“If a spa is what you want, by the way, then I’m all in. I think it’s brilliant.”
“Really?” she asked skeptically.
He nodded. “Yes, really. We can talk about it next week, okay?”
“Sounds good.”
“Good, because now, I have to go find a man about getting married.”
Drea laughed as her uncle exited the room, closing the door behind him. When she was sure that he was fully gone and wouldn’t bust back into the room, she knocked lightly on the door to the bedroom as she opened it. Simone sat on the bed, playing a game on her phone.
Drea smiled big at the bride-to-be. “So, how about we get you in your dress?”
The sunset ceremony had gone down without a hitch. It was everything Drea knew Simone had ever wanted in a wedding and she couldn’t have been happier for her. With only their families and a few select guests in attendance, they’d all fit on Big House Beach without any issue. Little paper lanterns formed a small aisleway that Drea and Simone had walked down, both unescorted, with the three Quinlan men waiting for them at the end.
The local minister had been short and sweet with his message, getting right to the vows that Simone and Vaughn had written themselves. Filled with laughter at inside jokes, some happy tears, and beautiful promises for their future together, one could feel the love radiating off of the two of them. When it was finally time to kiss the bride, Vaughn grabbed ahold of Simone like his life depended on it and dipped her like it was a scene in a movie.
A large tent had been set up over by the pool with a long table to accommodate those who had attended the ceremony. When everyone was finally seated and had their food, Grayson stood up, clinking his fork against his glass, trying to gain everyone’s attention.
“There are a lot of stories I could tell about this man right here,” he said, gesturing toward Vaughn. “Stories of all the fun we had growing up, stories about the trouble we got into, stories about how he would boss Miller and me around. He’s the oldest, so apparently that was his birthright or something.”
There were some scattered giggles throughout the table, and Grayson continued, “But, of all the stories I want to tell, the one that absolutely must be told here and now is about the day that Simone walked into the Indigo Royal for the first time. You see, here we have this stunning beauty, with her long legs and silky hair and those damn high heels she wears, and then we have my brother. Who, by the way, has been sporting the silver fox look since he was like twenty-six—dude gray’d out super early—so he’s looked sixty-five since forever, okay? Only fourteen more years until you look your age, man!” Grayson gestured to his brother with his glass as Vaughn simply scowled at him in return. “Well, so old man over here has his jaw on the ground, eyes popping out of his head, kind of like those cartoons we watched as kids. I looked at Miller and said, ‘she’ll flirt with him, but only to get what she wants, then she’s gone.’ Miller, being the hopeless romantic he is, goes, ‘naw, I got twenty bucks she lasts.’ Well, joke’s on me, because guess whose wedding I’m at?”
The table burst out in a roar of laughter as Grayson reached into his back pocket and grabbed his wallet. Turning to Miller, he added, “So I guess I gotta pay up. Can you break a fifty?”
“Nope, consider it interest,” Miller said, grabbing the bill out of his hand. The laughter erupted again, and this time even Drea cracked a smile. She couldn’t help herself—she loved when her uncles played around like this, showing off who they really were. It happened so little since she mostly saw them in semi-public areas now, but this kind of fun and laughter had been all around the big house when she was growing up.
“I guess it’s my turn to speak,” Miller said, standing up. “I don’t owe anyone money, although I must say I’m really happy to see this cash since I’d written that off as a loss quite some time ago! But, as Grayson mentioned, I am the hopeless romantic of the family. I’m also the middle child, so that probably explains a lot. Anyway, twenty-seven years ago when I got married, Vaughn looked at me and told me that he hoped that laughter would be the soundtrack to our marriage. While I certainly wasn’t married for quite the length of time I had planned, laughter was certainly a daily occurrence. It was the best thing anyone could have said to us that day, and I’m here today to return the blessing. May laughter be the soundtrack to your marriage.” He lifted his glass to toast the happy couple and everyone else followed suit.
As people were finishing up their food and making their way over to Vaughn and Simone, Drea took the opportunity to slip out from the party. She wandered over to the pool, which was thankfully deserted since the bar that was usually open well into the night had been closed for the party. The towel cart had already been stocked for tomorrow’s guests, so Drea grabbed one and placed it on the pool deck to sit on while she let her legs hang into the cool water. The water felt good against her skin, and watching the ripples that came off the movement of her legs gave her a good distraction from the party.
It had been such a long week, to the point where she couldn’t believe that with everything that happened, it had only been a week. She missed Kyle fiercely, and there was a part of her that felt so hollow without him here. How had it only been three days? All she wanted was to talk to him, to say she was sorry for accusing him of doing what her uncles had said. To tell him he was right, that she didn’t want to be anywhere but here, and to tell him that they were all open to the idea of her building the spa.
Leona tossed a towel next to where Drea was sitting and it hit the pool deck with a plop. Squatting down to line herself up with the towel, she leaned a little too far forward and almost ended up in the pool. She probably would have if Drea hadn’t grabbed her arm just in time.
“Hey you,” she said, once she was sure she was steady in her seat. “Hiding out?”
“Just needed to get away.”
“How ya feeling?” Leona asked, giving her a wary look.
“Little less, ‘everyone can fuck off,’ but not quite optimistic about anything just yet,” she answered honestly. “I’m not quite ready to be done being mad at Uncle Vaughn.”
“Well, hey, that’s a start. Want a distraction?”
“Please!” she pleaded.
“Lee is finally going to admit that she loves Cullen Cruz and that he was the second best lay she’s ever had,” Dalton said, appearing out of nowhere and crouching down in between the two girls.
“Fuck you, the only feeling I have for that man is hate,” Leona responded.
“Methinks the lady doth protest too much,” Dalton said, looking at Drea. Drea didn’t need to look over at Leona to know she was rolling her eyes.
“Second best?” Drea asked.
“Yes, after me of course,” Dalton said with a smirk as Leona rolled her eyes. He magically produced some cups and a bottle of rum. He handed each girl a cup and then filled each one with a little bit of the slightly amber liquid.
Once they were taken care of, he settled himself in between them, poured himself some rum to match theirs and held up his cup in a toast. “To the losers who’ve lost you and to the lucky bastards yet to meet you.”