Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
A lice stood at the edge of the pool, her fingers tapping rhythmically against the side of her leg. She took a deep breath, inhaling the crisp winter air that mingled with the salty tang of the ocean coming up over the cliffs. Everything about the day should feel wrong—after all, it was December, and they were hosting a pool party—but somehow, it didn’t.
The electric blue of the pool stood in stark contrast to the surrounding landscape, a vibrant oasis amidst the rustic charm of The Starlight Manor. The holiday-themed floaties—Santa, a candy cane raft, and a nearly life-sized reindeer—bobbed gently in the water, their bright colors adding a playful touch.
The heaters had been blowing for hours, because it was almost Christmastime, and that meant it certainly couldn’t be categorized as warm.
“Mom,” Charlie called from where he stood near the outdoor kitchen. “How many mocktails do you think we’ll need?”
Alice smiled, the ache of distance from her twins easing as she looked at her son. “Double what you think,” she said, raising her voice to be heard. The teens had gone a little bananas for her mocktails, which only made Alice go to the store more often to pick up the sparkling water she needed to make them.
Mandie joined Charlie, and they started setting out the plastic cups. The two of them looked so at ease together, which was a complete one-eighty from when they’d arrived yesterday afternoon.
A lot had changed since then, actually, and Alice felt like the weight of the world had been lifted from her shoulders once the electrical boxes had been fixed. The mystery of The Starlight Manor explained.
“Is everything ready?” Kristen asked, coming to stand beside Alice. She planted her hands on her hips and surveyed the scene like a queen monitoring her kingdom. Her presence was always steady and reassuring, a grounding force for Alice.
“Almost,” Alice said, glancing back toward the outdoor kitchen where Arthur had taken command of the grill. “Arthur’s got the burgers and hot dogs going. Mandie and Charlie are making drinks, and I’m about to set out the snacks.”
“You’ve outdone yourself,” Kristen said, patting Alice’s shoulder. “Really.”
Alice breathed out a laugh, some of the tension leaving her frame. “Well, we haven’t started yet,” she said. “Give it an hour, and someone will be crying.”
“I hope it’s not you,” Kristen said, giving Alice a hug. She’d received many hugs from Kristen, but this one felt especially needed. She’d enjoyed her time in the manor with her friends, even though sometimes they just turned on a movie and didn’t speak.
In fact, that was the best kind of friendship to Alice.
Kristen went to sit with Jamie and Grace, who’d taken up residence on a pair of lounge chairs near the pool, while Robin bustled around with bags of potato chips. Aaron and Paul distributed towels to each person, then started draping them over the empty chairs and loungers too.
Clara and Lena came outside, both of them wearing their swimming suits, and Clara nodded over to Billie, Ian, and Parker. “Look, Lena. Aunt Jean is right there next to Parker. Looks like she saved you a seat.”
Jean had definitely saved that lounger for Lena, and the young woman lumbered that way. Clara met Alice’s eyes and sighed. “She’s got a new swimming suit, and I hope everyone will comment on how amazing it is.”
Alice smiled and looked over to Lena. Her suit boasted the brightest pink the world had to offer—Lena’s favorite color. “I’ll make a big deal of it when I talk to her,” Alice said.
“Thank you.” Clara picked up a handful of sour cream and onion chips. “She likes Billie and Parker, but she says she’s not sure about Ian.”
“I think El and Aaron feel the same way.” Alice grinned as Clara did, but she was able to tear her attention away from that small group to where AJ sat with Asher and Matt, Kelli and Shad. They seemed to have made up just fine, and Alice sure was glad of that.
“You waiting on anything else?” Eloise asked, and Alice turned toward her.
“My own bravery?”
El smiled and linked her arm through Alice’s. “I watched you with your twins,” she said. “And tried to take notes, because I knew I’d need to have someone to look to with Billie and Grace.”
“You should’ve picked Robin,” Alice said.
El just shook her head. “The teens love you.”
“I’m sure,” Alice said dryly. She took a deep breath and then blew it all out. “Okay,” she called, because the pool party just needed to get started. Once it did, then it could end.
Her attitude surprised her, because Alice typically loved beach day in the summertime—and a pool party at a ritzy house was nearly the same thing.
“We’re going to start with some floatie races,” she called. “Everyone who wanted to participate signed up during breakfast this morning.” She turned to pick up the sign-up sheet. When she faced the pool again, both Robin and El were shuttling people closer to her.
Gratitude streamed through her, and Alice started to relax. “Okay,” she said again. “I’ve made a bracket for the races. You can choose your floatie from the several we have.” She glanced around and the teens and adults gathered near her.
Of them all, she thought Liam wore the most determined look, which made a smile widen across her face. He was a cop, though, and they tended to be a little more competitive, a little more alpha. No wonder Julia liked him.
“We’ll go in pairs, and the winner of each round advances to the next.” She held up the paper, not really expecting people to be able to see her hand-drawn bracket. “So up first.” She looked at the paper, a hint of happiness bursting through her. “Liam and Aaron.”
“Oh, boy,” Liam yelled, and he took a few steps away to start swinging his arms back and forth. He rolled his shoulders next as his boss simply stood on the patio and grinned at him. “It’s on.”
Aaron laughed then, as did several others, and Alice cleared her throat. “Whoever is the youngest gets to pick their floatie first.”
Liam had been in their class in high school, so Alice didn’t know who exactly was younger. Aaron raised his hand and said, “I’ll be fifty in February.”
Liam rolled his neck, still stretching out as if this pool floatie race might hurt him if he didn’t. “I’m not fifty until June.”
Aaron bounced on the balls of his feet, clearly going to get into this now too. “Pick your poison, deputy.”
Liam grinned and moved over to the end of the pool where all of the floaties had been pushed. He looked at the ring, the raft, and the reindeer, then turned back to Alice. “Do you have to be on it? Or can you use it as a floatation device?”
All eyes came back to her. “You and the floatie have to get from one side of the pool to the other,” she said coolly.
“I’ll take this here Santa circle.” Liam bent down and plucked it from the pool.
Aaron joined him. “I’ll take the reindeer.”
No one had successfully mounted the reindeer for longer than three seconds, and Alice honestly had no idea if Aaron was taking this seriously or not. It was a Christmas pool floatie race, so she sincerely hoped he wasn’t.
“Everyone to the sides,” Alice said. “Cheer for our racers, and—” She consulted her paper again. “Billie and Laurel are racing next.”
Alice moved to the far end of the pool while Aaron and Liam completed their pre-race warm-ups. “Ready?” she called, and Aaron crouched like he’d explode off the side of the pool, hoping to win Olympic gold. “Three, two, one, go!” she yelled.
Aaron did, in fact, leap into the pool, him and the reindeer flying through the air. Liam tossed his floatie out onto the water, and then dove after it.
Cheers and hollers started from the group, with Grace yelling, “Come on, Dad! You got this!” and Billie whistling through her teeth.
Ian called, “Go, Dad! You can beat ‘im!” which made Alice’s heart so happy.
Aaron came up first, the bulky reindeer bobbing too much for him to make much headway. But he managed to muscle it behind his head, and he held onto it with both strong arms. Then he started kicking in a backstroke way, making good progress toward the side of the pool where Alice stood.
Liam came up about halfway across the pool, his head poking up from the center of the Santa ring. How he’d done that, Alice would never know. She wasn’t exactly the most athletic person. But Liam and Aaron sure were, and as Liam started to kick in a front stroke way, she knew she’d started with the right people.
The encouragement and yelling continued, the noise level through the roof, as both men tried to get to the end of the pool first. Liam could lift up the front of his floatie, which reduced the drag, and he started to pull ahead of Aaron, who’s bulky reindeer kept trying to push him back to the starting line.
The Santa circle got pushed up onto the deck near Alice’s feet. Liam slapped the pool tiles there, then shot out of the pool with a triumphant yell. He raised both hands above his head as he dripped and splashed water everywhere, and the group went wild.
Alice started to laugh and laugh. She was so glad she’d started with this, because this—plus lunch and mocktails—could be the whole party, and people would love it.
As Liam hugged his son, Aaron reached the end of the pool with Rudolph. Alice wrote Liam’s name on the bracket sheet; Billie chose the candy cane raft for her floatie of choice, and Laurel took the Santa ring. Alice wouldn’t be shocked if Rudolph sat out for the rest of the races, because Aaron had just shown how difficult he was to manhandle through the water.
“Okay,” Alice called. “Settle down. Settle down, now.”
“Quiet!” Arthur yelled from a few paces away in the outdoor kitchen, and Alice tossed him a grateful smile. People actually did quiet then, and Alice looked across the length of the pool to where Billie clutched the oversized candy cane raft to her chest while Laurel had the Santa ring hanging lazily over her forearm.
“Ready,” she yelled down to them. “Three, two, one, go!”
Billie tossed her raft out into the pool the way Liam had, then she turned around and jogged back a few paces.
“Come on, Bills,” Ian called. “Don’t let her beat you!”
Laurel jumped into the pool with her floatie, clearly not intending to use it at all. She just needed to get it and herself across the pool.
As the candy cane raft bobbed with the movement of the water, Billie ran at it. Pretty fast too, and Alice’s heart stopped for a moment. The mothers in the group had spent weeks telling their little children not to run on the pool deck. It was slippery when wet, and no one wanted to go to the emergency room for Christmas.
Billie launched herself into the pool while everyone cheered, and she landed near the edge of the raft. Her forward momentum moved her through the water—and right past Laurel. She then employed a similar tactic as Liam, leaning on the back of the raft and lifting most of it out of the water.
Grace moved along the edge of the pool with her. “Keep going, Bills!” she yelled. “Only a little further. Fifteen feet. Ten…five…you’re there! Throw the raft up!” She jumped up and down and clapped as Billie pushed the candy cane raft up onto the pool deck and slapped the tiles the same way Liam had.
Billie gasped and labored for air, but Alice could not stop smiling. Ian came over and hauled her out of the pool, hugging and congratulating her while everyone else continued to cheer for Laurel.
She finally made it with her one-armed ring-floatie, and she too congratulated Billie on her win.
The races continued, until finally, it came down to Liam and Charlie. They’d both used the same floatie—the Santa circle, which Charlie chose again, as he was far younger than Liam.
“I guess I’ll take the raft,” Liam said, picking up the bigger item and squeezing it like he could test for air pressure that way. The trash talk from the crowd started, and Alice felt like she’d lost control of this beast already.
Arthur hadn’t participated in the races, and he had all the hamburgers and hot dogs ready. They’d eat right after this, and then Alice had found a volleyball net in the pool house, and she planned to simply let people do that—or not—make mocktails, and enjoy the winter sunshine and heating elements in the deck roofing.
“Ready,” she yelled, and Charlie crouched. Liam poised the raft above his head, the front and back ends bowing outward. “Three, two, one, go!”
Charlie was young and agile, but Liam had muscles and sheer athleticism. They both threw their floaties into the pool and went after them, and they came up out of the water evenly.
Alice wasn’t sure Charlie had the gas to beat Liam, not when it came to kicking or stroking. Robin stood on one corner of the pool, with Eloise on the other, and Alice hoped she wouldn’t have to be the deciding vote when the two men made it here.
Then, somehow, Charlie’s ring slipped under him and spurted out the back—the wrong way. A groan moved through the crowd, because he’d have to go back and get it.
He turned on a dime, but that left the win for Liam. He slid his raft onto the deck and propelled himself out of the pool too, clearly the winner. Instead of bellowing and prancing like he’d done last time, he started clapping and calling for Charlie to, “Don’t give up! You’ve got it.”
Charlie retrieved his ring and finished the race to plenty of accolades and support. That somehow made Alice love her son and her friends even more, and she hugged him, wet as he was, when he finally emerged from the pool.
Then she turned to Liam. “That makes you, Liam Coldwater, our official floatie race winner!”
Everyone whooped and hollered for him, and Alice turned to get out the prize she’d gotten for such a thing. She pulled out an oversized pair of Christmas tree sunglasses and showed them around to everyone on both sides of the pool.
“For the winner,” she declared, handing them to Liam. He laughed as he slid them on and modeled them for everyone. He was such a good sport, and he sure seemed to get along with everyone.
“All right,” Arthur called. “Time to eat.”
The spotlight left Alice, and she faded into the background as the activity moved from poolside to the outdoor kitchen and then the loungers and tables where people ate.
She waited until almost everyone had food, and then she got herself a hamburger and some potato chips. She spotted a seat at a table with Robin and Duke, Kristen and Jean and Rueben, and she headed that way. “Can I sit here?”
“I saved it for you, dear,” Kristen said with a smile.
Alice sank into the seat. “Thank you.”
“That was amazing,” Robin said, grinning. “Thank you so much, Alice.”
“It’s a pool party,” she said.
“But it was amazing,” Jean said.
Alice took a bite of her burger, and she decided to accept their praise. The floatie races had been amazing. She did make a delicious mocktail. She could throw a good party for all ages.
And she loved her friends, so she reached across the table and squeezed Robin’s hand. Then gave Kristen a side-hug and nodded to Jean. “Thanks, you guys,” she said. She glanced around the deck and patio, where all of them—except Ginny and Bob, who couldn’t come this weekend—hung out.
“This has been amazing,” she said. “Even with the electrical weirdness.”
“Best Christmas ever,” Robin said.
“Best Christmas ever,” Alice, Jean, and Kristen echoed back to her. Then they all laughed together, and that made Alice ridiculously happy too.