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Dad got up too. "I'll help you bring it in."
Beckett trailed after them without even being asked. Anthony went too. The second he was out of earshot, David straightened up.
"You give it to me straight, boys. Can Anthony really not return the boat?"
Zachary pointed his thumb to me. “Chad bought it, and—”
"Give it a rest, David," Felix said. "The boys want to do something good for us. We'll go out and try it and see how it goes. We owe them at least that much."
"Hmm," David said, but he didn't argue further.
Once my parents and brothers brought the jambalaya in, we all moved to the dining area. The table was huge, although it was rarely used because no one ate at the same time. Everyone had their own schedule. But it did come in handy when all of us came together. Even Bella hurried to the table.
"I missed jambalaya." She looked at me. "And I missed our pies, Dad."
"We'll eat them this evening," I assured her, and she lit up immediately.
I was so happy she was back home. I intended to spoil her rotten this upcoming week.
***
After dinner, Bella came to sit on my lap.
"Dad, when are we going to Disney again?" She always liked to schedule the next adventure when she was done with the previous one.
"We'll see, cricket." I had to check with Sarah and see if she wanted to spend Bella’s next vacation with her.
She frowned. "That’s no fun."
I knew why she liked Xander so much. She was just as exacting as he was.
She looked at Scarlett. "When can we bake another pie? And don't say, 'We'll see.'"
Scarlett laughed, but she didn't say anything.
"I can come in the morning again," Bella went on.
"Cricket, Scarlett is on her feet all day. If she meets us in the morning, then she’ll have to work even longer. I want to find a solution that's not too tiring for her either."
"Oh, okay," Bella said.
"Which pie do you want to learn how to make?" Scarlett asked her.
"What’s your favorite?"
"Hmm," Scarlett said, tapping her chin. "It's a rhubarb one that my mom used to make when I was a kid.”
Bella wrinkled her nose. "I don't like rhubarb."
"We'll find something you like," Scarlett assured her. "Now, you forgot to tell me something important. Which castle did you like most at Disney? Did you know that I've never been?"
"No way. Every child goes to Disney," Bella said as if she couldn't possibly imagine a reality in which that didn't happen.
Sometimes I forgot that we all lived in a bubble.
"Baby girl, not everyone can go. The United States is large. For some people, it's too far away and too expensive," I explained.
"Oh, okay," Bella said, then turned to Scarlett. "Why didn’t you tell me that? I need to tell youeverythingI saw.”
