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Skyla rolled her eyes. “Mom brought up the lobster rolls,” she pointed out. “We would’ve been perfectly happy walking back to the house to eat.”
Kiel laughed. His sister was full of it. None of them wanted to walk anywhere now that they were on the beach. Tomorrow, he was certain their dad would bring a cooler. It only made sense. They couldn’t eat out every day, multiple times, for the entire summer. Besides, after a while you want a homemade sandwich or a good home-cooked meal.
After they finished eating, Ciara offered to take care of their garbage. Skyla went with her, leaving Kiel with their parents. As soon as they were out of earshot, he looked at his folks. “Is there something going on that I need to know about?”
“Like what?” his mom asked as she eyed Emmett.
Kiel shrugged. “I don’t know. I feel like something is off and I can’t pinpoint what it is. This summer long vacation is out of the norm.”
There was a long moment before his mom answered. “Everything is fine. Nothing for you or your sisters to worry about.”
Kiel apprised his parents and frowned. “Right, because that’s not ominous.”
“Kiel . . .” His father started to speak and then looked over his shoulders. “I don’t want this getting back to your sisters,” he said. “Between us, I’m being transferred in September.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
Emmett shook his head. “It’s why we’re on vacation. I wanted the girls to have one last great summer before I leave.”
“Wait, what? Where are you going?”
“I’m not sure, but I’m not going to interrupt the twin’s senior year by moving them. Your mom will stay behind and then come to wherever I end up after Ciara and Skyla have gone to college.”
They hadn’t moved in eight years. Kiel thought the Navy was past transferring his dad from base to base once he became an instructor. Not that they ever lived on base. His parents always made sure they had a house and weren’t living the military lifestyle, other than Emmett deploying or wearing his service khaki’s every day.
“What the hell, Dad?”
Emmett sighed. “Believe me, it’s not ideal, but I’m not ready for retirement. Not until the girls are through college.”
“Mom, what about your job?”
Leona shrugged. “I can find another one wherever we end up.” She squeezed Emmett’s hand. “Like your father says, it’s not ideal, but we’ll make it work.”
For whatever reason, Kiel hated the idea of his mom and sisters living by themselves while his dad was off wherever the Navy sent him. Knowing this pretty much solidified his decision about grad school. If he went, and it was a big if right now, he’d go locally so he could be home every night.
“Enjoy the vacation, son,” Emmett said sternly as the girls made their way back. He turned his attention back to the water before he pulled a book out of his backpack and prayed neither Ciara or Skyla could tell something was wrong.
* * *
After dinner, Kiel and his sisters took a stroll to the downtown area, which bustled with activity. Classic cars lined the cobblestone street, as well as scooters, motorcycles, and those motorized tricycles that their mother often joked would be the only type of motorcycle their father could own.
Kiel watched as a group of people his age drove by in green, red, and yellow scoot coupes, which Kiel had to look up online. They were fully automatic, battery powered coupes with side-by-side seating and only went thirty miles per hour. Perfect for entertaining tourists who want to explore beachy towns without having to drive their cars and look for parking, which was often overpriced or non-existent. Right away, he missed his friends and wondered if his parents would mind if he invited the group of them to the house for a weekend. The plan he had for the summer went by the wayside when his parents asked for one summer—this summer—as a family. He understood now why they asked, but still didn’t have to like it.
“We should get one,” Ciara said as she pointed to the group of scoot coupes. “There are only two seats, though. Someone has to go by themselves.”
Kiel pulled his phone out of his pocket, looked for the rental shop, and then directed his GPS to guide them. They walked a little under a block before they entered a parking lot full of fun rentals.
“Kiel, we should totally rent a pedal bike. You can take Ciara and I around like a chauffeur,” Skyla said in her most serious voice.
“You wish.”
“I do,” Ciara said.
“For you, anything.” While he directed his comment at Ciara, Kiel bumped his shoulder with Skyla while she glared at him. He loved teasing her about Ciara being the favorite. She was, after all, the baby in the family.
Kiel went to the counter and rented two scoot coupes. The girls chose the fire engine red one, while Kiel took the green. They had two hours to explore the area with a max speed of thirty miles per hour. Ciara balked at going that fast, while Skyla said this was the perfect opportunity to feel the wind in her hair.
The three of them drove along the cobblestone road. Kiel gripped the steering wheel tightly and muttered under his breath. “This isn’t fun.” He glanced briefly over his shoulder at his sisters and saw them smiling and laughing, and any thoughts he had about returning the coupe dissipated instantly. The girls were having fun, and his moment of uncomfortableness didn’t matter anymore.
