Free Deborah Brown - Madison Westin 07 - Kidnapped in Paradise by Deborah Brown Page B

overly-large boobs. I wondered if this girl circled the pole for a living. She was almost a carbon copy of Kevin, actually: fresh off the beach look, sun-bleached brown hair, and sunburned face. In his sheriff uniform, you ’ d never guess he had a surfer boy persona.
    An odd assortment of people milled around, all people who knew Spoon. It made me wonder how Mother knew to contact these people.
    Brad showed up at my side, beer in one hand, his other arm around Julie.
    “When did you get in?” I asked.
    “Yesterday afternoon. We had to unload and get the boat cleaned up.” He kissed my cheek. “Spent the night at The Cottages.”
    Brad worked the waters of the Gulf, his boat one of the larger commercial fishing vessels in the area. I suspected that, if he started a family, he ’ d retire. Now that he had a second career in construction, his retirement from fishing might be sooner than anyone thought. In my mind, I imagined a mock-up of the article to hit the stand stands in a couple of months, with Brad cited as having turned the Trailer Court into the new “it” place to stay on vacation.
    “Let ’ s do a family-only dinner. My house, you bring the fish... and cook it, of course.” I chuckled. I once had a love of cooking, but since moving to Florida I turned that role over to my brother.
    “Bike ride Sunday,” Creole informed Brad. Recently, Creole and Didier had added Brad to their group. “The plan is to ride to Marathon and then have the girls pick us up. We can all have dinner and drive back.”
    Brad leaned in. “I know about the head.”
    Damn. I felt a twinge of guilt. I ’ d promised him that he wouldn’t be the last to know about family drama.
    “You talked to Mother already?”
    “I talked to Kevin.” He hugged me. “You okay?”
    “You just got here. What did Kevin do, meet your boat on the dock?” I snorted.
    “I told him,” Julie explained. “Everyone in town knows, so I figured Brad should know. In case you forgot to tell him or someone said something.”
    “Don’t confront Mother unless she ’ s with Spoon. You can get the grisly details from Creole if Kevin hasn’t given them to you. Better yet, Fab has pictures.” I shuddered. “Feel free to come in through the French doors.”
    “I ’ m going to tell Mother that I know so she doesn’t worry over telling me. I’ll let her know I ’ m available if she needs to vent,” Brad said.
    I glanced over the deck, my gaze resting on Spoon and Mother. They were surrounded by his friends, relaxed and smiling.
    “Have you met Liam ’ s girlfriend, Lindsey?” I asked him.
    “She’s a classmate. They ’ re not serious; they ’ re too young,” Julie cut in. I didn’t argue with her. Brad winked at me.
    Fab dragged Didier over.
    “We ’ re leaving," she announced.
    “Do you approve?” I asked Didier. “The party just got started.”
    Fab answered for him. “All he said was to say good-bye to you and that I should let you know we ’ re leaving.”
    “Fine,” I grumbled at her. “But I ’ m not the hostess, Mother is. Go tell her you ’ re leaving early. I ’ m sure that will hurt her feelings, but she won’t say anything. She ’ ll be nice, like she always is, because she loves you and wants you to be happy.”
    Fab and I engaged in a glare-off until she finally took Didier ’ s hand and stomped across the room.
    Brad clapped quietly.
    “You ’ re better at that guilt thing than Mother. The student has surpassed the teacher,” he teased.
    Creole nudged me and nodded to the jukebox. A bleach blonde woman with a wide blue streak down one side had started to gather attention. She turned and faced the room. In her cut-off shorts and an open-back top that tied in the back, she slithered her ample body up and down.
    Spoon and Mother emerged from the deck. The blonde woman shrieked, “ Spooner! ” and barreled toward him, throwing herself in his arms. She then laid a big wet kiss on his lips.
    He tried to pull away,