The Art of My Life Read Online Free PDF Page B

weighing whether to say
more. “How could Cal do this to me—the big brother I’ve always
idolized? I can’t look up to him now. I don’t think he even cares
about me. It’s like he cut me off. He never wants to hang out. I
hadn’t seen him for weeks, maybe months before he went to jail. Did
he look for me after he got out? I am so over him.” She smeared
angry tears into her cheeks. “But you can’t get over your own
brother. Not even if you want to.”
    Fish smacked a mosquito on his arm. He
knew what she was talking about. As pissed as he was at Cal, he
still felt connected to him. Ditto for his family in
Peru.
    Missy dropped her legs over the side
of the dock box and scooted to the edge. “Sorry. You were at the
wrong place at the wrong time.”
    Some part of his brain catalogued the
absence of raccoon make-up smudges from the tears. “It’s okay.” His
voice came out hoarse, and he cleared his throat. In five minutes
she’d moved from being his best friend’s kid sister to a peer. He
leaned against the dock box beside her, trying to gain his
equilibrium. “So, Chas started college online from
Peru.”
    “ Yeah, I know.”
    He jerked his chin back toward
her.
    “ We e-mail,” she
said.
    “ Oh, so you e-mail my baby
brother, and I haven’t seen you since Easter. And I’m right here in
New Smyrna Beach.”
    She shoved his bare shoulder. “Like
you noticed.”
    “ On second thought, what
would you want with the Fisher family black sheep?”
    “ Don’t give me that crap.
I followed you around my whole life. I quit a couple of years
ago—my eighteenth birthday gift to myself. I’ve grown
up.”
    He stared at the emotion pulsing in
her eyes. All that hair, loose for once, dispelling forever the
impression of Missy as Starr’s mini-me. Had her lips always been
that full? “Yeah, I noticed you grew up.”
    “ When?”
    “ So, what about them
Bucs?”
    Missy narrowed her eyes at
him.
    “ You still rescuing bad
boys—visiting them in the hospital when they turn up
shark-bit?”
    “ See, that’s what I mean.
You treat me like some great aunt you see on holidays and are
polite to…. I’m a junior—like you, Mr. Oblivious—at Daytona State
College. Get a clue.”
    He stood and faced her. “What I was
going to say was” –he lasered his eyes into hers— “you can rescue
me.”
    Her mouth dropped open. Missy
speechless? That was unusual. He got in her face, planting a hand
on either side of her thighs on the dock box. “What do you say?” He
could almost see her squirm. The evening just got a whole lot more
interesting.
    Missy’s chin lifted a fraction. “You
don’t look shark-bit to me.”
    Her breath fanned his cheek in soft
bursts and warmth flushed through him. “Some wounds are
inside.”
    She pushed his arm out of the way as
she slid off the dock box. “Maybe I could rescue you from
yourself—if I had the inclination. But I don’t.”
    Little Missy must have passed Flirting 101 with a four-oh. The spearmint scent of her gum
hung between them. She was still close enough to kiss.
    “ But God knows you need
saving.”
    When had her voice matured into a
woman’s? He’d swear she spoke an octave lower than she used
to.
    Her eyes bore into him. “End this
stupid tug-of-war and go see your family. My folks Skype your
parents once a month. It breaks my heart to hear how much your mom
and dad miss you. You know they can’t get away from the orphanage.
Go for Christmas.”
    “ It’s my
business.”
    “ Yeah, but maybe it’s time
somebody got in your business.”
    He stared her down, truth ringing in
his ears. Irritation gnawed at the back of his neck. “You’ve grown
up, I’ll give you that. But you’re just as annoying. You know what?
I changed my mind. Don’t bother trying to fix me.”
    Even in the shadows, he saw the hurt
from his barb flash through her eyes, but her voice held firm. “Be
mean, Sean. You don’t scare me.” She pivoted. “Because I’m right,”
she