The Vincent Boys 02 - The Vincent Brothers

turn it off. Do you understand me?”
    I heard my mother’s sharp intake of breath. I’d never spoken to her like that before but I was tired of it. She never listened to me. She tried to control me. No longer. I was eighteen years old but I felt so much older. I always had.
    “Fine,” she snapped.
    “Now, if there is nothing else you’d like to say, I need to go. I’ll call you again soon. Trust me when I tell you I am completely safe. That’s all you need to know.”
    “If this is about your father—”
    “No, Mom, it isn’t about him. Not anymore. My decisions are about me. From here on out what I do won’t take into account what you or Daddy do or say.”
    My mother’s silence was so rare I wondered if she’d hung up on me. That would definitely be a first. Then, I heard a deep sigh.
    “Okay,” she finally said.
    “Okay,” I replied.
    “I love you, Lana. You know that, don’t you?”
    No, I didn’t know it. Not really. I wasn’t sure Mom understood the concept of loving someone else more than herself.
    “Sure, Mom. Love you too,” I finally said. I’d done enough as far as honesty went for one conversation. I did love her and I wasn’t sure she could take any more of the truth.
    Pressing end, I went ahead and turned off my phone before dropping it in my largest piece of luggage. Not that I thought my mom was smart enough to trace me or anything. I wasn’t sure she’d even think about that method of finding me. I figured if I kept it off, unless I was checking in, then I was safe. Maybe I should buy one of those disposable cell phones and use it for calls from now on. I remembered an episode of CSI where that method worked.
    Shaking my head at my own scheming to keep hidden from my mom, I walked over to stand in front of the large window centered in the left wall. Jewel hadn’t been kidding about the view. I could see the pool to my left since we were on the bottom floor but straight ahead was nothing except white sandy beach and the Gulf of Mexico. I could stay here the rest of the summer. Figure things out. Heal. Then go back to Alpharetta and face my future. Maybe I could get a job or two that paid well. Save up for two years and then go to the University of Georgia. Not my first choice but it was better than staying at home and going to the community college. It would be more affordable to go to the state college than go off to Florida. Grimacing at my stupidity, I thought about all the things I’d sold on eBay once I heard the news Sawyer had signed with Florida. I figured, if I could save up enough money, my dad would help me. I’d applied, gotten accepted, and used the small scholarship I’d received from the local ladies’ club my mother was a part of to pay for my registration. I still needed so much more.
    Not that it mattered. I’d have never been able to go through with it now. Maybe it was fate’s way of stepping in and fixing my stupid planning. It wasn’t meant for me to be at the University of Florida. I wasn’t meant to be with Sawyer.
    “Hey, chica stop staring out at the gorgeous beach with that sad face and get your hot little pink bikini on and come soak up some sun with me.”
    I turned around to see Jewel standing in the doorway. Her long blonde hair was pulled up in a high ponytail and she was wearing a lime green string bikini that made her tan seem even darker.
    “What about your date? And what happened to you and Heath? I thought he was spending the summer here with you.” When she’d told me about her date with the lifeguard, I’d been so focused on breathing through my broken heart that I hadn’t processed her comment.
    She waved a hand as if batting away a fly, “He caught me with this beach volleyball guy that, like, plays on a pro-team. So hot, Lana, I mean so hot. And soooo worth it. Heath flipped his lid and left. It was for the best. We had just about squeezed all the good out of that relationship. Time to move on.”
    That was Jewel for you. She could jump from one guy to the next and never look back. Any guy who went into an exclusive relationship with her was just asking for trouble. Jewel couldn’t do it. However, she could be a friend. Maybe not the best one in the world but she’d been the only one I’d ever really had. Right now, she was a lifesaver.
    “Let me get changed and I’ll meet you out there in a few minutes,” I told her.
    She nodded and turned to walk away when I thought about my mom.
    “Hey, Jewel,” I called