“Learn from my brother’s mistakes,” Em said. Her brother, Wyatt, had a daughter with unfortunate name of Kennsleigh. At least there were plenty of nickname possibilities that she could go by until she was old enough to change it if she wanted.
“Let’s not talk about my ex, please,” Paige said, shuddering.
“You know, Pangolin Sweet-Baldwin has a je ne sais quoi about it,” Gray said, pretending to consider the name.
Linley laughed and kissed his cheek. “We’ll put it on the list.”
After we all finished eating, people sort of broke off into little conversation groups to have dessert or more drinks or to look out at the water.
“One of these days we’ll get our act together and put in the fire pit,” Paige said, flopping down into a chair.
I was sticking together with Julia and Hollis, since I was more comfortable with them.
Em and Natalie came over to join us, each carrying a plate with two pieces of cake on it.
“What kind of cake is that?” Julia asked, her eyes lighting up.
“Summer strawberry and Rocky Road,” Em said, pointing to each piece.
“Oh, that sounds like heaven,” Julia said, starting to get up.
“I’ve got it, babe,” Hollis said, standing.
“Thank you,” Julia said in a sing-song voice.
“I’m still sore from that yoga class, even though I slept through most of it,” Em said.
“Yoga can be a lot more challenging than people realize. You think, oh, I’m just going to stand with my foot here and this foot here and then you’re shaking, and you have no idea if you can stand it anymore,” I said. “My first few classes were eye-opening.”
I loved talking about yoga, but in the back of my mind, I wanted to move the topic so I could ask about Preston without it seeming like I was fishing for info.
“It’s okay, you don’t need to come again,” Natalie said, patting Em’s arm. “I’m still going to come while this one sleeps.”
“Sleep,” Em said, in a dreamy voice. “I love sleep.”
“If only you were better at it,” Natalie said.
“It’s true. I love sleep, but it doesn’t always love me,” Em said, pouting.
Hollis came back with cake for me, Julia, and herself.
“Do you know how Preston is doing?” Julia asked, taking the words out of my mouth.
“Poor little guy. He was running a fever, but it went down and he’s just sleeping a lot now. I’m sure he’ll be fine by Monday,” Natalie said, finishing her cake.
Good to know. I relaxed into my chair and worked on the absolutely heavenly cake.
The night was warm, and we all laughed and talked as we slapped at mosquitoes and had second helpings of cake.
It was nice, and I was glad I’d come. These were good people, and they’d been nothing but completely welcoming and kind to me. You didn’t find that all the time.
“The next thing we need to do is get you to join Non Book Club,” Sasha said. “That’s how you really become integrated.”
“I don’t know if I want to be integrated,” I said. “It sounds painful.”
“It kind of happens whether you want it to or not, right Hols?”
Hollis rolled her eyes. “I fought Non Book Club for as long as I could and then I gave in and now I’m pals with Jack Hill.”
It was hard to believe that Jax’s father was the internationally bestselling author Jack Hill, and she’d managed to hide it for as long as she had. I had no idea what it would be like to have a famous parent like that.
“If you join, you get a signed copy of his new release,” Julia said.
“That’s not saying much, he literally drives around with signed books in his trunk,” Jax said with a laugh. “He’s ridiculous.”
Linley and Gray came over to say goodnight.
“This baby is already messing with my life,” Linley said, rubbing her belly and yawning. “I swear, I need at least one nap to get through the day. My mom is already making me cut my hours.” She smiled ruefully. “I don’t know who is more excited about this baby, her or us.”
“Definitely her,” Paige and Charli said at the same time. Charli was Linley’s cousin, so she had actual genetic claim on the baby.
More and more people filtered out, trading hugs and congratulations.
“You ready to go home?” Hollis asked Julia. She had her head resting on Hollis’s shoulder.
“Yeah. I think I had too much cake,” she said.
“You? You’re a bottomless cake repository. I don’t believe it,” Hollis said, standing up and pulling Julia to her feet.
We all said goodnight to the people who were left, and I thanked Paige and Esme for including me.
“You’re part of the Castleton Crew now,” Paige said, putting her arm around me.
I was absolutely drained after the party and completely crashed into bed that night. The next time my eyes opened it was Sunday morning and I was wondering where the hell I was. Since I was so nomadic, I was used to not recognizing where I was when I woke up. My brain searched for the information and, finally, I remembered that I was staying in a farmhouse in Castleton, Maine.
I did my morning yoga and went down to breakfast. Julia and Hollis were also looking rough, so I didn’t feel so bad.
“What did you get up to last night?” Ellie asked as the three of us shoveled food into our mouths robotically.
“We didn’t even do anything wild,” Julia said. “But I think I laughed so hard I pulled something.” She winced and poked at her side.
For myself, I needed some restorative yoga today, some reading, and maybe a short chat with River to reset my soul. Then I had to brace myself for Sunday dinner at my parent’s. At least I had Julia and Hollis as my buffer.
“When I was your age, I was staying out all night at concerts, you need to toughen up,” Amanda said, and both Hollis’s and Ellie’s eyes went wide.
“I’m sorry, what?” Hollis asked.
“Yeah, I have some questions,” Ellie said.
Amanda laughed and pushed a plate of cinnamon-roll pancakes toward me.
“My life didn’t start with you girls. I had a whole lot of fun before you were born,” Amanda said with a smirk.
“What is even happening?” Hollis asked, staring at her plate.
“What concerts?” I asked.
“Oh, I just toured briefly with a well-known rock group. It wasn’t a big deal.” Amanda waved her hand and we all stared at her.
“Who are you?” Ellie said. “Mom, were you a roadie?”
“It wasn’t a big deal,” Amanda said, neither confirming nor denying. “But I did get to see a lot of incredible shows.”
She stared off into the distance as if she was picturing it.
“Well, this has been a weird morning,” Hollis said.
“I think it’s cool,” Julia said.
“Thank you, honey,” Amanda said. “I was cool once, and I still am.” She twirled her spatula like a baton.
“So, let’s make this thing happen,” River said that afternoon as we pulled out our schedules and talked via video.