Rafe’s frown deepened. “Oh, shoot. That’s right. I—”
“Rafe! Rafe, lookie here.” A man who looked remarkably like Littlejohn Jennings rushed over with a newspaper and waved it in Young Rafe’s face triumphantly. “I told you! Didn’t I tell you?”
Rafe blinked down at the paper, attention caught.
“Well, for God’s sake, don’t make Trey go to Menucha with you.” Big Rafe leaned back in his seat and rolled his eyes at Beale. “He’ll be bored to tears. He can come hang out with us at the house. Go for a swim.”
I shot Beale a look that said, I would literally rather hang out with your murder cat, and his lips twitched.
“I don’t think—” he said.
But Gage interjected, “Dad, come on. Beale and Trey have been reunited for like ten nanoseconds. They wanna spend time together. And they can swim at Fenn’s place.”
Or not swim. Ideally not.
“Besides which,” I said solemnly, “I love plovers. Adore them! In fact, they’re my favorite type of um…”
“Bird?” Beale supplied. I figured everyone could hear the thread of laughter in his voice, too, but no one else seemed to notice.
“Yes! Yup. Bird. Also, I love being out in the… air? And, like… under the sky and whatnot? I’m basically Outdoorsy Barbie.”
Big Rafe started to object, but Gloria cut him off.
“Another time, then,” she said. “Rafe and Gage, maybe you boys can… Rafe, honey? You okay?”
Young Rafe stared down at the newspaper in his hand like he’d seen a ghost.
“See? It’s your brother-in-law!” Littlejohn’s doppelgänger jabbed a finger at the paper.
“I told you, he’s not my damn brother-in-law, Dale.” Rafe set the newspaper facedown on the table and covered it with his hand. “He can do whatever he likes with whomever he likes. It’s all media speculation, anyway.”
“What speculation?” Gage demanded, trying to grab the paper from under Rafe’s hand.
“What’s happening?” I whispered softly, so only Beale could hear. “What’s up with his brother-in-law?”
“Boys! Stop this instant!” Big Rafe yelled, as Rafe and Gage played tug-of-war with the paper like a pair of toddlers, knocking over a sugar canister.
Beale took the opportunity to quietly back away from the table and out the door. He let out a huge sigh when we reached the sidewalk.
“Not sure what’s going on exactly.” He rolled his eyes. “Probably not a big deal, but for Rafe, everything with Jay is a big deal.”
“M’kay, I’m gonna need you to spill all the tea,” I demanded as we got to the Jeep, proving that maybe Aunt Hagatha and I were more alike than I cared to admit. We both liked to be up in other people’s business.
“Well… up until a year and a bit ago, Rafe was married, right? He and Aimee started out as childhood friends, kinda—her family summered on the Key back when no one summered here, so we all became close. Aimee’s brother Jay was only a couple years younger than Rafe, so they’d go off adventuring, or sometimes Jay would try to teach Rafe guitar. Whatever they were doing, Gage would trail after them like a puppy. And meanwhile my mom taught Aimee and me about crystals and tarot cards and stuff. Rafe and Aimee weren’t romantically involved until after college, but then all of a sudden, they were in love and getting married, and they seemed happy more or less?” Beale shrugged. “I dunno. They lasted for seven years or so. But I guess Aimee couldn’t have been all that happy in the end, ’cause one night she just up and left.”
“Left Rafe?” The idea made me hurt for the guy.
“Left the Key. Left Florida, for all I know. She was just… gone. Poof. Rafe looked for her, but Jay wouldn’t tell him anything except that she was safe and she didn’t wanna see him.” Beale winced. “Personally, I get it. I’m loyal to my siblings above anyone, even if they’re assholes. I think Rafe was more hurt by Jay’s behavior than Aimee’s, though.” He paused. “Don’t tell him I said that.”
“I won’t,” I promised solemnly, and Beale’s face went red again. I was pretty sure making him blush could become a legit hobby of mine, it was that appealing. He was so damn likable. And smart, too. It was no surprise I found myself trusting him the way I did.
He started the engine and shifted the Jeep into gear. “Anyway, so now anytime anyone says Jay’s name, Rafe looks like he’s been sucking a lemon. That’s the whole story.”
“Well, who could blame him?” I sipped at my coffee, then leaned back against the seat and turned my face up to the sunshine, happier than I’d been in a week… or possibly longer. I felt hopeful. Less panicked. Like maybe this shit situation wouldn’t be so bad after all.
“Yeah, but it’s pretty inconvenient. I mean, if you’re gonna pick a guy to hate on, it’s best if you can pick someone who doesn’t have a million Instagram followers, you know?” He grinned.
I frowned.
“Or whose hit song hasn’t been on the radio all summer.”
“What?” I demanded, sitting upright. My heart beat rapidly, and my blood ran cold, like my body knew what was coming before I did.
“Or who isn’t coming to play a concert for the Whispering Key Extravaganza over Labor Day in a month.” He gave me a side-eyed look. “That was my dad’s idea, by the way, and Rafe was not happy.”
“Beale? I think you missed a crucial piece of information. Who, um… who is Jay?”
“Oh.” He laughed. “Jay is Jayd Rollins. You know, the singer?”
I nodded woodenly. Oh, I knew him alright, and the paparazzi had the pictures to prove it. And my plan to tell Beale everything evaporated before my very eyes.
“Toby? You okay? You sure you’re up to volunteering today? If you’re not ready…”
I swallowed hard and did my best to summon a flirtatious smile despite my churning stomach. “Nonsense! I was born ready.”
6
Beale
Czarina’s StarCharts for Today:
Don’t try to anticipate the unexpected, Virgo. Reorient yourself to the beauty of the unknowable, and remember you’re at your worst when you play it safe.
“I am absolutely not ready.”
Toby stood with his arms folded and tapped one sandal on the wooden dock as he watched me load my gear bag into the bottom of the tender. He’d done something to his hair before we left the guesthouse that made it look artfully tousled, unlike my own unruly mop, and his skin glowed gold in the sun, maybe partly from the sunscreen I’d forced him to coat himself with… but I wasn’t going to tell him that.
“I was not informed that this would be an aquatic expedition,” he continued. “Birds, last I checked, were creatures of the air. The air, Beale, which is not wet.” He swiped a wrist over his forehead. “Except here in Florida, where I suppose it rather is. Still.”
I found my lips twitching, wanting to smile, even though I had only the smallest clue what he was ranting about, and I was pretty sure he didn’t know either. I wasn’t sure how his rants had gone from massively annoying to mostly funny in the span of half a morning, but here we were.