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I wasn’t sure if Corey was okay with me being in his dad’s lap. Even if he was, I wasn’t. I moved to sit in the chair next to Ryan’s.
Corey stood by the fire with marshmallows on his stick. He lowered himself so the marshmallows hovered over the flames.
An awkward silence fell over us. I couldn’t get a read on Ryan. Was he regretting asking me to come?
Corey flipped his marshmallows, pulling them closer to examine them, then placed them back over the fire.
“You have fun today?” Ryan asked and then immediately winced, probably wondering if he’d just asked an uncool question.
“Fishing was cool.”
I shared a smile with Ryan. That was the best we ever got from him.
“What are we doing tomorrow?” Corey asked.
Ryan leaned back in the chair, his legs spread wide, his hands on the arm rests. “Whatever you want. We could explore the town.”
Corey shook his head. “Eh. I think I’ll hang here. Fish some more.”
“Whatever you want,” Ryan said.
I loved that they were so easygoing. I wanted to explore Chestertown. I’d never been to the Eastern Shore before, despite living in Maryland since I was six.
Over the years, I’d listened to my friends talk about the trips they took, and I wanted this to be one to remember.
ChapterTwenty-One
RYAN
Lightning darted across the sky, illuminating the water.
“We’d better get inside.” I grabbed the food and sticks.
Big, fat raindrops fell from the sky as we hurried to the porch. Laughing and wiping wet hair out of our faces, we darted inside and sat on the couches in the screened-in porch.
Lightning lit up the sky and the river. Thunder boomed loudly, and the rain was heavy on the roof.
“I’m going to start a fire.” I gestured inside at the stone fireplace.
Hailey stood to follow me. “We should probably head inside anyway. The rain is coming in through the screen.”
When I had the fire going, I turned to find Corey on the large sectional. “What is there to do here?”
It was a typical statement from him, one that usually had me scrambling to find something to ease his boredom. It was hard to find things that piqued his interest at this age if it wasn’t something physical and outdoors.
Hailey clasped her hands together. “We should play a game.”
“Did you bring one?” I asked her, hoping Corey would be interested.
“No. But there has to a few here somewhere.” She moved around the room now that the fire illuminated the space, opening and closing the cupboards behind the recliner until she finally said, “Bingo.”
“What is there?” Corey asked.
She read off the games I remembered from my childhood: Monopoly, Scrabble, a deck of cards, and new ones I hadn’t heard of.
She held up a red box of cards larger than a usual deck. “I love card games, and this one looks new.”
I grabbed a flashlight from my bag in the kitchen. It was one I’d brought in case we needed it outside. I set it on its side on the square coffee table where Hailey already had the cards laid out.
