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HELEN
What an absolute and utter disaster! I accepted Brenton’s dinner invitation last evening with the sole purpose of gathering information about Dudley, but then things changed. He opened up to me, and he actually listened to what I had to say. I was so refreshed by a man treating me with respect that I let things get carried away.
Then he called me delicate and he kept looking at me with judgment in his eyes every time I swatted a mosquito away or adjusted my hair. It made me want to prove something to him. I wanted to prove that being from the city didn’t make me soft. Brenton thought he knew me based on the small amount of details he’d been able to gather, but he didn’t know the first thing about what I’d been through. Surviving my family gave me tough skin, and I’d survived more evils than just them.
I shuddered at the thought. The way Brenton bossed me around this morning, the way he’d ordered me to delete those photos on my phone, it brought me back to some dark memories that I never wanted to revisit. Ugh, what had I been thinking last evening? I should have never slept with him. I had no time for a summer romance, especially not one with him.
I shook my head and made my way up to my room. I needed to get out of these day-old clothes. Once in my on-suite, I looked in the mirror in horror. It appeared that after my quick shower at Brenton’s this morning, my hair had dried in every odd direction. I dropped my arms to my side in defeat and then looked down at my long and mangled nails. The polish I had gotten at my last manicure was chipped and faded. I groaned. I needed a spa day, ASAP.
I called my best friend Lisa and breathed a sigh of relief when she answered.
“Hello?”
“Lisa, I need you.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Oakville sucks. Big time. It’s full of mosquitos and dirt and arrogant men. Well one arrogant man. I’ve had no social interaction with anyone besides him in days. I need girl time, stat!”
“Oh no! I can take a half day today. Meet me for mani-pedis and a drink?”
“Yes, please!”
I hung up, promising to meet Lisa at our favorite nail place in two hours. I got ready at lightning speed. Girl time couldn’t come soon enough. Lisa was quite literally the only person who could return me to sanity at this moment. I felt like I was floating in limbo. At least when I was living in the city and working almost 24/7, I had a structure and a purpose. Now, I didn’t even know if Dudley’s fortune was worth all this hassle, let alone if I’d ever find it.
I drove to San Francisco and screamed like I was back in middle school at the sight of my best friend, grabbing the attention of the entire nail salon as I embraced her.
“Helen, it’s only been a few days! You are so dramatic!” Lisa laughed.
“It felt like an eternity! I needed this so bad.”
“Ha! You’re such a city girl,” Lisa exclaimed.
“You and me both,” I motioned to the nail salon we frequented.
We picked out our colors and took a seat next to each other. I picked bright red, ignoring how eerily similar the color matched Brenton’s apples.
“Ok, spill,” Lisa said as she splayed her fingers for the nail technician. “How is Dudley’s will treating you? Have you found anything? How’s the house?”
I had already told Lisa about the contents of Dudley’s letter, so I updated her on my progress. “I can’t find that damn journal anywhere, Lisa! I’m beginning to think it might not even exist and Dudley is just sending me on this wild goose chase as one last joke from the grave. And don’t even get me started on the house! Ugh!”
“The photos made it look amazing! What’s wrong with it?”
“The house itself is fine. Old and dusty, but fine. It’s the neighbor.”
“Is this the arrogant man you were talking about?”
I nodded.
“Tell me everything,” Lisa said.
“His name is Brenton McLean,” I said.
The manicurist gasped and her eyes widened. Lisa turned to her as I looked at her name tag, which read Sonja.
‘What? Do you know him?” Lisa asked.
“Only from magazines! He’s rich!” Sonja exclaimed.
