“That I’ll give you,” I say with a laugh.
“Alright,” Brynn says, standing back up, “Do you need me for anything? If not, I want to get home a little early to prep for my New Year’s Eve party. If that’s OK.”
“It is,” I say, grabbing an envelope from my pile. “Will you drop this off with the head chef first, though?”
“You got it, boss.”
I take the familiar route over Ravenhart Mountain to get to Branwen Beach for my brief vacation. Both of my brothers, plus our cousin, live there. Every time I visit, they try to convince me to move there. But, as much as I love the quaint town and its paranormal-haven status, I am too happy with my current job position to leave Corvid Valley.
I pull up in front of my youngest brother’s apartment. He must have a sixth sense, because I get out of my jeep to him yelling at me out of his open window.
“Finally! What took you so long?” Orson shouts at me.
He buzzes me upstairs and tackles me with a bear hug when the door opens.
“I don’t see you enough, sis.”
His enormous arms muffle my laugh.
“I don’t remember you liking me this much when we were kids,” I tease.
“That’s because you shifted so early. I was jealous. Here, let me take that.”
Orson grabs my duffle bag and walks it into his guest room. His apartment is within walking distance from the beach, but without a view. It’s a cute and cozy home, though.
“Where are we meeting Artina and Theo?” I ask.
“Believe it or not, Artina scored a New Year’s Eve dinner reservation at Mare Pacificum. Someone canceled, and she was first on the waitlist.”
“Nice,” I say, flopping onto his couch.
“Damn, sis, you seem worn out. That job is working you too hard.”
“I’m working me too hard.” I argue, “Maybe my new year’s goal should be to find a better life balance.”
“Artina will be happy to lecture you about that during dinner, I’m sure,” he quips.
We have a late dinner reservation, which is perfect since we’ll be staying up well past midnight. The restaurant’s atmosphere is festive, and it helps me shake off some of my fatigued grumpiness.
“Yay!” my cousin shouts as soon as she sees me walk in, running to give me a hug.
Theo, my other brother, strolls over and pries her away so that he can also give me a squeeze.
Our table is up on a landing, which allows us to look over the other diners’ heads and view the ocean in the moonlight.
“There are bonfires all along the beach and fireworks at midnight.” Artina says as she pours herself more wine.
“So no speakeasy this time? Because, good if so. I had like a week-long hangover last year.”
Artina smirks at me and pours me another glass of wine as well.
“I figured we could do something new.”
Dinner is delicious, but unsurprising since I have never eaten a poor meal here. When we get up to leave, Artina tosses a heavy-looking cooler at Theo.
“Damn, cuz, what’s in here?”
“Champagne, so be careful.”
