Page 46 of The Summer Plans

“You didn’t give her poop juice. It’s gonna be okay.” I’m not sure what else to share since I don’t want to tell this sweet girl that she accidentally got her mother drunk.

I release her from the hug and swipe at the last few tears on her face. “I have an idea. You know how you and your brothers keep asking to go crab hunting?”

“Yeah, but Mom said no because she thinks they’re gross and she doesn’t want them to taste her with their feet.”

I chuckle, remembering Logan sharing that same fact about crabs with me earlier. “What if Sophie took you? She wants to be a marine biologist one day. That stuff doesn’t gross her out at all.”

Her eyes light up. “Can we?”

I nod my agreement, hoping Sophie will be on board so I can take care of what will probably be a very drunk Summer. I hand her a bottle of water. “How about you go back outside and give this to your mom? And tell Sophie that I need to talk to her.”

“Okay!” Lana skips to the door, excited with our plan.

When Sophie walks in minutes later, I brace myself.

“I think Summer is drunk. She’s giggling a lot, and her words sound funny.”

“Hey, Soph.”

“What do you want? You only ‘Hey, Soph’ me when you need a favor.”

How has my daughter figured me out this well? “I need a favor.”

“I knew it.”

“Lana gave Summer the wrong daiquiri, and she’s gonna need someone to take care of her tonight. It’s my fault. Can you take the kids crab hunting as a distraction so I can help her if she gets sick?”

“Oh shit.”

“Language.”

“Sorry. Yeah, I’ll help.”

My eyebrow lifts in surprise. “Just like that? You aren’t going to fight me on this?”

She rolls her eyes. “Summer helped me with something embarrassing earlier this week, no questions asked. So I’m happy to do that for her.”

“I’m sorry that we haven’t spent more time together on this vacation.”

Sophie gives me a look. “Seriously, Dad?”

“It’s not like I wanna be glued to you for a week.”

I examine her face and when I’m confident in her sincerity, I clap my hands. “Alright. Let’s rally the troops.” I pull out my phone and do a quick search. “According to Google, we’ll need nets and buckets. I think I saw some in the toy bin outside. And we’ll need bait. Lemme place a delivery from the store in town before they close.”

Sophie heads back to the porch to check for supplies while I straighten up the kitchen, keeping an eye on Summer through the glass door. When I join them on the deck minutes later, Sophie has found several buckets and two nets.

“Who wants to go crab hunting tonight?” I ask as I clear the plates from the table.

A chorus of “Me’s” erupts from the kids.

“Why don’t you all help me get this mess cleaned up and then Sophie will take you down once it gets dark. But you better hurry, the sun is setting.”

“I’ll do the dishes.” Logan takes a stack of plates from me and walks into the house.

“I’ll clean the table and sweep off the deck.” Lucas runs inside for a broom.

“And I’ll watch them and make sure they do what they say they’re going to do.” Lana follows her brothers inside.