Laguna Cove Read Online Free

teakwood stool at a long, narrow table, the kind design magazines always refer to as a “breakfast bar.”
    “Still on set. Sorry I wasn’t there to greet you yesterday. Things got a little hectic around here. But I should be back by tonight,” he said, not sounding very convincing.
    Should be? “Oh, okay,” she said, feeling completely annoyed with him, yet cringing at the high-pitched whininess in her own voice.
    “See you then?” he asked, obviously in a hurry to hang up.
    “Dad, wait. What exactly am I supposed to do here? I mean, I feel kind of stranded,” she said, looking around the unfamiliar kitchen, feeling like she’d broken into her own house.
    “Call Jake if you need anything. His number is on the pad next to the phone. Or ask Christina; she should be there by noon.”
    Christina? Jeez, he was freshly divorced, new to the neighborhood, and he already had a girlfriend? What was with her parents? The way they played musical partners, they were worse than the kids at school!
    She shook her head and rolled her eyes, but it only intensified the throbbing. “Dad, do you think you could … ?” She stopped, noticing the absolute silence on the other end. Oh my God, did he already hang up? “Hello? Hello?” she said, staring at the receiver. He was gone. Just like that. No good-bye, nothing. How’s that for a warm welcome? she thought, slamming down the phone.
    Hopping off the stool, she opened the fridge and peered inside, searching for something to cure what appeared to be her very first (and definitely last) hangover. She grabbed a carton of soy milk and swigged straight from the container. But she didn’t get as far as the swallowing part before running straight to the sink where she gagged and spit and rinsed her mouth with tap water until that thick, nasty soy taste was no more than a bad memory. Gag. Was her dad turning into some kind of California hippie health freak? Or was it Christina’s fault that the fridge was full of weirdo organic stuff she wasn’t used to?
    Anne glanced at the clock on the stove. Another hour until Christina would be guest-starring in what would surely be her most challenging role to date: that of eager new companion to handsome, newly single dad and his hung over, sulky, resentful (but ultimately well-meaning) daughter.
    Anne had a tendency to view her life in movie terms, as though all moments were taking place in front of a live studio audience, and lately there had been no shortage of big, dramatic moments. She always assumed it was just a natural side effect of having a big Hollywood exec for a dad, but lately she wondered if it wasn’t just plain weird.
    She grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and wondered what the Ingenue, a.k.a. Christina, would look like. Let’s see, her dad was so upset with her mom these days, it was safe to assume he’d go for the complete opposite. Like maybe a Kate Hudson meets Meg Ryan type—the kind of sexy/wholesome L.A. hybrid that can make an entire career out of lame, formulaic romantic comedies.
    Though, it was kind of creepy picturing her dad with someone like that. Someone so different from her mom’s own look of sharp, sleek, elegant New York City attorney who ultimately cheats on her husband and destroys her family. Yeah, her mom was definitely more the femme fatale, film noir type.
    But Anne didn’t like thinking about her mom any more than her dad probably did. It was because of her that they were both living here in this dreadful, sunny place. And even though Anne knew firsthand just how much it sucked to be constantly ignored by her work-obsessed dad, the truth was she was dealing with it, so why couldn’t her mom? After all, they were the adults! They were the ones who took the vows!
    They were also the ones who taught her all about “honoring your commitments,” and all kinds of other values that they themselves apparently didn’t practice. It’s like, ever since the divorce it seemed they’d