Distracting the Billionaire's Son (2 page)

“Who has the other cabin, do you know?”

Eric came back down the steps for the last of his bags. “I
think mom said she was putting the McCollister girls in there.”

Shannon grimaced. “Didn’t you and Sarah, last summer…?”

“Yes,” he interrupted. “But nothing’s stopping us from doing
it again this summer. If she’s still cute.”

“Wow, shallow much?”

“Henry’s coming.” He gave her a pointed look and then
hurried up the steps into his cabin. Shannon flushed hard. This caught my
attention – Shannon rarely showed interest in any specific boys at school.

“Oh. Look, we’re going to go unpack.” She grabbed my hand
and whisked me back to the car before his laughter could embarrass her further.

“Henry McCollister is the hottest boy I have ever laid eyes
on.”

Our bags lay piled in the middle of the room, ignored. We’d
managed to unpack enough to change out of our sweaty travel clothes, but not
much else.

“That’s a big claim. How come I’ve never heard of this hottie
Henry McCollister before?” We climbed onto our matching twin beds and sat cross
legged facing each other. The tiny room was symmetrically laid out – two twin
beds with detailed, hand quilted blankets, two dressers, two tiny stools and a
window above each bed. Not entirely unlike our dorm room, really. There was a
bathroom with only a toilet and sink, and a hand-braided rug at the front door.
It was very quaint and a lot less fancy than I had expected, although the
little bell by the door for summoning housekeeping dissolved any pretend idea
we were roughing it.

Shannon shrugged and pulled at a star shape on her quilt. “I
don’t know. I haven’t seen him in like, three years. His mom and my mom were
roommates in college.” Shannon’s face brightened. “Like us! Mary McCollister’s
husband is a corporate lawyer and sometimes works with my dad, too. Henry’s the
oldest and adorable. Last time I’d seen him he was taking up surfing and had
skin like a bronzed statue.”

This was a side of Shannon I wasn’t used to. She was bright
and sweet, but rarely dreamy. Thinking about this mysterious Henry made her
eyelids droop and a drunken smile appear. In the filtered light, she looked
young and less put together than I’d ever seen her.

“He sounds fantastic. Have you and he…?”

“Nothing.” The dreamy look vanished and she sat up
straighter – the posture of a girl who’s had classes in sitting up straight.
“I’m a year younger than him. I was only seventeen last time he saw me and I
doubt he was looking to trade down, you know?”

“You’re all grown up now.” I wiggled my eyebrows at her and
she giggled.

“That’s true,” she agreed. “And there are going to be very
few people here for two weeks neither of us are related to. Except…” she gave
me a hesitant glance and I gave her a reassuring shake of my head.

“I will be too busy seducing cousins to even notice Mr. McCollister.”

We laughed easily together and she waved me off the bed.
“Come on, we’ll unpack later. Let me give you the grand tour.”

Shannon pointed the walking routes out on a detailed map
hung beside the front door. There were seven pods of cabins and walking the
whole route was about three miles. Most people drove ATVs to the main house,
but our pod was close enough to walk. The beach was only a few minutes through
the woods, and the main house a quick five minute walk.

Eric’s car was gone when we stepped outside and there was no
sign of Jonah. That’s when Shannon grimaced and stood in front of the fourth,
small round building at the center.

“These are the showers,” she said, and pointed to a flip
sign at the door. “We share with the pod. If you’re taking like, a real shower,
flip the sign to ‘Occupied.’ Most people don’t change the sign if they are only
going in to wash sand off in a bathing suit.”

“I guess we’re not leaving dorm life entirely behind, then.”
Shannon laughed and seemed to relax.

The main house was a pretty walk through the trees up a trail
with markers pointing to the different pod locations and the boat house. I was
starting to understand why they called this place Camp Silver. I wondered if a
bugle would call us to breakfast in the morning.

The main house turned out to be exactly what I expected of a
family as wealthy as the Silvers. The house looked like a giant bed and
breakfast with cars parked out front that cost more than my college tuition.
Jonah’s little BMW was still here. A butler greeted us at the door and Shannon
morphed into tour guide mode.

She had knowledge about where the stones in the foyer floor
came from and the chandelier’s French history. The dining room was big enough
to feed a small army and everything was painted light and bright to mimic the
glowing sunshine that spilled in through floor to ceiling tall windows. We
passed through three different living room areas.

She showed me the game room, with a billiards table and board
game tables, and the workout room which I swore I wouldn’t go into for any
money in the world. The kitchen was impressive but we were ushered out by a
very angry faced French man.

There was no formal library, but there was a huge wrap around
back porch with tables and big beach umbrellas, a hot tub, and a view that made
the whole trip worth it alone. Waves burst against the Silver’s private docks,
deep, untainted blue capped in fluffy white foam. It was picture perfect. There
were four boats of different sizes and colors tied up along the docks.

“You don’t like boats,” I pointed out after she told me what
each of them was used for.

“That’s true. I never go out. It’s one of the few family
things I don’t do, much to my mother’s broken heart. They’ll take that boat out
for skiing, that one for sunbathing, that one for overnight trips, and that one
for entertaining. You’re welcome to go with them without me, though.”

“It’s ok. I’ve gone this long without getting on a boat;
I’ll probably live two more weeks.”

On our way to the pool we passed along windows looking into
a study. Mr. Silver, who I had yet to meet but had seen pictures of, stood over
Jonah, speaking loud enough that we could hear his voice. Jonah sat forward on
his knees, the neat cuffs unbuttoned and shoved halfway up his arms. His
glasses were gone and while Shannon pointedly ignored what was happening as we
walked past, Jonah caught me watching. His expression remained impassive but
his eyes followed us until we were out of sight.

The pool turned out to be a little closed in area off the
beach with an outdoor grill and bar. This was Shannon’s favorite place on the
whole property, she said, and as soon as the gate behind us shut, she was
stripping out of her clothes down to her bikini.

Mrs. Silver and Melissa, Shannon’s older sister, were already
in their bathing suits in lounge chairs beneath umbrellas. I’d met them before
when they’d come to visit Shannon. I found Mrs. Silver as sweet as Shannon, and
Melissa twice as guarded. The tight line of her mouth reminded me of Jonah’s.

“Girls! I was wondering when you’d show up.” Mrs. Silver
kissed Shannon’s cheek and then tried to kiss mine but I pulled away at the
last minute. It was weird, all this kissing and touching and hugging that the
Silvers seemed so good at. Even Melissa exchanged Shannon’s hug with one of her
own. This was so far from anything my family ever did. I couldn’t even remember
my father hugging me as a child and since he’d married his new wife, there
weren’t even so much as phone calls, let alone hugs and kisses. The way the
Silvers cared about each other was wonderful, and horrible, to witness.

“I was giving Jess the tour.” Shannon sat at the edge of the
pool and dropped her feet in.

“You must be pretty overwhelmed, Jessica,” Melissa said with
a small, but kind, smile. “I hope you’re finding everything to your liking.”

“Yes, it’s overwhelming, but also really beautiful. I
appreciate you all having me.”

“You’re all Shannon ever talks about, we wouldn’t dream of
not having you.” Mrs. Silver gave my hand a squeeze and I retreated to the side
of the pool with Shannon.

I pulled my shorts and shirt off, and still felt very
overdressed in my blue one-piece bathing suit. The others wore similar bikinis
and had very beautiful bodies. It was impossible to tell Mrs. Silver had four
grown children and Melissa clearly spent a lot of time at the gym. Shannon did
not have the same toned, strong body as her sister, but she still looked good.

I knew my body was nice enough, but only Shannon knew why
I’d never come out here with a bikini on, and it was an accident Shannon had
ever seen the scars. I was always so careful to take showers late at night when
no one would walk in on me, but I hadn’t anticipated Shannon actually coming to
look for me that night. She told me they weren’t so bad, that enough time had
passed since the car accident that had taken my mom’s life. She said the scars
were hardly visible, and maybe that was true, but I could see them and I
couldn’t bare anyone else seeing them. Not ever.

***

The Silvers turned out to be exactly what I’d hoped them to
be – open and kind. Mr. Silver thankfully did not attempt to hug me when we
arrived for dinner. Shannon said it was a casual dinner, but I was starting to
understand her version of the word and my version of the word were very
different things. I wore jeans and a tank top. Everyone else wore summer
dresses and slacks. I was embarrassed, but decided this was something I was
going to have to get used to over the next two weeks. As accepting as the
Silvers seemed of me, we were just from two different worlds. Two different
planets.

Jonah was right, I couldn’t pronounce dinner, but it was
delicious anyway. There was rabbit in some sort of mushroom sauce over wide
flat pasta. Shannon had seconds, much to her mother’s chagrin, and Eric and
Shannon kept most of the conversation up between them. They asked me questions,
sometimes, but did not treat me like something in a bowl to be watched and
studied. Conversation was easy and I quickly felt like I belonged amongst the
Silver clan. My own family and school felt a million years away.

“What do you study, Jessica? Architecture, like my sister?”

It was the first time he’d spoken, and his voice commanded
the attention of everyone at the table. He sat across from me, his shirt neat
and cuffed once again. Without his sunglasses on I could see he had very dark
green eyes, piercing in their intensity. He looked very much like his father
when he spoke and his question didn’t feel like a question at all, but a
command.

“I…no. I am working on my BA in Fine Arts.”

There it was, the look I got from most people when I told
them I studied art. I might as well have told people I studied ancient philosophies
for as much good as they thought it would do me in the real world. Before I was
able to explain, he pounced on me.

“That’s not something a person studies if they want to make a
living for themselves and their family. What, exactly, do you plan to do to pay
off your student loans?”

Attacked. Cornered.
Most people were polite enough to
mumble some fake encouragement, but his unblinking accusation made me feel like
the rabbit on our plates.

“Jonah…” Shannon started, but I interrupted her before she
could make her brother stand down. The way he stared at me, I wanted to put him
in his place.

“Graphic arts, that’s what I do. And I minor in
communication. Right now I build webpages for extra money, but I want to work
for an animation studio when I graduate.”

“Isn’t that a very competitive field?” This from Mr. Silver,
who had the same commanding voice as Jonah, but lacked the edge that made Jonah
sound like he was threatening to attack instead of asking a question.

I set my fork down on my plate carefully. I’d had this same
conversation with my own father two years ago, and repeated every once in a
while for his benefit.

“Yes, it is very competitive, but I’m very good at it.”

“Lots of people are ‘
very good’
at it, but there are
only so many paying jobs in the arts. Surely you have a fall back in mind?”
Jonah again, the pressure of his voice made my heart quicken and my cheeks
flush.

“No, I am not pursuing a fall back career. I’m well aware
that in my field, success is forty percent talent and sixty percent luck.
You’re lucky if you know someone in the business, lucky if you get noticed,
lucky if you draw the right thing at the right time for the right person. I get
that, and I don’t have any control over the luck part. But I am very talented,
and I’m willing to roll the dice and hope luck will do the rest.”

I had everyone’s attention now and I wondered if they could
see how hard I was breathing or how my hands shook beneath the table. Jonah’s
eyes never left mine.

“And if you’re not lucky?” he asked, quieter this time.

“Then I keep working on the talent part until I am.”

***

After dinner, while Shannon taught me to play Mah-Jongg –
the
real kind, not that fake computer crap,
she said – that I began to
understand the real dynamic of the Silver family and why Jonah was so different
from his siblings.

Mrs. Silver was discussing wedding dress styles with Melissa,
whose winter wedding had dominated most of the after-dinner conversation
already, and Eric was lounging on the window seat texting his on again, off
again girlfriend. (
Off again, if Sarah McCollister was willing to pick up
where they’d left off last year, apparently
.) Jonah and his father were on
the opposite side of the room, in a similar position to what I’d seen earlier
through the study window. Jonah leaned forward on his knees, stared at nothing
on the ground, while his father towered and lectured. I caught words like
international
trading
and
investments
, and
international business
opportunities
,
but was otherwise engrossed in Shannon’s recounting of the history of the tiled
game. Shannon knew the history of everything.