Second child by John Saul

Author:John Saul [John Saul]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: SF
ISBN: 9780553287301
Published: 1997-01-01T17:46:06+00:00

Teri lay stretched out on a chaise longue, her eyes closed against the brilliance of the morning sun. She felt good—she’d played a set of tennis with Phyllis, which she’d managed to let Phyllis win, then beaten Ellen Stevens in straight sets. After that, she and Ellen had gone for a swim, and ever since then she’d been lying by the pool, enjoying the warmth of the sun and the babble of voices around her.

A shadow fell on her face, and she opened her eyes to see a dark silhouette looming above her. She squinted, trying to make out who it might be, and was just about to sit up when a splash of icy water hit her legs. Gasping at the shock, she jumped off the chaise, then spun around to see Brett Van Arsdale standing at the edge of the pool, grinning at her. “You looked like you might be burning, so I decided to baste you,” he said.

“Oh, really?” Teri replied. “Well, how’s this for a basting?” With a quick shove she pushed him into the pool, then dived in after him, hitting the water just as he broke the surface. Grabbing his shoulders, she shoved him under again and pushed away, twisting out of his grip as he reached for her. He caught up with her halfway across the pool, and she barely managed to snatch a breath of air before he pulled her below the surface. She struggled for a moment, freed herself, then shot away, finally slithering out of the pool a fraction of a second before he caught up with her. By the time he’d scrambled out of the water, she was already drying herself off with the towel one of the pool boys had brought her the minute she’d appeared on the terrace. Finished with it, she tossed it to Brett, then stretched out on the chaise again. A moment later Brett dropped down on the one next to her.

“You going to the dance next weekend?” he asked.

Teri cocked her head. “What dance?” she asked.

“The costume party,” Brett replied. “It’s next Saturday, and if you’re not going with anybody …” His voice trailed off, and Teri grinned mischievously at him.

“You mean you want me to go with you?” she asked.

Brett flushed, nodding. “If you want to.”

Teri was about to accept his invitation, then hesitated. What about Melissa? Would she be allowed to go if no one asked her half sister? She glanced over to the table where her stepmother was sitting talking to Brett’s mother. After this morning, she suspected that Phyllis wouldn’t care whether Melissa went to the dance or not.

But what about her father? In her mind she heard his words once again. “Take care of Melissa for me, okay?”

And then, once more, an idea began to take shape in her mind.

“It sounds like fun,” she said, smiling at Brett. But then she let her brows form into a frown. “But—Well, what about Melissa?”

The grin that had spread across Brett’s face wavered.

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