So Much More
Authors: Elizabeth Adams
So Much More
Elizabeth Adams
So Much More
Elizabeth Adams
July/2013
Copyright © 2013 Elizabeth Adams
Cover illustration copyright
©
Traci Markou
ISBN Not Assigned
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system-except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a magazine, newspaper, or on the Web-without permission in writing from the publisher.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
Previous Works
Soul Seer
For the Love of Pete
Table of Contents
“Angie, I’m telling you, this will be the best vacation ever! You have to go!”
Angela Adel’s best friend since college was adamant that joining her family on their annual vacation would be the experience of a lifetime. As an only child who rarely ever saw her parents, by choice, the idea of a seven day trip with the Cleavers seemed like a form a self torture. And Angie wasn’t in to pain, self induced or otherwise.
“I can’t take a week off work with such short notice. Besides, its end of the year, I have reports due that I haven’t even begun to think about.” This was a complete lie seeing that she finished said reports the night before and it was mandatory to
take a consecutive week of vacation before year end, which she had yet to take.
“Oh?” Stella asked in her
you-big-fat-liar
tone. “You mean those reports you called me at midnight last night to tell me you finished? And you can’t fool me Angela Adel, I know you haven’t taken any vacation this year. Don’t you lose it if you don’t use it?”
Agh
! Caught!
Angie let out a dramatic sigh for effect. “Stella, no offence, but your family isn’t really what I’m used to and spending time with them is not even close to my idea of great vacation.”
“Oh, but you haven’t heard the best part…” It was Stella’s turn to be dramatic, something they often took turns doing since rooming together their freshman year of college.
They sat in silence for a few beats before, rolling her eyes, Angie took the bait. “What’s the best part?”
“You pay for nothing! No airfare, no hotel, no food, no nothing! How great is that?”
Suddenly the Cleavers not only sound bearably but
downright fun. She would pay for nothing? It would be like winning one of those trips the radio station is always promoting that you never hear about anyone winning. Angie could be a winner and wouldn’t even have to call in three times a day for a month to get her name in the same drawing as millions of people!
Then it hit her. “What’s the catch? This isn’t one of those trips where I have to sit through a five hour seminar and buy a timeshare, is it?”
“Would I do that to you?” Stella asked, but before Angie could answer the question with a staunch yes, she jumped in and said, “It isn’t anything like that. Dad has business in St. Thomas and his company is paying for a rental house and airfare for him and Mom. And he has so many airline miles from all the traveling he does that he offered to cover airfare for you, me, Dean, and anyone else we want to invite… within reason.”
Dean. T
he fallen angel Angie had always admired from afar, and up close, and in her dreams, and in the shower... She cleared her throat, suddenly feeling like her lungs were collapsing. “Who is Dean inviting? His latest fling?”
Please God, make her say no!
Angie repeated over and over in her head while waiting for Stella to answer a question her assistant asked and get back to more important matters than work.
“Actually I don’t think he’s seriously dating anyone, but you know how he is. He thinks he’s the playboy of the decade or something. My guess is he
brings Josh or David, his fellow playboys who have nothing to offer except fat wallets, and I’m not even sure they can offer that. “
This vacation was starting to sound like a dream come true. “Mom was going to invite your mom. You know they’re suddenly bosom buddies.” And just like that the dream bubble burst.
A full seven days in the same house as her mother? A full seven days of walking on pins and needles in hopes to not set her off on one of her menopausal rants? The excitement that only seconds ago filled her being, whooshed out of her as if she just belly flopped in a pool. There was no way she could spend seven days in her mother’s company and call it a vacation. Angie would need another full seven days just to recoup from it.
“I promise it will be fun Angie. My dad is working the whole time so my mom will keep your
mom occupied. We can plan everything around them so we never have to see them at all.
Please!”
Stella sounded so excited, and honestly, how could Angie let an opportunity like this slip by? She would regret it for the rest of her life, even if it meant spending some time with her mother.
She let out another dramatic sigh. This one was of defeat. “So where can we buy swimsuits this time of year?”
Stella squealed so loud Angie was positive the people in the cubicles surrounding her heard. “I’ll get you the exact dates by the end of the day. Let’s plan on getting Chinese tonight and shop online for new wardrobes for the trip.”
They talked plans for a few more minutes before hanging up. Angie’s brain and stomach rivaled between the vacation as being a good idea or not. Her brain said yes, but her stomach suddenly felt very queasy, a sign that it wasn’t agreeing with her brain. None-the-less, it was done and there was no turning back.
After a seven hour flight, one small layover in Atlanta, a minor misunderstanding with a cab
driver once arriving in St. Thomas, and they finally arrive at their destination; A four bedroom rental house with an awesome view of the ocean.
Angie’s mother threw a scrawny arm over her shoulder and pulled her tight against her side. “Isn’t this magnificent? I’m so grateful Dawn thought to invite us!” So far things with her mother were okay… but far be it for Angie to say this out loud and jinx herself.
“This
is
great. What a beautiful view!” She squeezed out of her mother’s embrace to walk out onto the balcony. A rot iron table with four chairs was positioned in the center, the perfect place to have coffee in the mornings. Her mother went back inside to explore the beach house and Angie felt the tension in her shoulders ease. Alone on the porch, listening to the waves crashing in the distance; life didn’t get much better.
“Hey, can you see the beach from here?” Dean’s friend David walked up beside her and looked out at the ocean. His tall frame leaned over the balustrade to get a better view to his left. “I may need to buy some binoculars. Some of these beaches are nude.”
Angie let out a hick-up of a laugh. “David, why spend the money on binoculars when you can go to the beach for free? Just wear dark sunglasses so the women don’t catch you ogling them and loose pants for… other reasons.”
“Who’s going to the nude beach?” Stella asked as her and Dean walked out to the balcony.
“Angie and me. She’s giving me tips on how not to get caught checking out the chicks.”
“Angie can’t go to the nude beach.” Dean continued to look at the distant ocean, his long fingered hands resting on the rot iron rail of the balcony as he scanned the horizon.
With a bit of force, Angie pulled her eyes from the magnificent picture he made with the ocean as his background. Tan, tall, and solid.
Wow.
“Why not?” Angie tried to sound normal when she was really feeling a bit breathless. “How else am I’m going to stay away from tan lines?” Of course there was no way in hell she would go nude in front of people in broad daylight. But Dean didn’t need to know that. The women he dated were sophisticated and sexy and wouldn’t care one whit if strangers saw them naked.
He turned his head slightly so Angie was hit with the full impact of his grin. The corners of his hazel eyes crinkling and he said, “There’s an age limit at these places and I’m afraid you don’t look old enough to go.”
David and Stella laugh, Angie just rolled her eyes. “There is no mistaking me as an adult when I’m wearing the tiny bikini I brought. I may be small but I have all the right parts and they are full enough to show me to be the woman I am.” Angie’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment. It sounded better in her head than when she said it out loud. It also didn’t help that the others were laughing outright at her attempt at a comeback.
“Sure, Little Bit.” Dean winked, using the nickname he had dubbed Angie the Thanksgiving break she spent with the Austin’s during her freshman year of college. “David, how about we go
sightseeing before it gets too dark to see?”
The guys left the balcony to discuss their plans and Angie shut her eyes and turned her face to the sky. She had never told Stella about her crush on Dean for fear it might ruin their friendship. It wasn’t a secret that Stella didn’t like her brother to date her friends, thanks to Dean breaking her high school friend’s heart. And Angie would never do anything to upset the friendship they had. So if that meant Stella’s brother was off limits,
then so be it. But if Angie were being honest with herself she would admit that either way it didn’t matter. Dean had no interest in her at all. She was his little sister’s little friend and nothing more. It wasn’t as if she was even remotely close to the sophisticated, model-type women he normally dated. After all, with his six-two frame, a tall, slender woman always looks good at his side. Not a barely-past-five-feet nobody who wore knock-off brands because that’s all she could afford.
“Want to go to the beach? We can have Dean drop us off for a couple hours. They always have bars by the resorts so we can drink daiquiris while watching the sun set.”
A smile spreads across Angie’s face. That would be a fabulous introduction to her vacation. “I would love to! I’ll go get changed.”
Dean couldn’t believe his luck. When he initially found out about the trip he was excited at the prospect of a break from work, from life, just a break. Then he found out his sister was bringing her long time friend. That was when he felt his luck fading.
It wasn’t as if he didn’t like Angie, he liked her a lot actually. It was more that Angie made him feel like a self absorbed jackass. Every other woman he looked at he looked at differently if Angie was
around. For example, the red head at the airport that was sending him come hither looks would have drawn him in like a fly to honey if Angie wasn’t around. As it was, he saw the red head and blew her off, thinking that Angie would never have the gall to hit on a stranger in an airport. Angie would smile and walk away if some guy hit on her in an airport. For some reason that made her more untouchable, like she had a chance at sainthood.
“Dude, I forgot how hot Angie was.” David was digging in his suitcase for his swim trunks oblivious to the glare Dean was sending his way. “She has no idea that she’s hot either.” Why did he bring David again? Oh yeah, he normally liked the guy. “Angie’s just a kid.” She wasn’t and they both knew it. But David had no chance in hell with her. Angie deserved a doctor who spent all his money and time helping third world countries.
David shrugged, swim-trunks in hand, and walked to the door of the room they shared. “She’s only a few years younger than us and we aren’t that young anymore. Hey, did you get the phone number of the red head from the airport? She would have jumped you in a minute given the chance.”
Dean just shook his head, pretending to look for his own swim trunks in the black suitcase. “It’s a family vacation, David. I’m not going to
boink some chick in the bathroom while my parents are hailing a cab.”
David laughed and left the room in search of the bathroom. Dean rolled his shoulders to ease some of the tension he was feeling. Angie always did this to him. She stressed him out, made him think that he was a lecher for even thinking of women in a sexual way. He was male, it came with the testosterone.
“Get over yourself, Dean.” He said this out loud in hope to convince himself that he wasn’t a pubescent kid anymore and he had every right as a single human male to ogle women and sleep with any of them that he pleased. But that lasted until he walked out of the room and ran into Angie.