Destiny Undone: The Complete Series Box Set (2 page)

“Dad, I wasn’t skinny dipping.” That was about the only defense I had. I was twenty-three and I did spend a lot of time drinking. What could I say? I liked having fun.

“That’s not the point. Church’s parents may not care about his criminal behavior but I care about you. I love you and I want you to do better. Please promise me you’ll use your brains a little bit more?”

I hated disappointing my Dad. Besides my sister, Mills, he was my most favorite person in the world.

“Okay, Daddy. I promise. I’ll use my brains more.”

He sighed again and said, “Okay. I love you. What are your plans today?”

“I promised Aven I would help her with some project she’s working on. Think she’s redoing her bedroom again.” Sounded lame, but Aven was my best friend.

“All right, but don’t forget I’ll be home tonight. Maybe ask Rianna to cook us something? You in the mood for Italian?”

“Well, I’m sure I will be. I’ll see you tonight Dad.”

“Okay, see you then.” That was the extent of the scolding I received from Dad. He wasn’t much of a disciplinarian, but I knew he cared. Unlike my mother—her every thought was about her and she never gave me advice, encouraged me or told me that she was proud of me.
Oh, fuck her.
I flopped back on the fluffy white pillows to savor my moments with Church the night before. I’m sure Dad thought he was a bad influence, but truthfully, everything I’d gotten into was my own fault. Most of the time, these were
my
crazy ideas. I decided to get up and get dressed in case Aven called. She hadn’t given me a time, but she’d probably be here soon. It was almost eleven.

My phone rang again and I practically jumped for joy. It was Mills!

“Hiya!” she whispered into the phone. She was at boarding school and they frowned on cell phones, except in emergencies, but that didn’t stop her from calling me at least once a week.

“Hi, Mills. How’s it going?”

“Ack! Two words—Gene Miller. He keeps asking me out, and there’s no way I’m going out with that dirt-bag, no matter how many jets his daddy has. Gross. Are you planning my party? Hmm? I know you must be. I can’t believe I’m going to be eighteen! Wow! Can you believe it?”

I suddenly felt ashamed. I hadn’t planned anything. I’d been so caught up in my own life, I’d forgotten that her birthday was just a month away. I’d have to book a venue right away. Maybe the yacht club? “Yeah, little sister, I’m on it. Can’t wait to tell you all about it!”

“Please tell me we aren’t having it at the yacht club. I hate that dingy old place. I was thinking the Glass Room—you know the new party room down by Glass Beach. I know all our friends are in Destiny Beach, but it’s only fifteen minutes away. Oh, shit! I’ve got to go! I’ll call you later. Bye!”

She hung up before I could say another word and I suddenly felt motivated to get up and get busy. Aven’s room would have to wait—I had a party to plan! I called her, “Aven, get your ass over here. I know I said I’d help you out today, but I totally forgot to start planning Mills’ party! I need your help and yes, you can bring that stupid cat, but you must know, you look fucking ridiculous leading a house cat around on a leash. Hurry up!”

“Gabe, you’ve hardly touched your breakfast. I’m so glad I went to the trouble of cooking something. What are you reading that’s so interesting?” Dad poked his head around to sneak a peek at the headline I was reading.

“Another spoiled girl steals the headlines from the real stories. What is this girl thinking? Look…I mean at least she had on her underwear.” I scoffed as I munched a piece of bacon and then took a sip of my coffee.

“Yeah, that’s shocking. When I was your age, I was praying to spot a pretty girl with no underwear on. Now they’re all over the front page! Where did I go wrong with you, son?” Dad chuckled as he remembered something from his younger years. “And why are you being so hard on…what’s her name?
Pepper?
” He laughed again, “Who the hell names their kid Pepper, anyway? You know her?”

“No, just by name. She’s an Anderson, Doug’s oldest daughter.”

“Oh yes, Doug and Evangeline. I remember.” He shook his head slightly, as if he were remembering something.”

“Yeah, I don’t really
know
her
. I just know who she is. I think it’s ridiculous. I guess that’s why the big news about Sea Lab didn’t make it to the front page. Spoiled rich girl takes off her dress—now
that’s
big news. Sea Lab gets the largest grant ever given to a non-profit aquatic facility—nothing. Not even page three. That’s just stupid.”

Dad laughed at me and swiped some of my bacon. “Not everyone is as level-headed as you are, son. That’s what makes the world go round. And don’t forget to call your mom sometime today. She’s going to need you to pick her up from the airport tomorrow I have to go to that meeting I told you about.”

“You still going?” My parents loved volunteer work—admittedly, they could afford to indulge themselves in that kind of thing—they were wealthy, but they didn’t do it for any reason other than they really did enjoy it. Mom was returning from one of the Ebola-stricken countries where she’d been assisting some of the physicians there. She had some medical training, but mostly she’d just wanted to help. I’d worried about her the entire time she’d been there—a whole month—it didn’t sound safe over there at all.

“Yes, I’m still going, and stop frowning. Thousands of volunteers go there every year and nothing has ever happened to them. I’m going to follow all the rules and procedures. So, stop worrying and get to work.” I knew there was no sense in arguing with him. When James Gregory had his mind made up, nothing could stop him.

“You know, you two could at least go together. Why do you have to take two separate trips? And I’m going to work now, but I’d rather send you to pick her up, though. I’ve got intern interviews today. I hope we get some smart, dedicated kids this year.”

“Like you?” Dad said with a smile.

“Yeah, exactly like me.” I grinned at him and went upstairs to get dressed. I stuffed a pair of shorts and a Sea Lab t-shirt into my gym bag. I had to dress the part today—it was interview day—but I planned on working the tanks later on.

I thought again about Pepper Anderson and her wasted life. How could someone so rich and beautiful, be so…
shallow?
With her kind of money, she could change the world. Apparently, she’d rather be drunk in a public fountain. Suddenly, I felt lucky to have parents that cared about me. All the nagging about homework and school over the years really paid off. If it hadn’t been for them, there was no telling where I’d have ended up. Honestly, I was no angel—I dabbled in drugs and drank a beer or two before I was legal. I’d hooked up with quite a few girls and done a few stupid things, but nothing like this new crop of wannabe celebs. All they seemed to care about was topping one another in whatever extreme, ridiculous way they could. Oh well. Thank God she wasn’t my problem.

When I got to the facility, I was surprised to see that I wasn’t the first one there. That was a good sign. Half the internship applicants were already there, but they were too busy on their phones, or sitting in their cars to talk to me—except one very attractive girl with brown hair and a great smile. She tried to flirt with me with a playful smile and waved her fingers. I said, “Good morning,” but kept on walking. No need to embarrass her. She probably had no idea I’d be doing the interviews and people were always surprised when they found out I was the boss.

I couldn’t figure it out—even in college, new friends were astonished when I told them I wanted to be a marine biologist. I couldn’t explain to them how much I loved the ocean and the sea life, and I just laughed it off back then, but now I didn’t have to laugh it off anymore. I’d graduated at the top of my class and started as an intern in my freshmen year. By the time I’d graduated, I’d already been promoted to a leadership role and now, just four years later, I’d become the boss—except for the board, of course. They decided how the business was run, and I took care of the animals and the people who worked in the facility.

I slid my key in the slot, entered the building, and waved at Ellie on the front desk. “I see we have another temp,” I smiled and carried on walking past the security office. “No problems last night, Chuck?”

“Nope, not at all, Mr. Gregory. No hide nor hair of those protestors.”

“That’s great. Thanks a lot.”

I walked down the hall to the elevator, got off on the second floor and went to my office. I spent most of my time in the aquarium, but not this morning. From my tall glass window, I saw the staff feeding the animals, opening pools for playtime and dragging out toys. I had a great crew, and I was anxious to find more just like them.

Eventually, I kind of gave up on tying my tie and turned away from the window. I sat at my desk and flipped through the folders of the candidates I’d be interviewing today and made two stacks for the interviewees. One was a “maybe no” pile and one was a “maybe yes” pile. Although I’d agreed to interview everyone in both piles, I already knew who looked good on paper. From my years of experience here, I knew that meant nothing most of the time, but it was somewhere to start. Start with what looks good on paper and go from there. I’d had some bright students apply in the past, but their interviews hadn’t gone in their favor, so I was interested to see what today had in store. I had five minutes before my first appointment, so I walked to the break room and made a pot of coffee.

As I walked back to my office on the second floor, I noticed that the waiting room was full and Paul, had finally arrived to man reception. He was a good kid, but he always arrived just in the nick of time and anyone that knew me, knew I liked to be early—but that was just me.

I strolled back to my desk and left the door open. Interviews were nerve-wracking enough for applicants, and I didn’t want them to have to face a closed door right from the start. I only had four spots and twenty applicants, so the competition would be tough this year.

“ Mr. Gregory, Michael Turner is here for his interview.”

“Great, send him in. Thanks, Paul.” I set my cup down and reached for David’s folder from the “maybe yes” file.” I stood up, walked around my desk and greeted the young man. He was tall and muscular, and it looked like he’d spent a lot of time in the gym.

“Hi, I’m Michael Turner. Nice to meet you, sir.”

“You too, Michael. Have a seat.” I opened his folder and reviewed his résumé. “You’ve got some impressive credentials here. Tell me a little bit more about you, maybe something I don’t see here.”

“Well, I’m originally from Louisiana, but I’ve been in Florida for the past six years. I do a lot of surfing and I love spending time on the ocean. I think it’s the most peaceful place in the world.”

“That’s interesting, not many good places to surf around here though. You drive all the way over to Destiny to surf?”

He beamed a big smile, clearly happy to talk about surfing. “Just about every weekend. Sometimes the waves are good in Pensacola as well, especially when a storm is coming through.”

“Unfortunately, gulf storms can be our busiest time here. If a storm threatens, we have to be ready because, unlike a zoo, we can’t just herd our animals onto a truck. It takes time and special equipment to move the animals to safety if a storm threatens us. That doesn’t happen every year, but when it does, we would expect you to be here. All the interns come in for that. Would you be willing to do that?”

He looked a little surprised, but he smiled. “Of course I would. Marine biology is my life—surfing is just a hobby.” Satisfied with his answer, we moved on to other topics, and by the end of the interview, I felt pretty good about the guy. I tagged a purple sticky note to his folder and jotted down some notes before I welcomed the next person.

It was my female fan from the parking lot. I pretended nothing happened earlier to avoid embarrassing her, but I needn’t have bothered—she didn’t seem embarrassed at all. Let’s just say that my interview with Tina didn’t land her a job with me and when we were finished, I shook her hand and told her I’d be in touch. Once she’d left, I tossed her file into a brand new stack I’d named, “Definitely not.” The rest of the day continued to be a mixed bag of winners and losers, and I had another day of interviews tomorrow. When I’d finally finished the interviews for the day, my head was pounding, but before I left, I stopped by the main tank where the dolphins were and Bobbie Jo, an excellent trainer and damn good biologist, was putting the animals through their exercise routines. She was a little older than me and I respected her opinion on most things. “How are they today?”

“Looking good, looking good.” She smiled at me as she tossed Wendee a fish and patted her nose. “I bet I had more fun than you.”

“Yes, you probably did. That’s why you’ll be doing the second batch of interviews tomorrow,” I grinned.

“Not on your life, buddy. I prefer animals over people any day of the week.” I laughed at her and nodded in agreement.

“Is that new tank ready yet? We’ve got those sea turtles coming in on Friday and I’d like to keep them isolated for a little while, just until they get used to their new surroundings.”