered when rich people in pearls and tuxes used to throw parties there.
“Is this the surprise? Who lives here?”
“Now that you’ve met Jo, I figured you’d want to see it.”
“Wait, was this Jo’s house?”
