Chapter 6
Blake
Driving down the only road to Encounter Bay made Blake smile. He knew every bump and curve of that old road. He was finally coming home for good. He put the window of his mother’s brand-new SUV down and breathed in the fresh, familiar, salty air.
“It’s so good to be home,” he said to his mother.
“I’m so excited you’ve decided to come home! I’ve missed you baby, and you’ve missed out on so much! You haven’t even met Jamie!”
Blake furrowed his brow.
Who in the hell was Jamie?
Although it did sound familiar from his mother’s regular waffle-on sessions, where she called him and talked and he half-listened.
“And Jamie is who?” he asked.
He felt the car swerve violently and he looked over at his mother looking at him.
“Blake Wilson! Jamie is Sophie’s fiancé!”
“Oh,” he replied, trying to remember when his mother had told him that his twerp little sister was getting married. Come to think of it, he remembered getting an invite not so long ago.
“I hope you don’t mind, but I invited a couple of people over to celebrate you coming home,” his mother said as they pulled down the winding cliff road leading to the Wilson mansion. Even the trees hanging over the road and connecting into a leafy canopy comforted him.
Blake glanced at his mother. “You didn’t tell them all I was coming home to live permanently, did you? I don’t want anyone to know.”
His mother rolled her eyes. “I told everyone it was a late birthday party. Everyone is so excited to see you.”
“How many people?” Blake asked skeptically, knowing his mother was prone to the ‘go big or go home’ party-planning style.
“Well, you only gave me one day’s notice, so just the whole town,” his mother said casually.
Blake shot a look at his impeccably dressed mother. She was wearing a pale pink shirt, blue chinos, and a white sweater draped gracefully over her shoulders. A pair of tortoiseshell sunglasses was perched on her nose and her hands were in the classic 10 and 2 position on the leather-clad steering wheel of her brand-new white SUV.
“Mom! There are 10,000 people in Encounter Bay!”
“Not any more Blake, it’s over 20,000 now,” she replied happily.
“You invited 20,000 people over to gawk at the celebrity?” He growled, trying not to raise his voice. This was so like his mother!
“Blake! These people love you! And yes, I did, it’s not like we don’t have the room, and you know I can never say no to a party!” his mother smiled, as she negotiated the hairpins of the old cliff road like a seasoned professional. He blinked a couple of times at his mother. He should have seen this shit coming. Well as long as a certain someone was there, he wasn’t going to complain too much.
So much for a quiet night in his old bedroom.
The party was in full swing by the time they drove into the sweeping horseshoe driveway. From what it looked like, his mother was throwing her party outside in their impressive outdoor entertaining area at the rear of the house.
The area included sweeping ocean views, a pool, a spa, and a massive room they used for functions. “You better hope no one gets drunk and falls off the cliff,” Blake muttered as he got out of his Mom’s car.
The Wilson estate backed onto a cliff of about 20 feet that dropped straight into the ocean, from the top story the house had sweeping views of Encounter Bay and the coast.
His father was the first person Blake spotted through the swarm of people as he managed to get out of the car. People started cheering and slapping him on the back. His father’s loud booming voice broke through the crowd. “Son! There you are!” he said, as he grabbed Blake in a one-arm man-hug, his other arm holding a schooner of brandy.
Full, like to the top.
“Nice to have you back, boy!” he said affectionately as he put his free arm around Blake and walked him into the house. Before Blake knew it, he was being herded through the house and out the back, where he was swarmed by about 5,000 people.
They were all smiling and all trying to shake his hand or get a selfie with him.
There were girls young and old touching him and everyone was clapping and cheering for him. This was worse than the groupies in LA, at least they didn’t know where he lived!
Blake covertly scanned the room. There was a ton of familiar faces, but there was one in particular he was searching for. He spotted her in about 20 seconds flat, standing across from the large group of people and hiding out in the corner.
Not for long, my sweet Violet.
All of a sudden Blake’s vision went grey and Betty had her beehive wedged against his face. “Oh Blake, you’re back! I’ve seen all your movies!” Betty was saying as he felt her hand snake down from around his waist to his ass, where she proceeded to pinch his butt cheek, hard. Blake twisted out of her grip, plastering a smile on his face. “Nice to see you too, Betty,” he said taking a step back and smiling at the old waitress, now with a massive grin on her face and a tinge of pink in her cheeks.
She just bruised your ass cheek!
Blake felt a hard thump on his shoulder and was relieved to see it was one of his old buddies, Jake. Blake wanted to scream, but he was stuck. More people were touching him, trying to get his attention, and all of them had cell phones pointed in his face.
Jesus fucking Christ!
Jake managed to pull him out of the path of all the fans and hand him a beer. “Thanks, man,” Blake said, taking a large gulp of beer. “Batty Betty just sexually assaulted me, I think she bruised my ass cheek,” he added, rubbing the sore area. Jake burst out laughing. “I see you still have a way with the ladies, then.” Blake rubbed his ass. Damn Betty. For the next hour or so Blake was stuck in the one spot, meeting and greeting people like the main attraction at a zoo. He moved so he could scan the crowd for Violet, and she still hadn’t moved. She was currently talking to Sophie and munching on a huge cupcake.
Now he just had to bide his time before he could go over there and talk to her.