I blinked hard and glanced at her. “You’re fucking kidding. Me too. A
woman
called in a complaint on us. Anonymously. Ours was some bullshit about no gloves with the fruit. All of our bartenders are religious about that.”
“Really? Wait a minute…
Selfish Bitch
?”
I blew out a heavy breath. Hard to deny Hannah’s theory with all signs pointing there.
She shook her head. “So she’s stepping up the attacks.” There was no question in Hannah’s tone. Little room for doubt in my mind either, even though I’d tried to give Madison the benefit of it. Two hits in one day: Hannah’s biz and mine? Even if it made no sense whatsoever, someone was out to hurt me and Hannah. A jealous ex was the most likely explanation. Could it be another ex of mine or Hannah’s? Sure. But Madison was the only ex in play. “Apparently. Now she’s going after our businesses.”
“What’s next?” She let out a dry laugh. “An IRS audit?”
“Bite your tongue, woman. That would be a nightmare.”
She crossed her arms. “Maybe we should send the inspectors and auditors crawling up her ass. Two can play at her game.”
I exhaled out a breath, grinning at the fight Hannah had in her. “I like the advice our inspector gave this morning. Keep doing our thing as well as we’ve been doing it, and let her waste her time.”
She stared at me for a few beats. “You always take the high road. Is it only me that wants to punch her lights out?”
I coughed out a laugh. “Oh no. I’d love to give her a piece of my mind. But I won’t battle it out on her level. Let her exhaust and frustrate herself. Our time will come.”
On a heavy sigh, Hannah crossed her arms. “Days on end of being busy and then being randomly hit by her unnecessary drama is stressing me out. I can’t wait for all of this to be over.”
I fought a smile. “Look in the center console.”
Hannah tilted her head. “Nice segue.”
“Just open it. Trust me, it’ll help.”
She narrowed her eyes, but leaned over and opened the lid backward. Ava stuck her snout into the opening.
“No, no, girl.” Hannah laughed and gently tugged on her collar. Then she reached in and pulled out the envelope I’d stashed in there.
“What is it?”
“Are you always this bad with surprises? This one’s good for a change.”
She stared at the envelope.
I snorted, amused with her suspicion. “
Open it
.”
Finally, she lifted the flap and pulled out the two airline tickets. She gave a couple of heavy blinks and stared at the tickets. “We going somewhere?”
I smiled, returning my gaze back to the road. “We
did
talk about private-island therapy. I booked us a week-long vacation in the Seychelles.”
“Oh my God!” She squealed and Ava barked.
“So I guess that’s a ‘yes?’”
“Yes!”
The tension in the car dissipated almost immediately. Amazing what the promise of ocean and sand will do for a person. I wasn’t the only one in the car who needed a complete break, away from the stress.
I frowned. “Wait. Do you have a passport?”
She nodded. “We traveled abroad to France during a cooking internship.”
“Really? What was that like?”
“Incredible. We were there for two weeks. Lived in the homes of our host chefs.”
The conversation went into the experience she had during her internship and all the things we planned to do on our upcoming vacation.
The last few miles of the trip drifted into a comfortable silence. I glanced over at her.
She stared out the front window with a faraway gaze.
My brows furrowed. “You okay?”
“Yeah. Just a little nervous, I guess.”
“You’ve been around my sisters a lot. And my parents a few times now.”
She shrugged. “I know. But this is bigger. I won’t be around your parents and friends in
your
house for only few hours. This is
their
house and their friends for a whole weekend.”
I shook my head. “Don’t worry. This afternoon we’ll be busy setting up for tomorrow. Tonight will be laid back, and I’ll be with you the whole time. Tomorrow, we’ll be up to our eyeballs with party details.”
“Yeah, you’re right. Guess it just helps to talk about it. I made it bigger in my head than it needed to be.”
I gave her a pointed look. “Don’t. My family shouldn’t be a cause of stress. They’re all human, and they love me. By extension, my parents love you. And my sisters already do. Hell, I don’t even know what I’m saying. You’re already one of the family: Michaelson by adoption.”
She smiled, happiness replacing the concerned expression she’d had only moments ago.
A few minutes later, we pulled up to the gate, then continued through, curving along the driveway. I didn’t say a word, wanting her to experience the estate for herself. But when I glanced over, her eyes had widened. She rolled the window down and leaned forward to stick her head partially out, forcing Ava off her lap and scrambling into the back seat.
Hannah’s mouth slowly dropped open as we pulled under the portico. Even though I’d grown up here, the grounds still took my breath away too. Well aware of what others lacked and we had in abundance, it always humbled and amazed me to take in the beauty of our home.
Built along the lines of a stately mansion, the front had four columns and wings that sprawled out on either side. Wider than it was deep, the house had an imposing presence to a visitor unused to the architectural style.
Eyes wide and blinking rapidly, Hannah opened her door, stepped out, and craned her neck, sweeping her gaze across the east wing.
“Hannah, watch” —Ava bounded out the door and bolted off, barreling around the side of the house— “out for Ava.”
But little Ava wasn’t brave enough to abandon us altogether. She swooped back into view in a wide arc, barking once at us before disappearing again.
I ran after Ava, shouting, “That pool isn’t fenced!”
Hannah tore off beside me as we raced to restrain the animal I hadn’t warned anyone we were bringing. Hence the crate. And the long-forgotten leash.
Ava didn’t appear again. By the time we made it past the side of the house and through the rose garden, I heard a loud splash.
The pool area near the barbeque was already filled with people: my sisters and Jason, my parents, even a few neighbors who’d been invited over for a casual gathering before we needed to set up for the afternoon. But all their attention centered on the pool.
Apparently Ava was a natural swimmer, or a survivalist who hadn’t yet found the way out. I ran over to the end where the steps were and clapped my hands. “Come on, Ava. Over here.”
Hannah appeared by my side and braced her hands on her knees while she sucked in oxygen. After a couple of gulps of air, she spoke between breaths, “Hoping you don’t have to go for a swim?”
Ava swam our way, paddling from the center of the Olympic-length pool. I glanced up at Hannah, noting the others were outside of earshot. “Oh really, smartass? Who’s the one who gawked at my parents’ house instead of watching the dog?
You
should be the one swimming.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You wouldn’t dare. What happened to my knight, lifting me over puddles?”
I ran my fingers up her calf. “He’s far more interested in seeing you make a big splash.”
The smart girl sat down on the cool decking. Which meant in order for me to dump her, I had to stand up, scoop her up, and hoist her into the pool. All a lot of effort for a little bit of fun.
And so fucking worth it.
Hannah squealed, kicking when I snatched her up, but I had a solid grip on her. The crowd gathered at the corner of the pool caught wind of my agenda and started cheering me on. Mom covered her eyes. Ava started barking.
I swung Hannah toward the pool. “One.” Then swung back, over the decking.
She growled. “Put me down this instant.”
“Two.”
She locked her hands around my neck. “If you let go, you’re coming with me.”
I grinned. “Three.” I hesitated on the last swing, catching her off guard enough for her to loosen her grip. Then I tossed her in.
She flew through the air, arms flailing, safely far enough away from Ava’s position, and splashed into the water. I stood with my hands on my hips, grinning.
Hannah surfaced, sputtering, but with a big smile on her face, and I laughed.
Ava redirected her paddling, heading toward Hannah. She caught the puppy, cradling her with one arm. “That’s right, girl. It’s just a bunch of water, all kinds of fun.”
While Hannah and Ava were preoccupied with their water-soaked reunion, I backed up a few steps, took a running head start, and leaped into the air, pulling my legs up to my chest. “Cannonball!” The last thing I saw before hitting water was the crowd scattering away from the splash zone with widened eyes.
Waterlogged jeans made for heavy going, but I swam underwater over to my girls. Hannah’s toes barely touched the bottom, and Ava’s four legs were free and paddling again. I broke through in front of Hannah, wrapping my arms around her.
A huge smile curved her lips. “You’re crazy.”
“And you love it.”
She wrapped her arms around my shoulders and gave me a quick kiss. “Yeah, I do.”
After a few minutes of reckless splashing and laughing, we climbed out of the pool. Beach towels were stacked in a pile on the nearest lounger. I scrambled over, unfolded one for Hannah, and bundled her up. Her hair was slicked back except for a few strands stuck to her cheek. I wiped them back behind her ears.
“You look great wet.”
She side-eyed me, replying under her breath, “You’ve seen me wet before.”
“Not fully clothed,” I countered.
Her brows arched. “And a fully clothed wet is better?”
“Hell no. But that was fun. And besides, it only makes me want to get you out of them.”
Squeals caught my attention. Ava had wandered into the admiring group and shook out her fur, spraying them.
“I’ve got her.” I rushed over and scooped up the little swimmer. “We’ll go shower and change. ’Bout an hour?”
Dad glanced at his watch. “A little longer, we’ll start grilling at 1:00 p.m. No rush.”
“Sounds great.” I scanned everyone’s amused faces. “Sorry for the messy entrance. For those of you who haven’t been formerly introduced, the woman I nearly drowned is Hannah, my girlfriend. I’m sure she’s thoroughly embarrassed and wants to make a quick exit, maybe set my hair on fire in retaliation. The little one is Ava.” I held up a paw, waving.
Mom laughed. “Be sure to bring Ava back. We need to show her some love when she’s a bit dryer.”
I wrapped a free arm around Hannah’s towel-covered shoulders. “Done. And feel free to gossip. We’ll be gone long enough for you to talk about us and all the neighbors within a two-block radius.”
We escaped to a fresh round of laughter as I tucked a drenched Hannah closer into my side and lowered my mouth to her ear. “That leaves us plenty of time to hose off Ava and blow her dry for a crate-time nap. Plus a whole extra hour for me to hose you off, get you wet all over again…maybe some blowing. Then we’ll get to the drying.”
She snorted and broke away, racing back around the side of the house toward the front. I put Ava down, and we chased after her. And as the wind hit my face, I thought that our weekend away was off to a perfect start.
At 1:06 p.m., I ushered a blushing and thoroughly satisfied woman back down to the pool area. Hannah had begged me to take the sleeping Ava back out, since the dog would be crated at night, and of course, I caved to her and Mom’s earlier request for puppy time.
And, after the lousy morning with dual surprise health inspections, I welcomed anything to distract us into enjoying ourselves.
We hadn’t taken two steps onto the patio before I spotted Dad in front of the barbeque. Armed with tongs in one hand and a metal spatula in the other, he wore a black grilling apron and a white chef’s hat.
“Mom make you wear that thing?” Grinning, I pointed at his head.
He glanced over at Mom, winking. “Maybe.”
A breeze blew some of the smoke our way, and I coughed. Then I pulled Hannah away from the dissipating cloud, approaching the tables and chairs that were shaded with umbrellas. I took the leash from Hannah and tied it around the leg of the nearest lounge chair while Hannah poured a glass of water into an empty dog bowl she’d carried. The boundary gave the dog plenty of room to reach us where we sat at the far end of the tables, but kept her out of danger and the risk of getting underfoot.
Kendall handed me an open beer as she walked by. “Hannah, we’re serving up mai tais. You game?”
Hannah nodded. “Yeah, I’ll try one.”
Kiki blinked, moving to a chair across from us, out of the sun. “You’ve never had a mai tai?”
“Nope.” Hannah said the word with a popping “P” on the end.