The Deepest Blue Read Online Free

her fries. She picks up a long fry, draws hearts with it in the ketchup, and points it out to me, grinning and giggling. On the one hand, I think it’s kind of cute, sort of a sweet gesture. On the other hand, why do girls do such stupid stuff? Worse yet, why do they think it would mean anything to a guy? It’s ketchup. Duh. I smile at her anyway, because the last thing I want is to have her disappointed that I didn’t like her ketchup.
    We finish eating, and an announcement comes over the loudspeakers. “Jungleland patrons, the park will be closing in ten minutes.”
    â€œMandy, what time is your dad coming?” I ask. I’m eager to get home, not because I don’t want to be with Rachel, but I’ve got an early morning, and lack of sleep makes the job twice as hard.
    â€œAny minute. He said he’d be here no later than nine o’clock.”
    â€œGawd, I’ll be so glad to get a driver’s license,” Rachel says.
    â€œAnd a car to go with it,” I say.
    â€œI can’t believe I have to wait almost a whole year,” she says with a slight whine.
    â€œOnly three more months for me,” I say. “At least for the license part. I don’t know what I’ll do about the car thing.”
    â€œWhat do you do with all that money you make working on the boat?”
    â€œSpend it on you,” I say. I kiss her nose, and she pouts even though she knows I’m teasing. “Actually, I’m banking most of it for college. I’ve got a savings account in Moorehead. I check it online every once in a while.”
    â€œHow much is in there?” she asks, dragging another fry through the ketchup puddle.
    â€œThere’s more than eight thousand dollars in it, I think.” There’s a lot more than that in there for certain, but I keep that to myself. I already don’t like the direction this conversation is heading, and I know how Rachel thinks.
    â€œEight grand would buy a great used car,” Rachel says.
    It would buy a lot of education, too, I hear Dad’s voice in my head, but I ignore it.
    â€œWhy even go to college? You already have a built-in job with a future. You can take over your dad’s boat when he retires and just work for him until then.” Rachel swings her leg under the bench and kicks at the water by her feet.
    â€œI don’t know,” I say. And I don’t. I mean, I like working the boat and all, but it is hard work, and some years we don’t get as much business as we need. “Dad’s good with his hands. He can fix things, build things. I’m not that good. If he didn’t know how to fix stuff, some years we would have had to move or go on welfare.”
    â€œWell, he must be doing okay now if you’ve got eight grand in the bank.”
    â€œHe’s been putting that away for me since I started being first mate. It took almost five years to get that much.” I don’t tell her where a lot of it came from, because I absolutely do not want to get into a discussion about my biological mom in Seattle.
    â€œSeems to me it’s your money. You can do what you want.” Rachel has a kind of defiant look, like somebody called her a liar or something.
    â€œIt is mine, it’s just, I don’t know what I’m gonna do with it yet. I haven’t made a decision, so it’s not important.” Then the light bulb switches on, and I know precisely what she’s thinking. She wants me to use the money to buy a car so that I can drive her and Mandy around. Trevor’s dad will buy him a car, and Caitlyn will drive up and down the island with him. Rachel wants the same thing. She doesn’t want to look like she’s less important than Caitlyn.
    Rachel looks up at me, blinking her eyes slowly. Now she really has a pouty look, and it reminds me of the baby with the Skee-Ball.
    I close my eyes and let out a long breath. “I got threemonths to think about