“We were never friends.” Jeanie shook her head and frowned. “Never.”
“Sure you were, in grade school,” Emily corrected her with a sickeningly sweet, ever-so-innocent smile.
“I don’t remember that.” But it was clear Jeanie was lying.
Markus looked a bit stunned with the conversation, and he frowned at Jeanie for a long minute.
“Markus, let’s leave these losers and go hang out on the beach.”
He looked down at Jeanie’s hand on his arm and plucked it off like an unwanted piece of lint. He shook his head. “Now I remember why I broke up with you before.”
Emily bit her lip to keep from gawking at that little revelation. Really, it wasn’t even all that surprising that Jeanie had lied about who broke up with who.
“You haven’t changed a bit. You’re still… impossible. You still go all mean girl. I’m done. I’m out.” He turned to Angela. “I’m sorry, Angela. And you look great, by the way.”
With that, he turned and strode away, leaving Jeanie standing there, her face a crimson mask of fury. She whirled around at Angela. “See what you did?”
“She didn’t do anything. You did.” Blake slid his arm around Angela. “This is all on you.”
“You guys won’t get away with this. You’re still all losers.” Jeanie gave them all an angry glare, spun around, and hurried off.
Then, as she crossed the distance, she met up with Kade Perry. Jeanie paused and said something to him. He laughed. Then she promptly took his arm and they walked off.
Emily stared at the couple. Perfect. Jeanie and the boy known for his troublemaking. What a pair. It appeared it didn’t take her long to get over Markus.
“Look at her. She just hooked up with Kade. Those two together are trouble with a capital T. At least Markus came to his senses.” Emily turned to her friends. “And Angela! You were impressive. Magnificent. Stunning. Standing up to Jeanie like that.”
“I’m done with her. I don’t care what she says anymore.”
Emily grinned at Angela’s growing confidence. “You’re right.No oneshould care about what Jeanie Francis thinks or says about anything.”
“I hope she thinks we’re not worth her time and leaves us alone.” Blake’s forehead creased as he watched Jeanie and Kade.
“Between Markus dumping her—evidently for the second time—and Angela standing up to her, I’m sure she’ll steer clear of us.” At least she hoped so. Jeanie had an annoying habit of causing trouble when she didn’t get her way.
Chapter 12
Rob walked Evelyn back toward the cafe’s booth. She’d spent a good hour with him before he could tell she was getting antsy to get back to work. They lazed on the blanket and commented as they watched the growing sandcastles. He made a mental note to go back at four when the winners were going to be announced.
“I had a nice time. The picnic was great.” He swung the basket—that still had lots of food in it even though he’d eaten an enormous amount—to his other hand. He didn’t like it dangling between them.
“I’m glad you enjoyed it. The basket auction is always a big deal. I haven’t entered a basket in years, though. Darren always insisted it was silly.” Evelyn shrugged. “And maybe it is, a bit. But the proceeds always go to a good cause.”
“I’m glad you decided to do it this year.”
“I’m glad I get to make my own decisions now,” she said candidly. “I can’t believe I let myself lose so much control over my life. It slowly slipped away because it was easier to do what Darren wanted than push back.”
He was surprised she was sharing this much about her life with him, but it pleased him that she trusted him enough to do so. “You seem pretty confident of yourself now. Owner at the cafe. Best cook in the state.” She really was a fascinating woman. She intrigued him, and he thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her better.
“Well, it was a hard life lesson. I’m never putting myself in that position again. I like my independence. Love living alone in my apartment that I’ve decorated exactly how I want. I can support myself now. It’s kind of a heady freedom.”
He could see how happy and content she was with her life now. That was a good thing. And he always thought he was happy and content with his own life. Only now… being down here with Violet… He grudgingly admitted he liked helping her out with the resort. He enjoyed their sibling teasing. And it felt like he had a family again instead of being the loner he’d been for so many years, only seeing Violet about once a year when she’d finally coax a visit out of him.
“Mr. Bentley.” Emily raced up to them, then bent over for a moment gasping for breath. “It’s your sister. She fell. She’s hurt. They sent me to come find you.”
His heart clutched in his chest with fear. “Where is she?”
“Back there.” Emily flung her arm. “By the beach.”
