Page 35 of Mr. B

Wes laughed. “Dad was busy, and I had to go pick him up.”

Cassandra looked at Abe. “What did you do to get sent home?”

“Wes is enjoying this. Let him tell the story.”

“Abe thought it would be hilarious to screw the door to the girls’ shower closed while it was occupied.”

Maggie shoved Abe. “You didn’t.”

“I’m afraid I did. There were only six girls in there.”

“The rest of the camp was in the mess hall eating, so no one heard them banging on the door. Fortunately, their friends noticed they were missing from breakfast, and an hour later I was driving to camp to pick him up.”

Abe leaned back in his chair. “I shouldn’t have been sent home for that. It was no big deal.”

Cassandra laughed. “It was probably a big deal to those girls.”

He grinned. “Roxie still won’t talk to me. Whenever I go to the hardware store, she gets someone else to help me at the register.”

Maggie shook her head. “No wonder she looks at me weird when I go in there. She’s probably wondering what the hell I’m doing with you.”

Abe put his arm around her. “It’s because you love me.”

“You’re right, I do.”

“So Roxie can just—”

Gentry held up a hand. “Okay. It was thirteen years ago.”

“She’s the one holding a grudge.”

Maggie kissed him. “Finish your beer, my love. We need to go pick up Kai, so your mom can go to bed.”

Abe drained his bottle. “I’m ready.” They both stood. “Goodnight, Wes and Cassandra.” He turned to Gentry. “Have a good day off tomorrow. Maggie, Lucia, and I have things covered.”

“It should be slow. Everyone in town had pizza tonight.”

“That’s fine. I like slow.” They headed for the door. “Do you want to come lock this behind us?”

Gentry stood. “No. I’m going home, too. I want to see the boys before they go to bed.” He turned to Wes. “Stay as late as you want, just lock the door behind you when you leave.”

“Will do.” Gentry left, and Wes picked up the last breadstick. “Do you want this?”

“No, go ahead.”

“I’ll share it.”

“It’s fine. I’ve had enough.” Cassandra took a sip of beer. They were quiet for a few minutes. Then she looked at him. “Okay, this is awkward.”

“Slightly.”

“Should we leave?”

“After I finish my breadstick.”

She pushed her unfinished beer aside. “If you really don’t want me to go to camp, I won’t.”

“It’s fine.” He chewed a bite of breadstick. “I’ve gotten used to the idea.”