Brian winced. That didn’t sound good. “You were really excited about this one.”
“They’re all exciting at first. Then the initial burst of inspiration fizzles out and there are still a lot of pages to fill, but you managed to write your way into a giant plot hole you can’t figure out how to get out of.”
“Maybe a couple of days away from your desk will do you good.”
“Maybe.” Danny shrugged. “Have you gone up to the restaurant lately?”
He asked the question casually enough, but Brian was pretty sure his older brother’s interest in Corinne’s Kitchen had more to do with Kenzie than the menu. “I was there with Siobhan and Oliver yesterday. For the popcorn chicken.”
“Itisgood popcorn chicken.”
Brian narrowed his eyes. “There’s no way you didn’t already know I went out to lunch with them.”
“Yeah, I guess somebody probably mentioned it. But there have been alotof texts in the last few weeks, which you know.”
“Sure. I mean, not this week because mostly they’re just yelling things to each other across the campground. If you want to ask me about Kenzie, just ask.”
Danny crossed his arms, stubbornness setting into his jaw. “Or maybe I was looking for an opening to find out why you and a woman whose name you were cursing a week ago went on a lunch date together.”
They stared at each other for a few seconds without speaking. Brian knew Danny wasn’t going to admit he was infatuated with Kenzie yet, and he didn’t want to talk about Siobhan more than he had to. Especially with Danny, who sometimes seemed a lot more perceptive than his other two brothers. If any of them were going to guess he and Siobhan had gotten up to no good by fairy light, it would be Danny.
“We should get that trailer dropped and the truck parked before the rest of the family decides tohelpand there’s an hour-long debate on where to put it,” he said finally.
Danny chuckled. “Excellent plan. And then I’m going to meet my maybe-nephew everybody’s been talking about.”
Chapter Twelve
“Sorry. I’m doing it again, aren’t I?”
Siobhan smiled at Danny, who’d definitely been watching Oliver with an intensity she hadn’t seen since their first day at the campground. “A little bit.”
“It’s uncanny. I’m only three years older than Brian and five years older than Rob, but I have some fuzzy memories of them at that age. And there are a ton of pictures, of course.” He winced, pressing his palm to his forehead for a moment. “Sorry again. Brian threatened terrible things if we made your stay awkward.”
She liked Danny. They’d met for the first time when Brian married Kelly, and he’d gone out of his way to socialize with her and Janelle, as well as the smattering of acquaintances Kelly had lured to the wedding with free food to balance the bride’s side of the aisle with the groom’s.
“Trust me, day one was probably the most awkward day of my life,” she said. “We got past that, but you just got here and, like you said, itisuncanny.”
“Notice how I timed my arrival forafterThe Annual Kowalski Volleyball Death Match Tournament of Doom,” he said, giving her his own version of the endearing Kowalski grin that had blown up her life.
“You’ll notice we saved you plenty of potato salad, though.”
When he groaned, she laughed and he joined in. Oliver, who was a few feet away, painting a rock with what Terry had assured her were washable paints, laughed with them even though he had no idea what was happening. He just knew laughing with Mommy was fun and made her happy.
Danny pointed at the streaks of green in Oliver’s hair. “Not only making the rock into a frog, but himself as well, is dedication to the activity.”
“I figure once he’s done painting himself green, I’ll just dunk him in the pool.” As expected, Brian and Rob—who were in conversation not far from them—both turned to face her, and Rob was actually about to say something when she laughed. “I’m kidding.”
After his brothers returned to their conversation, Danny gave a low whistle. “You really picked up quick on how to push their buttons.”
“It’s almost too easy.”
They lapsed into silence, watching the rock painting activity. It looked as if it was wrapping up, with the teens and some of the adults already cleaning their brushes. Most of them had chosen to paint flowers, which would be set around the bottom of the rented arch. A few of them had gone rogue, including her son, and painted whatever struck their fancies.
Because it wasn’t something she could stop no matter how often she lectured herself, she shifted so Brian was in her peripheral vision. He’d been standing with his brothers Rob and Joey for about ten minutes, with his hands in his pockets. There was something in one of his pockets because she could tell he was fiddling with something. Apocketknife, she’d thought, but now he pulled it out and rubbed his thumb over it.
It was a small gray rock. And after a moment of watching him turning it in his fingers, she realized it was the rock Oliver had given him before running off to play their first day in the campground.
There had been a lot of clothing changes between then and now, which meant it was a treasure he was deliberately keeping, and she had to blink away a sheen of tears.
