Destiny Undone: The Complete Series Box Set (4 page)

“Why me? It wasn’t my party and everyone was covered in paint! How did they know it was me?”

“I don’t know, I guess someone told them. I bet your dad is pissed.”

“Yeah, he was last night, and that was before all this other shit. I’d better get up and go talk to him.”

“Good luck, sweetie. You know I love you. Why don’t these people ever come after me?” she laughed playfully, but I knew she probably meant it.

I got up to get dressed and went looking for the sweetest, most-innocent-looking clothing I could find. I was twenty-three, but I could still look seventeen if I needed to. I pulled my hair into a youthful ponytail and dabbed my lips with pink lipstick. I said a half-hearted prayer and walked down the stairs, ready to face the music.

“Mr. Anderson, what brings you by today?” I smiled at the older man. He was a friend of the family and also a friend to Sea Lab. I couldn’t remember how many fundraisers he’d attended, but Douglas Anderson was Destiny Beach’s most successful real estate agent and the truth was, if you wanted to buy anything in this county worth anything, you’d probably have to talk to him. Now here he was, in my office. I’d told Paul to ask the interviewees to wait and I ushered Mr. Anderson to my office.

“I don’t suppose your father has called you this morning?”

“No, sir, not yet. Is everything—” My desk phone rang and I picked it up.

“Sure, I’ll take the call. Put him through please. Hey, Dad. I haven’t forgotten about Mom, I’m picking her up this afternoon.”

“Good morning, son. No, I’m not calling you about that, although that’s good to know. I’m calling because my friend, Douglas Anderson is coming by today.”

“Yes, sir. He’s here now.”

“Good. He needs a favor and I hope you can help him. It’s not a big deal. His kid needs a job, and I told him you could help, all right?”

Flustered and confused by all this, I said, “Okay, I’ll see what I can do. Thanks for letting me know. Bye, Pops.” I hung up the phone. “You didn’t have to call my dad. I’d have been more than happy to help you out. Your daughter needs a job? How old is she, seventeen, eighteen? I think the gift shop is hiring. I can call them for you.”

“No, it’s not Mills. She’s still at school, this is for Pepper. She’s twenty-three now.”

I stared at him. Where had I heard that name before? Pepper? Pepper?
Oh hell, no.
“Pepper? Anderson? She’s your daughter?”

Douglas smiled proudly, “Yes, Pepper is my daughter. You know her? You probably went to school together or something.”

“Uhm no… I don’t know her personally, and I don’t think we went to school together.”

“Oh, I see.” He had to have known how I knew about his daughter. He didn’t pursue that line of questioning or make any excuses. “That’s why I’m here. My daughter has lost her way. She’s gotten in with a bad crowd, well, they aren’t really
bad
kids, but they’ve got it made. They don’t see the value of hard work or have any aspirations to do anything beyond go shopping or go to the next party. It hasn’t always been that way. Pepper is a smart girl, smarter than what she gives herself credit for. She got involved in an accident last night and now she’s in real trouble.”

“I see.” I tapped the pen nervously on my desk and listened carefully to Mr. Anderson’s story. I hated to see the guy go through this. He obviously cared about his daughter and wanted to see her change her ways, but I still didn’t know how a job would help.

“She’s in so much trouble that I have been on the phone for an hour with the District Attorney this morning. They want to make an example of Pepper. Some of it is her own fault, but whatever the reason, she’s got to do some community work to avoid going to jail. She doesn’t even know it yet. I made a promise to the District Attorney that I’d get Pepper involved in something positive, something constructive for the community and that I’d do my best to keep her out of the headlines—at least for the next couple of months. That’s where you come in.”

I didn’t like the way this was going. The idea of a spoiled brat like Pepper Anderson working for me didn’t appeal to me at all—no matter how beautiful she was, but I kept my mouth shut and listened to what he had to say. As much as he’d done for this facility, I owed him that much respect. “Okay,” I said quietly.

“If Pepper had something—if she had a purpose—something to be responsible for, she’d find her way. I’m not a fool, Gabriel. I know she’s not perfect, but she’s bright and she has a big heart.”

“So what are you asking me, sir?”

“I want you to bring her in on the intern program and in exchange, I’ll get those celebrity endorsements you need for the renovation fundraisers this summer. Whatever the amount you need that we don’t raise, I’ll make up the difference. You have my word on it.”

I leaned forward on my desk and put my head in my hands. “That’s a pretty big number, Mr. Anderson. I don’t want you to have to do that, but if you could help us with the fundraisers, maybe help us with the celebrities, that would be very beneficial.”

“No, I insist. It’s the least I can do.”

“Before I say yes, I have to tell you that these internships can be pretty rigorous. That means a lot of early mornings, a two-week orientation that she has to complete and then six weeks working the lab this summer. Are you sure your daughter wants to do that?”

“Yes, she’d love to. When can I send her to see you?”

I stood up. “I guess tomorrow. I’m having our first orientation meeting at 10 AM. We’ll take a tour of the facility and meet the animals. She needs to come with a good attitude and be willing to get wet.” I put my hand on my hip and instantly regretted agreeing to see her. I really didn’t need a spoiled debutante working for me.

“You’ve got that. Thank you so much for this. And, Gabriel, if anyone from the press calls you—give them my attorney’s number. It’s right here.”

“Leave that with Paul, Mr. Anderson. He handles all of that. I can assure you that the paparazzi won’t be allowed in here. My security team is one of the best in the area.” I extended my hand and shook his. He looked relieved, hopeful. He left, and I looked over my interview folders. Well, that cut out one slot. I’d only planned to take on four interns this year anyway and I couldn’t change that now since we’d designed the intern program for four. Bobbie Jo would lose it if I changed anything.

“Well, Pepper Anderson, it looks like you just cost someone a spot.” I put her name on my list, right under David’s. Now, I only had two left.

I spent the rest of the day finishing up my interviews and by the end of the day, I knew who was going to make it and who wasn’t. I did feel bad that I couldn’t take on an extra hand, one that might know what they were doing, but it was what it was. I picked up the phone to call David, Tracee and Martin, the three new interns for the Sea Lab this summer. I didn’t bother calling Pepper, since I figured her old man would have already told her the good news by now. I wondered how excited she’d really be. Probably about as excited as I was to have her.

I left the facility without stopping by to see Bobbie Jo, even though I’d told her I would. She’d be happy to know that David had made it—he was her first recommendation, but honestly, he got in because he loved marine biology. His résumé had proved it, and now he was in. I didn’t want to tell her about Pepper—yet. I grinned as I imagined her face when she found out—that would be a wonderful surprise for tomorrow.

Happy to finally be in my car, I turned up the tunes and cruised over to a wrap shop to grab a bite to eat. I looked at my watch, I still had an hour before Mom’s flight came in. Plenty of time to get there and pick her up, then my phone rang. It was Dad—probably calling to remind me to pick up Mom, as if I’d ever forgotten her. I chuckled to myself and answered it.

“Hey, Dad. Make it to the conference okay?”

“Yeah, I did. It looks like the same old boring crowd, only this time we’re in Albuquerque. Tell your mother I’ll call her tonight after my dinner here. You guys have any plans?”

“I doubt it. I already know what she’ll want to do. Grab a cheeseburger and go home. They don’t have cheeseburgers in Africa.”

He laughed at that, “Yeah, well, we try not to eat a lot of meat in Africa. You never know what you’re eating.”

“Dad, that’s gross—and by the way, thanks a lot for sending Mr. Anderson over today. Did you know what he wanted? He wanted me to allow his daughter to intern with the Sea Lab this summer. She’s twenty-three and has never been in college a day of her life. You know, the headline girl?”

“Yes, I knew. What did you say?”

“What else could I say? Of course I told him yes, but I think it’s a bad idea all the way around.” I took a bite of my wrap. “Seriously, she’s bad news.”

“Well, it’s a nice thing that you’re doing. I think you have a real chance of helping someone, a person, not just an animal. She’s a lost kid.”

“Dad, she’s twenty-three, she’s hardly a kid.”

“Oh yeah, she’s a kid. You don’t become an adult until you’re thirty five. Speaking of being an old, boring adult, when are you going on a date? You know, there are plenty of young scientists here and some are single. Want me to ask around?”

“No, Dad. I don’t want you to ask around, but thanks anyway. Listen, have a good time. I have to go pickup Mom and I’ll tell her that you’ll call.”

“Okay, kid. Talk to you later.”

“Bye.” I slid my thumb across the end button and finished up my wrap. Wow, that was a first. I’ve never had Dad offer to fix me up with a girl—that was usually Mom’s job. This was not a good sign. Not now, not ever.

“Have a seat, we need to talk.” Dad was a lot more serious than I’d ever seen him. More serious than the talk about my parent’s divorce—or the sex talk I got when I was fourteen. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I’d already heard all about sex from my mother. She’d managed to sleep with every pool boy we’d ever had and just about every “uncle” she’d introduced me to had been one of her lovers. She’d had sex in the pool, sex in the garden, in fact, I gave up trying to catch her in the act, because she was too easy to catch and I was glad when they finally got divorced.

“The District Attorney wanted to charge you with DUI, but lucky for you, nobody bothered to submit you to any sobriety tests before I arrived last night. Our attorney, Mr. Peterson, got everything taken care of, but there’s still the matter of the party. Did you have anything to do with setting that party up? …and don’t lie to me, Pepper.”

“I’ve never lied to you, Daddy, and no, I didn’t. It was just a party and I went because a few hundred of my friends were there. It was a glow party, but I didn’t do any drugs. I just drank too much beer, got tired of being there and wanted to come home. The last thing I remember, my phone rang, I reached for it and I hit something. Did you go get my car yet?”

“I think your car is the least of your worries, Pepper. What you need to think about is your future. I promised the DA that you would stay out of trouble and you will.”

“I will Daddy, I promise.” I stood up and smiled, but he shook his head.

“Sit down, Pepper.” I sat down slowly, wondering what he’d do next. Spank me?

“What is it?”

“I got you a job—well, it’s more like an internship. It’s at the Sea Lab.”

“A job? What do you mean a job?”

Dad rubbed his forehead, a sure sign I was giving him a headache. “It’s a six week long internship and you’ll go there every day that they tell you to. Your boss is Gabe Gregory, he’s James Gregory’s son, and he’s a good guy. He’s pulled one of the internships to give to you. That means someone else lost a job for the summer. I assume you won’t let it go to waste?” That didn’t really sound like a question.

I knew the answer should be,
“No, Dad,”
but that wasn’t what came out of my mouth. “I’m still confused about this whole job thing. How am I supposed to work at a job? You know the paparazzi will be stalking me, taking pictures of me handing out French fries or whatever do they do at a Sea Lab. Will I be shoveling popcorn into boxes for fat little kids who want to see Shamu? Have you even thought about this, Dad?”

“I don’t care if they make you put on a mermaid costume and swim in a tank—you
are
going to do it. You
will
do this, Pepper. If you won’t do it for yourself, or for me, then for God’s sake, do it for your sister. She’ll be here soon and I can guarantee that she’s seen a picture of your breasts at least once along her journey here.” I looked down at my shoes.
Yeah, that wasn’t my best decision.