I stood from the stool. “Sure.” It definitely seemed like a task I could manage. I took hold of several fingers.
“Wait a second,” he said. He grasped the edge of the counter with his ungloved hand. “Go.” He sucked in a deep breath and I pulled. The glove came free but not as easily as I would have expected.
His face had paled some as he lifted the uncovered hand. “Shit. Why’d you have to pull so hard?”
Now I was the one holding the counter. His wrist was twisted into a grotesque, unnatural curve. “I’m— I’m so sorry,” I stuttered, swallowing back the grilled cheese I’d just eaten.
His face broke into a smile, a smile that was oddly familiar. “I’m just kidding you. I dislocated it on the track. Sorry about that. I didn’t know it would freak you out so badly.”
I pressed my hand to my chest. “That’s all right. I think my heartbeat will eventually return to normal.”
He reached out with his untwisted hand. “I’m Cole. Are you here for Jude?”
The question seemed strange, and it took me a moment to answer. “No, I’m here visiting Finley.”
To my relief, Finley walked in right then. “What the hell, Cole? It looks like your hand isn’t even attached to your arm anymore.”
Cole held it up and admired his contorted wrist a moment. “I kind of like it.”
Jude walked past all of us, opened the fridge, and pulled out a plate of chicken. He glanced at Cole’s arms. “Shit, Cole, put that deformed thing away. I’m trying to eat.”
Cole looked at Jude and then Finley. “You know what’d be cool— if both of my siblings weren’t house bound. Then one of them could drive me to the emergency room so a doctor could pop it back into place.”
“I could try but we’d probably have to participate in a police chase on the way there.” Jude grabbed up a drumstick and took a medieval style bite before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
Finley twisted her face at him. “Use a napkin, Neanderthal.”
Cole had nice hazel eyes to go with typical, California boy good looks. “Maybe Finley’s hot, new friend could drive me.”
“Drive yourself,” Jude said angrily before I had a chance to respond.
I took the opportunity to shoot a quick scowl at Jude before answering for myself. “I’m afraid it would be safer having me pop your wrist back in place. I don’t have a license.”
Cole stepped closer to me and even with a completely tweaked wrist managed to flash me a flirtatious grin. “No? Well, maybe I could teach you.”
Jude rudely pushed between us, reached for a shaker of salt on the counter, and sprinkled some on his chicken.
“Oh my gosh, could you two be any more obvious?” Finley took hold of my hand and pulled me away from both of them. “Let’s go, Eden. I could really use a walk.”
I gladly followed.
“Sorry about that,” Finley said as we stepped out onto a long brick pathway that led to a long, ivy covered fence. The dogs followed but Some Pig stayed inside.
“Will your brother be all right? I feel sort of bad that he has to drive himself to the hospital. His hand looked pretty wrecked.”
“He doesn’t have to drive himself. Dad’s chauffeur will take him. He was just looking for some sympathy from you, and he takes every opportunity he can to piss off Jude.”
We continued along a path that was bordered by perfectly trimmed hedges and turned right at a rose garden that was rich with red and pink blooms. The path led to a pool that was so large it circled around a small island of palm trees.
“That is not a pool. It’s a lagoon.”
“My dad drove himself nuts designing the thing. He fashioned it after some resort in the Mediterranean. I still remember the day they dug the hole. I was only six, so to me it looked like the Grand Canyon.” We walked around the edge to the beach front entry. “We all put our footprints in cement.” She placed her shoes next to a small footprint. “My feet aren’t much bigger now.”
I smiled down at the comparison. “Hey, I’ll trade my basketball player feet for yours anytime.”
“Your feet aren’t that big. And if they were my size, you’d be knocked over in a hard breeze.”
“I guess my boats do serve a purpose. I can also stomp out very large cockroaches. Unfortunately, I learned about that talent when we moved into our last apartment.”
“You know, I’m usually dorky enough to pick up a cricket or even a harmless spider to carry outside, but I’ve got to say, my empathy ends with the cockroach. They really are disgusting.”
I glanced at the other footprints. They’d scratched their names beneath them. “Cole’s penmanship was lacking some back then.”
“Trust me. It hasn’t improved any with age.”
The prints had been somewhat faded by time but it was easy to see that there was a fourth pair of feet in the cement. There were just as small as Finley’s. The name was hard to read. “Finley, who does this last pair of prints belong to?”
“Those are Chloe’s. She was my older sister. She died the year after we pressed our feet into the cement.” She said the words casually as if she was telling me the weather, but there was something in her expression that made it clear she’d practiced the cool, unaffected tone. And I was quickly learning that there were some subjects she would talk freely about and others that she would not. Her sister seemed to be one she preferred not to talk about.
Finley’s face brightened and she skipped excitedly over to a chaise lounge and sat down. “Let’s take off our shoes and soak our feet.”
I sat down on the lounge across from her and removed my shoes and socks. “I’ve got to say that looks like a really fun pool.”
“We can swim tomorrow,” she suggested. “It’s in full sun all day so it will be warm enough.” The dogs had stretched out nearby, and once again, they lifted their big heads.
Jude walked behind us along a path that led to what looked like a rather spectacular pool house. It was a small replica of the house. Even the landscaping matched. He ignored us completely and disappeared inside.
Finley hopped up and grabbed a chair. She dragged it across the cement to a large potted plant, leaned over and knocked three times on the ornate planter. Then she nodded for me to grab another chair. Small ripples of water lapped at the entry of the pool just like the ocean shore. We carried the chairs into the water and sat. Cool, crystal clear water covered our feet, and the warm sun spiked down on our heads from above.
I squinted up. “You weren’t kidding about the sun shining on it.”
“This whole pool heats up like a bathtub in August. It actually gets too hot to swim. That’s when my dad likes to go in.” Her phone buzzed and she pulled it from her pocket. “Speaking of Dad.” Her long row of earrings pinged against the phone as she pressed it to her ear. “Hey, Daddy, what’s up?” She paused. “Yes, she’s here.” Finley smiled at me. “I think it’ll be great. Auntie made a good choice.”
Her words helped bolster some of the confidence I’d lost after meeting her brother. Even though I’d definitely suffered some feelings of homesickness throughout the morning, I needed this adventure. I needed to be on my own and away from my highly dependent family for awhile. My college and my future had been put on hold, but I was sure this would prove to be a learning experience. And the money would at least help pay for city college this fall. Without any mode of transportation, my summer job prospects were going to be limited to the mini mart or fast food restaurants. I looked around at the park-like surroundings and the resort style pool. No matter what twists and turns this job took, it would definitely be better than standing over a counter folding burritos.