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“Money can’t take care of everything, though,” I said quietly. “It can’t buy happiness.”
“Are you sure about that?” Something in his tone made me peer into his face. He sounded almost mischievous, like he had something up his sleeve.
“Sylvia and Lorelei have money, but they’re not happy. You have money and… well. Maybe you’re just not very good at showing your inner joy to the world.”
“Would your dad have a saying about that?”
“Absolutely. Something about… the sun is always shining, even when it’s behind a cloud?”
His hand was on my cheek at that moment, and his eyes met mine. “I never thought much about the importance of sunshine until I met you, Soleil.” His gaze was solemn. “I worked hard for my family, our employees, to keep our businesses afloat. To grow our fortune. But I never once thought about how much I needed more light in my life. I would give almost anything to be able to make you smile, and know I deserved it. That I’d earned it.”
“I… I…” My mouth hung open, as I fought for words. How could I trust him, after all the things he’d said to me? My heart was racing, my breath coming faster. Was this a trick? “I don’t know what to say.”
“Say you forgive me. Give me another chance.”My eyes stung at the perfect sincerity in his voice.
And then, directly below us, a child’s scream split the air.
Chapter15
Sylvia
It was ridiculous how little attention parents paid to their own children. Well, not just parents. Adults in general.
I’d been hanging out on the portside walkway, just a few yards from the stupid wedding planner’s room, for an hour. More than one adult had seen me here, but I’d pretended to be playing on Soleil’s phone, and they ignored me.
I felt guilty that I’d snatched Soleil’s purse at the end of dinner. She was so trusting, it was ridiculous. Maybe not all that trusting, I thought, feeling the lump in my pocket. The pepper spray I’d found along with her phone in her clutch had been a shocker. And a good surprise. I could protect myself if this plan went wrong.
Mom had disappeared somewhere, probably crying in her room like she had been for the past few days, though she hadn’t answered when I’d knocked, and I hadn’t heard her like the other times.
Alphonse had stomped off at the end of dinner, too. And I was worried he’d gone to yell at Mom. But I’d watched him go into the stupid wedding planner’s room again. I’d seen him kissing her right here the day before, and wanted to tell Mom, but I knew she wouldn’t believe me. I needed proof.
I held the phone up and started the video as soon as the door handle started to turn. Sure enough, Alphonse walked out, and the blonde woman followed, wearing nothing but a towel around her chest. “Al, come back tonight. I’ll miss you.” He grabbed her, giving her a kiss that looked like he was trying to scrape her face off.
“You know I gotta be careful, Muffin. She was asking all sorts of questions about you, and where I’ve been. I gotta play it safe until the wedding.” He checked his phone. “The signal out here sucks ass. All right. Gotta go make nice with the bitch.” His voice sounded weird. Not the usual weird, with that awful, muddled accent. But like he was a mob boss in some movie.
I wanted to jump up and tell him not to call my mom a bitch, but I held still, recording all the disgusting kissing.
“Bye, Alley Cat,” the woman said, then slipped back into her room. Alphonse’s room was in the other direction, but for some reason, he turned toward me. I scooted back into a maintenance doorway, trying to stay quiet, but the beads on Soleil's purse made a skittering sound on the deck.
“Who’s there?” His face was twisted up and shadowy, like a horror movie villain in the jump scare scene. In a split second, he was striding toward me. “What the hell are you doing here, kid?” he demanded. “Didn’t think you had a phone.”
Crap.He’d noticed I was recording. “I was just watching a bunch of TikTok videos.”
“Oh yeah?” he said, leaning down. “Lemme see what you’re watching.”
I shoved my hand in my pocket, grabbing the pepper spray. There was a hard catch on it, so it didn’t go off accidentally, and I fumbled at it with my thumb.But before I could do anything, he’d grabbed me, his grip hard and tight on my arm, and yanked the phone out of my hand.
“I don’t think you were watching anything, girlie. Not enough signal for it. You trying to break me and your mom up, huh? It’s a shame what a little girl will do for attention.”
He dragged me over to the railing, and suddenly, I wondered if he was going to throw me in. Heart racing, I tried to dig my heels into the deck, but my stupid ballet flats slid like it was buttered. I screamed, hoping someone would hear me over the wind. “What are you doing?”
“Drop the phone in the water,” he ordered as he lifted me up and over the top rail, “and we’ll forget this ever happened. I’ll marry your mama, and you’ll go off to Austria like a good daughter.”
“No!” I shouted, trying to get away. He was holding me up by my wrist, and it felt like it might break. His other hand grabbed the phone, and I felt the railing under my butt.
The phone went flying into the water. “Now, apologize to your daddy,” he said, with a smile on his ugly face.
My other hand came out of my pocket at that same instant, and I pressed my thumb hard on the top of the pepper spray. “You’re not my daddy, asshole!” I yelled, spraying him straight in the eyes.
