Chapter 43
43
The party that we’re having is absolutely not the party Seph planned – and, would you believe it, it was good old Ethan who saved the day.
Seph wanted us all to get together, to have a party on the beach, and although she arranged food and entertainment, the whole thing just fell flat.
For starters – well, there were no starters, no food at all, because the caterers didn’t show up. The entertainers – an acoustic band – did show up, but their singer had lost her voice, so she wasn’t there.
Seph was trying to keep calm but you could see it all going on behind her eyes. She looked like she might be about to burst when Ethan swept in, telling her he had thrown plenty of last-minute parties, and that he was sure he could make the best of it.
He was right. He went to a local Mexican restaurant and not only got them to agree to cater, but to bring it to the beach too. And as for the singer-less band, well, the spin he put on that was: live karaoke. Ethan was, of course, the first person to take the mic, performing an acoustic cover of ‘Toxic’ by Britney Spears that was as impressive as it was hilarious. Astoundingly, it was my dad – yes, my dad – who took to the makeshift stage next. I never thought I would see the day I would see him standing there, a mic in one hand, a taco in the other, while he covered an Elvis song. Honestly, I’ve never seen Dad like this – I’ve never seen any of this lot having fun like this. It’s like Ethan brings out the best in them and, now, it’s hard to believe I ever thought there was a chance they might not like him. They love him. And as strange as it sounds, I feel like they like me more for being with him.
The party has a more chilled-out vibe now. I’m sitting on the sand, drinking margaritas with Ethan, Chester and Seph. I’ve never really hung out with them – not in a chilled-out way – so this all feels so surreal.
I am, of course, avoiding Beau like the plague, now that I know how he really feels. He tried to talk to me earlier and I was cold with him so now he’s giving me a wide berth. I don’t know if he knows why, or if he’s guessed, or what, but he’s taking the hint. I’m avoiding Eleanor too, not for any new or specific reason, just because I really, really don’t like her.
‘So, what did you do for your stag do?’ Ethan asks Chester, genuinely curious.
‘Oh, I didn’t have one,’ Chester replies with a shrug.
‘What?’ Ethan replies. ‘Are you serious? What about you, Seph, did you not have a hen party?’
‘No,’ she says, sounding almost self-conscious now. ‘That’s not really our sort of thing.’
‘It’s any sort of thing you want it to be,’ Ethan tells them. ‘It’s just a party – one last party, to send you off into married life.’
‘It does sound quite fun, when you put it like that,’ Seph says, as though she’d never really thought about it like that.
Ethan looks at me and smiles. Oh, I can read him like a book. I give him a nod.
‘How about we throw you stag and hen parties?’ Ethan asks them. ‘I’ll take care of the boys, Lana can sort something for the girls – right, Lana?’
‘I never say no to a night out,’ I reply.
Seph lights up at the idea – yes, the same Seph who has always kept me at arm’s length. She looks at me with a smile, like she might actually want to spend time with me.
‘That does sound fun,’ she says.
‘Yes, I’m on board, EPJ,’ Chester adds.
‘Then let’s do it,’ I say.
Ethan looks at me and smiles. I love that he’s doing this for them, like he doesn’t want them to miss out on something.
Of course, this does mean that I have to now organise something for the girls, for tonight, but even I’m looking forward to it now.
The only downside is that, well, as silly as it sounds, I’m actually disappointed that I’m not going to get to spend the evening with Ethan. Oh, boy, I really am disappointed, I wish we were all going out together. Then again, me and Ethan on a night out, that’s a recipe for disaster.
I suppose it’s not only my family who are loving having Ethan around, I am too.
Of all the ways I expected this week to turn out, today really has been the most surprising one yet.