Chapter 36
Summer
After my morning shower, I take some painkillers.
The pain is tolerable, but since I’ll be working all day, it can’t hurt.
Zander drives us to downtown Charleston once we’re ready to go.
The wedding is an all-day event under tents in a park, and I’ll be helping coordinate things from the security tent with Nick.
Since it’s supposed to be hotter than Hades today, we are switching our guys every hour so they can cool down and hydrate.
The large main tent has cooling fans and misters inside, and we have a portable AC unit in our little tent.
Finn employees are wearing light linen shirts and pants instead of the usual tack gear or suits today.
The guys look handsome in their white shirts and sand-colored pants with their summer tans.
During Alex’s break, I catch up with him, since I haven’t seen him since the weekend at his beach house. “I have been helping Reesa’s family prepare for the start of the debutante sessions. Her family does a lot of classes and luncheons every summer.”
“Oh wow. That must be a lot of work.”
“Yes, it is, especially this year. Since their youngest daughter is taking part, they had to bring in other people to carry out many of the functions so as not to appear biased.”
“Is there a competition or something?” I ask in confusion.
“Not formally, no, but everyone always considers one debutante the belle of the ball, so to speak. It is considered a boon for that family and opens doors for her for priority matches and such.”
“Oh, I see. They don’t want to risk someone calling foul if they run everything this season.”
“Exactly.”
“So, how are you doing? Have you taken any breaks yet? Gone swimming or gotten any downtime?”
“No need to worry about me, Summer,” he smiles.
Hmm. “From your lack of answer, I’m taking that as a no.” Alex needs to remember he’s not an adult yet. “Do you have plans tomorrow?”
“No. Not that I can think of.”
“Then tomorrow is a relaxation day. Tell me your three favorite things to do.”
“Oh.” He shifts in his seat and looks at the grass. “I guess learning, swimming and hanging out with my friends.”
“Okay, you are coming to my house tomorrow morning then. I’ll see you at 8am.”
Alex looks shocked, but nods. “Very well.”
“Now get back out there and I’ll see you later,” I say, shooing him.
He shakes his head with a smile and heads out. When I turn back to the screens, Nick is smirking. “What?”
“You may be the only person who takes care of him anymore, Shortie.”
“That’s…kind of sad,” I reply.
“He’s been taking care of himself for a long time.”
“I need to make a point of checking in with him more often. I should be done with the summer schedule soon, so I can tell him when he’s gonna be having fun.”
Paramedics assist several elderly people with heatstroke by the afternoon.
Nick has been muttering all day about idiots wanting an outdoor wedding in the south in the middle of summer.
Even with our A/C unit, it’s warm. Against the wishes of the groom’s family, the out-of-town bride was adamant about having an outdoor wedding.
By day’s end, the heat has exhausted everyone, including the remaining guests. Most people left right after the ceremony, and the bride was complaining she didn’t get a proper reception in one breath and complaining about the heat in the next.
Sunday morning, I’m up and ready for the herbal medicine course Alex purchased for me. I've got my laptop, notepads, pens, and snacks on the coffee table.
At 8am sharp, Alex arrives, and I bring him into the living room. “Welcome to the study of herbal medicine,” I say. “Get comfy on the couch. There are notepads if you want to write anything down.”
Alex’s lips part before an approving smile breaks out. A look of excitement glitters in his eyes as he sits down and grabs a notepad. I fill a coffee mug for him, then hit play on the first video and get absorbed into the world of plants.
We get through 4 videos before lunch. Making wraps together gives us a chance to compare notes and talk about what we found interesting. Zander joins us at the island, and we tell him all about the course as we eat.
After lunch, Seb and the rest of the guys show up for the second part of my plan: capture the flag, but with water guns.
Seb was kind enough to pick up the guns for me this morning after I called him last night.
I quickly grab a blank sheet of paper, tear it into six strips, and write each of our names down and drop them into a bowl.
Zander draws the first three names to make up team one, with the rest forming team two.
We head outside as Nick and E each carry a tote and flags around to the back deck.
“Alright everybody. We have the whole yard to use today. Since there’s only one hose out here, the totes are to be filled with water and carried to your home base.
You can choose any location in the yard to plant your flag as long as you can reach it.
If you’re hit, you’re out for 3 minutes, and then you can rejoin the game.
It’s the best two out of three games. The first team to capture the opposing team’s flag wins each round.
You need to be hit directly with water. A droplet or a splash doesn't count. Any questions?”
Seb is bouncing, and Alex is smiling, but there are no questions. After telling the guys to fill up the totes, I inform them we have 10 minutes to choose a spot to secure the flag before the hunt begins.
I pull my teammates, Nick and E, aside and run towards the back of the yard as Alex and his team head around the house. “I have a great idea for the flag,” I say when we’re far away from the house.
“What is it?” E asks.
“If you guys can keep a lookout, I’m going to climb the back side of the oak tree and tie it to one of the higher branches. Maybe one of you can head towards the fruit trees and pretend to look around for a place to stash the flag while I work.”
“You’re devious,” E smiles. “I’ll go dig around behind the fruit trees. Nick, you keep an eye out that no one is looking from the other team.”
I smile and slip behind the enormous trunk and start climbing.
E goes right, moving around behind the trees, while Nick moves between us where he can still see the whole yard.
I’m pretty sure no one can see me in the tree with all the leaves and moss hanging down, but I keep my body hidden, just in case.
When I’m done, I go through the trees closer to E before walking out onto the grass.
Nick smirks at me, then moves the tote behind some bushes.
“Let’s position ourselves at each end of the deck,” E suggests. “We can hit them as they come around the house. They won’t stand a chance.”
We agree and fill up our water guns, then get into position. Nick flips the table on its side to offer me extra protection, then moves off into the woods as E takes the far corner behind the bbq. I check my phone and see there’s one minute left to go. This is gonna be fun.
I wait quietly with my gun at the ready until I hear a twig snap nearby. Someone is coming. I see dark hair creeping slowly forward over the tabletop. I’m small enough that you can’t see me crouched behind it. I smile and wait until Seb has cleared the length of the table, then blast his back.
“Son of a…” he says and looks over at me. I wink as he sits down in the grass and checks the time.
I hear someone grumble from the other side of the deck and see E has gotten Bay too. I give E a thumbs up and motion for us to move out. We each stick to our side of the yard and work our way around the house. I see Nick stepping out of the trees as he motions for me to come to him.
“Alex is in the woods on the far side, heading for the backyard.”
“Awesome. Bay and Seb are both out.”
“Go find the flag. I’ll keep an eye out for Alex.”
“Okay,” I nod and start searching. I think the best bet is the garage area because Alex was in the woods over there, so I run that way.
E comes around the corner, so I point to the deck, and he nods.
I see nothing on the right side, so I swing around back with my gun raised.
I hear footsteps and quickly crouch down, but it’s Nick.
I look at the woodpile but don’t see the flag and am about to move on when I notice a piece of lumber is crooked on the pile.
Sneaky people. I lift the board and find the flag underneath.
“Got it,” I tell Nick. He turns just as Alex comes out of the woods behind him.
He raises his gun to hit Nick, but I wave the flag at him.
We walk back out to the driveway as I yell game one is over. E is sitting on the deck with a wet spot on his t-shirt. Bay and Seb come around the far side of the house as I wave the flag at them. “Dammit Sunshine. I thought we hid it so well. We want the backyard this time.”
“Okay,” I agree. “You all have to stay out front here while I go get our flag, then. We may want to reuse our hiding spot later, so you can’t know where it is.”
“Fair,” Bay shrugs.
“Nick, can you grab our tote while I get the flag?” He nods and follows me around to the far side of the house and heads straight for the tote.
He picks it up, and I walk beside him back to the front porch.
“Alright, you guys grab your tote, then we can start the 10 minute timer. Seb runs to the side door of the garage and goes inside to get their tote. Once he’s back, we start the countdown again.
” E and I follow Nick towards the garage as he sets our tote under the wisteria.
“Where’s the flag?” E asks.
“Still in the tree,” I smile.
E chuckles and smiles at me. “I was right, devious. So, what’s the strategy this time?”
“Stay together and go into the woods as deep as we can,” Nick says.
We agree, and I follow Nick after topping up my gun, with E taking up the rear.
This time Bay gets E from behind in the woods, but I get him right after.
I tap Nick on the shoulder when we pass the house.
There’s movement on the deck from Seb, so we know there’s only Alex left.
We circle the entire backyard, but there’s no obvious sign of the flag.
The game dissolves from there. We all get hit with water at some point trying to find the flags. Nick finally finds theirs under the bbq after an hour.
Seb claims cheating, and a water gun fight ensues from there.
I grab the hose when my gun runs out and chase the guys around the yard, and Nick protects me when the guys try to grab the hose.
I’m laughing so hard that E gets the hose from me at one point, and Seb holds me hostage as E douses me.
I don’t even care. I’m having so much fun.
After getting completely drenched, we sit in the sun on the grass while Zander brings us iced tea. Alex asks where our flag was since they couldn’t find it. I get up with a smirk and walk over to the live oak. I climb up, grab the flag, and wave it to the guys on my way back.
“You did cheat, Sunshine,” Seb exclaims.
“How?” I question.
“You…you…I don’t know, but you did,” Seb splutters.
“Nope. You could reach it by climbing the tree, and I simply didn’t move it after the first game. Neither is against the rules.”
“You’re sneaky,” Bay smiles.
“Maybe,” I shrug. “So the last part of the day is dinner and a movie. Everybody up for that?” I ask.
They happily agree, all looking relaxed and content. I ask Alex to pick a food truck for dinner. There is one near the school that looks good, so we agree to meet up there at 5:30pm.
Nick, Seb, and E leave to shower and change at the condo.
Since Bay and I are drenched, we take turns showering while Alex only needs to change his wet shirt.
We invite Zander and Troy to join us for dinner and the movie.
I drive Zander in my Jeep as we follow Alex and Bay in his SUV to the food truck.
This one offers sweet and savory waffles, and it’s very delicious.
Once we’ve eaten, we drive to the movie theater.
There’s a new action movie playing, so we buy tickets, popcorn and sodas before finding seats.
A text from Alex arrives later that night, thanking me for a wonderful day and saying he feels rejuvenated. Goal accomplished.