Sudden Legacy by Kristy Phillips

would eventually. He wasn’t quiet, purposefully making as much noise as possible as he made his way through the brush. He paused when he saw me, waiting for me to acknowledge him.
    “Am I intruding, Chérie ?”
    I gave him an encouraging smile. “No, not at all. I think now would be a perfect time to sort out some unanswered questions.”
    He nodded and joined me, leaning against the other side of my oak tree.
    “I must admit, I’m rather impressed with your tracking abilities. I guess I’ll have to add that to your ever-growing list of talents. Nan would approve.”
    He gave a half-hearted laugh. “Any idiot can follow a stream through a few trees. Your grandfather told me where to look.”
    “Well, being predictable is one of my many talents.”
    He looked over his shoulder at me. “You come here often.”
    I couldn’t tell if it was a question or a statement. I just nodded. “Yeah. When I need to think.”
    He picked a few burrs from the bottoms of his pants, then met my eyes with a steady gaze. “Well, let’s sort this out then. I have a few questions of my own.”

    “Yuri stop!” squealed a petite, bikini clad blond girl as a young man I assumed to be named Yuri purposely sprayed her with champagne from our morning mimosas. I leaned a bit to my left to avoid the sticky mist, but otherwise tried my best to remain unnoticed. I was so caught up in watching the antics of Bikini Blond and Yuri, that I was startled by the two boys racing past my chaise from the other side.
    Marla’s yacht was essentially a floating Calvin Klein ad. I was surrounded by probable underwear models with perfect bodies and devil-may-care attitudes. It was enough to make a girl a bit insecure. Luckily, I wasn’t just any girl. I was Julien’s girl. And no matter how many bikini clad vixens happened to be frolicking nearby, he only ever had eyes for me.
    “Here you go, love,” Julien handed me a glass of sparkling water and motioned for me to scoot forward on my chaise so he could apply my sunscreen. He ran his lotioned hands over my skin and under the straps of my bathing suit, careful not to miss any spots. I felt unwelcome eyes on me and the hair stood up at the back of my neck as Julien dropped a kiss on my shoulder to signal his completion of the task. Glancing around as subtly as possible, I caught sight of Marla’s stony façade. She was wearing oversized sunglasses that gave her a decidedly bug-like appearance. I couldn’t see her eyes, but I got the distinct impression that she was staring me down.
    She called out to Julien and said something in French. He sighed quietly behind me and kissed my cheek as he stood. “I’ll be right back, Chérie .”
    As Julien approached Marla’s chaise, she untied her bikini top and dropped it to the deck.
    Wow.
    Julien continued toward her as if her nudity didn’t even register on his radar. I don’t know why I was so shocked. She certainly wasn’t the only topless woman onboard. I tried not to watch as they exchanged a few short sentences. She handed him a bottle of oil and presented him with her back. When he finished with her back, she flipped over, clearly expecting him to continue with her front. I was openly staring at them at this point, unable to hide my curiosity. He offered her the bottle of oil, but she waved it away impatiently. Sighing in resignation, he poured a dollop of oil into his hands and began rubbing them across Marla’s front.
    I just sat there stupidly, unable to pull my eyes from the two of them. His hands traveled over her flat stomach and perky breasts, her nipples hardening at the attention. He didn’t seem to notice the effect his touch was having on her. He just finished applying the oil to her neck and placed the bottle on Marla’s side table. The whole thing had seemed very clinical.
    Marla grabbed his wrist as he was turning to go. He leaned over to catch what she was saying, and she kissed him full on the mouth. I couldn’t be sure from my