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Alex was next, giving me a look. “Let us handle this.”
I opened my mouth, but Trenton cut me off. “This is more between us because we’re all friends. That’s all.”
I closed my mouth.
Cohen brought up the rear, and all five guys headed down the dock and up a small hill, disappearing behind a row of trees.
“Ramsay?” My uncle’s voice was serious.
I turned slowly.
He glanced to where the guys had gone. “Is that a situation I need to interrupt?”
Oh man. That’d be the icing on the cake—my sending an adult. I shook my head quickly. “No. It’s not like that. They’ll figure it out. It’s just a situation where someone should’ve listened and they didn’t. That’s all.”
I tried to tell myself that was all it was.
My aunt and mom shared a look, and my mom came toward me, her arms open. I went to her side and burrowed into her. She nuzzled my ear. “How about us girls go get a table? And I’m going to ignore how I know you kids have been sneaking drinks. That sound like a plan?”
That sounded wonderful. I could do with some aunt-and-mother-daughter bonding time, at least until I saw the fallout from what was going on behind those trees. I wrapped an arm around my mom’s waist and hugged her tight. “That sounds great, Mom.”
I felt her lips move up in a smile as she pressed a kiss to my forehead. “I love you, honey. Don’t ever forget that.”
I wouldn’t. “I love you too.”
Aunt Aileen joined the hug, coming up from behind to put an arm around both of us. “Don’t leave the only other girl out here. I need some sisterly-niece lovey times too.”
We laughed and opened up. Aunt Ailes snuggled right into the middle. As we walked up the dock, my mom’s hand found mine. She gave me a gentle smile.
In a way, this was a perfect ending right here.
Then we walked into Pike’s Pizza, and that moment came to an abrupt stop.
My aunt Aileen froze as we stepped inside. “Oh no.”
“What?” My mom took a small step backward. “Oh no.”
This sent alarm signals through my body, but there wasn’t anyone or anything out of the ordinary that I could see . . . families sitting and eating. Some little kids running around. There were other teenagers in the back, and I frowned, wondering if I knew them from school?
Aunt Ailes whispered, almost to herself, “I can’t believe she’s here.”
She? What?
My mom glanced my way but spoke to her sister. “Ailes, Ramsay.”
My aunt sucked in a breath, blinking back sudden tears. She reached up, pressing her fingers to the corner of her eyes and nodding. “Yes. You’re right, but Chris . . .” Her whisper was agonizing to hear. “I can’t be here. I can’t . . . see her. I can’t. Oh God. Nick is coming in too. This is going to be a disaster.”
The door opened at the end of her statement. Nick came inside, and the door shut behind him.
In the back was a woman at a table with a man who was probably her husband. They had a teenage girl with them and two little boys. No one but the older woman reacted when they saw Nick. She froze, her eyes getting big, and the blood drained from her face. Her husband was laughing at something one of the little boys said when he noticed his wife’s reaction.
His gaze followed hers, and in seeing Nick, he jerked upright in his chair.
The girl noticed her parents and frowned, confused. She started looking around. Seeing us at the door, she said something to her mom.
Mom’s hand touched my arm. “Honey, let’s go to the back patio.”
I didn’t move. “What’s going on?” I pulled my gaze away from the family and focused on my mom, then my aunt and uncle.
Uncle Nick’s eyes were riveted to that table, and he cursed, stepping back.
The husband was coming toward us.
Uncle Nick growled, “I don’t need this right now. Get her out of here.”
My mom and I stiffened, but neither of us responded to the order.
But the guy was on us now, and Nick held up a hand. “My family is here—”
The guy’s voice was harsh, almost shrill. “So’s mine. We were here first. You leave.”
“What?” Uncle Nick looked ready to stand his ground.
The guy swung his gaze around, skimming over my mom and me, and landed on my aunt. “How can you be okay with this? What he did—”
My uncle surged forward. “I said I have family with me.”
The husband jerked back, getting right in his face. “And I said so do I. We were here first.”
“So you can finish and leave early. Makes more sense than my turning around and telling my three teenage sons and their two friends that suddenly we’re not getting pizza here.”
