The Moment We Began (A Fairhope New Adult Romance)

by Sarra Cannon

I pour myself a shot, down it, then pour another.

  “Not remembering is the whole point.”

  Chapter Four

  I wake up hot.

  The sun is beating down on my back and sweat trickles along the side of my face. I open my eyes, then close them against the bright light of the morning sun. Or at least I think it’s morning.

  I sit up and there’s a sucking sound as I peel my skin off the couch.

  My head throbs and my throat is so dry, I can hardly swallow.

  I’m still out on the sun deck of the Opportunity, my parents’ yacht. The place is trashed. Plastic cups litter the deck. A half-eaten pizza is smashed against the wooden deck. Wet towels are strewn across everything. Trash cans overflow with beer bottles and paper plates.

  I stand and walk down the steps to the salon. I open the mini-fridge looking for water, but it’s empty. I go down to the main deck and grab one from the fridge in the galley, downing half of it without taking a breath.

  I can barely remember what happened last night. I remember drinking. I remember dancing on top of the table with Krystal. I cringe as I think I might remember taking my bathing suit off in the hot tub. I have no idea how the night ended or how everyone got home, but I do remember seeing Mason leave with the blond he’d brought along.

  Just thinking of them together makes me want to run to the bathroom. My stomach turns over and I sit down and put my head between my legs until it passes.

  When I come back up, I see the digital clock above the TV and my heart skips.

  Shit.

  It’s Sunday.

  My parents are going to kill me.

  Sunday morning brunch is our family tradition. Rain or shine, we are all supposed to show up for brunch on Sundays at eleven.

  I’ve been late three weeks in a row, and I’m going to be late again.

  I run to my stateroom and search my bag for a change of clothes. I jump in the shower and quickly wash the stink of tequila off my body, then brush my teeth and try to make myself presentable. Bloodshot eyes stare back at me in the mirror. I scramble in my bag for the eye drops and blink as I drop them into my eyes.

  My dark brown hair is wet from the shower, so I pull it up into a french twist, securing it with a pearl clip. I dust my cheeks with some light pink blush, sweep some brown eyeliner around my eyes, and pray it’s enough to keep me from looking too hungover.

  I toss my red bikini into my bag and throw on a simple black tank top and my cutoffs. I know mom prefers for us to dress up for brunch, but this is all I brought with me on the ship and there’s no time to sneak up to my room before they start.

  If they haven’t started eating already.

  I hurry off the ship and toss my bag into my Audi, then floor it all the way home.

  It’s eleven-thirty by the time I pull through the security gate and into the driveway of my parents’ house. I rush into the dining room, but no one is there. I finally find them by the pool out back, their plates full of fresh fruit and omelets.

  Mom stands when I appear. She hugs me tight. “You’re late,” she says. “I was worried you weren’t going to make it.”

  “Sorry,” I say, not bothering to remove my sunglasses. Since we’re outside, maybe I can get away with leaving them on.

  “How many weeks in a row is that?” Dad asks. He doesn’t get up so I cross over to him and give him a kiss on the cheek.

  “A couple,” I say. “But I’m here.”

  I sit across from Preston. He looks almost as hungover as I am. Our eyes meet over the table, like we’re partners in crime. A smile pulls at the corners of his mouth as he takes a large bite of his eggs.

  “I think it’s more than a couple,” Dad says. “I’m really disappointed in you, Penelope. You were always the responsible one, and now I feel like more and more, you’re being careless. What were you two doing up so late? Preston said you stayed on the boat again.”

  I nod and say thanks to Flora as she brings a plate for me. The omelet is cooked exactly the way I like it – with goat cheese, strawberries and spinach. “Can I get some coffee, too, please?”

  “Yes, Miss Penny,” she says.

  “I did,” I say. “I didn’t want to bother driving home when I was so tired.”

  This is a lie, of course. And not a very creative one.

  “I hope you left it in good shape,” he says. “I invited some of our friends to take a cruise this afternoon down to Sea Island so they could take a look at the development of the new hotel.”

  I nearly drop my fork. I look up at Preston and he makes a face.

  What am I supposed to tell him? That the place is completely trashed? He’ll kill me.

  “What time is that?” I ask, trying to keep the panic out of my voice.

  “Probably around three,” he says. “It depends on when the Benson’s can get down here.”

  Flora brings my coffee and I load it up with cream and sugar, then drink it down like it were water.

  “I need to run to the restroom,” I say. “Please excuse me.”

  I take my purse with me and slip into the downstairs bathroom. I search my phone for someone who might come in on a Sunday for a little extra cash. If Dad’s friends are coming in three hours, I might need two or three people cleaning to make it look decent.

  I make a few calls and finally, after offering a stupid amount of money, someone takes the job.

  I head back out to the pool and Preston’s eyes meet mine. I nod and his shoulders relax. Our parents don’t seem to notice any of this.

  “How was your week, Penny?” Mom asks. It’s the same question she asks me every Sunday morning. “Are you excited about school starting back in a few weeks?”

  Words cannot express how very not excited I am about school starting back. I’ll be a junior this year at Fairhope Coastal University, and the only thing that excites me about that is only having two years left instead three.

  “Of course,” I say, because you’re supposed to tell your parents you’re excited about school. “And my week was great, but next week is going to be better. Leigh Anne’s coming back tomorrow.”

  “How are things going for her with the lawsuit?” Dad asks.

  A few weeks ago, my best friend Leigh Anne came forward with the fact that she was raped while at college up in Boston. What’s worse, the guy who raped her is a famous movie star named Burke Redfield. The media had a field day with the case when it was first brought up, but after several more victims stepped forward, the evidence against him was undeniable.

  “Really positive, I think,” I say. I’ve been doing my best to keep up with what’s been going on while she’s been in Boston the past few weeks. “The big news now is that the university finally voted to suspend Burke pending the trial.”

  “That’s definitely a step in the right direction,” my father says. He tried to help Leigh Anne cover it all up for the sake of protecting her family’s image, but I think he was really proud of her when she stepped forward anyway, and told the truth. I don’t think he’s ever been that proud of me before.

  Flora refills my coffee, then offers pancakes.

  “I’ll take a couple,” Preston says.

  “Me too,” Dad says. “Penny? You want some. They’re your favorite.”

  I wrinkle my nose. “I can’t eat that stuff anymore, Dad.”

  My mouth waters at the thought. Pancakes sound a hell of a lot more appetizing right now than eggs, but I can’t afford it. It took me forever to get this weight off, and there’s no way I want to go back to being fat.

  Dad laughs and shakes his head. “You look beautiful no matter what, sweetheart. You shouldn’t worry so much about having one or two pancakes here and there.”

  “You have to say that because I’m your daughter.”

  “I still mean it,” he says, then winks at me.

  I push my food around my plate as they talk about work and the plans for an upcoming charity ball to raise money for one of Mom’s pet charities. I try to pa
y attention, but my thoughts keep coming back to Mason. How could we have shared such a passionate moment and then five minutes later, called things off entirely?

  I feel sick just thinking about it. It would be a lot easier if I just didn’t have to see him again for a while, but he’s my brother’s best friend. He’s in my life, no matter what, so I know I won’t be able to avoid him. Not without avoiding my brother and all our friends, and there’s no way that’s going to happen.

  We’re supposed to have a get-together at Leigh Anne’s boyfriend’s bar on Friday night. Knox wants to throw her a welcome-home party. He said she’s been lonely in Boston and that it’s been a really emotional time for her. He plans to close the bar early so that we can have a private party to welcome her home. She’s a real town hero these days, and even though I want nothing more than to celebrate with her and tell her how happy I am to have her home, there’s also a part of me that’s jealous of her and what she’s found with Knox.

  He’s perfect and sweet and you can see by the way he looks at her that he’s head-over-heels in love. He’d do anything for her.

  I wish more than anything that I could find a guy who looks at me that way.

  For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted that guy to be Mason. How many times does he have to hurt me for me to realize it’s never going to be him?

  “Penny?”

  I look up. I have no idea what they’ve been talking about. “Yes?”

  “What are your thoughts, sweetheart?”

  “On what?”

  Mom breathes in, then lets it out in a long sigh. It’s her best disappointed sigh, and it isn’t lost on me. “For the charity ball? Should we go with a black and white theme again this year? Or is that overdone?”

  “I think it’s classy,” I say, because I know that’s what she wants me to say. The truth is, this town could use a little color. Everything stays the same around here, year after year. “What’s overdone is the charities you keep patronizing. Why don’t we start a fund for the children’s hospital? Or the homeless shelter here in Fairhope?”

  “Penny, we’ve been over this a thousand times,” she says. “If we start giving money to every person in this town with their hand out, we’ll have everyone knocking on our door .”

  I press my lips together and close my eyes. How can she be so blind to the problems right here in our own town? “These people don’t have their hand out because they’re greedy, Mom. There are a lot of children in Fairhope who don’t eat three meals a day. Or even two. Wouldn’t you rather give directly to the local organizations where we can really make a difference than these big foundations who spend money on office space in New York and trips to the Caribbean.”

  “Drop it, Penny,” Dad warns.

  “I was simply asking for your opinion on the theme of the party,” Mom says. “Not the charity. I’m just wondering if we should spice it up a little this year. Maybe it’s time for a change.”

  I bite my lip, then take another sip of my coffee. Maybe it really is time for a change.

  The only thing I’m more tired of than trying to convince Mom to change her mind about supporting local charities is the constant pain I feel when I think about Mason Trent. If I can’t change one, maybe I can change the other.

  “Mom?”

  “Yes, dear?”

  “You know that guy you were trying to set me up with,” I say. “What was his name? Brandon?”

  “Braxton,” she says. Her eyes light up and she sits up a little straighter. “Did you want to meet him?”

  “Can you see if he’s free Friday night?” I ask, thinking of the get-together for Leigh Anne at the bar.

  This time Mason won’t be the only one bringing a date. I want to show him exactly what he’s missing by letting me go.

  Chapter Five

  Preston stops me on my way up to my room.

  “How are you feeling?” he asks. “Do you even remember what happened last night?”

  A sick feeling rolls around in my stomach with the eggs. “Not all of it,” I say. I turn and keep going up the stairs toward my room. “Why?”

  Preston follows me, taking the stairs two at a time. “Penny, you were out of control. The whole party got out of control.”

  I keep walking, not really knowing what he’s expecting me to say. I’m sorry? I can’t remember a damn thing?

  “Hey, you need to be careful,” he says, grabbing my arm. “I’m assuming you found someone to come clean up the boat, but what happens next time when Dad actually shows up to take his friends out in the morning and you’re laying there passed out and the place is a complete mess?”

  I pull my arm away from him. He has no idea what I’ve been going through lately. And I’m not in the mood for a lecture. “I wasn’t the only one out there partying yesterday,” I say. “You invited just as many people as I did, and you were the one pouring alcohol down everyone’s throat, so don’t lecture me about being careful.”

  I turn and push the door to my room open.

  My room is more like a suite of rooms, really. It’s like having my own apartment inside the main house. My parents built this for my sixteenth birthday. It involved tearing down a few walls and re-imagining the whole space, but I love having a large suite all to myself. And right now, I don’t really want Preston in it if he’s going to make me feel bad about last night.

  We walk through the foyer and into the living room. I set my bag down on the table and slide my sunglasses up on top of my head.

  “Our parties on the boat never used to get that wild,” he says. “It got way out of control. I finally had to ask for Knox and Jeremy and a couple other guys to help out with getting everyone off the yacht and home safely. You can’t blame me for that. I wasn’t the one who brought out six extra bottles of tequila and started inviting people to do body shots.”

  I bite my lip and turn away. Did I do that?

  I honestly have zero memory of getting more alcohol out of the store room. If Dad finds out, he’s going to be pissed. He usually keeps that stuff under strict lock and key and we know not to mess with it if we’re having people over.

  Preston walks around so he can see my face. “Penny, you know I love you more than anything in the world, but this shit has to stop,” he says. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but it’s like every weekend you’re so drunk you barely remember your own name.”

  I cross my arms and shake my head. “You’re exaggerating,” I say. “It hasn’t been that bad. This is the first time I’ve had anything to drink since Leigh Anne left. That was weeks ago.”

  “Yes, but before that you had several nights when you were out of control,” he says. “It’s like all of a sudden this summer, you’re the ultimate party girl.”

  Is he really giving me crap about partying too much? “This coming from the guy whose apartment was crowded with party after party for your entire sophomore year in college?”

  “Look, I’m not saying we can’t have parties and have a good time. I’m just saying to tone it down a little bit. Be more careful,” he says. “I’m worried about you.”

  I look up toward the ceiling and put one hand on my hip. “Well, I appreciate the concern, but I’m doing fine. I just want to have some fun, that’s all.”

  I’m lying to him, though. And maybe a little to myself. If he knew how messed up I felt over Mason, he’d understand. Sometimes I just need to get him out of my head and have fun for a little while.

  If I stayed sober at all these parties, I’d have ended up stabbing one of his fake girlfriends by now.

  “Fine,” I say when he makes no move to walk away. “I’ll cool it down for a while. I’m going out with this guy, Braxton, probably next weekend. We’ll go to dinner then go to Knox’s bar for a while. It’ll be very calm and tame and I promise I’ll be on my best behavior. Besides, it’s only a few weeks until school starts back and I have to start getting up early for class again.”

  Preston comes over and wraps me into a bear
hug. “Okay,” he says. “I just want you to know I’m looking out for you.”

  “Thanks,” I say, hugging him back. “But I can really take care of myself. I promise.”

  He leaves and I take my bag into the bedroom and turn out all the lights. I close the blinds and slip off my shoes, then lay flat on my bed in the cool darkness.

  I know it was a close call with Dad today. He’s already upset with me for showing up late to family breakfasts, and I’m sure it wasn’t hard to tell I was hungover this morning. But it all worked out in the end and the boat will be clean for him and his friends. No big deal.

  Preston’s just overreacting about nothing. I’m doing fine. I just wanted to have some fun, that’s all.

  And body shots sound fun.

  I only wish I could remember it.

  My head is still pounding, so I take a couple aspirin and lay back down, grabbing my cell phone out of my purse on my way back to the bed. I crawl under the cool, silky covers and dial Mason’s number.

  His voice mail picks up after a couple of rings and my heart sinks. A couple of rings means he saw my name and declined the call. I hang up without leaving a message, then toss my phone aside and close my eyes.

  By the time I wake up, the sun has already gone down and the night, like my heart, has resolved itself for darkness.

  Chapter Six

  At noon the following day, I step inside the neonatal care unit of the Fairhope Children’s Hospital.

  Nurse Valerie’s eyes light up. “Penny. I’m so happy to see you today,” she says.

  “Got any babies I can snuggle for a little while?” I ask, washing my hands.

  She smiles. “Always.”

  I walk into the nursery with her and she carefully lifts a small baby boy from his crib. He’s swaddled tight in a soft linen blanket. I sit down in one of the rocking chairs and she hands him to me.

  “He’s so tiny,” I say. His skin is so pink and wrinkly. “When was he born?”

  “About a week ago,” she says. “We missed you last week.”

  I frown. “I know. I had to go to Atlanta for a couple of days with Mom,” I say. “What’s wrong with this little guy?”