Page 1 of Silver Foxed

Chapter one

Alex

“You got my set of keys for the lake house, right, honey?” my mom asks over my car speaker.

“Yes, I stopped by your house on the way out of town and got them from your new housekeeper.”

“Oh, yes! Her name is Janie. She’s lovely, isn’t she?”

I smile to myself. “Yes, Janie is lovely.” Truth is, I don’t have enough information on Janie to know if she’s lovely, but she seemed nice for the ten seconds I met her when I grabbed the keys to my parents’ lake house from her early this morning. But that’s something I’ve always admired about my stepmom. She thinks everyone is lovely. It’s part of her charm.

While Stephanie Martin tends to be vain and cares more about this season’s fashion trends than anything else going on in the world, she doesn’t have a mean bone in her body. And most importantly, she loves my dad and me, and she has since the moment she came into my life when I was five years old—which is good enough in my book.

“Honey, I’m so glad you agreed to go to the lake house. It doesn’t get used enough, especially considering how busy your dad has been this summer.”

I gaze out the windshield of my car and admire the landscape of Starlight Haven, California. This place is probably my favorite in the entire world. Which is saying a lot since my parents have always loved to travel. I’ve been all over the world, but Starlight Haven always feels like coming home. The mountains, the clear azure lake, and the dense forests—it makes me feel as if I’m living in some fantasy world.

“I’m glad, too; I’ve missed coming here.”

I can hear Mom smile through the phone, probably thinking of all the times we spent together up here while I was growing up. Hiking, biking, hanging out at the beach—it was an amazing part of my childhood.

“Are you almost there? I know you left early this morning. It’s such a long drive for only a weekend!”

I put my blinker on and turn into the long tree-lined driveway that leads to the house. “Yep, pulling in now.”

“Oh good, good. Are you sure you don’t want to stay longer?”

I can hear in the tone of her voice what she actually wants to say: Are you sure you don’t want to stay longer? It’s not like you have anything going on in your life besides work, honey, but she would never say that to me. She’s too nice. Not to mention, she thinks I’ll start crying. Joke’s on her, though, because at this point, I’m all cried out. No more tears are left inside my body. Of that, I am sure.

In fact, this weekend, I have decided I’m not allowed to cry. Only rest and relaxation for me. With maybe a little bit of self-reflection. Why? Because as soon as I get back from my weekend getaway, I’m entering my hot-girl badass-bitch era.

“Unfortunately, I can’t stay longer. Allie will kill me if I miss any of my thirtieth birthday week. She wants to meet up every day and celebrate. She’s decided it’s a whole week affair.”

“Oh, yes, yes. I remember you telling me about that. You should’ve had Allie come up to the house. There’s plenty of room.”

As the massive lake house nestled amongst pine trees comes into view, I hold back a laugh at how much of an understatement that is. My dad owns a global creative media agency, Spark Life Creative—one of the best and biggest in the world. And while Dad has kept himself relatively humble, he loves to splurge on real estate.

This lake house, or should I say lake mansion, is one of his most prized possessions that he claims he had to fight another man over. Especially since at the time, it was a newly renovated mid-century modern home that used to be the summer getaway of popular singers from the ‘50s and ‘60s. This house is gorgeous, to say the least. And my parents have always taken good care of it.

“Thanks, Mom, but I’ll be fine. I wanted some alone time this weekend.”

“Alright, you know I worry. I’d never be able to be in that big house all by myself.”

I clench my jaw. “Why would you say that? Now I’m going to be paranoid!”

“Sorry, sorry! Just be sure to turn on the security system.”

“That doesn’t help!” I chuckle.

“I shouldn’t have said anything. You know it’s safe up there, so don’t be scared.” She pauses. “Oh! Don’t forget the stores there close early. Did you bring food?”

I look in my rearview mirror at all the grocery bags. I love to cook, and part of my self-care mission this weekend includes making all of my favorite dishes. It’s a bummer they’ll only be for one, but I try not to think too much about how freaking single I am. And the fact that, at this moment, I shouldn’t be single.

“Honey, are you still there?”

“Yeah, sorry. I stopped at the store on the way in, so I don’t have to leave if I don’t want to.”

“Good, good. Let me know if you need anything else, okay? Your dad and I are going to a charity event this weekend, but we’ll be around.”

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