Page 23 of The Summer Club
Martin eyed Andi over Hugh’s bent head. “Easy, sailor.”
The four had barely talked since the night before. After the disastrous dinner followed by Tish’s swift exit, Sydney had disappeared. They’d heard her crying into the phone to her fiancé, James, back in New York. Hugh and Martin had gone for a long drive and not returned until after dark, the only evidence being late-night footfalls down the hall and the click of the door handle. Andi, after her run-in with Nate, had been the only family member who’d managed to take the first-night-of-vacation swim. The bracing cold of the saltwater had been a balm to her singed senses, and she’d floated on her back in the shallow water as the sky gave way to purples and grays, and the first sliver of a crescent moon appeared overhead. Floating in the ocean was her favorite thing to do every summer—ever since she was a little girl and their father had taught her how—and it had calmed her then just as it had now. Only when she remembered that the sharks tended to feed at nightfall did she jerk upright from her repose and wade quickly back to shore. She’d gone to bed restless and after a fitful sleep had woken with a headache. Nothing about their first night together at Riptide was how it was supposed to go.
As soon as her parents went down to the beach that morning she’d gone looking for her siblings. Their parents may have wanted “to talk,” but the kids needed to first. Now having rounded everyone up, at Hugh’s suggestion they’d gotten into his Jeep and gone into town. Apparently, Hugh couldn’t talk without first wetting his gullet.
The bartender set the four shots of Patrón down in front of them. It was late morning on a gorgeous beach day, and here were the four of them in a dark Main Street tavern.
Sydney sniffed the tequila and wrinkled her nose. “My wedding is ruined.”
“At least you have a partner you love who wants to marry you,” Andi countered.
Hugh stared into his shot. “We don’t even know who our father is.”
Martin turned to all of them and raised his glass. “To missing biological fathers, ruined weddings, and half siblings. Cheers!” All four tossed back their shots without complaint.
Without waiting, Sydney ordered another round. Hugh looked down the bar at her with fresh admiration. “There you go, sis.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t you mean half sis?”
Hugh winced. “I’m sorry. Look, you guys know I use sarcasm to deal with shit. But that was mean.”
“Sure was,” Andi agreed. “But let’s agree to something right now. Moving forward, however we feel about what Mom and Dad did, we don’t take it out on one another. This was their decision to hide the truth from us. Not anyone’s here.”
“Good point,” Martin said. “Not that I think you should gang up on your folks either…”
Hugh ran his tongue around the rim of his shot glass. “They kind of have it coming.”
“Doesn’t matter. They have their reasons, whether you guys like them or not. I think you need to talk.”
The next round of shots came and this time without comment they tossed them back.
Sydney wiped her hand across her mouth. “You know what James said last night on the phone?”
Hugh sniffed. “That he wants to pick out paint colors for his new summer house?”
Sydney slumped on her stool. “Never mind. It doesn’t matter.”
“Hey, I’m sorry.” Hugh held up his hands. “Even I think I’m being an asshole. I need another drink.”
Andi handed him the cocktail menu, though she wasn’t sure that was the best idea.
“What did James say?” she asked Sydney. Even though she really liked the guy, Andi was glad James wasn’t there. Sure, he was a perfectly relaxed match for Syd’s type A personality and would’ve calmed her nerves, but James could be outspoken, and Andi wasn’t sure she wanted other people weighing in on her personal hurt just yet. Worse, he had just been gifted Riptide: a family treasure he’d only been to visit once in his life. Suddenly, she didn’t want to hear what James had said.
“James said that we shouldn’t make any big decisions yet.”
“So no new paint colors, for now.” At least Hugh was laughing this time.
“Seriously, you guys. He said that when people go through a traumatic experience they should wait to make any big decisions. That they’re in fight-or-flight mode. And you can’t think as rationally until you’ve had some time.”
Andi agreed. It made perfect sense. After her divorce, her therapist had pretty much told her the same thing: not to make any major life changes until the following year. Which was impossible for her to follow, as it turned out. They had to sell the family home since neither she nor her ex, George, could afford it alone. Then she had to buy a new place and move. All major life changes and during the worst time of her life.
“How does that apply to us?” Hugh asked. “Are you hinting that I should stay put and not go back to Boston, even though I’m furious at Mom and Dad?”
“Pretty much,” Sydney said. “That, and maybe James and I should go ahead with the wedding and not cancel. I guess we’ll figure out the rest of it after our honeymoon.” She welled up as she said the last bit.
Andi wrapped an arm around Sydney and pulled her in. “Hey, none of us think you should cancel the wedding. It’s the one good thing going on right now.”
“Well, I do. Everyone is fighting. No one is really speaking to Mom and Dad. It’s a mess.”