"Bennett, Cherie - Sunset Island 007 - Sunset Heat" - читать интересную книгу автора (Bennett Cherie)
Sam closed her eyes and let the sun warm her face as she thought back on the past year of her life. She'd come to Sunset Island the previous summer to be an au pair for the Jacobses, right after she'd graduated from
high school in Junction, Kansas. Sam wrinkled her nose at the memory of thatЧ Kansas was her idea of purgatory.
It had been Sam's job to care for Dan Jacobs's identical twin daughters, Allie and Becky, who had been thirteen years old at that time. She was basically a live-in nanny. But Allie and Becky had turned out to be quite the handful. They were extremely precociousЧto put it mildly. One of their rules had been never to date a guy under the age of sixteen.
Fortunately, Sam had became fast friends with two other girls she had met at the National Au Pair Society convention in New York. Although Carrie Alden and Emma Cresswell were as different from Sam (and from each other) as they could possibly be, the three of them had formed a bond that was unshakable. It was true that sometimes Sam felt envious of Emma's money, and teased her about it, and sometimes the fact that Carrie did everything so perfectly and was so good made Sam crazy, but still Carrie and Emma had become the two best friends she'd ever had.
The friendship had lasted, too. At the end of the summer Emma had begun her freshman year at snooty Goucher College in
Maryland, Carrie had gone away to Yale in Connecticut, and Sam had started at Kansas State on a dance scholarship. They had stayed in touch through letters and phone callsЧalthough Sam had to admit that both Carrie and Emma were better about it than she was.
Sam opened her eyes. The ferry was about to dock. A smile played around her lips as she thought of how much she and Emma and Carrie had already been through together.
They'd had two big reunions since the previous summer. When Sam had dropped out of college to be a dancer at Disney World in Orlando, Florida, Emma and Carrie had come down for a Christmas reunion. And at spring break, Emma had picked up Sam in her new convertible and they'd driven up the coast, scooping up Carrie from Yale on the way. They'd ended up at a big party right here on the island. Sam's smile faded when she remembered how the party had ended in disaster.
But this summer they were older and wiserЧnot too old, however, to have a wild and crazy summer. Sam would see to that.
"Sam! Hi! Great to see you!" Dan Jacobs called as she walked off the ferry.
Sam looked up, and couldn't believe what she saw. Is this really Mr. Jacobs? she thought, incredulous, as he pumped her hand enthusiastically. Conservative Mr. Ja-, cobs, whom she'd never been able to bring herself to call Dan? The previous summer, his hair had been almost militarily short, and his wardrobe had consisted of the world's nerdiest baggy pants and wash-and-wear button-down shirtsЧin other words, outfits that had done little to flatter his couch-potato body. Now, standing there before her was an attractive man in his late thirties with slicked-back hair that reached his collar in the back, faded jeans, and a torso-fitting T-shirt that showed off serious muscle definition.
"Mr. Jacobs?" Sam said. "You look . . . you look ..."
"He looks great, doesnt he?" piped up a familiar voice from behind her. Sam turned around, and Becky Jacobs threw herself into Sam's arms. At least Sam thought it was Becky. The only way she could tell the twins apart was by remembering that Allie had a beauty mark above her mouth. Becky was about two inches taller than she had been the previous summer, her hair was long and wild-looking, she had on too much makeup,
and she was dressed in a tiny miniskirt and a revealing halter top.
"Yep, I'm Becky," Becky said, reading Sam's thoughts. "Wow, I'm so glad to see you! This is way cool!"
Sam was gratified at Becky's enthusiasm. The truth of the matter was that she and the twins hadn't always gotten along swimmingly the previous summer. In fact, Sam had almost immediately dubbed the twins "the monsters."
"Where's Allie?" Sam asked.
"She's getting a Coke," Becky said. "And guess what? It isn't hard to tell us apart anymore."
*"Why is that?" Sam asked. The answer to her question became apparent as Allie walked toward her from the Coke machine.
"Hello, Samantha," came a quiet, well modulated voice.
"Allie?" Sam asked. This is just too weird, she thought. Allie had short, straight hair and she wore no makeup at all. Her skirt hung below her knees, and she had on a Peter Pan-collared white shirt that was buttoned up all the way.
"Yes, it's me," Allie said in that same bizarre voice. "We're so happy to have you join us this summer."
Sam tried to keep a normal look on her face because it seemed like Allie was serious. "Oh, yeah. Me, too," she said.
"Come on, the car's right over here," Mr. Jacobs said, easily lifting Sam's two huge suitcases.
"Well, I started taking my health seriously," Dan Jacobs said as he turned the corner. "I joined a gym and took off twenty pounds!"
"That's fabulous!" Sam said.
"Yeah, and as soon as he did he dropped Stephanie," Becky said from the back seat. "Really bogus move, if you ask me."
Stephanie was Mr. Jacobs's girlfriend from the previous summer. Sam was surprised they'd broken upЧat the time, they had been practically engaged.
"That's not why we broke up," Mr. Jacobs corrected his daughter. "I've told you that before."
"Well, it sucks, if you ask me," Becky mumbled.
"Please, Becky, they weren't on the same spiritual plane," Allie chided her sister.
Becky caught Sam's eye in the front seat. "Has she changed, or what?"
"I no longer need to act like a child, that's all," Allie said, staring out the window. "I'll pray for you."
Becky leaned closer to Sam. "It's very weird, I'm telling you. She's decided to become a nun."
"A nun?" Sam repeated. "Last year she was trying to skip her teen years and move right on to her wild twenties."
Becky shrugged. "Go figure. I tried to tell her she can't become a nun. We're Jewish. But she won't listen."
"Home, safe and sound!" Dan Jacobs said cheerily as he pulled the >car into the driveway.
He carried Sam's suitcases up to her room. "I'll just let you get settled in, and we'll talk at dinner, okay?" Mr. Jacobs asked.
"Fine. Thanks, Mr. Jacobs," Sam said.
"Hey, really, this summer you have to call me Dan," Mr. Jacobs said. "I insist."
"Okay, Dan," Sam answered. It sounded very strange.
"Good. See you in a few!"
Sam sat down on her bed. She looked around at the familiar room. It seemed like
home. How many times had she combed her hair in that mirror, or lain in bed trying to figure out her life? Of course, this was probably the neatest it would be for the duration of the summer, but time was short and there were more important things to think about. Here she was, back again. It felt great.
Sam kicked off her trademark red cowboy boots and wiggled her toes into the thick carpet, falling back on the bed. Just then Becky stuck her head around the door.
"Can I come in?"
"Sure," said Sam. This was definitely an improvement. The old Becky would have simply entered without knocking.
"Listen, like I said, I'm glad you're here and everything," Becky said, running one finger along the dresser. "But you're not gonna really, like, babysit us, are you?"
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