Dirty: The Complete Series (Secret Baby Romance Love Story) (85 page)

“So, did you have to go to foster care
when he died?”

“Yeah,” I said as I popped a fry in my
mouth. “But I didn’t stay.”

“Where did you go?”

“I just left. I got on a bus, and I’ve
been moving ever since.”

“You’ve been homeless since you were
fourteen?” he looked horrified. I’m not sure if it was for me or about me – I
have a hard time not always seeing the worst.

“I do okay,” I said. I wished he had never
brought it up now. I hated that look in his eyes. It was the one people gave me
when they passed me in the street and wondered if they should give me money or
something. I liked it when he just looked at me like any other woman, the way
he usually did.

“So, what about Wayne’s money? Wouldn’t
you be entitled to that?”

“What money?”

“Summer, I made three hundred grand last
year and I didn’t even make it to the World Championship series. Wayne did –
twice – and he had endorsements…”

I stopped chewing. “You made three hundred
grand surfing?”

He laughed, “That’s what you got out of
what I just said?”

I shrugged, trying not to think of what I
could do with that kind of money and said, “I just had no idea. I don’t know
what he did with his money. He didn’t spend much of it, that’s for sure. He had
a Woody that he’d been driving since he was a teenager when we were home. We
lived in a pretty crappy two-bedroom house… I have no idea where the money
went.”

“We should find out-”

“We?”

“Well, you, but I’d be willing to help
you. Summer, that’s your money.”

All this time I’d been so busy surviving,
the thought of Grandpa having money had never entered my mind. I wasn’t even
sure I could wrap my head around it now. Growing up, I always had clothes and a
warm place to sleep and plenty of food in my belly, but that was really it. We
spent a lot of time at the beach, but we didn’t take vacations and we didn’t
really have shit. “Maybe he gave it away. I mean, seriously, there was no money
floating around when I was a kid.”

“Maybe he did,” he said. “But either way,
you haven’t lost anything. Can I check into it for you?”

The old fears of being found and taken
back to that hell hole of a foster home slipped back in. I had to remind myself
they were irrational now. I’m an adult. They can’t take me back. I sucked in a
breath and shrugged again, feigning nonchalance, and said, “Sure, go for it.”
Acting like I’m perfectly content being broke and homeless seems somehow less
pathetic to me.

CHAPTER
EIGHT

DRAKE

All morning while I was watching Summer
practice her pop-ups, I had to keep a tight rein on my parts down south. I
didn’t want her to think that was all I wanted from her, but damn, do I want
it. She has absolutely no clue how incredible she is – and then I find out
she’s Wayne French’s granddaughter! I couldn’t wait to tell Kobe. She said she
had somewhere to be after we ate, but before she took off, she thanked me for
the lessons and lunch. She has a lot of pride and I can tell it’s hard for her
to accept help, so that meant a lot to me.

I found Kobe behind the counter in his
shop with his bare feet up on a stool, taking a hit off of a bong…maybe this
has something to do with his drop in business. “Hey, man! What’s up?”

“Well, I found something out today and I’m
dying to tell someone… Guess who Summer’s grandfather is?”

He gave me an amused look and said, “Who’s
Summer?”

“Oh, shut the hell up and put your big
smelly feet down so I can sit.” He laughed and moved his feet. Then he offered
me the bong. “No thanks, but back to what I was saying… Wayne French was
Summer’s grandfather.”

“No way, man! Are you sure she’s not just
yanking your chain?”

“I really don’t think so. She actually
opened up to me.”

He raised his burly eyebrows and smiled
again, “What all did she open up?”

“Are you going to let me tell you the
story or are you going to keep interrupting?” Kobe is one of my favorite
people, but for some reason, sex with Summer felt a lot different than it
usually did with other women. Something about it was special and I didn’t want
to brag about it like I usually do. He was quiet, so I said, “He actually
raised her out on the circuit.”

“That explains her interest in surfing. Is
she any good?”

“We worked on her pop-up today. That was a
problem for her. I haven’t actually seen her surf yet, but she’s got to have
some natural talent you would think, considering what’s in her DNA.”

“Yeah, Wayne French was a legend. Why is
she homeless?”

“I guess she took off after he died to
keep from going into foster care. I’m going to make some phone calls back east
and try to find out whom his attorney was or his financial guy. I can’t help
but think there should be some money somewhere, and if there is, it should be
hers.” Kobe was smirking at me again. “What?”

“I was just thinking about what a hard
time you gave me about Phoebe the other day, man.”

“I guess I do owe you an apology for that.
Sometimes I get in the Spencer frame of mind and act like an arrogant
dick-head.”

“You can’t help what’s in your DNA, man.”

I just shook my head at him as he grinned
at me. He’s right, I can’t change my DNA, but I can damned sure treat people
differently than the rest of my family does. If nothing else ever happens
between me and Summer – and I hope like hell it does – at least I’ll know I did
all I could to help her.

“Oh, I almost forgot!” Kobe got up and
went over by his phone. He shuffled through a pile of papers there, knocking
about half of them onto the floor and he pulled out a yellow piece of paper.
“This is the guy who has the space for rent in Laguna. I talked to him earlier
today about your school and he told me to have you call him.”

Kobe was the only one I’d talked to about
what I really wanted to do with my life. I wanted to teach surfing to kids that
wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity to learn. I’d been thinking about
teaching for a while, but when I came home this time and realized what a huge
problem San Diego County had with homelessness, I started thinking about doing
it for underprivileged kids. I had done some research on non-profit business
licenses and I had some experience with helping my mother with all of her
charity work over the years. I just hadn’t gone any further than that because I
know the top of my father’s head is going to blow off when I tell him that I
don’t want to be a part of Spencer Exports. The very thought of wearing a suit
every day and being inside all the time made me feel claustrophobic.

“Thanks, man, I’ll call him,” I said.
Right after I have that talk with my dad, I continued in my head. I was not looking
forward to that.

“You still gonna do Laguna?”

“Yeah, of course. It’s my last ride if I
decide to do this. I came home for Laguna.” The tournament in Laguna was a
kick-off to the coming season. Technically, if I planned on not going another
season, I should skip it, but I’m not overly confident that I’ll be able to
stand up to my dad and do this school thing. If that doesn’t happen, I’m going
to spend at least one more year on the circuit, putting off the inevitable
suffocation of working in my dad’s company. “I’m gonna take off and get started
making those phone calls. Tonight is Lance’s birthday; you want to go out with
us?”

“Sure, man, just come by on your way and
get me.”

“You’ll wear shoes?”

He laughed and looked at his feet.
“They’re kind of sexy to cover up.”

*******

I walked out, shaking my head. When I come
home I usually stay at my parent’s house. My room is on the third floor and has
its own entrance. It’s been the same since I left home and started traveling at
eighteen, four years ago. Nobody really bothers me, but if my mother knew I was
there, she’d at least expect me down for breakfast and dinner every day. I
remember when I was a kid I’d look forward to those times because it was
usually the only time I got to see my dad. He spends so much time at work that
he and my mother finally settled on two meals a day at home as a compromise.
Sadly, now that I’m an adult, I really don’t have much to say to him.

I wasn’t sure where to start trying to
find Summer’s grandfather’s money so the first person I called was my father’s
attorney. Times like this, I wished I had my own. This guy has worked for my
father since before I was born, so there is no question as to where his
loyalties lie. But he is smart and from what I’ve heard, he’s the best corporate
and estate attorney in California.

I had to be transferred three times and
wait on hold for over twenty minutes before I finally heard, “Drake?”

“Hey, Vince, yeah, it’s me.”

“Well, hey there, kid! How are you?”

“I’m good, Vince. I’m home for a competition
in Laguna next week. I was hoping I could ask you a favor…” I told him the
story as I knew it, leaving out the facts about the way I feel about Summer.
Partly because I knew he’d take that straight to my father and partly because I
wasn’t sure how to even put what I was feeling into words.

“Wow, I used to follow Wayne’s career. I
never knew he had a kid, much less a granddaughter. I have to ask, Drake, are
you sure this isn’t some kind of scam?”

“I’ll admit that I was skeptical when she
told me who her grandfather was, but honestly, unless she turns out to have his
DNA, if there is money, it does her no good, right? This was my idea, anyways.
She never mentioned anything about any money. She’s been so busy trying to
survive out there that I don’t think she’s had much time to think about it.
She’s been on the streets since she was fourteen, Vince. She was just a kid. It
makes me sick to my stomach to think about it.”

“You have your mother’s heart,” he said.
Then he laughed and said, “Since your father doesn’t have one, that’s a good
thing.” I laughed, too; he knows my family too well. “Give me a little time to
see what I can do about tracking down his attorney and I’ll get back to you if
and when I find anything out, okay?”

“Thanks, Vince, I appreciate this a lot. I
have one more favor to ask.”

“What’s that?”

“I’ll give you a retainer or whatever, but
can this stay between us?”

“This is a favor for a friend and good
Samaritan. No retainer needed, and it will stay right here.”

“Thanks.” I wasn’t convinced that he
wasn’t too loyal to my father not to tell him, but his word would have to do.
Speaking of my father, I figured now is as good of a time as any to get this
shit over with. I dressed in a pair of slacks and a collared shirt and put real
shoes on…and I even shaved. I wanted him to have as little ammunition to use
against me as possible.

CHAPTER
NINE

SUMMER

“No, no, no! You’re switching your feet
again! You’ll never stay up on the board like that!”

“Don’t yell at me!” Drake showed up for
our “lesson” this morning in one hell of a bad mood. “I’m not sure who pissed
in your Cheerios this morning, but don’t take it out on me!”

He looked like he was going to growl at me
again, but then he took a deep breath and said, “I’m sorry, you’re right. Just
watch your feet, okay? I want you to win this thing.”

“You wanna talk about it?” I said that and
then wondered where it came from. I’m really not the kind of girl who wants to
get involved in or even listen to other people’s problems. I have enough of my own…too
many. For some reason, all the rules seem to be different for this guy.

He smiled. “Not really, but thank you. Now
come on, pop-up for me again. I know you can do this.” I shook off the urge to
hug him or something sappy and stupid like that and went back to focusing on my
footwork. For the next two hours, we worked and I fought urge after urge to
touch him. He was touching me. Every time he adjusted my feet, he would take
hold of my ankle or my calf and caress them with his calloused fingers just slightly
before putting my foot where he wanted it. That simple touch and the fact that
several times he leaned into me with his hard, wet, naked chest had led me to
distraction. I was hot and wet and horny and grateful when he let me go into
the water to do a few pop ups in the little waves. The ocean cooled me down and
helped me think more clearly. When Drake was in my space, clear and rational
thoughts were a stretch.

His mood got better as the morning went on
and mine was better than it had been in a long time, until we started coming in
off the water and I saw Bennie standing about fifty yards up the beach, just
watching us. “We have company,” Drake said. He didn’t look happy about it. From
the look on Bennie’s face, he wasn’t happy, either. This is just great. I don’t
have a single boyfriend and yet these two dimwits look like they’re ready to
fight over me. I wonder what the winner thinks he’s going to get?

With a sigh I said, “Yeah, I saw him. I’ll
be right back.” I dropped the board I was holding and Drake sat down in his
little lawn chair and pulled out his wax kit. To give him credit, he even faced
it away from where Bennie was so it didn’t seem like he was trying to intrude
on our conversation. I walked over to where Bennie stood with his arms folded,
waiting for me. He hadn’t asked any questions about where I went yesterday, so
I hadn’t offered any explanations. I kept telling myself that it wasn’t his
business. It also wasn’t the way we usually do things. Our group survives
mostly because we look out for each other and use the buddy system. “What’s
up?”