Page 79 of Saltwater Memories
Chapter 28
Well. He wasn’t dead, but hehadlost his job. Amanda let out a sigh. How was Will’s family going to get by without his income?
The manic adrenaline was clearing from her system. Now she felt low – very low. She wanted to stop driving and pull over, maybe lay out in the grass for a few hours.
She couldn’t do that, though. Her dad had insisted on following her home, and if she got out and laid by the side of the road, he’d be alarmed.
No, she had to keep going. At least for a bit.
If only she’d told Will the truth about Lenny from the beginning, instead of using him like a pawn. Maybe he would’ve quit DGG weeks ago. He never would’ve ended up on Lenny’s hit list. He wouldn’t have wondered if she, too, was in the mob.
It was her fault. By telling him a hint of the truth, she put him in the greatest danger possible. It was her fault that he’d almost died; it would’ve been better if he had never met her.
When she stepped out of her car, Jade and Morgan rushed to meet her, wrapping her in a hug.
“Amanda!Whatwere you thinking?”
She tried to shrug but it was hard to do in their grasp. “I don’t know. I was just reacting.”
“You forgot the first rule of living in this house,” Morgan said, shaking a finger. “If you’re going to get yourself into trouble, youhaveto bring us along with you.”
Amanda laughed. “I’ll remember that for next time.”
“I’m pretty sure that if you attack Lenny a third time, then that’s Yahtzee, right?” Jade said with a smile.
“That isnothow that game works,” Morgan responded with a snorting laugh.
“You won’t have a chance to attack him again,” Amanda’s dad said, stepping up behind her. “The attempted murder charge is going to be much harder for him to shake.”
“Well that’s good,” Amanda said softly.
Jade pulled back and looked at her. “Are you okay?”
Amanda nodded. “Yeah – I’m just really tired.”
“Anddirty!” Morgan said. “Did you wrestle Lenny in the mud or something?”
“Ha, no. Just pepper sprayed him,” Amanda said.
“My mom would be proud,” Jade added. “Okay well, do you want to get cleaned up? I’m going to throw some dinner together. My mom’s on her way over – she almost had a heart attack when I told her what was going on.”
Amanda smiled and agreed to the plan, though really she’d prefer to lock herself in her bedroom for the next week.
She instead made her way to the bathroom. Once the door was shut and she didn’t have to pretend to be okay, Amanda looked at herself in the mirror.
She looked like a crazy person. Her clothes were caked in mud, now dried and flaking off in clumps. There was dirt all over her face and pressed into her hair.
At least she didn’t have any cuts or bruises. Will would probably have a black eye after that sucker punch.
Whenever she thought about him, it made her feel dizzy. She sat down on the edge of the bathtub. She had to do something – she had to make up for some of the damage that she’d caused.
An idea hit her. Months ago, she’d worked with a financial group for an advertising campaign. Amanda became friendly with one of the women who worked there – Abby. They were about the same age and went out for drinks a handful of times while the project was ongoing. Amanda always felt too sheepish to ask her to hang out again, but she was willing to reach out for a good cause.
She pulled out her phone and wrote a long text about Will, asking if they were hiring.
Abby’s answer came minutes later. “Oh my gosh, it’s so nice to hear from you Amanda! Yeah actually – we are hiring. What does your friend do? We need to hang out again soon! Do you want to see the new Bond movie with me?”
Amanda smiled. They’d connected over their love of action movies – she’d love to see Abby again. Maybe they could be actual friends instead of just work friends.
She wrote back that she’d love to see the movie together, and also sent a link to Will’s website. “I met him here on the island. He’s been doing amazing work.”
“Yeah, it looks like he could be a good fit! Tell him to apply – I’ll make sure that my boss gets his resume.”
Amanda smiled. She couldn’t make up for what she’d done, but it was a start. She turned on the shower and stepped in, washing away the muck and the grime of the day.
