“That’s the plan, I think.” As soon as I said it, I realized I never wanted to keep anything from her again. “Ok, I know so. That is his plan.”
“That’s why he’s been acting weird!” she shrieked as she brought her hands to her face. “Maeve said he has been acting off lately. Oh my God, I want to call her right now.”
My eyes shot wide. “What? No! You promised!”
“No, no, I’m not going to, I just want to. Who else knows? Just the guys?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe Juliette, because of Murphy. Wait, I meant to ask, what’s going on there?”
She sighed, “I’m honestly not sure. At no point has she ever come out with it, saying that they’re together, but they have an interesting history. I mean, hell, she’s even cagey admitting that they’re sleeping together now, even though everyone knows. I asked her the same thing last night after she propositionedNathan. Jules said they’re not exclusive, and she’s sure he’s still playing around, too.”
“What do you think?” I asked.
Audra seemed to consider her next words carefully.
“I think my friend has a complicated relationship with men and sex in general, but especially Murphy Gannon, and she thinks she’s protecting herself.”
“Wow.” That came out more baffled than I intended it to. “That’s crazy. Their chemistry is electric when they’re together. Do you think they’d be good together?” I questioned.
“Yeah, I actually do. I think they could be great together. But she has to let someone in for that to happen.”
“I understand that all too well,” I kissed her cheek. “So, seeing as I’m still standing here in a towel, I’m going to get dressed now. Do you want to jump in the shower?”
“I’d rather jump you.”
“Save it for the plane.”
“I just might, Sir,” she winked at me and then headed to the bathroom. “I’ll be quick.”
Before we knew it, we were sitting down at the Café waiting for McKenna. She blew in like a bat out of hell. My sister was a beautiful woman, no doubt, but she looked off right now. McKenna rarely looked anything but perfect. My mother always toted appearance above all. The message never landed with me, but I knew it did with Kenna. She was naturally beautiful, but was extra cognizant about how she appeared to the world. Right then, she was winded, her hair was wild, and her face was flushed. I glanced at Audra, who had her mouth slightly agape as a smile spread across her face and she snickered. What the … then it hit me that I probably didn’t want to know the why of her flustered entrance.
“Hi, sorry I’m running behind. It’s so good to see youboth!” she said as she sat down. “I’m so glad that you guys decided to take off later tonight. What changed your mind?”
“Actually, I have a very important question to ask you,” I started. There was no sense beating around the bush. We’d have to iron our our logistics and I wanted that out of the way. McKenna tilted her head to look at me quizzically. “I need help, McKenna. Remember that surprise vacation I told you about that Maeve was going on with Tucker?”
“Yes. Oh my gosh, is everything all right?”
“Yes, well, I think? I hope? Anyway, she’ll be gone for two weeks and I need help. Now that you’ve passed the bar and don’t have your next steps planned, is there any way you can help me for at least a week? It’s pretty much just keeping my shit in order. We’re coming down to the last push for Quest to open, and I just can’t manage it all by myself. I know coming to a small town probably isn’t your ideal way to celebrate your achievement, but I’m overwhelmed just thinking about everything. Plus, I’m pretty tempted to pull the ‘you owe me’ card after dinner last night.”
I knew it was a huge request for my sister. She hated traveling and never had the urge to explore like I did. I could say with 99% certainty she had never visited a small town like ours before-unless you classify a private island in the Caribbean as a small town. She was urban through and through.
McKenna didn’t say no right away, and I took that as a good sign. Or maybe she was just processing the fact that I had the stones to ask her in the first place.
“That’s a big ask, Van.”
“I know, it is. I just … you know how bad I am at people, but I’m making progress. I’m on a group chat with people in South Carolina, shook my ass on stage at karaoke night, and I reached out to the rest of the travel group this morning to meet uptoday. It’s been years since I’ve seen or talked to them, minus seeing Mike last night. So, progress.”
“Seriously?! Donovan, that’s huge. I mean, I’m not exactly sure how that plays into me coming to Savannah Springs, but I’m proud of you, nonetheless.”
Then she reached across the table to grab my hand with one of hers and Audra’s with the other. She looked between us as she spoke.
“Audra, you are by far the best thing that has ever happened to my brother. He never would have done that without you.”
Then she got up and hugged Audra while whispering something that I couldn’t hear. Turning back to me, she responded, “I’ll come for two weeks, Van. But I can’t come until late Monday. I’ll report for duty on Tuesday morning.”
It was my turn to hop up to hug my sister. “Thank you so much, McKenna.”
With that out of the way, we enjoyed the rest of our brunch. Miles and Colton joined us, and the five of us fell into easy laughter again. The knowledge that Kenna was coming to help was such a relief and a weight off my shoulders. After brunch, we said our goodbyes, but there were assurances that we would see each other again soon. When we were walking out, I felt so happy. It felt like all the pieces were just sliding right into place, and I was hopeful the day would get even better when we saw my travel group.
