Page 15 of Heart of Stone
“All I can give you is my word,” I said. “Either way, you’re screwed.”
“I think I’ll take my chances with the sharks.” He turnedto swim back toward his friends just as the boat took its last breath. The water churned into a whirlpool as the suction of the sinking boat drew it down. A hurricane of froth and bubbles followed. The three men were completely stranded in the storm current that grew worse with each passing minute.
“Shooting them all in the head would be the merciful thing to do,” Ace suggested. “I’m glad to do it.”
I stared at him. “Remind me never to cross the desert with you.” I looked at my brothers. “Pull the vests out of view. One of them will crack for sure.”
Slade and Colt pulled the vests back in.
“It was Nelson,” one of them yelled from the water. “Nelson is behind it.”
Colt shook his head. “Shit, Rincon’s right hand man. It’s always the last person you’d expect. I guess that’s why it’s best to work with your brothers.”
I motioned for them to toss the vests over.
“I’d have let them drown,” Ace said.
I nodded. “Yep, that’s where you and I are different.” I leaned over the railing. “See the way the tide sort of meets in a line right there.” I pointed to the water. “The waves look like they’re running into each other.”
“Yeah, I see it,” the guy said as he struggled to put on the vest.
“Follow it and you’ll end up on land. And keep moving or you’re done for.” I straightened and looked over at Slade. “Let’s get Ace and this cargo over to his boat. I’m finished with this fucking sea adventure.”
NINE
AMY
Iclutched the tiny square of paper in my hand as if it was the solution to all my problems. It wasn’t, of course, but every time the doctor gave my mom some new meds to try or changed a dosage, it gave me a small sliver of hope that it would be the magic potion we were looking for. I’d considered the taping of the cupboards extreme until she’d made cookies with snail poison. While I hadn’t given the doctor any of the truly alarming details of her last few episodes, I’d mentioned that I was concerned she was hearing voices more frequently and that I thought a medication adjustment was in order. He’d reluctantly written out a new prescription with the warning that it probably wouldn’t help and might possibly make things worse. I had to promise that if things didn’t work out with the new meds, I would bring her in for an evaluation to be placed in a hospital setting.
The only bright side of having to deal with some major Mom problems was that I hadn’t had much time to think about Hunter. Not that I’d pushed him completely from my head but, for a change, he wasn’t front and center.
The local coffee shop was right next to the pharmacy,and the obsessed coffee patrons had lined up to taste a free sample of some fancy, frothy new coffee drink. There was one parking spot left open. As I headed toward it, a shiny black convertible Jaguar with the top down and a surfboard jutting out the backseat came toward me. The guy behind the wheel had long sun-streaked hair, a typical surfer hairdo, and black Oakley sunglasses. Before I could turn my shabby little junkster into the spot, he swept in with his slick convertible. The surfboard loomed over the back of the car, seemingly laughing at me for losing the spot. But I wasn’t in the mood to be ridiculed by a damn surfboard or have my spot snaked by a rich, salt-coated surfdude.
I threw my car in park and, piece of shit that it was, it choked and coughed and stalled. I didn’t care. Surfer dude was just getting out of his fancy car as I climbed out of mine.
“Hey, Malibu,” I called, “that was my damn parking spot.”
He turned around. He’d pulled a shirt on over some nice muscles. His board shorts still looked wet. He pushed his sunglasses up on his head and looked at me in a way that made me feel as if I’d stepped out of the car in my underwear, and I didn’t mind. He had nice blue eyes and a strong jaw. I was always a sucker for a strong jaw.
It might have been the Jaguar talking, but suddenly, a little voice in my head suggested I flash one of my famous, come hither smiles. It had been so long since I’d felt free to flirt, I’d almost forgotten how. But this guy didn’t know me and he didn’t know Hunter, and I was going to go for it.
I shoved my hands in my back pockets but brought my shoulders forward to push my somewhat underwhelmingboobs into view. “I just think if you’re going to snake a girl’s parking spot, you should at least buy her a cup of coffee.”
He stepped toward me, and he didn’t lose any of his appeal on closer inspection. “I am sorry about that. I guess I didn’t notice you.” He looked down at my body and then back up at my face. “But I’m definitely noticing you now. And I think you’re right. I owe you a cup of coffee.” He glanced around the parking lot. “Looks like the free coffee offer is over and some spots are opening up. I’ll go in and grab a table.”
“Sounds good.” I pointed back to my car. “I’ll just go park.”
“I’m David, by the way.” He reached out his hand.
I shook it. “I’m Amy.” He had a firm grip, but there was no exchange of those weird little electrical charges I always felt when Hunter touched me. I brushed that silly comparison from my head. If I wanted to try this, to be on my own to meet men and maybe even fall in love, I was going to have to stop measuring other men up against Hunter.
I parked and went into the pharmacy to turn in the prescription. I didn’t want to appear too anxious for my coffee date. The pharmacist raised his fluffy gray brows as he read the doctor’s writing. Never a good thing when a medication request made a pharmacist do a double-take.
I left the pharmacy wondering how on earth I could ever meet someone and bring them home to meet my family, a family that consisted of one loony woman who spent her entire day trying to keep out of the grasp of invisible aliens. Between my mom and my menacing neighbor, there was no way I could ever bring anyone home, or, for that matter,let anyone pick me up for a date. Pick me up for a date— what a foreign notion that was.
I headed toward the coffee shop. I was slightly nervous, and that really irritated me. No big deal, Amy. A nice looking surfer with a spiffy, expensive car asked you to sit and have coffee. He was probably going to turn out to be a jerk anyhow. I seemed to be a magnet for jerks, especially oversized, hard-edged ones. Once again I had to push Hunter from my head. The Stone brothers had sort of warped my view of the world, and of men in general, but I was ready to branch out. I’d just be myself, and if that didn’t fly, too bad. I could always live without a guy.
David waved to me from a table in the back corner. He leaned back and watched me walk toward him with an appreciative grin. He was smooth. I wasn’t completely sure I likedsmooth. In truth, I wasn’t sure I even knew what I liked.
