Finding Reese (Tremont Lodge Series Book 1) by Marcy Blesy

smile.
    “It depends. What am I drinking?”
    “Lemonade, of course…with a splash of vodka. I thought I’d get you drunk tonight.”
    “Ha. Well, good luck with that because I’m a one drink kind of girl.”
    “I figured I’d have to make you chug it to see any return on my investment.” Finn sits down, takes off his shoes, and dangles his feet in the pool. “You know, you’re lucky you’re already in the pool since I owe you a push after that little prank you pulled the other night.”
    “Uh, sorry about that. Sometimes my manners are less than stellar. Did you just get here?” I ask.
    “Yeah, I had to play some songs for the future bride and groom at their wedding rehearsal. They picked some music they want me to play during the reception dinner, and I guess they had doubts about my ability to play.”
    “Did you win them over?” Finn’s foot brushes against my arm.
    “You could say I did.” I take a sip of the lemonade vodka, make a face as it burns my throat, and dive back in the water. Finn watches me as I swim across the pool. I know it because I can feel his gaze with every stroke, and the faster I swim the more my heart races to keep up with the feelings that clutch panic within my chest. I get out of the pool when I’m closest to my cover-up, but I’m dripping wet.
    “Need this?” I feel my chest tighten. Lawson is sitting in the chair holding my cover-up and a towel. I grab for the towel.
    “I’ll take that.”
    “Whoa, slow down, Reese. You’re going way too fast for me. I want to enjoy this show.”
    “Give me my cover-up,” I say.
    “I think I should at least get a thank you for waiting all this time for you to get back here and take this towel off my hands.”
    “Give…me…my…cover-up.” I can feel my cheeks radiating heat, I’m so mad right now. I reach for the cover-up, but Lawson pulls his hand back and out of my reach, sending me stumbling over the chair and into his lap—in a bikini.
    “That’s more like it. You feel good wet,” he says.
    “You bastard,” I say, ready to slap him across the face but trying with all my might to restrain myself.
    “Give her what she wants, Lawson.” I turn around and see Finn standing behind me with another towel in his hand. I snatch the second towel and scramble off Lawson’s lap.
    “You think you have dibs on this one, Finn? Really? Isn’t she a little out of your league?” He turns to look at me. “I mean, she can do so much better than a high school dropout living on welfare, don’t you think?”
    “Why don’t you let her decide what she wants?” High school dropout? Has Finn been lying to me with the whole story about growing up near here and pursuing his passion for music after college? Of course he has. Everyone lies to me. He just wants what every other guy wants, what Lawson wants.
    “I want to be alone,” I say, walking away and leaving both of them to watch me walk away with my cover-up still in Lawson’s hands.
     
    We get one day a week off from our assigned job at the lodge. My day off is Saturday which is perfect for my bio rhythms which are used to Saturday being my sleep-in day, since I always had school during the week and church with my grandparents on Sunday mornings. It’s nice to wake up and have the room to myself and not have to compete with Tinley for the shower or air to breathe for that matter. She’s really growing on me despite our differences, but I’m so used to being inside my own head, that it’s nice to have a little time to go back inside. And today I have a singular mission—learn more about Tremont Lodge and its history sixteen years ago—because maybe I’ll get some new clue that will help me figure out what happened to my parents.
    I choose my clothing carefully because today I need to look like a guest. I’m going to pay a little visit to the lodge library, and I don’t need Helen or Tinley or any of the other college staff ratting me out. I put on a pair of khaki