Wild Child

“I found them,” he said. “When are you coming home? There’s a lot of work here that needs your attention.”

“Not until the end of the week. And it sounds as if you’re handling everything fine.” She shifted the phone to her other ear and forced optimism into her voice. “How did dinner with Mr. Granger go?”

“All right, I guess. He can be a real blowhard.”

Then why do you hang out with him? But she knew the answer to that. Uncle Spence cultivated people who were good business contacts, not necessarily good friends. This lack of people he could really trust in his life probably accounted for why he depended so much on her. What he needed were other people in his life. Real friends. Maybe even a romantic interest.

“Whatever happened to that woman you were dating for a while?” she asked. “Martha?”

“Magda.” A long silence. “She had to go back to Michigan to look after her father for a few months. After he died, we never got back together.”

“You ought to give her a call. The two of you always had fun together.”

“Maybe I should…” More rustling of papers. “I don’t have time for that now. Not while I’m trying to hold things together here with you gone.”

“Everything will be fine,” she said. “If anything else comes up, it can wait until I get back. It’s only a few more days.”

“People don’t like to be kept waiting, Sara. I’ve always told you that.”

“Waiting will teach them patience,” she said, and laughed, picturing the shocked expression on Uncle Spence’s face. Life was very serious business for him and she didn’t usually try to persuade him otherwise.

“I need that information for the McManus property right away,” he said. “Could you at least do that for me?”

The words to tell him to do it himself were there, on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn’t bring herself to say them. Uncle Spence had always been very big on responsibility—as in her clients were her responsibility, even when she was on vacation. “All right. I’ll look them up when I get back to the beach house and e-mail them to you. But anything else will have to wait until I get home.”

“Keep your phone on in case I need you,” he said. “I don’t like being out of touch.”

“Reception isn’t always good out here,” she lied. “I think the film crew’s equipment must interfere with it or something.”

“I don’t know why those moviemakers have to take over public places when they’ve got acres of sound stages in Hollywood,” he said.

She didn’t bother to correct him. She was sure she’d told him about the Sin on the Beach festival, but of course, he hadn’t bothered to pay attention to that, either.

Unlike Drew, who had focused on her every word. The memory of his attention made her feel warm all over, and her voice had a dreamy quality as she said goodbye to Spence and hung up. Thoughts of Drew accompanied her all the way back to the beach house.

Ellie was in the kitchen, slicing limes. “I’m starved,” Sara said, heading for the refrigerator. “Where’s Candy?”

“Out somewhere. I hope with Matt.”

Sara fished a deli container of chicken salad out of the fridge, then plucked a fork from a drawer and dug in. “How was your day?” she asked. “How did the audition go?”

Ellie laid down the knife and turned to face Sara, her face serious. Sara’s stomach tightened and she set aside her late lunch. “What happened? Did they give the part to someone else?”

“There was more than one part available.” A smile lit Ellie’s face and she bounced on her toes. “And I got one of them!”

“That’s awesome!” Sara hugged her, then stepped back to look at her friend. Ellie wore the red bikini she’d borrowed from Sara, with a black fishnet cover-up. The new highlights in her hair and softer makeup had transformed her into a true beauty. “How could they not choose you? You’re gorgeous.”

Ellie executed a small curtsy, then turned back to the cutting board. “I’m making margaritas to celebrate. Want one?”

“Absolutely. I’m in the mood to celebrate.”

“I take it your surfing lesson went well.”

“It did. I actually surfed a wave. A small one, and only for a bit, but it was incredible.” She took another bite of chicken salad. “Drew thinks I’ll be in good shape for the beginner class of the competition.”

“And how is Drew?” Ellie squeezed lime juice into the blender, then reached for a bottle of tequila.

“Drew is fine. Very fine indeed.” She giggled. “I’m seeing him again tonight. He agreed to help us with the photo scavenger hunt.” She leaned forward and nudged Ellie. “And how is Bill?”

A pink flush washed Ellie’s cheeks as she added tequila to the blender. “He remembered me.”

“And?”

“And…I think he liked what he saw.” She slanted a look at Sara out of the corner of her eye. “I’m meeting him again in a little while.”

“Then I’ll make sure I’m out of the way.” She finished the last of the salad and dropped the fork in the sink. “Drew and I want to check out the carnival.”

“We’ll meet you and Candy and Matt by the main festival stage at nine,” Ellie said. “That’s when the scavenger hunt starts.” She added triple sec to the blender and dumped in ice.

Sara went into the living room, switching on the stereo as she passed. A bouncy rock tune filled the room and she danced her way over to her laptop. She hated even to turn the thing on, but she’d promised Uncle Spence. In any case, it wouldn’t take a minute to search the county property records for the information he needed and e-mail it to him. Then she could change clothes and get ready for her date with Drew. She gave an extra hip shake at the thought of the evening ahead.

True to form, Uncle Spence called again while she was searching for the information. While she was talking him down, the door to the beach house opened and Candy sashayed in, followed by a good-looking guy who, on second-glance, proved to be Ellie’s brother, Matt—sans glasses and his usual conservative threads, with a stylish new haircut and streaks in his hair.

Sara grinned and waved hello, then turned her attention back to business. “I’m sending the information right now, Uncle Spence,” she said. “All you have to do is print it out.”

When she got off the phone at last, she switched over to a spreadsheet she’d set up last night to track their points in the contest. She added in the points she’d earned today for entering the surfing competition, along with Ellie’s points for landing the role in Sin on the Beach. “We’re racking up the points,” she said. “Take a look.”

When everyone had oohed and ahhed over the totals for the Java Mamas—the name they’d chosen for their team, in honor of Ellie’s coffee shop, where the three of them had met—and Ellie had given Sara a hard time about her businesslike approach to the contest, they debated ways to add to their total and made plans for the scavenger hunt later. Candy disappeared into Ellie’s bedroom to change clothes and Sara followed her.

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