Summer Darlings by Brooke Lea Foster

Author:Brooke Lea Foster
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gallery Books
Published: 2020-05-05T00:00:00+00:00

FIFTEEN

Heddy hadn’t even knocked on the door when it opened. Five days before the party, and she’d been waiting for this: a chance to hear how a true-to-life movie star got the guy.

“You’re late.” Gigi was wearing her big Italian sunglasses and a slouchy, striped sweatshirt that hung off one shoulder, revealing the ties of a black bikini about her neck. Several silver bangles on her wrist jingled as she pushed by her.

Heddy checked her watch: “Barely a minute.” She’d dropped the kids at camp, and stopped at the grocer and post office for Jean-Rose.

Heddy followed Gigi under an arbor with bunches of wisteria twisting through it, the purple flowers dangling like grapes, coming to a stone path to the beach. The actress moved like a gazelle, swiftly stepping one bare foot in front of the other, her toenails painted the color of beach roses.

Heddy struggled to keep up with her, quickening her pace. “Ms. McCabe, why are we rushing?”

Gigi swung around. “Call me Gigi! And if you must know, I’m having a bit of a day. Brando dropped out of the movie, so the studio is hemming and hawing about the start date, and I’ve had it up to here.” She held her hand up to her neck, like a guillotine ready to slice into her. They crossed the large expanse of lawn in bare feet, having left their shoes at the arbor, and the grass was wet from the sprinklers. “Anyway, I’m sorry. You arrived just as I was hanging up.”

Heddy sped up. “We can do this another day.”

“Don’t be silly. There’s a lot to cover. And my party is Saturday. I want you ready.” Gigi pulled her by the arm to a pier, really a private dock, long enough one could pull a boat up to it.

The dock creaked with their footsteps, the gentle slap of waves rippling under them. At the end were two fishing poles, each one with a colorful feather lure at the end of the line. Gigi bent down to sit, taking off her sweatshirt and dangling her feet off the side—the jingle of her bracelets announcing her every move. Heddy scooted next to her, dipping her toes into the cool water.

“Your posture. It’s all wrong.” Gigi accused. The movie star was leaning backward on the palms of her hands, shoulders back, bosom forward, the pose of a pinup girl.

“Excuse me?” Hyperaware now of her own stance, Heddy pushed her spine up like a broom pole.

“That didn’t come out right.” Gigi patted Heddy on the back like an obedient puppy. “What I mean to say is, I used to stand against a wall with my shoulders back for fifteen minutes a day, a requirement of Miss Lilliana’s Manners School. I think you’d benefit from the same. Your posture is the only unattractive thing about you.”

Heddy took off her shirt so she was sitting in her bathing suit. “Is that all you got?”

“Well, you’re a cute girl. That doe look. A softness in your manner that disarms people.

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