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Chapter One
Dani
As I stepped off the bus and looked out to the shoreline, I couldn’t believe my luck. Readjusting my bag, my eyes took in the horizon above a sandy beach. All that appeared was a pure blue sky filled with the endless possibilities of summer.
I couldn’t contain my joy.
“Dani!” a voice called.
I turned to the left, shielding my eyes. A girl with sleek blonde hair and a designer purse waved her hands wildly at me, and I couldn’t help but smile.
“Justine!” I called back as I ran over to her. She flung her arms out as we literally crashed into each other, panting and laughing.
“I can’t believe you’re finally here!” Justine giggled. She pushed a smooth lock of hair off her forehead. “Are you ready for the best summer of your life?” There was a wicked grin on her face.
I smiled back at her. “It’s what I’ve been looking forward to all year.”
Justine looked around. “Is this all you brought?” she asked with a frown, pointing at the only bag on the sidewalk.
I looked down at my fairly large duffle and back at her. Putting my hands on my hips, I cocked my head.
“Why? Should I have brought more?”
“It’s fine,” Justine replied before giggling. “We can go shopping then, it’ll be fun,” she added with a meaningful look before looping her arm with mine. “How is your mom by the way? I still can’t believe she let you come. We’ve been working on her for so long that I thought it would never happen.”
I sighed. “She’s fine. I think Susan’s more okay with me coming now that I’m finally eighteen. She knows it’s my last summer of freedom. Who better to spend it with than my cousins?”
Justine smiled and squeezed my arm. She looked so different and yet so much like I remembered her. Justine is my cousin – her mother is my mom’s sister. We’re the same age and we were pretty close when we were younger. In fact, up until I was seven, we lived right next door to each other.
But everything changed after my dad got sick. He’d been a renowned chef with people coming from all over to eat his food. But after he passed away, there was a mountain of debt left over that my mother couldn’t recover from. It was a terrible time for our family, going from relative comfort to sudden emotional and financial devastation.
So my mom did what she had to do. She sold the house and most of our possessions, moving us to northern California where she took a job as a secretary for a small insurance office. Susan didn’t make much, but it was enough for us to get by. We were a little lonely, but it was better than staying in a town filled with memories of my dad.
Despite the distance, Justine and I had never lost touch. We’d write letters as little girls, which turned into emails when we got older. A few years ago, I’d successfully convinced my mother I needed a cell phone, and immediately, I’d started texting with Justine. Last summer we’d developed this plan. We would spend the summer together. All we had to do was convince our parents.
Justine’s parents were no problem. Aunt Melanie and Uncle Craig had always talked about me coming to visit – it was my mother who proved a challenge because things changed after Dad died. Mom was worried that if I spent time with Justine, I’d come away different somehow. After all, Justine’s family still had all of their money, and well, we didn’t.
In the end, I never knew if Mom agreed to let me go because she thought it was a good idea or because I wouldn’t shut up about it. But I was here now, and grateful for the chance to get away from my small town.
As we neared Justine’s car, my jaw dropped to the ground.
“This is yours?” I gasped, staring at sleek black vehicle which looked brand spanking new. I couldn’t tell the model, but I knew it had to be pricey. It just oozed money from the flashy chrome bumpers to the leather interior that gleamed.
Justine stared at the car and shrugged. “Dad gave it to me for graduation. Now get in, we don’t have any time to waste.”
As I slowly got into the vehicle, all I could think about was how unprepared I was for this summer.
Driving down the highway to her house, I looked over at Justine. Her short blonde hair was messy in that tousled, sexy way, and large sunglasses hid sky-blue eyes from my view. She was so different from the young girl I remembered, but then again, I was different from the young girl I used to be, too. Justine was definitely more upmarket from the sparkling diamonds on her wrists to the designer clothes hugging her body.
