Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 78894 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 394(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78894 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 394(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
Enjoy your New Year’s Eve parties, my fishes! And just know, I’ll have my little seagulls out and about this evening to catch every secret moment.
Fair winds and following seas!
Ms. Seaside
* * *
I ran up the steps to Braxton’s house and rang the doorbell. I was about to pound on the door with my fist when it finally opened, and my brother stood there looking at me like I’d lost my mind.
“Jesus Christ, Palmer. What in the hell time is it?”
Brushing past him, I rushed in. “It’s eight.”
He sighed and shut the door as he mumbled curse words under his breath.
“Did you go out last night?”
Glancing back at me like I was an idiot, he replied, “Hello, it’s New Year’s Eve.”
“Last night wasn’t.”
He dropped onto his sofa and let his head fall back. “Whatever, Palmer. It’s the weekend. It was Friday, I went to a New Year’s Eve-Eve party and got drunk out of my mind. My head is pounding, and you better have a damn good reason for being here so fucking early.”
“I found a clue.”
Lifting his head, Braxton opened one eye. “What are you talking about?”
I rushed over and sat on the coffee table before handing Brax this morning’s special edition column. “Ms. Seaside. She gave a huge clue to her identity, but I think she didn’t mean to. It was a slip-up.”
That made him perk up. “She did?”
“Yes!” I said, nearly bouncing on the table.
Brax sighed and said, “Let me get some coffee. I can’t deal with you right now without at least some coffee and an Advil…or five.”
I waited patiently while my brother made some coffee, put on sweatpants and a long-sleeve shirt, and then made some oatmeal to go with his orange juice and vodka and three Advil.
“I’m sorry, but does drinking alcohol really help recover from a hangover?” I asked.
He shrugged as we sat at his dining table. “It works for me, and that’s all I care about. Okay, I’m ready now.”
“It’s about damn time! Okay, here, read this.”
I slid the newspaper across to Brax. After he read the first paragraph, he looked up at me with an odd expression on his face.
“What?” I asked.
He frowned, then shook his head and said, “Nothing,” and kept reading. Then his eyes shot up as he looked at me again. “She knows Deacon.”
I nodded frantically. “Well. She knows him well. This means she’s for sure a local resident—which I think we all knew at this point. But she also revealed something else.”
“She has to be younger.”
With one finger on my nose, I pointed at him with my other hand. “Bingo! She might be around my age. I mean, if she knows Deacon well, and knows what a complete, uncommitted buffoon he is, then she knew him before he went into the military, when we dated.”
“Okay,” Brax said as he stood and paced. “And you don’t think it’s Kimberley? She’s a huge gossip.”
“She is, but Brax, she can hardly string five complete sentences together. And I’m not trying to be mean; she only made it through high school because she was sleeping with the assistant principal.”
My brother gasped. He legit gasped like a girl. “She was?”
Laughing, I pointed back to the column. “Let’s focus on this more and less on Kim. It’s not her.”
“She could be having someone else write it using her notes.”
My shoulders sagged for a moment as I let that sink in. Why was I so adamant that it couldn’t be Kim? Would I be bothered if it was? I tilted my head as I thought about it. The idea that it could be someone I knew on a personal level never really crossed my mind.
“It’s possible,” I finally said. “But I highly, highly doubt it. Oh! Wait. Kim isn’t even in town. She’s been on a cruise with her boyfriend for the last three weeks. They’re over in Europe somewhere.”
Brax looked almost disappointed.
“Were you hoping it was her?” I asked.
He shrugged, then looked back down at the paper. “What about Olivia Newman?”
“Olivia? She’s older than me.”
“That doesn’t matter. She dated Deacon when you two were on one of your breaks.”
I blinked a few times as I let the idea take root. “Olivia…Newman. It would make sense, considering Ms. Seaside went after Adelaide and Gannon so hard. And she liked Brody, so it would make sense that she fixated on them, as well.” Looking at my brother, I asked, “Did you ever date her?”
“Hell no. I can’t stand her. But she’s come on to me plenty of times and was never happy when I rejected her.”
I pressed my hand to my mouth. “Oh my gosh. It fits with how she’s talked about you in the past. I mean, it’s pretty clear Ms. Seaside can’t stand you.”
“Hey, that’s being a little harsh, isn’t it?”
I raised a single brow. “Is it? She doesn’t like you, Brax.”