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“Dude, that’s my dad,” Abel said.
Ryan and Madigan cracked up.
“Your dad is Lincoln fuckin’ Hayes?” Case exclaimed. “He’s a rock god!”
“I thought you only listened to Ace of Base and The Spice Girls,” Darius commented.
The…Spice Girls. Gray laughed.
“What can I say? I’m a man of layers.” Case looked legit nervous. “Okay, shut the fuck up and play it cool.” That’s what he told everybody else, who were already as chill as chill could be. “Look at him. Can you believe he turns fifty-four this summer? If he shakes my hand, I’ll never wash it again.”
“Jesus,” Ryan muttered. “Do you know his horoscope too?”
“Well, his birthday is July thirtieth, so that makes him a Leo,” Case answered frankly. “I’ll look it up later.”
By the time Lincoln was within earshot, Gray had a babbling Julia on his front, and a head-bobbing Cassidy on his back, and the shoulder straps crisscrossed uncomfortably. But it would have to do.
“Hi, Dad,” Abel said casually.
“Hi, Daddy!” Lyn called.
Case couldn’t help himself. “Hey, man, I love you.”
Lincoln lifted his brows a little, but Case hadn’t been exaggerating. Lincoln was used to that behavior. Maybe less these days, when he was more known for being a producer, but everyone older than thirty had grown up with Lincoln’s band topping the charts on VH1 and MTV. Apparently, those channels had played music back then.
“Smooth, Case,” Darius said.
“Not one bit.” Ace shook her head at her dad.
“Not like that,” Case added quickly. “I’m just—fuck. My brother and I listened to Path of Destruction all the time growing up. He’s got all your CDs.”
Lincoln smirked faintly and shook hands with the train wreck. “Good to meet you, kid.” He continued toward Abel and Lyn, and he looked very amused by Gray. “Check you out, son. This is gonna be fun.”
“Hey, Mr. H.” Gray smiled and released a breath. “All right, should I go in, or…?”
“Whenever you’re ready.” Abel was having fun with this too. “Don’t break your budget.” He handed over the fifty. “Case and Ryan will spot you in the store—make sure the kids don’t knock over any displays and whatnot.”
Definitely a relief.
“I’ll tag along too, of course,” Avery said. “Someone has to catch everything on film.”
Oh great. Wonderful. Fuck.
“Yeah, I’m gonna need a copy of that,” Lincoln added.
“So what happens after we’ve bought the supplies?” Darius asked.
“Oh, right! Duh. Sorry.” Abel cleared his throat. “We’ve made reservations at Coho Bar & Grill right after, so you’ll be putting together the gifts there.”
Suh-weet. Gray loved that place. Adam and Alessia, who ran it, were coming to the wedding too. During the pandemic, it had been Adam and Darius who’d pushed forward on the local delivery service to keep Camassia’s restaurants afloat. Sebastian, as well.
“Okay, all the kids, you’re with me!” Gray hollered. “We have twenty minutes!”
“Starting right now.” Ryan set a timer on his phone, and it catapulted Gray into action. “JJ, get that rock outta your mouth. For chrissakes.”
Thank God they were here so early. No traffic, no people. They ran toward the store, and he made sure they were all inside before he followed.
“Woo-hoo!” Ryder cheered for no apparent reason.
“Uncle Gray, what’re we gonna buy?” Grace asked.
“Candy!” Justin suggested.
“I want stickers!” That was Haley, and Lyn added her approval. “With glitter.”
“All right, so I want you to think about Darius,” Gray told the kids. The lady at the checkout counter smiled politely, thankfully prepared. “You’re free to run around, just—be careful. Okay? Be very careful. And if you see something you think Darius will like, bring it to me.”
No arms needed twisting here. The kids ran off, and Gray blew out a breath and eyed the store. It was fairly large, looking like an average Michaels, with several aisles and sections.
Gray decided his job would be to peruse the shelves as quickly as possible while keeping an eye on the kids with flailing limbs. Which included Ryan’s twin boys, Justin, and Hazel.
Gray grabbed a basket.
Gift for Darius, gift for Darius. He rubbed his forehead and headed for the section with leather crafting stuff. Maybe a kit of some sort? Darius was already great at woodworking, and he’d mentioned wanting to work with leather too.
A kit of supplies would get disqualified, wouldn’t it?
Julia cooed and tried to reach for something shiny, but Gray just didn’t have the time to indulge her right now.
Seven minutes later, he was given an update on the time remaining from Ryan, and no great ideas had been born in the aisles. No, they couldn’t give Darius a key cabinet. Great gift, but it was ready-made and required no assembly whatsoever, aside from having to paint it. Haley and Nova-Lyn had presented notepads with reasons for why one deserved candy, and it’d sparked a vague idea that Gray was mulling over.
“I like this one!” Grace ran down an aisle to meet up with Gray, and she showed him a pink tin jar. “You can put Uncle Darius’s favorite candy inside.”
