Page 3 of Living at 40

“Boys are scootering on the driveway. They have energy to burn.” Zack has six-year-old twin boys, and they can be total terrors. We all blame it on Jeanine, his wife, but Zack could step it up a bit as a parent, too. He works too much, keeping him separate from his family. Jeanine didn’t make the trip, and he didn’t bring the nanny either, so it should be interesting how Zack handles his kids by himself. Ben’s older boys were playing basketball in the yard when we arrived and agreed to watch the younger set before we entered the house.

“Lorna found Mila outside.” My daughter, Lorna, and Ben’s Mila are close in age and the only little girls in this crew. The girls haven’t seen each other in a year, but Mila invited Lorna to follow her upstairs as soon as they saw one another, and I encouraged her to go. We have a lot of meaningful father-daughter time, but I want some adult space over these next two weeks, and Lorna could use girlfriend time as well.

When greetings settle, Anna barks out information in her teacherly voice, telling us who is sleeping where.

“Okay, Zack and boys in the coach house. Mason, Logan, and Lorna upstairs. Lorna can sleep in Mila’s room. Mason, your room is at the top of the stairs. Logan next to the girls.” Her own boys have a room up there as well. Ben and Anna have the master suite on the first floor, which leaves Speck.

“Where’s your sister sleeping?” It shouldn’t be a question. It shouldn’t even be a thought, but it just pops out.

“Oh, I’m not staying here,” Autumn admits.

“Of course, you are,” Anna replies. “This is family time.”

“I have a place in town, remember?” Autumn’s sarcastic tone does not deter her sister-in-law. Union Pier is a quaint touristy town only a few miles away. If I remember correctly, Autumn owns a café between here and there, which makes sense that she lives nearby.

“You’re staying,” Anna hisses, giving Autumn a look of warning. “I can’t be left to fend for myself amongst all this testosterone.” Her eyes widen more, if that’s even possible, and it appears they’re having some unspoken girl-talk I’ll never interpret.

“Are Amelia and Archer here?” Zack asks. The McCaryn siblings—Archer, Anna, and Amelia—own this cottage; if one can call this cliffside haven such a simple word. It’s a beautiful home with massive windows and a gorgeous view of Lake Michigan. It belongs in an architectural magazine, one of which I’ve been featured in. Their mother was best friends with Zack’s mom, and his family used to own the vacation house next door. It’s a complicated story.

“God knows where Archer is,” Anna says of her brother, who leads a mysterious life. “Amelia had to work, but she said she’ll try to make it next weekend. I’m not counting on it, though. But this is really Ben’s holiday,” Anna adds, which sounds like a strange statement. She looks over at her husband and offers him a slow, soft smile, and damn if my heart doesn’t weep. I’m not an overly romantic guy, but Anna and Ben are just one of those couples where love emits around them like a fog of sugary steam. When they look at one another, you just know no one else exists to them. It’s the kind of look I’d hoped to inspire and receive with Chloe, only I didn’t.

“So, what’s first?” Anna asks, looking at Ben as if he’s the captain of this trip. In many ways, Ben was our leader by default. He’s the one who brought us all together. Mason and Ben already knew one another when they met Zack and Anna. I’m the add-on as I was Mason’s roommate in college. Zack and Ben lived next door to us in the dorms until the four of us rented a place during our junior and senior years of college. To say we were close doesn’t describe how much these guys have meant to me over the years.

We’ve experienced marriages and births, divorces and breakups. It’s been twenty-two years of incredible friendship with brothers from another. These men are family to me. We’ve been through thick and thin, and not just in our waistband. Out of all of us, Ben is the best kind of human.

Clueless Kulis, we lovingly called him when we were younger, but he might be the smartest of the bunch. He has the beautiful wife, a strong marriage, a thriving business, and a lovely second home on Lake Michigan.

When Ben called to invite me to the lake, he said we were the four points of a compass, and he wanted Lakeside to center us. He was calling us home to impart life lessons on us.

Live. Love. Loss. Learn.

It was a cycle, Ben suggested, and he was big on cycles as a landscape designer in the Midwest. He lived for the four seasons and believed we were on the cusp of autumn for ourselves. But, he warned, we had so much life still left to live, and that was his plan for these two weeks. It was a compelling argument.

“Beers by the beach,” Ben announces, and Anna nods before turning to the fridge, snapping orders at Autumn.

“Oh, I see how it is. You want me here for free labor,” Autumn says, chuckling, and that sound goes right to my dick. My hands return to my jean pockets and curl into fists. What is this reaction? I’m not hard up on the woman front, but it’s been a while since I’ve found someone who interests me for more than a date or two. In fact, the dating scene is getting old. I work long hours, and as I share custody of Lorna, life is one big balancing act without a lot of wiggle room. When I pulled into the drive and turned off my phone, it hit me how much I needed this vacation.

Something is telling me I also need to learn a little more about Autumn Kulis.

“Speedos optional,” Mason announces, and Zack groans.

“You put on a banana hammock, and we will disown you,” I say.

“No one can ever own me anyway,” Mason sing-songs, and Ben chuckles.

“True that,” Ben says.

“True that?” I snark. “Are we speaking as we did in college?”

“Please don’t speak as you did back then. We have young ears around here,” Anna says while working to pull beers from the fridge and filling plastic bags with ice. A cooler appeared from somewhere, and the two women are working in sync as though they organize for a day at the beach on a daily basis.

“No swearing, no sex talk. That’s pretty much my entire vocabulary,” Mason teases, and Autumn laughs. While that sound is still doing strange things to me, I don’t want Mason to affect her. I love Mason, but he’s a dick to women.

“Will Autumn’s boyfriend be joining us?” Not the smoothest of transitions to find out whether she has one or not. Last I heard, she was living with someone but never married.

“I’m single as a Pringle,” she announces, and Mason smiles. His eyes focus on her. Oh no. Fuck that.

“Mason, how’s Samantha?” I ask.