In the Middle of Nowhere (Willow's Journey #1)

by Julie Ann Knudsen

  Most of the businesses on Pike’s were situated on the western and southernmost side of the island so boats from the mainland could easily travel in and out of the harbor. It was also where the Casco Bay ferryboats docked and the part of the island where most year-round residents lived.

  Our house was less than a quarter mile inland from the western shore. After I hopped into Jaques’s truck, I realized rather quickly that they didn’t live anywhere near me. We headed east and ended up on Shoreline Drive, the one road that brought travelers around the whole perimeter of the island. My house, and the other small houses like it, occupied one side of the island while Tessa’s was on the less populated, wealthier side, which allowed realtors to boast them as “beachfront properties.”

  “Are you sure it’s okay with your parents if I come over?”

  Tessa and Jaques exchanged glances and grins. Tessa turned to me. “Trust me. They don’t care. They’re never home anyway.”

  I stared out the window and watched the waves crash upon the shore. Some of the magnificent houses sat across the street from the beach, separated by Shoreline Drive, while others were directly on the waterfront, perched atop huge parcels of land right before their yards became rocky and jagged, dropping off toward the ocean below. I had never been this far out on the island and had planned on doing more investigating once it got warmer and I got my driver’s permit.

  “So what grade are you in? Willow, right?” Jaques leaned forward and asked.

  “Yeah, that’s my name. I know it’s kinda weird. I’m a sophomore like Tessa.”

  “It’s not weird at all. It’s different. In a good way,” Jaques smiled at me. I smiled back.

  “Talk about weird.” Jaques said. “How about my name? It’s pronounced Jakes, but it’s spelled j, a, q, u, e, s.”

  Tessa rolled her eyes and turned to me. “That’s because Jaques is our mom’s maiden name and that’s what her blue-blooded side of the family does. The first-born son, the golden child, is always honored with getting some crappy last name as his first.”

  Tessa playfully elbowed her brother. “Isn’t that right, Jaques?

  “Very funny, Tess. You’re just jealous,” he said and gave his sister a wink. They both laughed.

  Tessa’s brother seemed nice. He seemed older than her; maybe twenty-three or twenty-four, I’d guess. I studied his profile. He and Tessa looked a lot alike; blonde hair, blue eyes and had very defined facial features like high cheekbones and square jaw lines. But Tessa had a softness about her that made her look totally feminine, while Jaques was definitely all man.

  As we drove northeast, I couldn’t help but wonder how in the world I ended up in a pickup truck with Tessa Anderson and her brother heading toward their family home. The only reason I accepted her invitation was because I was totally freezing and figured it couldn’t hurt to go for a little while. I’d be home alone anyway until my mom and brother got back from school.

  Plus, more importantly, Tessa and I weren’t friends or even remotely close. Even though we exchanged a few words in the past, I thought she was stuck up and way too cool for me. When I really thought about it, though, I couldn’t think of any girls in school whom she was friendly with. She always seemed to be hanging out with the guys. Still, I wanted to know why she invited me over.

  “What are we gonna do at your house?”

  “Hang.”

  Hang? I wished I could have texted Erica or Taylor right then to give them the low down or at least to ask them their interpretation of the word “hang.” They’d never believe I was with Tessa. Ever! All they did was talk about her during lunch and study hall and say how slutty she was and preached that “you should never have sex with a guy just to keep him as a boyfriend, even if it was with Connor Finch” and blah, blah, blah. They’d just go on and on about her.

  “So, where’re you from?” Tessa wanted to know.

  I turned toward her. “Massachusetts.”

  “How’d you end up in this shitty place?”

  Tessa had a real way with words. I stared out the window again. “My dad died when I was young and when my mom lost her job, we couldn’t afford to stay in our home anymore. So my mom, brother and I moved into my uncle’s house over on Juniper Drive.”

  “That sucks.”

  That was rude, I thought, and a typical Tessa response. I just shook my head. She must have realized how she sounded and tried to backpedal.

  “I don’t mean it sucks that you live at your uncle’s. I mean it sucks that your father died.”

  I was thoughtful for a moment, looked Tessa in her steel blue eyes and nodded softly. “Yes. It does.”

  • • •

  Jaques’s truck pulled up a long, winding driveway, lined with ancient oaks and soaring blue spruces. The drive led to an enormous house that wasn’t visible from the road. I couldn’t imagine how it remained so private considering its massive size. The three-story house was covered in dark gray cedar shakes with shiny black trim. The detached, four-car garage had thick, ivy vines crawling up its stone side and seemed as though they had been trained to grow perfectly around its Gothic-shaped windows. The place reminded me of a grand Georgian estate that could be found nestled somewhere in the lush, English countryside.

  Tessa’s house had to be at least fifty times the size of my uncle’s. I couldn’t believe that such extreme types of dwellings existed on Pike’s Island and felt as though I was completely in another world.

  Jaques stopped the truck in front of the arched, front entrance, which was mortared with stones similar to those that adorned the outside of the garage. The heavy, double wooden front doors were stained a deep, red mahogany and looked as if it would take an army of people just to hold them open.

  I climbed out of the truck and Tessa hopped out after me. The three of us walked toward the front doors where Jaques, like a true gentleman, held them open for us.

  The foyer was beautiful with twenty-foot ceilings and gray and white marble floors. A spiral staircase, with a black, wrought iron banister stood to the right of us. I glanced up and saw a huge, ornate crystal chandelier hanging in the middle of the entrance, which, otherwise, was completely empty. A chilly breeze passed through me as we stood inside the big foyer. I shivered and crossed my arms in front of myself to keep warm.

  Jaques and Tessa walked toward the back of the house and I followed. We walked through a long hallway and ended up in a family room and kitchen area. Like the rest of the house, the two rooms were huge. Tall windows, which stretched from the floor to the ceiling, covered the entire back wall and made the whole space feel fully exposed to the elements.

  Tessa walked left into the kitchen and opened the stainless steel refrigerator.

  “Wanna drink or something?”

  “No thanks. I’m good,” I said as I walked over to the windows and stared outside in awe.

  The backyard, which wasn’t very big, had what appeared to be an infinity pool and then beyond that a subtle drop with the sandy beach and white-capped waves below. The view was absolutely breathtaking, even in the middle of winter.

  Tessa appeared next to me and offered me a glass of iced tea.

  “Nice, huh?”

  I nodded and took the glass. “It’s beautiful. I’d never get sick of it.”

  “You would. Believe me,” Tessa said as she turned, swung her hair and headed toward the family room. I followed her and plopped down across from her on a comfy, sectional leather sofa. Tessa switched on the big, flat screen TV.

  I felt awkward. Jaques was nowhere in sight and I didn’t know what to talk about. I didn’t want to just sit there in silence and watch television.

  I sipped my tea. “Where are your parents?”

  Tessa continued to watch television, but answered. “In Portland. My father’s working over at the hospital and my mother is busy running one of the dozens of charities that she inherited from her parents, along with all their money.”

  She shrugged and took a drink of her tea. “Who
knows? My dad will probably end up spending the night at our other house in the city. My mom’s supposed to catch the last ferry back here. She has some stupid charity breakfast in town early tomorrow morning.”

  “Do you stay in Portland a lot, too?”

  “Yeah. My parents make me. They won’t let me stay overnight if only Jaques is here. I don’t really mind ’cause I hate taking that freakin’ ferry back and forth to school anyway.”

  Tessa turned away from the TV and stared out the window.

  “My parents don’t know it yet, but I’m planning on spending every night here in the summer with or without them.”

  I nodded. No wonder I had never seen Tessa on the ferry before, but I guess having all this wealth and privilege didn’t mean much if no one was around to share it with you. I was usually home by myself anyway, I figured, and would have loved the chance to live among this kind of luxury, if even it was for one day. Just sitting there, I was able to think of plenty of things I could buy in order to make myself happy.

  As I looked around and imagined my life surrounded with such opulence, Tessa caught me.

  “It gets old. Fast. Trust me,” she said.

  From somewhere, deep within the house, a grandfather clock chimed. I took my cell phone out of my coat pocket, checked the time and panicked. I hadn’t realized how late it was. I sprang up, accidentally spilling some of my tea on the Oriental rug.

  “I’m so sorry. Do you have towels I could use to wipe it up?”

  Tessa sat, unmoved. “Leave it. Katia, the maid, will clean it up.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Tessa didn’t answer.

  “I’m sorry to ask, but is there anyway for me to catch a ride back to my house? It’s getting late and I should be getting home.”

  Tessa clicked off the television and walked over to the granite-covered island. She put down her glass of iced tea and grabbed a set of keys.

  “Let’s go.”

  “What about Jaques? Isn’t he gonna drive me?”

  “No. I will. I know how to drive. I’ve been doing it for years,” she answered casually.

  My eyes widened with fear and I remained, frozen in place, on top of the iced-tea-covered rug.

  I panicked. “Why not your brother?”

  “Believe me. After what he’s been smoking, you’d rather have a dog drive you than him.”

  I walked toward the kitchen, figuring I had no choice and put my empty glass on the counter next to Tessa’s.

  “That’s one of the perks of not having your parents around,” Tessa said as she turned, flung her hair and walked away toward the foyer. “Nobody gives a shit what you do.”

  CHAPTER

  ELEVEN