To the Limit

Chapter One West Palm Beach, Florida Dark she could do, Eve Garrett thought as she sat by the curb, her Mazda's motor running. Rain was another story. She didn't do rain. "Or wind," she grumbled as a strong gust rocked her little car and the downpour pelted the windshield like BBs. Why couldn't she be curled up in her apartment, comfy and dry and reading a good "It was a dark and stormy night" mystery novel, instead of muttering to herself out here in one? Because of Tiffany Clayborne, that's why. Eve was a long way from her apartment. A long way from comfy. Instead, she was wiping steam off her driver's side window on a night that was also damp and muggy. And she wasn't even a little bit at ease about parking on this sleazy backstreet just off Blue Heron Boulevard in a seedy neighborhood that stank of garbage and rot while she waited for Tiffany to show. She squinted into the rain. Where is that girl? Despite the fact that Tiffany had stormed off in a huff the last time they'd talked, Eve cared about the little brat. God bless her. But she'd better have a damn good reason for dragging Eve out in this mess, or when she finally did show up, there might be serious hair pulling involved. Especially since Eve hadn't heard boo from her in three months. And why the theatrics? Eve wondered uneasily, losing the battle to clear a spot on her window. Eve had barely recognized Tiff's voice through the tears and the almost incoherent begging that Eve meet her here at one in the morning, no explanation provided. "Just come, Eve. Please. Please hurry." The last time Tiff had done something crazy she hadn't had an explanation, either. Starting with her eighteenth birthday six months ago, Tiffany had shown signs of turning into the quintessential spoiled little rich girl, monetarily gorged and emotionally starved for attention. In fact, if the newspapers were to be believed, she'd recently pulled any number of stunts to make sure she got that attention, really firing up the afterburners in the spoiled rich departmentlike anyone could really compete with Paris Hilton. But Tiff still gave the local paparazzi plenty of fodder to sensationalize stories about her exploits. Eve figured it was a case of Tiffany's age proclaiming she was capable of making adult decisions but her brain not yet grasping the concept of maturity. Or coming to terms with the new reality that she was now an adult. Come to terms, little girl. Soon. The steam finally got the best of Eve. Giving up, she rolled down her window and killed the motor, thinking back to Tiffany's eighteenth birthday partythe one she'd thrown for herself at Club Asylum because her father never would have thought to celebrate the milestone event. Of course, had Jeremy Clayborne staged the party, Eve wouldn't have been within a hundred miles of the guest list. Tiffany was still speaking to her back then. Anyway, you had your basic cake and balloons and candles. And then, in Tiffany's case, you had your instant access to a multibillion-dollar trust fund. That kind of money would screw with anyone's head. Add a father like Jeremy Clayborne and, well . . . Clayborne was a whole other story and the main reason Eve put up with Tiffany's mercurial mood swings. Rain blew in through the open car window and sprayed her in the face. "Come on, Tiff. It's getting wet out here." Eve checked her watch and told herself that to an eighteen-year-old fifteen minutes did not constitute late. ToGerard, Cindy is the author of 'To the Limit ', published 2007 under ISBN 9780312948573 and ISBN 0312948573.