Read Online Second Hearts (The Wishes Series) by GJ Walker-Smith - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: GJ Walker-Smith
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of Adam – his brother.
Elvis was Ryan Décarie.
Putting two and two together, I quickly identified the rest of the party. The smartly dressed lady was their mother – whom I should have recognised from the pictures Adam had once shown me. I wondered where their father was. It seemed unfair that I didn’t get to scope him out too. I couldn’t place the older woman, but the platinum blonde was Elvis’s girlfriend of the day.
I contemplated making a run for it, convinced that I could make it down the stairs and out the door so quickly that the only thing they’d see would be a blur of white taffeta and marabou. But that wasn’t to be.
Elvis… Ryan looked up and spotted me, nodded his head to the side, and motioned for me to come down. I shook my head and he frowned quizzically. The silent standoff continued for a few seconds before he excused himself from the table and climbed the stairs. I pushed my chair back from the edge of the balustrade, out of the view of the ground floor.
“Why are you hiding up here?” he asked, pulling a chair over. “I wanted you to meet my family. They’re excellent tippers.” He winked at me.
“I’d rather stay up here, thanks all the same.”
He leaned forward to catch a glimpse of his family below. “Can’t say I blame you. I’d rather hang out up here too.”
“Don’t you get along with them?”
“We get along fine.”
“Who’s the blonde?” I nodded my head in her direction.
Ryan pulled a face at me and I couldn’t help smiling. “Her name is Aubrey.”
“Why do you have so many women, Elvis? Can’t you just find one you like and stick with her?”
He groaned as if the idea was absurd. “I get so bored. And I can’t stand whining. ‘You’re late picking me up. Blah, blah, blah. Do I look fat in this dress? Blah, blah, blah. You slept with my sister. Blah, blah, blah.’ It gets old very quickly.”
I laughed. “So why did you choose Aubrey today?”
“Because my mother can’t stand her. It spices things up.”
“Don’t you want more than that? Don’t you think there’s a girl out there who has a sister you don’t want to sleep with?”
“And end up as dull as them?” He pointed down to Adam and the brunette. “I don’t think so.”
“Maybe they’re good together.” I had no idea why I felt the need to defend brunette girl.
“They’re a train wreck,” he scoffed. “Her name is Whitney. Her friends call her Whit, which is ironic considering she has none.”
Of course her name was Whitney. I would’ve also accepted Britney and Courtney as suitable names for the girl who’d stolen my happy ever after.
“How long have they been together?”
He shrugged. “Three or four years – give or take.”
Ryan had unwittingly just driven the final nail in to my coffin of good Adam memories. His words burned to my very core as I drew a horrible conclusion. None of it had been real. I’d fallen in love with a boy who’d never belonged to me in the first place.
“That’s a long time,” I croaked.
Ryan squinted at me suspiciously. “Why are you so interested in my brother? I can take you down there and introduce you if you’d like. I’d love to see dim Whit squirm a little.”
I vehemently shook my head. “No, I’m just curious. Why don’t you like her?”
“Well, she’s a dimwit. He almost came to his senses and cut her loose a couple of summers ago. We have a cousin that lives in some backwater town in Tasmania, of all places.” He screwed up his nose as if Pipers Cove was the worst place on earth. There was a time that I might have agreed with him. “Adam decided he’d visit her at the last minute. He and Whitney were supposed to be spending the summer in Europe with a group of their friends.”
“But Adam backed out?” I guessed, trying to piece the story together to match up with the version I already knew.
“Yeah, at the very last minute. They were waiting for their connection at Heathrow when he bailed and
Elvis was Ryan Décarie.
Putting two and two together, I quickly identified the rest of the party. The smartly dressed lady was their mother – whom I should have recognised from the pictures Adam had once shown me. I wondered where their father was. It seemed unfair that I didn’t get to scope him out too. I couldn’t place the older woman, but the platinum blonde was Elvis’s girlfriend of the day.
I contemplated making a run for it, convinced that I could make it down the stairs and out the door so quickly that the only thing they’d see would be a blur of white taffeta and marabou. But that wasn’t to be.
Elvis… Ryan looked up and spotted me, nodded his head to the side, and motioned for me to come down. I shook my head and he frowned quizzically. The silent standoff continued for a few seconds before he excused himself from the table and climbed the stairs. I pushed my chair back from the edge of the balustrade, out of the view of the ground floor.
“Why are you hiding up here?” he asked, pulling a chair over. “I wanted you to meet my family. They’re excellent tippers.” He winked at me.
“I’d rather stay up here, thanks all the same.”
He leaned forward to catch a glimpse of his family below. “Can’t say I blame you. I’d rather hang out up here too.”
“Don’t you get along with them?”
“We get along fine.”
“Who’s the blonde?” I nodded my head in her direction.
Ryan pulled a face at me and I couldn’t help smiling. “Her name is Aubrey.”
“Why do you have so many women, Elvis? Can’t you just find one you like and stick with her?”
He groaned as if the idea was absurd. “I get so bored. And I can’t stand whining. ‘You’re late picking me up. Blah, blah, blah. Do I look fat in this dress? Blah, blah, blah. You slept with my sister. Blah, blah, blah.’ It gets old very quickly.”
I laughed. “So why did you choose Aubrey today?”
“Because my mother can’t stand her. It spices things up.”
“Don’t you want more than that? Don’t you think there’s a girl out there who has a sister you don’t want to sleep with?”
“And end up as dull as them?” He pointed down to Adam and the brunette. “I don’t think so.”
“Maybe they’re good together.” I had no idea why I felt the need to defend brunette girl.
“They’re a train wreck,” he scoffed. “Her name is Whitney. Her friends call her Whit, which is ironic considering she has none.”
Of course her name was Whitney. I would’ve also accepted Britney and Courtney as suitable names for the girl who’d stolen my happy ever after.
“How long have they been together?”
He shrugged. “Three or four years – give or take.”
Ryan had unwittingly just driven the final nail in to my coffin of good Adam memories. His words burned to my very core as I drew a horrible conclusion. None of it had been real. I’d fallen in love with a boy who’d never belonged to me in the first place.
“That’s a long time,” I croaked.
Ryan squinted at me suspiciously. “Why are you so interested in my brother? I can take you down there and introduce you if you’d like. I’d love to see dim Whit squirm a little.”
I vehemently shook my head. “No, I’m just curious. Why don’t you like her?”
“Well, she’s a dimwit. He almost came to his senses and cut her loose a couple of summers ago. We have a cousin that lives in some backwater town in Tasmania, of all places.” He screwed up his nose as if Pipers Cove was the worst place on earth. There was a time that I might have agreed with him. “Adam decided he’d visit her at the last minute. He and Whitney were supposed to be spending the summer in Europe with a group of their friends.”
“But Adam backed out?” I guessed, trying to piece the story together to match up with the version I already knew.
“Yeah, at the very last minute. They were waiting for their connection at Heathrow when he bailed and
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