thirty | will
THIRTYWill
I have a love-hate relationship with Saturdays.
My to-do list is never-ending, but it’s a different kind of busy, with one wave of guests leaving by nine and another group checking in at three. Which means I have approximately six hours to get the cabins ready, gas up the boat motors, and mow an acre of grass.
But first, I glance out the window for the hundredth—thousandth—time to see if there’s a pink convertible parked outside Serenity.
It’s still there. For now.
It’s the ‘for now’ part I don’t want to deal with.
I wasn’t expecting to see Emberly in the treehouse last night.
But when I found her sitting on the floor, holding my little sister, it didn’t matter that she’d crossed another boundary.
Or that Cab had turned to someone else for comfort.
The only thing I felt was relief because I’m used to holding everything.
Okay. Maybe that wasn’t the only thing I felt.
I haven’t talked about my parents for a long time.
Everyone in Cedar Bridge knows our story, but I never told anyone, not even Reeve or Knox, that I’d accepted a job with an architectural firm in Milwaukee a week before the accident.
I was going to make the announcement when I came home for Easter, but there was a funeral to plan instead.
When I told Serena I was coming back to Pinehart, she wasn’t happy with my decision. She thought Lexi and Eric should take Cab, but military life isn’t known for its stability. I respect and support that my sister and brother-in-law had signed up for it, but Cab hadn’t.
You don’t have to come to everyone’s rescue, Will, she’d said.
Serena didn’t understand it that wasn’t a rescue. It was my family.
There are days I get frustrated being on call 24/7. But this is the life I chose and when I told Emberly there was nowhere else I’d rather be, it was the truth.
Cab teases me about taking my job someday, but I know she wants Pinehart to stay in the Hartley family. I do, too. So even if her dreams change, I won’t leave. I might not run the resort the way my parents did, but my roots are here. I’m not going anywhere.
“Knock knock!”
The back door swings open and my two best friends in the world come in.
The Grill closes at midnight on Friday, so Knox is running on about five hours of sleep.
His eyes are bloodshot and he stumbles over the rug like he’s been sitting at the bar instead of working behind it.
Reeve flits past him, moving so fast she reminds me of a hummingbird.
The two high school girls who clean cabins in the summer will show up in a few hours, but for now, this is my crew and I’m not ashamed to say I don’t know what I’d do without them.
Knox stops in the center of the kitchen and lifts his nose. “I don’t smell anything cooking.”
“Shhh. Cab’s still sleeping … and I’m working on it.”
“Still sleeping?” Reeve glances at her watch. “Did you have a movie night?”
I blow out a sigh. “We had a night.”
Knox grabs two cups from the sink and Reeve takes a carton of creamer out of the fridge. She won’t drink coffee unless it tastes like dessert.
I reach for the cast iron skillet hanging on the wall and bite back a groan.
“You sound like my grandpa,” Knox scoffs.
Reeve rolls her eyes. “I heard you make the exact same noise when you jumped out of the truck.”
“Volleyball injury. It was worth it, too. That last point won the game.”
Reeve steps in front of me and her gaze runs over my body. It’s a swift, clinical assessment. Triage at the scene of an emergency. Not at all like the look Emberly gave me when I wandered into the kitchen with my shirt off.
My internal temperature spikes just thinking about it.
“Did you score any points, Will?” Reeve smirks at me.
Such a comedian.
I ignore them and dump a package of precooked sausage into the pan.
Knox frowns. “He’s not on our team … wait. What are we talking about?”
“Will went horseback riding yesterday.”
Knox’s mouth opens and a word falls out. “Why?”
“Cab wanted to go.” I narrow my eyes at Reeve. “Do you want breakfast or not?”
She grins and calls my bluff. “So did Emberly and her posse.”
“You went with the Category Twos?”
I scowl at Knox. “Emberly isn’t a Category Two and they aren’t her posse.” They aren’t even her friends, although she doesn’t realize that yet.
And I’m not going to be the one to tell her.
“Emberly isn’t a Category Two?” Knox crosses his arms. “Then what is she?”
Was I really wondering what I’d do without these two?
“A guest. A guest who’s leaving in …” I glance at the fish-shaped clock on the wall, one of the many tacky gifts that my sisters and I gave to our dad on Father’s Day. “An hour.”
I hip check Knox as I give the pancake batter a quick stir. “Can we focus on breakfast now?”
Knox shrugs. “I can.”
“Fortunately, I’m really good at multitasking.” Reeve is looking for the sugar and I slide the canister across the counter. “What happened with Iris last night?”
“Bright called. She can’t come home until Thursday.”
I don’t have to explain what this means. They know how close Cab and Brighton are. They also know Bright’s the one in charge of birthday parties.
“Oh, man.” Knox groans. “What are you going to do?”
“I was hoping you’d have some ideas.” I’m kidding. Sort of. I pour the batter on the griddle and just to mess with Knox, I give his pancake bunny ears.
“Can you postpone it a few days?” Reeve ventures.
“She already sent the invitations out.”
“It’s her thirteenth. That’s a pretty big deal.”
I stare at Knox. How does he know this?
“Did you ask Cab what she wants to do? Knox is right. It calls for more than pizza and cake.”
Knox tips his head. “Sorry? What was that? Did I just hear someone say Knox is right?”
Reeve ignores him. “I’m taking out a few big groups this week, so I’ll barely make it to the party in time, but I could try to come up with some ideas before I leave tomorrow.”
“Me, too.” Knox chugs his coffee like it’s a glass of lemonade. “What’s the theme?”
Really? He knows about themes, too?
“We haven’t quite figured that out yet.”
“Whatever you do, she’ll love it. This is Iris we’re talking about,” Reeve says.
“She was pretty upset, Ree.”
It’s times like this when I feel bad that Cab got stuck with me.
I flip the pancakes onto a plate and carry them over to the table. Reeve sets my coffee down and we take our places at the table.
Knox makes eye contact with me, deliberately lops off the bunny ears, and pops them into his mouth.
“Are you full this week, Will?” Reeve begins to cut her pancakes into little squares. After that, she’ll dip them into a pool of maple syrup and eat them one at a time.
See. We know too much about each other.
“I had a cancellation last night. Three of the Thompson’s kids have the flu, so they decided to stay home.”
“We need more syrup.” Knox holds up the empty bottle as proof.
“That’s because you drown instead of dip,” Reeve tells him.
I roll my eyes and head to the pantry for a replacement. By the time I come back, the pink convertible is gone.