Day Three

“What is that baby doing to you?” I ask Tanya as she sits down at the breakfast table with a leaning tower of pancakes on her plate.

Megan and Cynthia are staring at her in shock.

“I’ve never seen you eat pancakes before,” Megan says.

“Me neither,” Cynthia says, shaking her head. “What happened to your usual banana, apple, and yogurt?”

“Am I that predictable?” Tanya asks as she picks up her knife and fork.

“With breakfast you are,” I say as she starts sawing through the mountain of pancakes in front of her. Tanya has eaten the same breakfast every day since we’ve known her, which is forever.

“I’m preggers,” she says before stuffing a huge mouthful of maple syrup and chocolate-covered pancakes into her mouth.

My beach bag starts vibrating at my feet, and it makes me lose my appetite. I take a deep breath and pull out my iPhone to see who’s calling.

Crap.

“Who’s that?” Megan asks. “Is there an emergency meeting down at the elementary school? Did little Sally glue her hair to the wall?”

“I wish,” I say with a sigh. I stuff my ringing phone back into my bag and drop it back down to my feet. “It’s even worse.”

“You’re not going to answer it?” Cynthia asks. “Who is it?”

“Probably Mr. Mastercard wondering where his money is at,” I say, feeling sick to my stomach.

Megan shakes her head. “I told you that was a credit card and not a magical piece of plastic that makes expensive stuff appear out of nowhere.”

“Megan,” I say, staring at her, “for once in my life, I wish I had listened to you.”

“Is everything okay?” Cynthia asks, looking worried.

I just shake my head as I fight back tears.

Tanya leans in with syrup dripping from her chin. “How bad?”

“Bad,” I say with a sigh. “Guys, I’m so screwed.”

I dug myself into a hole of debt and stupidity that I can’t possibly get out of. Now I’m standing at the deep bottom trying to look up, but I’m so far down that I can’t even see the surface.

“I bought a pair of Courrèges sunglasses last year that cost seven hundred dollars, and I only wore them once.”

Megan scrunches her nose up. “Ugh. I hated those glasses. They made your face look like a praying mantis.”

“I spent over thirty thousand dollars on shoes,” I say, staring at them in disbelief. “I teach a kindergarten class. I could have worn slippers every day and nobody would have noticed. In January, I spent four hundred and sixty dollars on a pair of ski goggles, and I haven’t skied since I was twelve. Four hundred and sixty dollars!”

“They’re going to cost more like eight hundred dollars when you factor in the high interest,” Megan not-so-helpfully points out.

Cynthia isn’t laughing at me. She looks concerned. “What are you going to do? You have to fix this.”

I lean back in my chair and sigh. My stomach is a block of nerves as I push the food around on my plate with my fork. “I’ll have to get a job waitressing during the week nights,” I say, contemplating my options. “I can bartend on the weekends, and I’ll have to work at a camp during the summers. If I do all of that, and not spend a dime, then I can probably pay everything off in five years.”

Five years! I’m going to be sick.

“That’s not so bad,” Tanya says. She always tries to stay positive. But there’s nothing positive about this. My life will be nothing but work for five years. Nothing but work, and I’ll have to quit my favorite pastime: shopping.

There’s another thing too. “But I’m single,” I say, slumping even further down in my seat. “There goes any chance I have at finding and keeping a boyfriend, let alone getting married.”

“You should try to win the lottery,” Megan says, mocking me.

I drop my head onto the table, and it lands with a thump. It’s the closest thing I can find right now to burying my head in the sand, so I keep my forehead pressed against the table for a minute. I’ll come up when I feel better. Hopefully it will be sometime before dinner.

Just when I think things can’t get worse, they do.

“Are you eating like a dog now, Julia?” It’s Stephanie’s voice. “Good for you. It’s about time you embraced your inner bitch.”

I raise my head and glare at the unwelcome blonde standing at our table. My eyes are narrowed on her, trying my best to intimidate her, but the napkin sticking to my forehead is kind of ruining the effect.

“You want to meet my inner bitch, Stephanie?” I ask in a tight voice. “Keep standing right there.”

She raises her nose in the air, looking indignant. “When you’re dating the owner of the resort, you can stand wherever you want.”

Cynthia turns pale when she spots the owner, Lars, walking in. He walks up to Stephanie and kisses her on the cheek.

“Good morning, ladies,” he says to us with a nod. “Enjoying your breakfast?”

“We were,” I say, glaring at Stephanie.

“Good,” he says with a smile. He turns to Stephanie and slides his hand around her lower back. “I’ll be sitting over there when you’re done catching up with your friends.”

“Okay, lover,” she says before giving him a deep kiss on the mouth.

“Ew,” Megan says, gagging as they tongue wrestle in front of us.

Lars looks dizzy when they finally pull away. He stumbles over to his table with red cheeks.

“Classy,” Tanya says as she stuffs a huge forkful of pancakes into her mouth.

Stephanie is looking pretty satisfied with herself as she grins at us. “Well, I have to go to my date. He’s already in love with me. I made sure that he had the night of his life last night.”

“You better ride it while you can,” I say, grinning back at her. “It’s only a matter of time before he finds out you gave him chlamydia.”

“And gonorrhea,” Tanya adds.

“And that he unwillingly impregnated you with the Antichrist,” Megan says.

The four of us burst out laughing, which makes Stephanie even angrier.

“Ha. Ha. Ha,” she says in a flat voice. “We’ll see who has the last laugh at the end of the week.”

With a flick of her hair, she struts over to Lars’ table, sits on his lap, and continues their disgusting make out session.

“How can anyone kiss her?” Cynthia asks, staring at them in fascination. “Wouldn’t her saliva burn like acid?”

“I’m already queasy from the pregnancy,” Tanya says, looking away. “I don’t need to see this.”

“You’re queasy from eating a dozen pancakes,” Megan corrects.

“You’re right,” Tanya says, grimacing as she looks down at her plate. “I better switch to waffles.”

“That bitch is going to pull something,” Cynthia says, watching them. “This is all making me very nervous.”

I cringe as I watch Stephanie sitting on Lars’ lap with her tongue down his throat. I start to wonder if she’s ever done that with Tucker, and I immediately start getting jealous.

These feelings are so confusing to me. I hate Tucker, so I should be happy if he dated someone as evil as Stephanie, but the thought of them together just makes me want to puke.

My phone rings again, and my body twitches in response.

What a morning. I glance over at the bar by the pool and wonder if it’s open yet. I could use a few dozen drinks. Or better yet, I can hand them a job application.

* * *

We’ve been lounging around the beach all day, sipping cocktails, and working on our tans. I still haven’t seen Tucker once. Maybe my luck has finally turned around and he fell into the fountain and drowned.

“Where’s your brother?” I ask Cynthia who’s lying next to me, soaking up the sun’s rays with a strawberry daiquiri in her hand.

She raises her sunglasses onto her head and shrugs. “He said he had something very important to do on the island today, but he wouldn’t tell me what it was.”

I’m wondering if it has anything to do with our date when I catch myself about to smile. I bite my bottom lip to stop that from happening. People don’t normally smile when they’re forced to go on a date with their nemesis.

“Hmm,” I say, trying to look like I’m not dying to know what it is. “He didn’t say anything?”

Cynthia shrugs. “He’s probably looking around the island for work. Trying to find a new investment property or something. He rented a car and everything.”

I take a deep breath as I turn back to the ocean, watching a pelican skid across the sparkling turquoise water as he lands.

My heart starts pounding when I think of the embarrassment of last night. I wonder if he knew what I was doing when I knocked on the wall.

No. He definitely believed me. People walk into walls all the time. Especially while they’re sleeping.

Ugh.

My cheeks start to heat up as my chest tightens. He definitely knew.

“What should we do tonight?” Cynthia asks as she stares out at the gorgeous ocean in front of us. “We can get everyone to go dancing or go to the Casino again. Or maybe we can all grab some beers from our mini fridges and hang out on the beach.”

“Uhm,” I say, feeling my stomach roll. “I have a date.”

Cynthia jerks up into a sitting position so fast that she spills her drink on her stomach. “A date?” she asks with her jaw hanging open. “With who?”

I swallow hard, keeping my eyes forward and not on my best friend’s shocked face. “Uhm… with your brother.”

“WHAT?!?”

My eyes dart around at all of the people looking at us. I smile nervously at them.

“With my brother?”

“Yup,” I mutter under my breath.

She gets up and sits on my beach chair. I swallow hard as she takes off my Garrett Leight sunglasses and stares into my eyes. “Explain.”

I tell her how he guilted me into saying yes for a date after saving my life.

“So, you’re going out?” she asks, still looking unsure. “On a date? With my brother? Tonight?”

“Yes, yes, yes, and yes,” I say, feeling uncomfortable under her intense stare.

I’m actually going on a date tonight with Tucker. God those words sound all wrong when they’re put together.

Cynthia sits back in her chair and wipes the strawberry daiquiri off her stomach when the crazy thought finally sinks in. “I always thought you two would either marry each other or murder each other. I’m glad it’s the former.”

“We’re not married yet,” I say with a sigh. “Murder is still a very viable option.”

Cynthia grins as she slides her sunglasses back down over her eyes. “If you’re going to murder each other, please wait until after the wedding.”

I smile as I slip my sunglasses back on. “You got it.”

Although I might be singing a different tune tonight.