Laguna Cove (10 page)

“Okay, I confess. I wasn’t really sick,” she said, adding half-and-half to her coffee until it was light tan in color. “I met up with a friend from school and she invited me to a beach party. Are you mad?” She looked at him cautiously.

“No.” He shook his head, and reached for two plates. “But you could have told me that.” He came over to the table where she was sitting and handed her a plate full of eggs, toast, fruit, bacon—the works.

“I know. I didn’t want to lie, but I also didn’t want to make you feel bad since we haven’t spent much time together,” she said, inwardly thinking,
Not like that’s my fault!

“Well, you can make it up to me today. I thought we could go downtown, stroll around the galleries, have lunch, just relax,” he said, taking a bite of his whole-grain toast.

Anne just looked at him. She wasn’t exactly sure how to tell him that she wouldn’t actually be able to “make it up” to him. “Um, well, I kind of made plans,” she said, taking a sip of her coffee. “A friend has offered to teach me to surf. I’m supposed to meet him on the beach at noon.”

“Don’t worry about it,” her dad said. “Go and have fun with your friends. In fact, it’s funny you mentioned it, because I was thinking about getting back on a board myself.”

“You?”
Anne wished she hadn’t sounded so incredulous, but the thought of her dad surfing was insane. He was
old.
He could get hurt! There was no way he could be serious. “What exactly do you mean, ‘back on a board’?”

“Don’t look so shocked. I used to surf,” he said, taking a sip of his coffee.

“Uh,
when
? I mean, I’ve never seen any evidence of this.” She shook her head and speared a piece of cantaloupe.

“Admittedly, it’s been a few years, but I think I’ve still got it in me.” He nodded. “I had a longboard. And I was pretty good, I’ll have you know.”

“Whatever, Dad,” Anne said, finishing up her eggs. “Just please let me have the waves to myself today. No need for both of us to be humiliated.”

At exactly six minutes past noon (she didn’t want to look overly anxious), Anne headed down the stairs and onto the beach, looking for Chris. But not seeing him anywhere, she casually dropped her towel onto the sand, acting as though she wasn’t at all concerned that she might very well possibly be getting stood up.
He did say noon, right?

“Hey.” She looked over to see Chris coming out of the water. His hair was slicked back, his board was under his arm, and even though she was trying not to stare, his body was cut, tanned, and totally amazing. “Glad to see we’re still on. It’s a good day to learn; the swells are kind of small,” he said, smiling.

“I didn’t really know what to bring,” she said nervously, trying not to gawk at his six-pack abs. “So I just brought some sunscreen and a towel.”

“No worries,” he said. “I’ve got everything you need.”

And when he smiled, she thought it might very well be true.

chapter twenty-two

Ellie’s coaching lesson was not going well and it probably had a little something to do with the deep pool of regret she was currently wading in. Not to mention the hangover that had her not only fatigued and nauseous, but seriously longing to climb back into bed, pull the covers over her head, and forget about surfing, Surf Fest, and just about everything else.

It was Duncan, not her dad, who’d woken her this morning. And just hearing his voice had brought it all back. Her father was already at the hospital and her brother apparently didn’t answer the phone anymore, so finally on the fifth ring she reached over and croaked, “Hello?”

“Ellie, did I wake you?” he’d said.

“Um yeah. Kind of. What time is it?” she’d asked.

“Ten thirty.”

“Oh my God,” she’d said, throwing off the sheets and jumping out of bed way too fast for her compromised condition. “Um, I gotta go. Can we talk later?” She fell back onto the mattress, gripped the edge, and closed her eyes against the banging in her head.

“Sure. I’ll call you later,” he’d said, sounding disappointed.

Oh, God. If that upset him, just wait ’til I tell him the truth, that I made a huge mistake and should never have kissed him
, she’d thought, feeling bad about the prospect but glad that she could put it off for a few more hours.

And now, out there in the ocean, all she wanted to do was float on her board, with the sun beating against her skin like a warm blanket while the gentle waves rocked her to sleep. She could think of nothing better.

“Maybe we should cut this short today,” her coach, Lina, said.

“I’m sorry.” Ellie slowly lifted her head and squinted at her. “I had kind of a rough night. And to be honest, I wasn’t really into this to begin with. This was all pretty much my dad’s idea.” She rolled her eyes.

“Not a problem.” Lina shrugged. “Either way, I’m still getting paid. But if you ever decide to get serious, give me a call,” she said, heading for shore.

“Hey! Excuse me!” Ellie yelled after her. “But for your information, I
am
serious!” She sat up on her board and glared at the back of Lina’s head, but all the while she wondered if it was true.

chapter twenty-three

Lola was almost out the door when she heard her mother call, “Lola? Can you come here for a minute?”

Oh God, I was so close,
she thought, dutifully turning around and heading back into the kitchen to see what she could possibly want now.

“Oh, there you are,” her mother said, leaning against the kitchen counter and sipping something out of a blue ceramic mug that Lola assumed contained her usual herbal tea concoction. “Did your friend get home okay last night?”

“What?” Lola squinted at her mom. “Oh, yeah,” she said, suddenly remembering how she’d lied about Anne being sick. “Thanks for understanding,” she added.

Her mother nodded. “I’m sorry you had to leave so early There was someone there I wanted you to meet. So I gave him your number.”

“What?” Lola dropped her beach bag onto the floor and stared at her.
She can’t be serious. Please, dear God, don’t let her be serious!

“His name is Diego. He is the son of one of your father’s associates. He’s just a year ahead of you and I really think you two will hit it off.” She smiled excitedly.

“But,” Lola began, trying to think of a really good reason for why this could
never
,
ever
happen.

But she hesitated too long and her mom continued, “His family lives in Palos Verdes Estates and he has plans to go to Columbia University next year,” she said, taking a sip of tea and watching Lola closely.

“Okay, and what does any of this have to do with me?” Lola asked calmly, trying to hide her mounting panic. “I mean, why do I have to meet him?” As far as Lola was concerned, she wasn’t feeling very single right now, despite the fact that she’d just been dumped.

“Because I think it’s important.”

Lola took a deep breath and stared at her mother. She knew what this was about. Her mother had obviously found a nice Mexican boy who came from a good (i.e., wealthy, i.e., respectable) family, and she had absolutely no regard for the fact that Lola had recently had her heart
ripped to shreds
and wasn’t exactly interested in meeting
anyone
right now. Okay maybe her mom didn’t know any of that because she hadn’t exactly told her, but still. How could she do this to her?

“It’s a shame you had to leave early to take your friend home,” her mom continued, giving Lola a look that said she hadn’t bought the story for one measly second. “Anyway, you should hear from him today or tomorrow. And Lola, when he asks you out, I expect you to say yes.”

Lola just stood there, staring at her mother, knowing there was no way to win this one.

chapter twenty-four

Jade sat on her beach towel observing her friends. Anne was out there with Chris, doing surprisingly well. And according to Jade’s unofficial count, Anne fell off Chris’s longboard only a handful of times, which was pretty amazing for her very first day. But then again, it also seemed like Chris had found like a million reasons to hold on to her—like, way more than necessary.

Then there was Ellie, not doing much of anything but bobbing in the water, trying to act like she wasn’t watching Chris and Anne, even though it was totally obvious that she was completely obsessed. Even from the vantage point of her towel, Jade could see Ellie’s head swiveling around, watching their every move.
She must be feeling pretty lousy right about now
, Jade thought, remembering her friend’s surprising behavior the night before. If it were anybody else, it wouldn’t even be worth remembering. That’s what parties were for! But Ellie wasn’t just anybody—she held herself to a pretty impossible standard and up until last night, she’d managed to stick to it.

But it was Duncan that Jade really felt sorry for. Especially when he’d figure out that Ellie wasn’t into him, that she was just using him to get back at Chris. Jade knew that Duncan had been crushing on Ellie for about as long as Ellie had been crushing on Chris. It was just so damn obvious that she couldn’t understand why nobody else could see it.

She applied more sunscreen and lip balm, then lay back on her towel, closing her eyes against the sun.
Why is it so hard for people to stop lying to themselves?
she wondered.

“Hey, Jade.” Lola dropped her towel right next to hers.

“What’s up?” Jade peered at her friend, knowing for sure that something was definitely not going right in her life.

Lola just shrugged and dug through her beach bag, pulling out a stack of magazines that could stock an entire newsstand—
ELLEgirl, InStyle, Latina, SG, Teen Vogue, Vanity Fair, People, Shop Etc., Lucky …

“Your bag must weigh thirty pounds,” Jade laughed, reaching for one.
“House & Garden?”

“Hey, I’m an addict. Any glossy will do,” Lola said, putting on a straw cowboy hat to shade her face from the sun. “Oh, and have I mentioned that my mother has expanded her parental duties?”

“Oh no,” Jade said. Lola’s mother gave new meaning to the word “ambitious.”

“Oh yes.” Lola nodded. “She’s now appointed herself as my very own dating director slash life coach.”

“No way.” Jade stared at her friend.

“Apparently she has a wonderful young man all lined up for me. So I now have the pleasure of sitting by my cell, breathlessly awaiting a call from
Diego
—the best thing to come out of Mexico City since my dad.” She rolled her eyes dramatically and lay back on her towel. “Little does she know, I put my phone on vibrate so I won’t have to hear it ring. He can just leave a message for all I care.”

“Oh, that does not sound promising,” Jade said, looking at her friend with sympathy. “But maybe it won’t be as bad as you think.”

Lola opened one eye and looked at her. “Jade, you’ve met my mother. I think we both know how bad it will be!”

“Oh, you know I hate negative thoughts, but this time you’re probably right,” she agreed.

“My life is a disaster.” Lola shook her head and placed her hat completely over her face. “Tell you what, I’ll just lie here with my eyes closed and you tell me if you see or read anything interesting. I just need to zone out for a while, but I swear I’m listening.”

“Something interesting … Okay, well, my across-the-street neighbor keeps walking up and down the beach. This is now her fourth or fifth lap.”

“Maybe she’s just exercising,” Lola said from under her hat.

“No, I think it’s more about showing off her new boobs—those don’t come cheap, you know. Okay, and Chris and Anne have been in the water for a while now, he’s teaching her to surf, and believe it or not, she’s actually pretty good. So good, in fact, that he probably does not need to be holding her quite as much as he is, which indicates something else entirely.”

“What?”

“That Chris is totally into Anne,” Jade said, impatiently.

“Chris and Anne?” Lola asked, removing her hat and opening one eye.

“Yup. So much for my big plans.” Jade sighed and looked back toward the water.

“What plans?” Lola looked at her.

“Nothing,” Jade said quickly, not wanting to share with Lola how she’d failed miserably at her own lame matchmaking attempt.

“Okay, continue. This is getting good,” Lola said, replacing her hat.

“Okay, and poor Ellie has been bobbing out there for what must be hours now.”

“Bobbing? Not surfing?” Lola’s voice sounded muffled from beneath the straw.

“Not surfing. She’s through with surfing. Well, at least for today. And it appears that her coach has abandoned her.”

“Should we swim out there and talk to her?”

“No.” Jade shook her head. “I have a feeling she just wants to be left alone. And Lola, I hate to break it to you, but your bag is vibrating.”

chapter twenty-five

Realizing her fingers and toes were completely shriveled from way too many hours spent in the water, Ellie hopped on her board and rode her last, and possibly best, wave of the day.

Dragging her board up the beach, she stopped to watch three little tow-headed kids bury their father in the sand.

“Hey, Ellie!”

She looked over to see Jade, Lola, Anne, and Chris lying on their towels, laughing and talking. Seeing Anne and Chris like that, with their towels pushed so close together, made her stomach go all weird again. But now that they’d seen her she had no choice but to go over and say a quick hello.

“Hey,” she said, giving a little wave.

“How’d the coach work out?” Chris asked.

Ellie dropped her board on the sand and shrugged. “I guess I just wasn’t feeling very into it today.”

“Maybe Anne could help you.” He laughed. “She’s a natural.”

Ellie narrowed her eyes at him. He was so nice and easygoing that he probably meant nothing by it, but still.
What a thing to say.
Guys could be so insensitive.

“I doubt that. I’ve seen you surf,” Anne said, looking at Ellie and smiling. “You’re pretty amazing out there.”