Authors: Leigh Talbert Moore
Tags: #Fiction, #Romance, #Contemporary, #Coming of Age, #Sagas, #Family Saga
Undertow
By Leigh Talbert Moore
Copyright
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Undertow
Copyright © Leigh Talbert Moore, 2013
www.leightmoore.com
Printed in the United States of America.
Cover design by
Jolene B. Perry
.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, photocopying, mechanical, or otherwise—without prior permission of the publisher and author.
To my faithful readers and friends.
To my Mammaw and my Bobie, who loved to read and
loved romance. I wish you could have read this one.
And to my husband, Richard, who keeps me believing in my big dreams.
Table of Contents
Anna
– December 26
Day after Christmas, and it was eighty degrees out. Everyone was complaining about the heat, but not me. I loved that it was still warm enough to venture into the ocean in only a swimsuit—even if it was a one-piece.
I lay back on my board, trying hard to hold my eyes closed against the glare of the sunlight. The breakers crashed behind me, and I let the gentle rocking of the waves relax my shoulders. Yesterday I’d been at Nana’s all day with my parents, exchanging gifts and having Christmas dinner, and when I got home late last night, all I could think about was getting out here today.
One more week and semester break would be over. Then we’d be back, flying to the end of senior year with all that entailed—prom, graduation, leaving for college… But right now I could hold onto this quiet, savor the calm. It was a welcome relief after the last six months.
My best friend Gabi moved away in August, and instead of solitude, I’d stepped onto a roller coaster. It started the minute Lucy Kyser invited me to her enormous home for a study date. I met her brother Jack, had a mini-sexual revolution, started to fall in love with him, then lived through four months of drama as he pushed me away only to pull me back again.
And I let him.
I cringed in shame at the memory, and my mind flooded with the images. Every touch, every kiss, every fight, every make-up leading to a make-out. My stomach twisted, and I sat up fast on my board, crossing my arms over my waist. I hated how that stupid longing tried to creep back in when I didn’t expect it. How it meant there was still the tiniest possibility I had feelings for him. That I wasn’t completely sure what would happen if he showed up here wanting me back.
It made me mad. I’d spent the whole break focused on conquering these emotions. This was not helping me find my calm.
I closed my eyes and flexed every muscle in my body—I even held my breath. It was silly, but I imagined pushing him out of my heart and my head by sheer force of will, as if I could somehow focus so hard, I could send that stupid last bit of longing flying out of me like the cork from a shaken champagne bottle…
At that very second, a body shot through the quiet water with a loud yell. My eyes flew open, and I screamed even louder. All the breath I’d been holding blasted out, and I gripped my board so I didn’t fall off.
Julian could barely speak for laughing. “Gotcha!”
“Julian!” I yelled.
Adrenaline surged through me, making me trembly and weak, and I curled forward to rest my head on my fists, trying to hide my smile. Julian, my funny, gorgeous, incredibly talented friend did get me, and I was so glad.
After a moment, I felt his warm hand on my shoulder. “Hey,” he said, still fighting laughs. “I didn’t give you a heart attack, did I?”
“You wish,” I said, turning my head to slant my eyes at him. Then I stretched forward to lie on my stomach.
His blue eyes sparkled like the waves. “Admit it. You freaked.”
I sighed, pretending to be annoyed. “You are so mature.”
He crossed his arms on the end of my board, and his face was close enough that I could feel his breath against my skin. Every kiss we’d shared danced through my mind, and I pictured myself sliding off the board and into his arms. This last week as he’d taught me to surf, our bodies pressed together in only swimsuits, he’d managed to be very respectful of my request for time. But it was getting harder for me to fight my feelings.
Still, I had to. I couldn’t let Julian be some stupid rebound thing. He meant so much more than that. I had to be sure I was over Jack first.
“It’s a terrible day to surf.” He looked around the water with a frown. “Didn’t I teach you anything? What are you doing out here?”
“Trying to have some alone time, thanks.”
“Okay.” He let go of the board and moved like he would swim to shore.
“Wait,” I rose to my elbows. “Julian. Don’t be like that. How was your Christmas?”
He turned back with a smile and warmth traveled all the way to my toes. “Same as always,” he shrugged. “New art supplies, a few tools. Just me and Mom. I didn’t expect to see you out here. You were very deep in thought. What’s on your mind?”
I studied my palm, not wanting to tell him what I’d been doing before he burst through the water.
“I don’t know. School starts next week,” I said. “I was thinking about the end of senior year.”
“It’s gonna be great. We’ll do everything.”
My nose wrinkled as I squinted at him. “Everything?”
“Sure! If it’s happening, we’re doing it. You still working at the paper?”
“All the way to May.” I loved my internship at the city paper. It had been my one constant through the emotional mess of last fall, and it made my college applications look
so
good. “And possibly some during the summer.”
“You should.” He smiled, holding the end of my board again. “You’re a natural. Anyone who could get Mom to talk about her art career… I never thought that would happen.”
My eyes flickered away from his. He didn’t know why his mom had offered to talk, that her interview had been in exchange for my silence after I’d discovered her secret—that Julian was the son of Bill Kyser, the ultra-rich, most powerful developer in town. That he and Jack were half-brothers.
It was
not
a deal I’d asked for. I told her I’d never tell Julian what I’d discovered, although now that promise felt like it was becoming harder to keep. I was afraid of what Julian would say if he found out I knew and didn’t tell him. And I couldn’t help thinking how this secret could change his life.
As the son of Bill Kyser, Julian could take his place beside Jack and Lucy as one of the leaders in our town, possibly even beyond. Every door would fly open to him.
The way things now stood, he and his mom lived in a tiny cottage a block off the beach road in Dolphin Shores. His mom ran a local art and souvenir shop a few blocks east of that, and he’d had to work so hard for everything he’d achieved, even his scholarship to the Savannah College of Art and Design.
I wanted him to have everything he deserved. I wanted him to know the truth. But Bill Kyser said no. He insisted their connection had to remain a secret, and he’d even given me three journals to convince me to trust him. Journals that still lay under my bed just waiting for me to read them.
“What are you thinking, Anna? You’re not even listening to me,” Julian said, his voice softer.
I glanced up at his blue eyes, and again I remembered the few times he’d kissed me. I longed for the day when I could reach out and touch him, pull him close without having to worry.
“Just… working at the paper,” I said. “What did you say?”
“I
said
I have to go to Darplane next month. They’re putting my runner at the National Athletic Center, remember? I figured if it weren’t for you, they wouldn’t even know about me, so you should be my date to the unveiling.”
“I’d love to go!” I said. “But I thought the ring was my thank you gift for that.”
My mind drifted to the delicate, sparkling dragonfly ring he’d made for me. It was unique and beautiful, and I kept it wrapped in tissue and hidden safely in my drawer.
Without thinking, I reached for his hand, which rested on the board beside my arm. I turned it so I could see the tiny, matching dragonfly tattoo he’d inked above his thumb. Warmth filled my chest as I ran my finger across it.
He shrugged, watching my movements. “That wasn’t a thank you. It was something special. Just for you.”
“I love it.” I smiled, picturing us together.
Soon
, I thought. “And I’d love to go with you to the unveiling. But let’s paddle in now. I need some lunch.”
“My house?”
“Sure.” I slid off the board and swam with him back to shore.
* * *
Last-minute instructions were given, kisses and emergency numbers handed out, and my parents were off for their annual, post-Christmas, long-weekend getaway. It was their tradition, following the month my mom spent organizing Christmas on the Coast, the huge fundraiser for the arts association in Fairview where she worked.
The house was finally quiet, and I was finally alone with the journals. The story.
It was a complete accident that I had walked in on Jack’s dad locked in an embrace with Julian’s mom. They’d said they were simply old friends, but working at the paper, I’d discovered their deeper connection hidden in the dusty files and old pictures.
Nothing was in writing, but when I’d asked Julian’s mom, she’d told me the truth. She’d also nearly had me fired—until Mr. Kyser intervened. And did the unthinkable. He put the whole story in my hands in the form of three private journals, and he made me promise to tell no one about them. Not even Ms. LaSalle.
I couldn’t wait to dig into their contents, but so far, every time I’d pulled them out to read, something or someone had interrupted me. Now I had an entire weekend alone to immerse myself in the story, to try and understand.