Page 2 of All The Way Under
She scoffs and sips her martini.
“I hate that word. It’s gauche.Wealthypeople, Saylor. Wealthy people have targets on their backs. You’re not just any old Joe off the street. You are a Wyndham.”
“I know all there is to know about sailing, and I know the safe routes. Dad is worried, but he will let me go if you give your approval. Please just let me do this one thing, and I’ll come back and be the perfect Wyndham specimen.” It kills me to give her this open-ended promise, because I know she’ll make it hurt.
Her gaze lights on my face. “Dad said he’d let you go?”
I nod, eager. It’s not a direct no. She loves that man.
“Yes. He’s been helping me prep the boat. He taught me everything I know, and you know how much this used to mean to him. It will be the voyage of a lifetime. It has all the high-tech gear—some I helped design myself—and it’s safe.”
“And when you return, you’ll get your master’s and find a husband?” Another sip, then she holds up her finger. “A respectable husband. Perhaps even one ofmychoosing.”
My stomach flips. I knew it would be this, though. Mom and her hammer of control.
“Oh, you really are going to take it there? Can’t I fall in love the same way you and Dad did? Remember Aviva’s arranged marriage? He was gay! She had to pretend for years that they were happily married until the clubhouse manager saw him going at it with the towel boy in the locker room! Arranged doesn’t work when both parties aren’t all for it.” I clear my throat. “All that shame Aviva brought on her family’s name, and she didn’t do anything except what was asked of her.”
My mother’s face looks ashen as she recalls the scandal. “It is absolutely horrifying how little Jude cared about his family’s name.” She groans. “Poor Avivia and her family. I heard they’re working on a new suitor for her. A really nice man from Europe. He doesn’t know how to act in social settings, but he has standing and power. You can overlook some things for the right individual. I tell you that all the time.”
Except she doesn’t have to overlook a single thing with Dad. Not one thing.
I stare at her blankly. “You’re serious, aren’t you? You let me go on my world record sailing trip, and I’ll go get my master’s. Bronwyn didn’t even get her master’s before she got married.”
My older sister got out of this house as quickly as possible after high school. I envy her every day. Going back to college is the lesser of the two evils, for sure. I cannot have BiancaWyndham select my husband. It will end worse than it did for Aviva and Jude. I shudder at the thought.
My mother finishes her drink and twirls the metal toothpick holding her garlic-stuffed olives.
“You always were going to give me gray hair, weren’t you? Bronwyn was too easy. I should have known this would be a battle. I’ll agree to let you go if you let me talk to Archie, and you get your master’s from Columbia when you return.”
She closes her teeth over the olives and pulls them off the pick.
“Lastly, you will be finished with your crazy adventures after that.”
She tosses the metal pick into her glass. It clanks loudly.
“Do we have an understanding?”
She requires me to give, give, give.
“Archie moved on the second I hung up the call. I’m sure of it. Mom, he moved onbeforehe broke up with me. I agree to everything else.”
Giving up sailing sends a lump of lead to my stomach because I know she’ll strong-arm me to obey her wishes in some form or another, but this voyage is what’s important to me. I’ll do anything to make it happen.
My dad saves me. Like he always does. He slides into the room, scraps of metal in his hand. The man is constantly working on taking something apart or putting something back together in his free time. He says it quiets his mind. I wish I had something other than sailing that did that for me.
“How are my girls doing?” he asks, a smile beaming. Bronwyn got our dad’s olive-toned skin and toothy grin. I’m Mom’s twin with Dad’s mind. It’s like being trapped in a beautiful cage with all the wrong tools to escape.
“Mom said I could do the record sail,” I say, tone high and voice quick. “The big one we’ve been preparing for.”
Dad grins, so I bluster on. “She gave me some qualifiers, because nothing is free with Bianca’s bidding, but she said I could do it.” Hopping up and down in tiny little steps, I finish, “I’m so excited. You’ll help me finish off the checklist, right?”
His eyes light up like they do anytime he looks at me and my sister.
“You can count on me, Sweet Pea. We’ll get her safe and secure in no time,” he replies. “You were nearly there the last time we checked her out.”
Mom lets out a tortured moan. “The way we’re even talking about this right now is ghastly. We should be planning an engagement party or a spring mixer, not a dinghy ride, Roger.” She calls it a dinghy this time to offend us both, her narrowed blue gaze bouncing between us.
Dad leans over and puts a hand on Mom’s shoulder. “It’s not just a boat ride, honey. You know how much sailing means to me. Well, it means even more to her. It’s scary to think of her out there by herself, but this could be her life’s great adventure. We can’t stand in her way.”
