“Where did you leave your car keys, Rose?” Sam asks, sticking his head out the front door.
“Um, dining table. Kitchen.”
“Thanks.” He disappears inside.
Sam’s agreed to watch the house for us. He’s staying in Nico’s niece’s apartment, but he’ll swing by the house every couple of days. I’m not sure whether his parents will drive his car with a trailer of his stuff and then fly back to New York. He said he’s still figuring out what he wants to do and, because he doesn’t have a permanent place of his own yet, he doesn’t want to end up with a bunch of his stuff and keep moving it around.
“Everyone ready?” Joel shouts from the house.
“No,” I yell back. “I need to grab?—”
“Got it.” Win walks out with my purse.
I smile and take it from him, leaning up for a kiss. “Thanks, Win.”
“Anytime.”
“Then we just need?—”
“One adorable five-year-old who has run around the backyard until his legs are about to fall off.” Joel steps outside with Ben. “Are you sure they’re about to fall off?” he asks Ben.
Ben laughs. “Yup.”
Joel shakes his head and picks him up. “You heard the guy. He’s got all that excited energy out of him, and we’re ready to hit the road.”
I open my mouth.
Murph walks out with a cooler. “Got the refrigerator stuff and the first round of snacks.”
I stare at the family-size blue cooler. My dad brought one just like it when we went tailgating at a football game, and we fed at least ten people from it. “Firstround?”
“Yes,” Win, Joel, and Murph say in unison, eyeing me as if they’re terrified I’ll make them put it back.
I let out a sigh. “I guess that’s what I get for living with so many guys with big appetites. If you eat all the snacks and don’t share, I won’t be happy.”
“We would never do such a thing to the woman we love.” Joel drops a kiss on my lips as he carries Ben into the RV. The rest of them follow, and I twist around for one last look at the house—our home.
Sam watches from the open front door, his hands shoved into his pockets.
“Have fun this summer, Sam.”
He snorts. “With all this work you landed me? Doubtful, sis. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.Youhave fun this summer.No sadness, no guilt, just happy memories. And don’t forget to send the odd picture my way, okay? If one of those pics isn’t my nephew on a horse, Iwillrevolt.”
I think of all the happiness I found in Rios and how lucky I am to have it. Summer stretches out in front of me, three weeks of endless possibilities, of days spent laughing and making memories with the people I love most in the world. And I smile. “I will definitely have fun.”
