by Nella Tyler
I gave him an even dirtier look. “He taught me how to surf. Unfortunately, I was just a kid and he died before he finished teaching me…” Damn it! Now I had a damned lump in my throat. Shit! I was not going to cry in front of this guy.
“How did you know Wayne French?”
“Never mind. Teach me.”
I didn’t think he believed I did know Wayne French. I wondered if he’d believe he was my grandfather and that he raised me. “Okay,” he smirked again. “I saw you paddle out and pop up, but then your feet got all screwed up and when you stood up, or tried to, your stance was all off. You’ll never ride a big wave if you’re not balanced on your board. You have to get those feet planted right off the bat and then you can maintain your balance as the wave takes you up and brings you back down.”
“Okay, so let’s try it.”
“No, not on the water. Lay the board down here.”
“On the beach?”
“Yeah, right here,” he pointed at a spot near his feet. I pulled the board out of the stand where it was stuck and dropped it in front of him…barely missing his toes. I smiled my sweetest smile and said,
“Oops, that was close.”
He shook his head at me and said, “Lay down on your belly.”
I was glad I still had my shorts on. I know I let him see me naked already…and a lot more, but somehow since it was dark and we were in the water, I was sure I looked a lot better last night. I lay down on my stomach and waited. When he didn’t say anything for a long time I looked up at him. He was staring at my ass. “Do you mind, perv?”
He grinned, “I don’t mind at all…very nice.” I started to push up as he laughed. “I’m sorry. Come on, I’ll be serious.” I glared at him and dropped back down in push-up position. “Okay, now pop-up for me, Summer.”
I pushed up with my arms and bent my knees. I brought my legs up underneath me and did it all in one quick motion the way I remember Grandpa showing me. “Not bad. Stand up for a minute.” I stood and he took hold of my shoulders and spun me so I was facing the ocean and away from him. I could feel his chest and stomach against my back and when he spoke, his warm breath tickled my ear. “Close your eyes.”
“If this is some kind of perv trick…”
I felt his body shake as he chuckled. If this was a perv trick, I was falling for it hook, line, and sinker. “It’s not a trick. Pay attention.” Easy for him to say, he didn’t have a surf god breathing on his neck. He still had his hands on my arms, too. I wasn’t sure how much of this I’d be able to take and still stick to my guns about no sex. Now that we were having skin to skin contact, I wondered why I’d make up such a stupid rule. I closed my eyes and felt him move his fingers against my upper arms, brushing the skin softly with his rough fingertips.
“Now walk.” I had no idea what he was doing, but I walked. He kept his big hands on my arms and he walked with me. I took about ten steps and he said, “Okay, stop.” I did and stood there with my eyes still closed. I was beginning to have a fantasy where his full lips brushed up against mine and that was all it took for me to break my own rule when he said, “Open your eyes.” I opened them. He let go of my arms and stepped around in front of me. “You’re right footed.”
“Yeah,” I almost made a sarcastic comment about how brilliant he was. I decided against it and instead, I said, “I’m right-handed, too. What does that have to do with anything?”
“When Wayne was teaching you…” I could tell he was trying hard to believe that. I guess I appreciated his effort. “Did he talk to you about your dominant foot?”
“Yeah, a lot actually because he was…oh shit!”
He grinned. I think he finally believed that I did know Wayne. “He was goofy-footed.”
“Yeah, he was left-handed, too. He did tell me to land on the ball of my dominant foot First, but in my head I was trying to picture him doing it.”
“You jumped up with your left foot dominant. When you stood up, it put you off balance.”
I grinned. “Problem solved then, thanks, teach.”
“Oh, we’re not even close to finished. Back to the board.” I curled my lip and went back over to the board. I thought he was going to make me lay back down on my belly, but instead, he said, “We’re going to practice the pop-up again.” For the next hour, I heard the word again a lot. He had me pop-up and stand over and over and over. I kept forgetting my feet and getting them tangled up. I was getting frustrated with myself, but he was patient. He was also very hands-on, and each time he touched me to adjust my foot or my leg or when he put his hands on my waist to adjust my stance, another piece of me melted inside. Jesus, I’m a hormonal mess.
After what felt like the one hundredth pop-up, he said, “You’re getting it, good.” He looked at the expensive watch on his arm and said, “How about we get some lunch and come back and try it on water afterwards?” Lunch sounded great. I had missed whatever Ace had scratched together for breakfast this morning because I left so early. I had to make up a story to keep Bennie from following me. I told him it was the anniversary of Grandpa’s death and I wanted to go to church and say a prayer for him. I know…a lie about church and prayer can’t be good. It was the one place I could think of that he’d give me some privacy, though. He was suspicious and in a really foul mood when I got back last night. I didn’t want to have to referee a fight I was sure Bennie would lose. But I also didn’t have any money and I wasn’t going to just go with Drake and expect him to pay… “My treat,” he said, interrupting my thoughts. He was either reading my mind or just remembered I was flat-assed broke.
“Okay, I could eat.” What the hell was I doing?
He grinned at me. That’s exactly what I was doing – letting my hormones lead me around by the nose. “Great! Come on, we can leave our stuff in this little cave over here.” We carried the boards and his little canvas bag over to the cave. It was a lot smaller than the one I live in, but my mind was always planning for the next time we get run off. “You ready?” Drake was looking at me funny and I realized I’d actually been scoping the place out.
“Um, yeah, I’m ready.” We hiked up the cliff and walked the mile and a half to downtown without much conversation. He took me to a little fish and chips place on the beach. It wasn’t much more than a kiosk, but they had tables out front. I’d had their food before – leftovers, of course. It’s not bad. We both ordered the fish basket and a coke and when we sat down with it he said,
“So, tell me how you knew Wayne French.”
I had just taken a bite of my fish. I made him wait until I chewed it up and took a drink of my Coke before I said, “He was my grandfather.” I watched his face expecting to see disbelief, but instead, I realized that he was studying my features. I actually look a lot like Grandpa, and I think he just realized it.
He smiled suddenly and said, “Well, I’ll be damned. Wayne French’s granddaughter. Damn! He’s my hero.”
I couldn’t help but smile at his enthusiasm. “He was mine, too. He raised me until I was fourteen, and then he died.”
“Yeah, I was in Bali when I heard. I was sick over it. What happened to him?”
“The doctor said he had a blood clot or something that went to his lungs. He was in the hospital before that because he had pneumonia. He never realized how old he’d gotten. He just kept trying to do the same things he did when he was twenty.”
“So, who did you live with after he died? Were your parents still around?” I thought about whether or not I wanted to answer that question. In the past four and a half years, Bennie was the only living person who knew my whole story. I wasn’t comfortable enough yet with Drake, so I gave him the abridged version.
“My mother died when I was three, and I never knew my father. Grandpa was touring at the time, but when he got back, he took me and for the next eleven years, I went where he did.”
“That’s amazing. I can barely keep track of myself when I’m on the road. How did he manage it? Did you have a nanny?”
“So, did you have to go to foster care when he died?”
“Yeah,” I said as I popped a fry in my mouth. “But I didn’t stay.”
“Where did you go?”
“I just left. I got on a bus, and I’ve been moving ever since.”
“You’ve been homeless since you were fourteen?” he looked horrified. I’m not sure if it was for me or about me – I have a hard time not always seeing the worst.
“I do okay,” I said. I wished he had never brought it up now. I hated that look in his eyes. It was the one people gave me when they passed me in the street and wondered if they should give me money or something. I liked it when he just looked at me like any other woman, the way he usually did.
“So, what about Wayne’s money? Wouldn’t you be entitled to that?”
“What money?”
“Summer, I made three hundred grand last year and I didn’t even make it to the World Championship series. Wayne did – twice – and he had endorsements…”
I stopped chewing. “You made three hundred grand surfing?”
He laughed, “That’s what you got out of what I just said?”
I shrugged, trying not to think of what I could do with that kind of money and said, “I just had no idea. I don’t know what he did with his money. He didn’t spend much of it, that’s for sure. He had a Woody that he’d been driving since he was a teenager when we were home. We lived in a pretty crappy two-bedroom house… I have no idea where the money went.”
“We should find out-”
“We?”
“Well, you, but I’d be willing to help you. Summer, that’s your money.”
All this time I’d been so busy surviving, the thought of Grandpa having money had never entered my mind. I wasn’t even sure I could wrap my head around it now. Growing up, I always had clothes and a warm place to sleep and plenty of food in my belly, but that was really it. We spent a lot of time at the beach, but we didn’t take vacations and we didn’t really have shit. “Maybe he gave it away. I mean, seriously, there was no money floating around when I was a kid.”
“Maybe he did,” he said. “But either way, you haven’t lost anything. Can I check into it for you?”
The old fears of being found and taken back to that hell hole of a foster home slipped back in. I had to remind myself they were irrational now. I’m an adult. They can’t take me back. I sucked in a breath and shrugged again, feigning nonchalance, and said, “Sure, go for it.” Acting like I’m perfectly content being broke and homeless seems somehow less pathetic to me.
Chapter Eight
DRAKE
All morning while I was watching Summer practice her pop-ups, I had to keep a tight rein on my parts down south. I didn’t want her to think that was all I wanted from her, but damn, do I want it. She has absolutely no clue how incredible she is – and then I find out she’s Wayne French’s granddaughter! I couldn’t wait to tell Kobe. She said she had somewhere to be after we ate, but before she took off, she thanked me for the lessons and lunch. She has a lot of pride and I can tell it’s hard for her to accept help, so that meant a lot to me.
I found Kobe behind the counter in his shop with his bare feet up on a stool, taking a hit off of a bong…maybe this has something to do with his drop in business. “Hey, man! What’s up?”
“Well, I found something out today and I’m dying to tell someone… Guess who Summer’s grandfather is?”
He gave me an amused look and said, “Who’s Summer?”
“Oh, shut the hell up and put your big smelly feet down so I can sit.” He laughed and moved his feet. Then he offered me the bong. “No thanks, but back to what I was saying… Wayne French was Summer’s grandfather.”
“No way, man! Are you sure she’s not just yanking your chain?”
“I really don’t think so. She actually opened up to me.”
He raised his burly eyebrows and smiled again, “What all did she open up?”
“Are you going to let me tell you the story or are you going to keep interrupting?” Kobe is one of my favorite people, but for some reason, sex with Summer felt a lot different than it usually did with other women. Something about it was special and I didn’t want to brag about it like I usually do. He was quiet, so I said, “He actually raised her out on the circuit.”
“That explains her interest in surfing. Is she any good?”
“We worked on her pop-up today. That was a problem for her. I haven’t actually seen her surf yet, but she’s got to have some natural talent you would think, considering what’s in her DNA.”
“Yeah, Wayne French was a legend. Why is she homeless?”
“I guess she took off after he died to keep from going into foster care. I’m going to make some phone calls back east and try to find out whom his attorney was or his financial guy. I can’t help but think there should be some money somewhere, and if there is, it should be hers.” Kobe was smirking at me again. “What?”
“I was just thinking about what a hard time you gave me about Phoebe the other day, man.”
“I guess I do owe you an apology for that. Sometimes I get in the Spencer frame of mind and act like an arrogant dick-head.”
“You can’t help what’s in your DNA, man.”
I just shook my head at him as he grinned at me. He’s right, I can’t change my DNA, but I can damned sure treat people differently than the rest of my family does. If nothing else ever happens between me and Summer – and I hope like hell it does – at least I’ll know I did all I could to help her.
“Oh, I almost forgot!” Kobe got up and went over by his phone. He shuffled through a pile of papers there, knocking about half of them onto the floor and he pulled out a yellow piece of paper. “This is the guy who has the space for rent in Laguna. I talked to him earlier today about your school and he told me to have you call him.”
Kobe was the only one I’d talked to about what I really wanted to do with my life. I wanted to teach surfing to kids that wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity to learn. I’d been thinking about teaching for a while, but when I came home this time and realized what a huge problem San Diego County had with homelessness, I started thinking about doing it for underprivileged kids. I had done some research on non-profit business licenses and I had some experience with helping my mother with all of her charity work over the years. I just hadn’t gone any further than that because I know the top of my father’s head is going to blow off when I tell him that I don’t want to be a part of Spencer Exports. The very thought of wearing a suit every day and being inside all the time made me feel claustrophobic.
“Thanks, man, I’ll call him,” I said. Right after I have that talk with my dad, I continued in my head. I was not looking forward to that.
“You still gonna do Laguna?”
“Yeah, of course. It’s my last ride if I decide to do this. I came home for Laguna.” The tournament in Laguna was a kick-off to the coming season. Technically, if I planned on not going another season, I should skip it, but I’m not overly confident that I’ll be able to stand up to my dad and do this school thing. If that doesn’t happen, I’m going to spend at least one more year on the circuit, putting off the inevitable suffocation of working in my dad’s company. “I’m gonna take off and get started making those phone calls. Tonight is Lance’s birthday; you want to go out with us?”
“Sure, man, just come by on your way and get me.”
“You’ll wear shoes?”
He laughed and looked at his feet. “They’re kind of sexy to cover up.”
*******
I walked out, shaking my head. When I come home I usually stay at my parent’s house.
My room is on the third floor and has its own entrance. It’s been the same since I left home and started traveling at eighteen, four years ago. Nobody really bothers me, but if my mother knew I was there, she’d at least expect me down for breakfast and dinner every day. I remember when I was a kid I’d look forward to those times because it was usually the only time I got to see my dad. He spends so much time at work that he and my mother finally settled on two meals a day at home as a compromise. Sadly, now that I’m an adult, I really don’t have much to say to him.
I wasn’t sure where to start trying to find Summer’s grandfather’s money so the first person I called was my father’s attorney. Times like this, I wished I had my own. This guy has worked for my father since before I was born, so there is no question as to where his loyalties lie. But he is smart and from what I’ve heard, he’s the best corporate and estate attorney in California.
I had to be transferred three times and wait on hold for over twenty minutes before I finally heard, “Drake?”
“Hey, Vince, yeah, it’s me.”
“Well, hey there, kid! How are you?”
“I’m good, Vince. I’m home for a competition in Laguna next week. I was hoping I could ask you a favor…” I told him the story as I knew it, leaving out the facts about the way I feel about Summer. Partly because I knew he’d take that straight to my father and partly because I wasn’t sure how to even put what I was feeling into words.
“Wow, I used to follow Wayne’s career. I never knew he had a kid, much less a granddaughter. I have to ask, Drake, are you sure this isn’t some kind of scam?”
“I’ll admit that I was skeptical when she told me who her grandfather was, but honestly, unless she turns out to have his DNA, if there is money, it does her no good, right? This was my idea, anyways. She never mentioned anything about any money. She’s been so busy trying to survive out there that I don’t think she’s had much time to think about it. She’s been on the streets since she was fourteen, Vince. She was just a kid. It makes me sick to my stomach to think about it.”