My mom chuckles. “Honestly, Graham. You sound ridiculous,” she says. “For one thing, you still own a substantial stake in his company, which makes it against your best interests to give this boy any more grief.”
“Also,” I say. “We know your secrets, Dad.”
My father shrugs, but he looks trapped and indecisive, something I never thought I’d see. “So what?” he says. “A few indiscretions. Big deal.”
“More than a few,” my mother says.
Adam glances at me, measuring my response. But I know it all now. And none of it matters. What matters is making things right with him. What matters is pulling free of my father and making my own way.
“And some of them, my dear, show extremely poor judgment.” She picks up the envelope again and riffles through it for a moment. Then she shows my father something, another sheet of paper that she keeps carefully turned away from me.
His face grows ashen. “How?”
“I just had to follow the trail of jewelry, Graham,” she says. “One peek at your credit card statements gave me so much to work with. And over the years, it’s given a number of private investigators a lot to work with too. You’d certainly better hope a judge is more generous about your past mistakes than you’ve been with your daughters. And to Adam here.”
She rises. “I’ll leave this with you,” she says, tapping a nail against the envelope filled with documents. “It was more satisfying to present everything in hard copy, but I’m not so old-fashioned. There’s plenty more where that comes from, in digital form.”
I know a good exit line when I hear one, so I rise too. “You shouldn’t have been such a jerk, Dad,” I tell him. “You don’t have to be, you know. You can be in charge without making everyone else feel small.” I take Adam’s hand again and hold it with both of my own. “I learned that from our new partner.”
Back out in the sunshine, Adam catches me in his arms and swings me off my feet. “Holy shit,” he says. “That was amazing.”
He laughs, and it’s boyish and charming, and he’s so clear in his happiness—like sunshine streaming through spotless glass—that it makes tears spring to my eyes. I don’t bother wiping them away. I’ve got nothing to hide.
“You’re amazing,” I tell him. “I love you, you know.” I didn’t expect to say it, but it’s another thing I refuse to hide. No more masks. Just me, whatever that means. Whoever I become.
He sets me down slowly, and the feeling of his body against mine still thrills me every bit as much as it did that night in the Gallianos’ car. “Love you too,” he says lightly, but his eyes tell me even more. We gaze at each other for a long, long moment, the party fading to white noise around us. “Jesus,” he says, as though struck by everything all over again. “We have to tell everyone.”
“That we love each other?”
“About Boomerang.”
He drags me over to a group that includes Philippe, Paolo, Mia, and Ethan. Philippe gives me a hilarious, smarmy look and I punch him in the arm.
“Shut up,” I say, but I can’t stop smiling back.
Ethan takes in Adam and me, standing side by side, Adam’s arm curled around my waist. I catch his eye, and he gives me a subtle nod and tips his beer bottle in my direction.
Adam gives the abbreviated version of the story, and in no time, the news travels around the party. Somehow, magically, the volume on the music cranks, and my father’s associates seem to fade away, though my mother comes out and holds court under the shade of a covered chaise.
“Dance with me,” I say to Adam and hold out my hand.
His eyes light with memory, and he crosses his arms over his chest. “Is that a question?”
“No,” I say. “Come on.”
He grabs me and pulls me up tight against him. “I’ve got a better idea,” he says.
“Oh, you do?”
“Yes,” he tells me, and his grin broadens. “Let’s swim instead.”
“Really? I—” But before I know it, Adam’s hauled me off my feet to swing me over the pool. I shriek, and the two of us plunge into the water. I surface, laughing, and splash him.
With an ecstatic whoop, Brooks plunges in beside us, followed by Paolo, Sadie and Pippa, Mia, Ethan, and others I don’t know yet—but will. I don’t think I’ll be working at Boomerang after all. I want to talk with Missy about a partnership with Horse Rescue, to help her expand the facility and rehabilitate the broken horses that come into her care. It feels exactly right, and I can’t wait to get started. Still, I know all of these people who’ve come into my life will remain there.
Adam’s brother Grey hollers and does a colossal cannonball, drenching half the people on the deck with half of the pool’s contents.
“Sorry, bro,” he calls, and he has Adam’s same devilish grin, though in a rougher form.
And then it’s a mayhem of splashing and shrieking, laughter and a game of Marco Polo that seems mostly like an excuse for people to grope each other with their eyes closed.
I glide over to a corner of the shallow end, and Adam follows. I wind my arms around his neck and draw him down to me, kissing him, out in the brightness of day, with the cool water lapping around us. I shiver because the water is chilly, but mostly because of everything I feel, which is now, finally, everything. I’ve let go of the guilt that’s been dogging me for a year and made room for this. For everything I’ve ever dreamed of and didn’t know I deserved.
“Alison,” he says. His hands travel over my back, and I think how in his element he looks, with water soaking through his shirt, his eyes the same bright almost silvery-gray as the bubbles rising to the surface around us. “You gave me back so much. Not just the company. My life. I don’t know how I’ll ever thank you.”
I rise on my tiptoes, clinging to his strong shoulders, fitting myself to him—perfect.
“We’ll think of something,” I say.
Acknowledgments
As always, I want to acknowledge the support and love of my awesome family. First, the “London 2014 Crew”—Lisa, Mustafa, Alex, Elizabeth, Andrew, Dina, Samantha, and Abbey. You make second degree sunburn so worth it. ¡El próximo año en Israel! And then my Florida family of Brenda and Anna—brilliant, hilarious, resilient women who inspire me all the time. Love you all.
Big thanks, too, to our editor Tessa Woodward for her insights; to Gabrielle Keck for picking up the reins; to Megan Schumann, publicist extraordinaire; and to Molly Birckhead for all she does.
Lastly, shout-outs to all the supportive bloggers and reviewers; to everyone who made such an effort to come out for the Boomerang book launch in Tampa (also to Stephanie and Inkwood Books); and to the BONI Lasses, with special props to Jo Cooper for her generosity in all things and Sylvia Musgrove for her stories—written and told.
—LO
We’re so fortunate to have an amazing publishing team behind us. My deepest gratitude goes to Tessa Woodward and Gabrielle Keck for the editorial wisdom and behind-the-scenes guidance that brought this story to life. Thanks also to Julia Gang and Georgia Maas for making us look great and read well; and to our own Team M&M, Megan Schumann and Molly Birckhead, for their marketing and publicity efforts. We appreciate you all very much.
Thanks to Adams Lit for top-notch agenting, and to my incredibly talented coauthor, Lorin. You’re a treasure, Lolo.
To my family: You’re my heart, soul, and world. Thank you for your love and support. And finally, to readers and bloggers, thank you for taking another journey with us. It’s an honor to write for you.
—VR
About the Author
What do you get when friends pen a story with heart, plenty of laughs, and toe-curling kissing scenes? NOELLE AUGUST, the pseudonym for renowned editor and award-winning writer Lorin Oberweger and New York Times bestselling YA author Veronica Rossi, the masterminds behind Boomerang.
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.
Also by Noelle August
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COMING SOON
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Credits
Cover photograph © by Laurence Monneret/Getty Images
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
REBOUND. Copyright © 2015 by Wildcard Storymakers, LLC. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
FIRST EDITION
ISBN 978-0-06-233108-3
EPUB Edition February 2015 ISBN: 9780062331090
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