“Did you find a dress?” I ask, tuning everyone out around me.
“How did you know?” Taylor runs her fingers through my hair and tips my head back.
“I saw you coming out of the store.”
“So you saw who I ran into?”
“I did. Ran into him too. It was surprisingly good.”
Taylor smiles at me with understanding. “Hopefully this is the first step on the road to healing for all of you.”
“Us. All of us,” I correct her. There’s not a future for my brothers and me without her being involved too.
“Us,” she agrees, kissing me deeply.
“Hey, lovebirds. Some of us want to eat.” Miller hollers from the other side of the table. Opening my eyes, I see they’ve pulled two tables together so we can all sit together.
“Who invited him?” Taylor murmurs into my mouth.
“You love me and you know it,” Miller responds to her.
“Have you girls been having fun?” Preston asks, spreading his arm behind Ivory and playing with her hair.
“We have, but what are ya’ll going to do this afternoon? Because we’ve got plans that don’t involve you,” Ivory responds.
“Grant is treating us to a round of golf at his family’s course,” Miller answers her, picking up a menu in front of him.
“Do you even know how to golf?” Gabby looks between Preston, Miller, and Chase.
Preston nods. Miller waves his hand in a so-so motion, and Chase says, “Nope.”
“You didn’t tell me that,” I say to Chase. We didn’t have to golf today. It just seemed like the easiest thing to do.
“I’m just here for the good times. I don’t care what we do.” Chase shrugs, pulling Gabby onto his lap.
The server comes over to take our order. She recognizes Miller from his parents frequenting the cafe on their trips to Seaside Pines. For the rest of lunch, Miller, Taylor, and I compare stories of vacationing on the island and all our favorite spots in town. We go our separate ways after with a promise of a family cookout for sunset on the beach.
For a bunch of baseball players, golf doesn’t suck, and neither does the drink with Reginald in the bar when we’re finished.
“I’m going to text the girls and make sure they don’t need anything for dinner,” Preston says as we get in the car.
“Sounds good. We can detour to the store if we need to on the way.” The Davenport resort is on the far end of the island with a golf course, private beach access, and a large hotel. It’s divided from the rest of the island by a massive gate and security station.
“They said to pick up stuff for margaritas. Taylor is in the mood for tequila.” Preston chuckles.
“Lord help us all,” I say, turning onto Ocean Drive and pulling off at the entrance to the small store.
“Tequila makes her clothes fall off,” Miller sings.
“Not for you they don’t.” I glare at him in the rearview mirror. He cackles in response and steps out of the car.
When we make it to the rental house, music is blasting so loud that we can hear it in the driveway.
“Heck yes, they’ve got the boy band playlist on.”
Miller bounds up the stairs two at a time, shouting the lyrics as soon as he bursts in the door. By the time the rest of us make it into the house, the four of them are belting out the lyrics and doing a choreographed dance in the kitchen.
Preston, Chase, and I are momentarily stunned as we watch them jump around perfectly in sync. Taylor dances over to me after the song ends and launches herself into my arms. Carrying her down the hall, I lay her down on the bed and hover over her.
