Page 81 of Big Stick Energy
Ohshit. I hop off my chair and chase Tessa down. “Hey, wait up! No WaveRunners.”
Tessa seems not to hear me. She keeps on trucking, raising her clipboard to wave to a hotel worker in white shorts and a Blue Button Bay polo shirt.
“Tessa! Hold up.” I leap over a spiky-looking piece of driftwood and reach for her hand. It almost works. I catch the sleeve of her flowy beach cover-up and end up yanking it half off her shoulder.
She comes to a stop and whips around. “Get yourhandsoff me! What the hell are you doing?”
“Listen,” I say, dropping my voice. “You can’t bring out those WaveRunners.”
Her eyes bulge. “Don’t tell me what to do! Youof all peopledon’t get a say.” She puts her hands on her skinny hips as she snarls at me. “I planned this four-day event from the ground up. Every hour. Every meal. Every activity. And you can’t even respect the schedule! You had to take Dad out tolunchtoday, of all days. This isn’t just, like, a free hotel weekend for you and your boy toy. This is the family eventof the year.”
“For fuck’s sake.” Isthatthe excuse my father and Kandi made for our hospital trip?
“Why did you even come to this wedding?” Tessa demands. “To brag about your job? To show off your cool boyfriend?”
“Listen!” I’m completely exasperated. “I just needone damn minuteof your time. Don’t bring out the WaveRunners, okay?”
“Why?” Tessa yelps. “What do youcare?”
“Oh, I don’t,” I say, throwing a glance over my shoulder to make sure Maribel isn’t right behind me. Theo’s got her tucked under his arm, though, and he’s watching us with a grumpy frown. “But Maribel turned the color of milk when you mentioned them. And she clearly told you to drop it. There must be a reason. Do you know how Danny died? Her first fiancé?”
“No?” She wrinkles up her pretty nose, like I’m the one who’s not paying attention. “That was a long time ago.”
“Apparently not toher,” I insist. “Read the fucking room for once in your life. She doesn’t want the WaveRunners!”
“Then why can’t she tell me herself?”
“She tried! But you never listen!” I shriek. “You just steamrolled her! She probably gave up trying to talk to you a long time ago, like the rest of us. You’re straight-up exhausting.”
Somehow this blow lands, and Tessa looks stricken. For at least a split second, anyway. Then she licks her perfect lips. “Lower. Your.Voice.People are staring.”
“Like I care? It’s no big secret that you’re the one that Dad has to baby. God forbid your little feelings get hurt. And I already know I’m the bitchy one who never shows up. Same old, same old. But if you bring out those WaveRunners, I’lllight them on fire.”
Having said my piece, I turn around, take a step, and smack right into Eric’s chest.
He catches me, absorbing the blow. “Darcy? You okay?”
I turn my head to take in Tessa, who’s staring at us with murder in her eyes. And I don’t even know how to answer. My goal for the weekend was to survive it without having a smackdown with Tessa.
Big fail. She’s stomping off, hopefully not to scream at my dad.
I swivel in Eric’s arms and look up at him. From this angle, he’s all impressive jaw and gray eyes. “Did your brother die on a jet ski?”
He doesn’t release me from his hold. He kisses me on top of the head instead. “Yeah. He did. How did you guess?”
“Tessa was blabbing about bringing some out for the guests on the beach, which made Maribel look ill.”
He flinches. “Yeah. I saw a guy with four of them on a trailer, and I asked him not to bring them out. I told him why.”
“Oh,” I say slowly. “I’m sorry you had to do that.”
He shakes his head. “It’s okay. I just didn’t want Maribel thinking about them. Not today. Not that Theo would get on one. I’m sure he knows the story.”
“God.” I glance out at the water, which is a pristine blue in the sunshine. Maribel probably sees something different when she looks at it, though. “How did it happen? Can I ask?”
Eric’s shrug is a little stiff. “He was with his friends, and it was dusk. You’re not supposed to ride them at night. He was very drunk, I think. My parents don’t talk about that part, but I heard some things. He hit a moored boat. Maribel saw it happen, but she couldn’t get to him in time.”
“Ohno! Were you there?”
