The Scale (Martha's Way) (28 page)

Based on her Google search, Minka learned Chappaquiddick was
connected to downtown Edgartown until 2007 when a strong storm breached the
beach and the two islands became separated by about a two-mile strip of sea. But,
even before that disaster, Jason had told her stories about sailing along the
island with his parents. She never asked him why he had invited her to the
place he walked away from five years ago. Was he somehow ready to let go of the
anger he carried in his heart toward his father?

Strong, tanned arms wrapped around her waist, clutching her
to him in an embrace. Minka inhaled the familiar citrus scent and leaned her
head back against his hard chest.

“Feeling okay?” he whispered, his lips brushing her ear.

She leaned against his chest. “I was thinking about you
going home after so many years.” Pulling slightly out of his hold, she turned
to face him and stared straight into his eyes. Once again, her heart pulsated
at their close proximity. “I never asked why you’re doing this.”

Still holding her, he shrugged his broad shoulders. “It was
rather spontaneous. I arranged it when I came across the scale. I guess I
wanted to give you a peek of my life before I walked away from it all.”

“Will you be okay?”

One arm released her to remove a strand of hair from her
face. He moved to stand beside her, her hand still in his.

“I had a great childhood.” He never held back from sharing
stories of his adolescence with her. “Most of my years living there were
joyous, filled with love and adventures. It wasn’t until I returned home from
my first semester of college I started to notice a change.” He shrugged.
“Perhaps the problems were always there, but I was too young to notice. You
know images from a child’s eyes are not always accurate.”

“It depends. We can be very perceptive in our younger
years,” she said in a solemn tone.

A slight smile touched his lips. “That’s true. Tell me about
your childhood, Minka. What was it like growing up with a twin?”

Oh, where should she start?

She thought of her own childhood, always feeling second best
to Keely. Her parents were not always fair, but, besides the one incident with
their birthday dresses, Minka couldn’t think of another time when her parents
had made her feel second best. However, that one incident had planted the seed.
Overall, she couldn’t say she’d had it bad. Others have had worst experiences
than growing up as the fat twin.

“It was as normal as most. The typical self-doubt when you
look at the more beautiful version of you.”

It was the first time she admitted the words to someone other
than Lily. The admission brought her pain and relief. She hadn’t meant to
confide in Jason, but he was breaking down her barriers.

Minka saw the reflection of her pain in his searching eyes.
God, how she loved him.

“Your parents made you feel like that?”

She shook her head. It wouldn’t be fair to blame all of her
angst on her parents. Most of it had been self-inflicted. “Not always or maybe
not even intentionally, but at times.”

“You don’t have to talk about it if you’re not ready.”

It would be so easy to shut down as she had been doing for
the last twenty plus years. He would not push. Yet she knew he’d listen.
Everything about Jason had been comforting.

“My mother is extremely beautiful,” she said softly, “I
guess I never thought I measured up. She makes me uncomfortable.” A low chuckle
escaped her throat. He remained silent by her side. “My sister is very much
like her. I was the odd one out.”

“Keely is very genuine and she loves my friend.”

Her sister didn’t possess a mean bone in her body. Minka knew
that. And her sister was head over heels in love with Blake. She knew that as
well. Ordinarily, it would have caused her pain to see Jason pointing out the
obvious, only now she was becoming at peace with those two facts.

“I’m trying to be a better sister. Our relationship has
gotten less strained since we’ve been here.”

He smiled then. “I’m glad.”

“Me too.”

He released her hands and leaned against the railing of the
boat. “Where’s Lily?”

“With Adam.”

He grinned, making her chuckle. She had to admit the instant
dislike by her friend was rather amusing. “Yeah, they didn’t get off to a good
start,” she said in agreement.

“I can offer an apology for his behavior. Adam can be
blunt.”

Minka doubted an apology was needed. She had no doubt Lily
could hold her own against Adam. “I see. But they appear to have gotten past
it.”

Minka had barely gotten the words out of her mouth when they
heard Lily’s voice behind them. In unison, they turned to watch her friend
stomping away from Adam as he took slow, easy steps behind her with a smirk on
his face. Lily turned to face him and appeared to have swung at him, but Adam
was quick to duck and escape the blow.

“I want to destroy that pretty face of yours,” she shouted.

Adam’s lips twisted into a smile. “So you do find me handsome?”

Lily turned to Minka for some relief. “I hate him. Can we
throw him overboard?” she asked before switching into a Spanish rant.

Jason let out a sigh and came to stand between the
quarreling couple. Minka felt sorry for him.

“All right.”
Jason lifted both of
his arms, ensuring the two hotheads stayed far from each other. “Lily, I know
enough Spanish to understand what you’re saying.”

“I speak Italian. I understand you.”

“Two different languages, you pompous ass,” Lily cried.

Adam shrugged and made no attempt to hide the amount of
pleasure he was taking in Lily’s obvious anger. “They’re close enough.”

“Go to hell!”

“What the hell happened?” Jason asked with obvious
frustration. “You two will have to get along just for the weekend. Then I don’t
give a damn if you never talk again.”

Lily looked over to Minka for comfort, but she could only
shrug. She couldn’t remember ever seeing her friend so out of sorts. Lily was
always the calm one with the dry humor and self-confidence.

“I strongly dislike you,” she said, facing Adam once more.

“Good. That will make the sex even better between us.”

Minka had never seen her friend look so horror-struck. Even
she was stunned by Adam’s words. The only person besides Adam who seemed to
find humor in the situation was Jason. The annoyance was now replaced with
obvious hilarity. Minka had to admit there was a spark between her friend and
Adam, but she didn’t dare voice it.

“In your dreams,” Lily replied. She wasn’t one to not have
the last word.

But Adam didn’t look bothered by her words. He shrugged
carelessly and turned to walk away just as the others came up the deck to join
them.

“Uh-oh,” Keely muttered. “I can’t leave you two alone for a
second.”

“She’s
loca
!” Adam
gestured with one finger to the head, referring to Lily’s mental state.

“Seriously I’m going to kill him.”

“Sshhh.”
Minka quieted her friend,
for her sake as well as Adam’s. She was sure Jason would have no problem
throwing both Lily and Adam off the boat for some peace of mind. “Come on,
let’s go down and get a drink.”

“He’s an egotistical, male chauvinist brute.”

Minka nodded in agreement, in a desperate attempt to bring
peace between her friend and Adam. Lily was still complaining when they reached
the bar. Turning to face her friend, she had to know how one person she barely
knew was able to get such a strong reaction out of her. “What gives?”

“Why is he asking me questions about my engagement, or the
fact that I have this damn ring around my neck?”

Minka shrugged. “I don’t know. But why do you?”

Lily’s fingers circled the ring. “I don’t know. I guess a
part of me still hasn’t let go.”

“Why does it bother you that Adam asked about it? I think
those are fair questions. I mean, yes, he just met you and shouldn’t—”

“He told me I need to take it off before we sleep together.”

It took all of her strength for Minka not to spit out her
wine. Although she wanted to laugh, she kept a straight face. “Oh,” was all she
was able to muster. “You’re only here for the weekend,” she said after a few
seconds, which only forced her to realize Adam’s intentions. “Oh,” she said
again.

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to do that.”

“Um…Lily, we’re not—”

“It would be angry sex, of course. You know, just pure
fucking.”

“Lily, I think—”

“I’d screw his brains out and make that pretty face beg for
more, but then I would tell him to go screw himself.”

A soft chuckle came from the door. Minka sighed. She had
tried to tell her friend they weren’t alone to no avail.

“Do you really think you can make me beg, Lilianna?” Adam
asked, addressing her by her full name.

Lily planted her heels on the floor, squared her shoulders
and stared straight at Adam. “Yes, I can, Mr. International Playboy Slut.”

He laughed at her choice of words, a rich laughter filled
with amusement. “I came to grab a beer,” he said, surprising both of them with
the change of topic.

In silence, he walked between them to the small refrigerator
and grabbed a six-pack. As he walked past them, he stopped, stood very close to
Lily and looked hard at her.

“I’m looking forward to this brain screwing.”

Minka had to give her friend credit for not folding under
Adam’s menacing stare. Lily stood her ground until he disappeared. Then she let
out a deep sigh and buried her face into her hands.

“¡
Dios
mío
!
He heard everything. I feel like an idiot.”

“Adam teases everyone,” Minka said. “Don’t worry about it.”

Her friend didn’t appear convinced, but dropped the topic.
“Now Forrest is hot and not the least pompous. If he were here, I’d be jumping
his bones.” She winked.
“Just a fuck.”

Giggling, Minka nodded in agreement. She raised her wine
glass toward her friend.
“To Martha’s Vineyard.”

“To Martha’s Vineyard.”

They stayed by the bar until the captain announced they had
arrived. Putting their empty wine glasses down, they made their way to the
deck. Jason was leaning against the railing with a bottle of beer in his hand.
Without a word, he extended a hand to her. Hypnotized by his presence, she
walked into his arms.

“Has she calmed down?” he asked against her lips.

“Yes. Lily is usually well-composed.” He chuckled. She
didn’t blame him for not believing her. This woman was also foreign to her.
“It’s true.”

He chugged the remainder of his beer, then buried his face
against her neck, the smell of the alcohol intoxicating her senses. She raised
her head to watch as the boat docked. She looked over at Blake who stood next
to Adam talking. Though the feeling of distress didn’t come, the discomfort
still lingered.

Blake abruptly looked in her direction, catching her
off-guard. Minka froze and caught her breath. Even from a distance away, his look
seemed to cut through her. Minka quickly looked away.

“What is it?”

Jason’s voice startled her. Beaten with guilt, she shook her
head.
“Nothing.”

* * * *

“You’re a terrible liar,” he replied. His gaze rested on
Blake. She couldn’t see his face and for that he was grateful. There was no
need for her to know he had noticed her lingering over Blake and the way her
body froze in his arms when Blake looked their way. If he was alone, he would
have cursed himself for being so blind during this whole fiasco, which resulted
with him in love for the first time in his thirty years.

It all made sense now. For reasons unknown to him, Jason
felt like someone punched him deep in his gut. Fuck! She had a thing for his
friend, her sister’s soon-to-be husband. Her constant discomfort and distress
was why she had chosen to stay at a different hotel.

As if her skin burned, he released his hold on her and
allowed his arms to fall to his sides. Blood boiling with fury, Jason stepped
aside, putting some space between them. A puzzled look crossed her face but he
ignored her and walked over to his friends. The whole time he felt her staring
at him. He didn’t need to see, he was familiar enough with her mannerisms to
know she was nervously chewing her bottom lip. He needed a little space, a
little time to regain his composure and to check himself. What a fool he had
been. How had he not recognized she bore deep feelings for Blake?

His mind wandered to the night of the engagement party. How
pained she looked then. It all made sense now. It had to be hard watching the
man you harbored feelings for celebrating love with your twin sister. Now he
understood her response back in the car as they waited for Lily.

The captain announced they were safely docked. He glanced
over to where Lily and Minka were casually talking. The thought of walking away
crossed his mind, but that would accomplish nothing. With long, easy strides he
went to join them.

“Ready?”

She nodded without looking at him.

Touching her friend’s shoulder, Lily smiled warmly at him.
“How are we getting to the house?”

“We have two Jeeps waiting. Either one of the guys can
drive. They are familiar with the island and the location of the house.”

“Great. I guess I’m stuck driving with the Italian stallion.”

Jason found himself smiling at the reference. “You can come
with me and Minka.”

Her friend’s eyes darted back and forth between them.
“That’s okay. I can deal with him. But thanks for the offer.”

With that, she strutted her way down the stairs, leaving
Jason alone on the deck with Minka. She faced him with her arms crossed over
her chest. Her curls, no longer tied into a bun, blew across her face. Unable
to restrain himself, he reached over and brushed the mass of curls away from
her face and held her gaze.