Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 100277 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100277 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
“It’s cool. Can you just handle them while I—” I turned to talk to the boy with the dog and found only empty space. “Where did he go?”
“He left,” Charmaine supplied helpfully.
With Tallulah the dog. To take her for a swim.
“Oh shit.” I kicked off my shoes and hurried from the room to a chorus of “Ooh!” and “She said a bad word!” I think I also heard Charmaine declare proudly, “That’s my aunt Star.”
Hurrying past several startled guests, I ran out of the covered lower deck and onto the port side.
There he was, running down the side of the yacht, Tallulah in hand, heading toward the stern.
With a noise of disbelief, I yanked up the stupid confining skirt of my dress and chased after him. “Hey, kid! Stop!”
He glanced back at me and then sped up. Musicians had set up shop on the back of the lower deck, and while they peered at the boy, they didn’t stop playing. Even as they saw a strawberry blond in glaring yellow chase after him.
The little creep came to a stop and held the frightened, wide-eyed Tallulah over the side of the boat.
“Don’t you dare!” I yelled.
I heard a gasp above us and looked up to find the bride, Pippa, Jen, and Rafe staring down at us.
“Michael Wallace Taylor, do not even think of throwing Lula overboard or I will cut you off! You’ll never see a penny!” Mrs. Taylor shrieked in fury.
Rafe, stern-faced, pushed away from the balcony railing and disappeared, probably on his way down.
“Hey, Michael.” I smiled coaxingly. “It looks like you’ll get in big trouble if you do this, so joke’s over, kid. Come on. Let’s just get back to the party.”
“Sure.” He agreed with a wicked grin.
Then he let go of the dog.
Time seemed to hold suspended as I heard his grandmother’s horrified cry.
The little creep even looked shocked he’d done it.
Then I heard the dog hit the water.
Oh, heck no!
Without thinking about it, I yanked down the side zipper on my dress and shimmied out of it, only to launch myself off the boat in my underwear.
Plunging into freezing cold October water stunned me momentarily, and it took me a minute to swim back to the surface. Gasping for breath, already chittering with the chill, I spotted Lula paddling around, barking her disapproval. Poor baby. I swam toward her.
“Hey, Lula.” I approached her slowly, my legs kicking to stay afloat. I hoped this water was clean. “Come here, girl.”
The dog paddled away from me.
“Lula!”
A massive splash drew my attention and I looked back to see Rafe powering through the water toward me. He looked pissed.
“She won’t come to me!” I told him as he approached, but he didn’t speak. He just swam past me, grabbed the dog, who yipped at him but otherwise allowed Rafe to hold her, and swam back with one arm, Lula in the other.
“You okay?” he barked at me.
“I’m fine. Cold.”
He nodded, his face pale with the chill of the water. “Swim back with me.”
Lula’s momma was there at the first set of deck ladders, reaching down for the frightened, drenched dog. She cuddled Lula to her chest, not caring about her white wedding gown one bit as she cried relieved tears into her dog’s head.
Her grandkid really was a pill.
Rafe reached for me. “You first.”
I hauled myself up the ladders, water running down my body. I felt Rafe’s hands on my hips guiding me up, and then Jen and Greg were there to pull me onto the deck. They covered me with a blanket, murmuring their concern.
Rafe pulled himself up onto the deck, and I noted he wore only his suit pants. He shot me a quick glance, saw that his parents had me in hand, and turned to Mrs. Taylor to examine Lula. After he checked her eyes and tried his best to listen to her pulse without a stethoscope, he patted Lula’s head gently. “I hate to say this, Helena, but I think you should get her to your vet. She was dropped in, which means she went under before she paddled back to the surface and while she looks fine now, she could have inhaled enough water to cause breathing problems.”
“Thank you, Rafe. Our vet makes house calls. I’ll call her now to come to the marina.” She patted his cheek and then looked at me. “And thank you, Star. Thank you so much for jumping in after her.” She turned in Mr. Taylor’s arms and the two of them disappeared down the side of the boat.
Rafe looked at me, hands on hips, eyes glowing with anger. “Even though it was stupid.”
My back straightened. “Excuse me?”
“What were you trying to prove?” He clearly did not care that we had an audience.
“N-nothing,” I spluttered. “What do you mean?”
“Jumping in after the dog! You could have drowned!”