Waiting for the Storm (6 page)

Either way, I wasn’t going to unload on him until I was sure.

We finished making dinner, and I got out three pasta dishes. I was about to go in search of Dad when he peeked his head into the kitchen.

“Oh, Charlotte. And…Ezra, is it?”

“Yes, sir,” Ezra said.

“I thought I heard voices. And smelled…” He looked toward the stovetop and I suddenly remembered that alfredo had been one of Mom’s specialties. She’d taught me how to make it before she got sick, and it was one of Dad’s favourites.

“We were just about to eat,” I told him. “Why don’t you join us?”

He shook his head slowly. “I’m not hungry.” He looked exhausted, even though I knew he spent a lot of time sleeping lately. Or maybe he was pretending to sleep so he wouldn’t have to deal with Ella and me, or the rest of the world. “I’ll eat later. I’m just working in my room if you need me.”

“Okay, Dad,” I said, feeling slightly deflated. I thought maybe having Ezra there would have made a difference; that Dad would make more of an effort with someone else around. Clearly I was wrong.

Dad looked between us, nodding his head absently. He gave an equally absent smile and headed back to his bedroom.

“Well…” I said after I’d heard Dad’s door click shut. “That’s my family.” My voice wavered a little on the last word, and I turned away.

“Hey.” Ezra laid his hands lightly on my shoulders. “It’s okay.”

It wasn’t, but the way he said it almost made me believe it was true. He gently turned me around so I was facing him. With him standing so close, I realized how big he was—tall, broad, and muscular. He had to be at least six feet tall, and he ducked down slightly so we were eye to eye.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes…no. I don’t know. Things are just so…” I let out a noise of frustration, unable to voice all the thoughts swirling through my mind. “The way my dad was just now—that’s how he’s been since before my mom even died. It’s gotten worse in the last week, though. He hardly speaks to me, he barely eats, he sleeps a lot, he’s just…he’s here, but not
here.
He’s just sort of…checked out, you know?”

Ezra’s eyes darkened, and he nodded. “I do know.” I waited for him to say more, but once again, he didn’t elaborate.

“I just wish I could have some normalcy,” I said.

“Well, I can’t promise you normal,” Ezra said with a crooked smile, “but I can try to make sure you have some fun this summer. Does that sound like a good compromise?”

I blew out a long breath that ended on a light laugh. “Yeah. That does sound like a good compromise. Thank you, Ezra.” Since his hands were already on my shoulders, I impulsively closed the small gap between us and hugged him.

He stiffened for a moment, and I automatically started to pull back, feeling my cheeks flush with embarrassment. He drew me back, keeping his arms loose around me, but it didn’t escape my attention that our bodies fit perfectly together.

“Charlotte?” he whispered, his breath tickling my ear.

“Yeah?”

“Can we eat now? I’m starving.”

I shoved him away, glad the moment hadn’t had a chance to turn awkward. After being introduced to my crazy life, the least I could do was feed him.

CHAPTER SIX

After dinner we went outside and sat on the back porch. As sunset approached, I thought how strange it was to see the sun rise and set in the same day. Not a usual occurrence for me.

“I love this time of day,” Ezra commented, staring out over the water as the sky turned pink and purple. “This time of year, too. In the winter when the sun sets before five, the evenings are so long.”

He leaned back in his chair, stretching his long legs out in front of him and folding his hands behind his head. He looked so relaxed I half expected him to fall asleep, but his eyes remained open, scanning the horizon.

The sun descended slowly toward the water, a fiery ball that bathed everything in an almost eerie red glow. It hovered for a minute over the water before being swallowed up by the waves.

It felt like only seconds passed before the beach came alive. Teenagers spilled from houses further down the beach, and the bonfire from last night was relit. The scent of wood smoke drifted over, and I breathed it in. I’d always loved that smell, but because of the dry weather warnings back home I hadn’t encountered it since last autumn.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ezra’s head jerk. I glanced over, and he gave me a tired smile.

“Will you hate me if I take off?” he asked. “I feel like an ass leaving you when the party’s just starting, but I’m exhausted. I only got about two hours of sleep last night…well, this morning, before coming here to work.”

I thought about meeting him on the beach this morning just after sunrise. Had it really just been a little over twelve hours ago?

“Go ahead,” I told him. “I think I’ll just go in and read.”

“You should stay,” he said quickly. “Go over and join the party. There’s a bunch of kids our age around here.”

“Sure,” I said, nodding. I had no intention of going down to the beach, but Ezra didn’t need to know that. I was certain he just felt bad about leaving, and wanted to make sure I wouldn’t be alone. There was a time when I wouldn’t have thought twice about walking up to strangers, but these days…well, these days, I could barely even get my own family to talk to me.

“Good.” Ezra rose from his chair and stretched, his t-shirt rising to expose a strip of muscled stomach. I looked away quickly before he could catch me staring. “I’ll see you in the morning, okay?”

We said goodnight and he headed in the direction of his house. When he stepped inside, the house remained dark until a light on the far side of the house turned on, and I assumed Ezra was either in his bedroom or the bathroom. I watched until the light went out and the entire house was in darkness once more.

The sound of approaching giggles drew my attention back toward the beach. A couple of girls my age were trailing along through the sand. They stopped at the foot of the porch steps.

“You’re Gabriella’s sister, right?” one of them asked. From what I could see of her in the faint light, she was tall and slender with long blond hair pulled into a high ponytail. Her companion was shorter and curvier with light brown skin and curly black hair.

“That’s me,” I confirmed. “Charlotte.”

“I’m Kennedy, and this is Miranda,” the blond said, pointing to herself then the other girl. “Was that Ezra Rhodes you were talking to?”

“It was.” Clearly I was nothing if not a conversationalist.

Kennedy said something to Miranda that I didn’t catch, then looked back at me. “He hardly ever talks to anyone,” she told me. “He used to be really popular until his mom—” Miranda elbowed her hard, cutting off her words.

Until his mom
what
? I was about to ask what had happened to her but Kennedy started talking again.

“Anyway, now he barely speaks to anyone,” she said, rubbing her ribs.

“He’s doing some work on the house,” I explained. “Fixing the porch and maybe a few other jobs, I’m not really sure.”

“And he just, like, stayed and hung out with you?” Kennedy asked.

“Pretty much,” I said slowly. What was the big deal? “I asked him to stay for dinner, and he did.”

Kennedy and Miranda shared a quick, whispered conversation. Did they not know I was just six feet away and could hear them hissing back and forth like a pair of snakes? Their whispers stopped abruptly and they both straightened.

“Why don’t you come on down to the beach and we’ll introduce you around?” Miranda suggested. I didn’t really feel like hanging out with anyone, but I’d told Ezra I would try, and at least now I would be keeping my word. I trailed after them along the beach until we reached the bonfire and stepped into the circle of light.

“Guys, this is Charlotte. She’s Gabriella’s sister,” Kennedy said to the assembled group of eight or so kids. She rattled off their names, and they each waved as their name was said. I knew I wouldn’t remember half of them come morning, but I tried to smile and wave back anyway.

“I didn’t know Gabriella had a sister,” one girl said.

“That doesn’t surprise me,” I replied with a tight smile.

Before the girl could ask what I meant, Miranda nudged me and handed me a plastic cup. “Beer,” she said.

“Cheers,” Kennedy added, raising her own plastic cup and taking a drink.

“Thanks.” I took a hesitant sip, expecting nasty warm beer, but it was actually cold and refreshing, something I wasn’t used to at parties. I’d been to plenty of parties where kids drank, and I’d tried the occasional beer or glass of spiked punch.

My friends and I weren’t big drinkers, and we never had wild and crazy parties where people got trashed. It just seemed stupid and pointless to us. My parents, although they didn’t condone underage drinking, weren’t naïve enough to believe it never happened, and they made sure I knew I could call on them if things got out of hand and I needed a ride home.

I hadn’t had a drink since last summer when Alexis, Bianca, and I had thrown an end of summer party at Bianca’s house. It was just before Mom was diagnosed with the brain tumor, and life had been simple and carefree. We’d been about to start our senior year, and it was going to be the best year of our lives. Only it wasn’t.

The last party I went to was a Christmas celebration the girls dragged me to at the house of one of their new friends. I’d already left school by then, so it was awkward and uncomfortable, and I’d called Dad to come get me by eleven, even though he and Mom told me I could have a special 1 a.m. curfew. Everybody had acted weird around me, treating me like I was some poor, fragile creature, when all I wanted was one night of normalcy.

After that, Bianca and Alexis stopped trying. That was when Ella stepped in and took my place with them, as she’d already done with all my other friends.

I decided I’d better tune back in to the present so these people wouldn’t think I was a total space cadet. It was going to be a long, lonely summer here unless I was able to make friends.

Kennedy and Miranda were talking about a big concert on the island at the end of summer. I couldn’t get a good grasp on either of them. They obviously already knew Ella; what had she told them about me? Their initial interest in me seemed to stem from the fact I’d been hanging out with Ezra. Was that all it was?

“You should come with us,” Miranda said, drawing me out of my thoughts.

“Sorry, what?” So much for not being seen as a space cadet.

“To the concert in the park at the end of summer,” Miranda said, not seeming to mind that I obviously hadn’t been paying attention. “It’s a bunch of bands nobody’s ever heard of, but it’s usually a good time. You should come.”

“Oh…yeah, that would be great. Thanks.” Ella couldn’t have told them anything too bad, or they wouldn’t be including me in their plans, right?

“You should invite Ezra to come,” Kennedy suggested with an intoxicated grin.

Miranda rolled her huge brown eyes in my direction. “Ignore her. She’s been in love with Ezra for, like…well, forever. But he doesn’t pay attention to any of us.”

“Except, apparently, you.” Kennedy sighed dramatically. “Whatever, though. It’s totally fine. I’m not jealous or anything. Or, you know, not much.” She shot me a quick smile, and I felt some of the tension ease from my shoulders. She turned to Miranda and said, “Hey, remember when he used to play in that band? We were still in—what? Grade eight?—and he was in nine or ten, and he and his band played at the summer concert. God, he was so hot.”

“Ezra was in a
band
?” I couldn’t picture it.

“He played lead guitar and did some backup vocals,” Miranda confirmed. “He was amazing.” When she spoke about Ezra, her eyes got almost as starry as Kennedy’s. It made me wonder if Kennedy wasn’t the only one with a crush on Ezra.

“Anyway, that was a long time ago,” Kennedy said. “Every once in awhile I’ll hear him playing when I walk past his house, but it’s rare.”

“Probably got too much else going on to make time for that.” Miranda’s tone was almost sad, and I was about to ask her to explain when I caught movement from the corner of my eye, and Ella joined the circle around the bonfire.

“Well, Charlotte!” she said with fake enthusiasm. She leaned past me and looked at Kennedy and Miranda. “I see you’ve met my big sister, the recluse.”

“Yeah, we went over and—” Kennedy started, but Ella cut her off.

“How nice. I keep telling her it’s not healthy to stay hidden away all the time.” Her false concern act made me want to slap her.

To me, she said quietly, “Trying to regain your former glory as Miss Popular? It won’t work, you know. I’ve already told people all about you.”

I’d already wondered what she’d told Kennedy and Miranda, but I didn’t want to imagine what she’d been telling everyone else. Chances were she’d been making stuff up, and I was better off not knowing. “I don’t need to be popular,” I told her. “Clearly that’s all that matters to you, so I’ll let you be the popular one.”

“
Let
me?” Ella hissed. “That is so typical of you, Charlotte. You have no idea what it’s like for me. You were always beautiful and smart and funny, and never had to work at it. Everything just came easily for you. Now people realize they like me better, and you act like it’s a gift you gave me?”

A frustrated sigh burst from my lips. Of course I hadn’t meant it that way, but with Ella in the state of mind she was in, I couldn’t say anything right. I’d never asked to be popular. I hadn’t been one of those girls—like Ella appeared to be now—who all but whore themselves out just to get a little attention. I also hadn’t been the mean girl who’d gained popularity with threats or by putting other people down.

“I’m not acting like anything,” I finally said, keeping my voice low. I knew Kennedy and Miranda must be close enough to hear our discussion, and I could see a few other people angled in our direction. “You’re the one acting, Ella. You might fool everyone else, but you don’t fool me.”

Ella laughed, a sound so bitter it made my skin crawl. “Can’t fool a fool, huh? Luckily it no longer matters to me what you think. In fact, I don’t think your opinion counts for much with anyone now that Mom’s gone.”

Behind me, Kennedy and Miranda gasped. I wasn’t happy they’d heard what Ella said, but their reactions snapped me out of what I was about to do, which was shove Ella the way she’d done to me earlier. I knew she was trying to provoke me into reacting in front of everyone. I didn’t know what she hoped for—that I’d hit her, or yell at her, or maybe break down and cry right there on the beach with a dozen or more people watching.

I wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction.

“That was a low blow,” Miranda said coldly.

“Mind your own damn business,” Ella snapped.

Miranda stepped forward, giving me a light push so I stood behind her with Kennedy. “You’re making it everyone’s business by flapping your lips in front of us. You need to back off.”

“Screw you,” Ella said, but some of the fight had gone from her voice.

Miranda took another step forward, leaving only a foot of space between her and Ella. She was a good four inches shorter than my sister, but what she lacked in height she made up for in attitude. “Wanna say that again?” she asked in a low voice. When Ella remained silent, Miranda said, “That’s what I thought. You may think you can buzz in here and be the new queen bee, but let me tell you something: I’ve lived here my whole life. I know every single person on this island. We may not all be the best of friends, but we’re a pretty tight crew. I know you think you can just walk up in here and take over, but keep acting like a nasty, spoiled bitch and you’ll see who really runs things around here. You could end up awfully lonesome this summer. Then we’ll see who’s the
recluse
.”

My mouth was hanging open. My jaw had literally dropped and I was staring in amazement at this tiny firecracker who had just told off my sister.

“She’s good,” Kennedy whispered in my ear.

I snapped my mouth shut and glanced at Kennedy. Her smile was full of sympathy, and I suddenly realized it didn’t matter if their original interest in me had been because I was talking to Ezra. I didn’t know many people who would stand up for strangers.

I turned back to Ella and Miranda, and saw my sister stomping off across the sand. She grabbed some guy’s arm and hauled him away with her. He had to jog alongside her to keep up.

Miranda spun around and huffed out a breath. “I’m sorry about that,” she said. “I probably should have kept my mouth shut and not involved myself in your business, but the way she spoke to you…making that crack about your mom…”

“Don’t apologize. You did what I haven’t been able to do.” I watched Ella vanish between houses, as she’d done last night. “She wasn’t always like this, you know. And as much as I’ve wanted to tell her off, I keep hoping the old Ella will resurface. Kind of stupid, I guess.”

“It’s not.” Miranda touched my arm lightly until I met her eyes. They were as full of sympathy as Kennedy’s smile had been a moment before. “Anyway…you’re not mad? She may be a bitch, but she
is
your sister.”

I laughed under my breath. “I’m not mad. When she mentioned our mom, I saw red. I just wanted to push her, get her away from me so I didn’t have to see that smug look on her face. Thank you for stepping in and saving me further embarrassment.”