"Bennett, Cherie - Sunset Island 009 - Sunset Scandal" - читать интересную книгу автора (Bennett Cherie)

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"Whew, I'm beat," Emma Cresswell announced, throwing herself down on her bed.
"Me, too," agreed Carrie Alden, plopping into the chair near Emma's dresser.
"These hands were not meant for manual labor," Samantha Bridges groaned from her spot on the carpet. "Even my blisters have blisters."
The three best friends had just returned from a full day of helping to clean up the damage resulting from Hurricane Julius, which had hit Sunset Island a few days earlier.
"I need a long, hot shower." Emma sighed. "If only I had the energy to stand up and get these muddy clothes off!"
"I'll second that," Carrie agreed.
"Hey, we need a serious attitude adjustment here," Sam objected. "Remember, we have a party to go to tonight."
"Party?" Carrie groaned. "I just want to crawl into bed."
"I bet Billy would like that idea," Sam said with a wink, referring to Billy Sampson, Carrie's boyfriend, "but maybe you and he should dance a few numbers first."
"I love dancing with Kurt," Emma murmured dreamily. "Actually, I love everything with Kurt," she added, smiling up at the ceiling.
Emma had fallen in love with Kurt Ackerman the summer before, her first summer as an au pair on Sunset Island. Emma had met Kurt at the Sunset Country Club, where she'd taken Katie Hewitt, the little girl in her charge, for her swimming lessons. Kurt was working his way through college as a swimming instructor there. After a turbulent romanceЧthey'd even broken up at the end of the summerЧEmma and Kurt were back together again. And nothing could have made Emma happier. Correction: the one thing that would make her happier would be if Kurt could stop
minding that she had been born rich, while he had to work for every penny he had. If that happened, things would be totally perfect.
"Yeah, yeah, love is grand and all that," Sam said breezily, picking herself up from the carpet. "I'd better get back to the Jacobses' and get cleaned up for the Flirts' party."
Flirting with DangerЧor the Flirts, as the band was commonly calledЧwas a very hot rock band that was rapidly gaining a national following. They were giving a party that night at the Play Cafe", the local club where everyone hung out. They were calling it a post-hurricane blowout, and had told everyone to come in their wildest hurricane outfits.
"What are you going to wear?" Emma asked, sitting up.
Sam shrugged and headed for the door. "Something scandalous."
"Oh, hey, you have to see this," Emma said, jumping off the bed. She opened her closet and sorted through the dozens of hangers. "My father's fiancee sent me an
outfit. It's . . . indescribable. Wait until you see it."
"It was nice of her to send you something, though," Carrie said, resting her chin on her hands. Both she and Sam knew Emma couldn't stand Valeric, her stepmother-to-be, and thought she dressed like an over-aged, bleached-blond Minnie Mouse.
"You may change your mind when you see it," Emma said, laughing. "Ah, here it is!" She pulled the hanger from the closet and held up the outfit for inspection.
Sam and Carrie were speechless. Emma was holding a short yellow polyester sundress with pink bows marching over it in every direction. The neckline, sleeves, and hem were festooned with rows of pink lace ruffles.
"She isn't serious," Carrie said. "Is she?"
"Wait, wait, it gets even better!" Emma cried. She lifted up the skirt to reveal a matching pair of ruffled and bow-covered short shorts.
"That's the funniest thing I've ever seen!" Sam hooted.
"Oh, you should definitely wear it," Carrie added. "It's so ... so you!"
Emma laughed. What it definitely was not
was her, and her friends knew that only too well. Understated, elegant clothes suited Emma's perfect blond bob, classic features, and graceful, slender figure better. And fortunately for her, she had the bucks to dress exactly as she wanted.
"You know," Sam said, eyeing the outfit critically, "if you took the ruffles off the shorts and wore them with, oh, say, a pink bra top and cowboy boots, it would be hot."
Emma smiled. "Sam, you're talking about something you would wear, not something / would wear."
"Was I?" Sam asked innocently.
"Take it," Emma said, thrusting the hanger at Sam.
"You amaze me," Carrie told Sam. "You can come up with the wildest combinations of clothes, and they always work."
"It's a gift," Sam agreed, taking the hanger from Emma. "I'll wear this to the party tonight, in honor of Valeric!" Sam waved and bounded down the stairs.
"Can you imagine if I dressed like that?" Carrie asked Emma. "I'd look like a refugee from the circus." She stood up and stretched,
then reached down and touched her toes. "God, I really am sore."
"It was those last few hours picking up the debris from the shoreline that probably did it," Emma said sympathetically. "You were really working hard."
"So were you. So was everyone," Carrie said. She walked over to the bed and plopped down. "It was really terrible by the shacks, wasn't it?" she said quietly.
"It was," Emma agreed. She stared thoughtfully at her friend. Not long before the hurricane, Carrie had been offered an opportunity to have some of her photographs published in a book about Sunset Island. Kurt, who had been raised on the island, had taken Carrie on a tour of some of the less well known sites so she could photograph them. One of the places he'd taken her was the poorest neighborhood on the island. It was no more than some shacks and hovels right near a fetid swamp. Carrie had been shocked to find out that such conditions existed on Sunset Island, where many rich, famous people had summer homes. The publisher had refused to include those photos in
the book, and Carrie had bowed out of the project.
Emma had been truly touched by Carrie's decision. And like Carrie, now that she knew what things were really like, she felt compelled to try to do something about it.
"Those people from COPE are amazing, aren't they?" Emma mused.
Carrie nodded. "They worked so hard, and they were so kind to those little kids whose families lost their homes." Kurt had introduced Carrie to some of the people from COPEЧor Citizens of Positive Ethics. It was their organization that was working diligently to help the poor people on the island.
"I'm going to join, I think," Emma said quietly. It would be a big step for her. Not a joiner by nature, she would have found it easier just to write a big, fat check and let other people do the dirty work. But that, she had decided, would be too easy. Besides, if she was completely honest with herself, the fact that Kurt was so involved with them was a factor as well. She knew Kurt would approve of her decision and would admire her for it.
"Me, too," Carrie agreed. "There's a meeting tomorrow night, you know," she added.
Emma nodded. She knew Kurt would be there. "Let's go," she said firmly, then added, "What about Sam? Do you think she'll want to come, too?"
"Tough to say." Carrie shrugged. "I mean, she's got a heart as big as the world, but then she can be really . . . I don't know . . . pragmatic sometimes, you know?"
Emma nodded again thoughtfully. Sam had been all for Carrie having her photographs in the Sunset Island book, even if the publisher did want to edit out all the pictures that showed the not-so-pretty side of the island. According to Sam, Emma knew, as long as you didn't have to do anything really illegal or immoral, you should "go for the gusto."
"I'll ask Sam tonight if she wants to join us," Emma decided.
"Good," Carrie approved, brushing her long brown hair out of her eyes. She got up, picked up her purse, and slung it over her shoulder. "I'm heading for the world's longest, steamiest shower. See you tonight!"