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Maurice looked at his children as if he had just realized they were there, then curtly shook his head. Christoph's face fell, but his quick recovery indicated he hadn't expected his father to join them in the first place.
"Well, I'm coming in!" Brandon yelled, and to the children's giggling surprise, he launched cannonball-style into the center of the pool.
The massive splash sprayed me, Maurice, and Janette. Janette shrieked, and Maurice rolled his eyes.
I laughed. "Me too!" I jumped in to chase the kids with Brandon.
"Comme pisser dans un violon," Maurice muttered to himself as he brushed the stray drops of water off his tennis kit. He zipped his racket forcefully into its case, then strode into the house, mumbling more grumpy French idioms under his breath.
Janette stood up.
"I think I'll get ready for the afternoon too," she said as she put on her caftan. "I've got a spinning class in the village at two." She pushed her sunglasses on top of her head to look at me, where I was carrying Christoph on my back. "Are you really going to be okay with them for the entire afternoon? I can tell Marie to come back, you know, if you need a break."
I rolled my eyes. I wished I could be surprised that Janette found it strange to want to spend time with her children, but my life had taught me otherwise.
"We'll be GREAT!" I yelled before I tossed Christoph off my back to send him flying in the pool with a squeal. "Enjoy your class. We'll meet you in the village for dinner."
Janette glanced at all of us with a dubious expression, then shrugged. "As you wish. Ciao, darlings. Listen to your sister and be good."
The kids ignored her, too focused on Brandon's stalking underwater form to answer. Janette left, equally unperturbed.
After chasing the kids for a while Brandon hopped up to where I sat at the edge of the pool and wrapped a wet arm around my waist.
"You going to be all right with them all afternoon?" he asked as he nuzzled my cheek. "I feel bad I have to work."
I leaned into his lips and smiled. "Why does everyone keep asking me that? We'll be great. I'm actually really excited to spend the day just us. It's their last day, and I want it to be special."
While my time with Janette and Maurice had been mostly lukewarm and cordial, the last two days had allowed me to truly bond with my siblings. They were adorable kids, and I was already trying to figure out how to see them more often. Brandon had hatched a plan to convince Maurice to send them to one of the boarding schools in the area instead of the school they currently attended in Switzerland.
In response, I got another kiss on the neck. "I don't know how well I'm going to concentrate," he said, "knowing that you're running around town in this."
His hands dropped low to play with the side-ties of my bikini bottoms. It wasn't a terribly skimpy suit, but it was flattering and showed off my curves well. My breath caught in my throat; it had been incredibly hard keeping our hands to ourselves until we were behind closed doors each night. More than once Brandon had dragged me upstairs in the middle of the afternoon to discuss some "business" only to tackle me onto the bed.
"Touché!" Christoph yelped, slapping Brandon on the butt with a loud, wet thwack!
Brandon jumped, the momentary spell between us broken.
"That's it! One last round of King of the Mountain!" he cried, turning around and diving back into the water after the shrieking, laughing children.
I grinned and dove after them. This weekend wasn't anything I'd expected, but I was happier than I'd been in months.
~
A few hours later, I was shepherding the kids into town after beachcombing and sand castle-building on Brandon's property. Chatham was packed for the holiday, but luckily most of the tourists were at some of the other neighboring towns to view the larger fireworks displays. This was apparently the first year that Lighthouse Beach would have a display, so while the beach was already starting to fill with onlookers, it wouldn't have nearly the crowds that would be at Orleans or Hyannis.
My phone buzzed in my purse, and I pulled it out to find Brandon calling.
"Hey," I said. Christoph and Annabelle stopped at the window of a closed toy store, giving me a moment to chat.
"Hey, beautiful." Brandon's voice was tense and frustrated.
I frowned at my reflection in the shop window. "What's wrong?"
He sighed loudly enough that I could hear him, even on the busy street. "We're kind of wrapped up in the some things here. Maurice asked me to help him with this...deal...he's trying to put together, and it's taking more time than I thought. We're nowhere near done. Do you mind taking the kids to dinner without us?"
I glanced down at Annabelle and Christoph, who were currently debating whether American dollhouses were better than French ones.
"No, it's fine," I said. "They've been great. Are you sure you can't just take a break, though? You have to eat."
