Part 86 (2/2)

photo alb.u.m where she could look at them over and over and relive the

memories.

Her father had treated her to her first grown-up salon session as an

early birthday gift. Now her shoulder-length hair was permed in

corkscrew curls that made her feel very grown-up.

And she was starting to develop.

Emma took a quick, surrept.i.tious look down at her bikini top. They

weren't much as b.r.e.a.s.t.s went, but at least she wouldn't be as easily

mistaken for a boy. And she was tanned. Emma hadn't been too certain

she would enjoy spending her last weeks in California, but the tan made

it worthwhile.

And there was the surfing. She'd had to launch a major campaign before

Brian had agreed to let her try her hand at shooting the waves. Emma

knew she had Johnno to thank for the bright red board. If he hadn't

joked and teased Brian into it, she would still be whiling away her

hours on the beach watching everyone else skim the water.

Maybe she couldn't do much more than paddle out and fall in, but at

least the process took her farther away from the bodyguards who sweated

under nearby beach umbrellas. It was ridiculous, she thought as she

carried her board toward the water. No one even knew who she was.

Each year she was sure her father would let them go, and each year they

remained with their solemn faces and big shoulders. At least they

couldn't follow her out here, she thought as she stretched out on her

board and began to paddle through the cool water. Though she knew they

<script>