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“It feels… wrong. But in a good way.” I flashed her a grin. “Dad wouldkillme if he saw me like this.”
“Well, your papa isn’t here to scold you for not dressing like a little Amish girl. He would throw a fit for sure, but it can be our little secret.” Marta, seated on the towel next to me, followed up her words with a wink.
It was true that I felt like a very bad girl dressed in my skimpy bikini. All the same, as I lay there on my towel soaking up the warmth of the sun, I could definitely see the appeal of such a swimsuit. Every part of me felt kissed by the tropical rays above. Instead of being covered up and constricted, I was open and exposed.
I loved it.
I sat up, putting on my sunglasses and watching the water crash onto the shore.
“This place… it’s something else.” Marta shook her head in disbelief as she spoke.
“You’re right about that. Still doesn’t feel real.”
“People like this Logan character live in a way that people like us only dream about,” she replied, her eyes on the water. “Even your father, wealthy as he is, would be impressed by all of this.”
The mere mention of Dad was enough to make my stomach tighten.
“You want to hear something weird?” I asked.
“What’s that,chica?”
“I know that I’m a million miles away from my father, but part of me still half-expects him to pop out from behind a tree or a rock and scold me for what I’m doing.”
Marta let out a light laugh. “It makes perfect sense. You’ve lived under his rules for so long that it’s hard for you to imagine any other way to be.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Marta pursing her lips, her expression turning to one of contemplation. I could sense that something was on her mind that she wasn’t sure how to say.
I offered her a warm smile. “Come on, Marta. When have you ever been shy about telling me what’s on your mind?”
“Ah, it’sestupido. But it’s something I’m wondering about anyway.”
“What is it?”
A few beats of silence hung in the air. I sat up, resting my arms on my knees as I turned my head toward her.
“Maybe it’s the last thing on your mind, but I’m wondering if you miss your father.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could get a single word out, Marta raised her finger to silence me.
“Think about it,” she said. “Before you go off, that man, hard as he can be at times is your flesh and blood. People like me would kill to have a parent in our lives. Not everyone is as lucky as you, my dear.”
Marta had a point. All the same, her sentiments didn’t change how I felt in the slightest.
“I don’t miss him. Not even a little bit.”
Marta raised an eyebrow in surprise.
“You’re serious about that?” she asked. “You don’t have the slightest bit of longing for him?”
“Nope. Hell, if I had the choice to never go back to New York, I think I’d do it.”
Marta said nothing for a few long moments, eventually shaking her head in disbelief.
“That’s strange to hear,chica.”
“Are you serious? After the way he’s treated me since I was a little girl, you’re surprised that I’d feel this way?”
“I know your father can be… harsh.”
