“No problem, man,” Kai tells him, clapping him back.
The sight of them interacting so amicably, after how they first met, still blows my mind. Did it get to this point easily?Heckno. I’ve had charley horses more pleasant than our meeting after Kai got out of rehab.
He’s in a way better place now, though, thankfully. Clearheaded, and no longer mixing stimulants and alcohol in secrecy, Kai was able to take a solid look at where his life was headed. He’s even settled down with his personal trainer. I think they’ve been dating now for, oh, I don’t know, at least six months now.
That’s a record for him, not countingourformer relationship… which is something we discussed at length. Amicably, I might add. Knowing that he needed help, but not knowing how to ask for it given my sensitivity regarding Ryann, is what led him to show up at camp last year. Getting jealous over my budding relationship with Evan is what led him to spiral out of control. Causing physical harm to Morgan, though unintentional, was his wake-up call.
“Brooks and I are probably going to grab some lunch while we’re out here. Feel like joining us?” Evan extends the offer to Kai.
Kai shakes his head. “Nah. Thanks though. Think Ty and I are pretty pooped from being on the go lately. Gonna have a date night in tonight. I gotta hit the road.”
“Alright, man. Take care,” Evan tells him.
“I ain’t leavin’ without getting a smooch from Tally-girl though!” Kai chuckles, reaching for her and blowing a raspberry on her belly.
“Un-ca!” she squeals, kicking her legs.
“Ay! Watch the face! That’s my money-maker!”
That’s another thing that’s happened this past year. When Kai got out of rehab, we had a—gasp—healthy conversation about our goals for Camp Healing Waters and his goals for the future. While still holding onto his other investment properties, he also wanted to give modeling a try.
Try and succeed, he certainly did. That money-maker face of his landed him on the cover of a fitness magazine that ran an article on his recovery from addiction, and how he’s refocused himself in the gym. From there, he got scooped up by a modeling agency. He and Ty have been doing a lot of travelling together. He had just gotten back from a shoot near his hometown in Hawaii, and he still made time to help get both Morgs and Colton moved into their respective colleges.
I’m glad everything seems to be working out for him.
It’s working out well for Evan and I as well. More than well, actually. Instead of making Evan and I buy out my half, Kaigiftedhis half to us. He told Evan and I that he’d rather see both of us use the money Evan had scraped up to make improvements to the place… and so I could finally upgrade the rust bucket.
I now drive a brand-new bucket, one without a single flake of rust and—get this!—power windows. Oooh! And! And! It’s got plenty of room in the backseat for things like car seats… and perhaps other—ahem—activities.
Kai wraps an arm around me and pulls me in for a side hug, still jostling Tally on his hip. “You’re gonna make me give her back to you, aren’t you?”
I nod.
He rolls his eyes. “Fiiiine,” he huffs. When I reach for her, he snatches her back. “Syke! Give your uncle another kiss, kiddo, then you can go back to Daddy,” he tells her, and she plants a sloppy one right on his cheek. “Atta girl! Here you go. Gah, she’s stinkin’adorable.” He chuckles, handing her back to me.
“Thanks. You and Ty thinking about kids yet?” I tease.
I’m met with an eyeroll. “He and I are quite alright with our nieces and nephews, but thank you,” he scoffs. “Well, I’m off. We still doing family dinner with your moms in a couple weeks?”
“Yep.” When it was clear to see that Kai was making a solid effort to steer clear of his old lifestyle, we started inviting him to our family dinners. Instead of wild nights out, he and Ty have been coming out to Alder Notch a couple of times a month, and it’s been… transformative, to say the least. I now have a firm set of boundaries with him, and he doesn’t try to cross them.
I know. Impressive, right?
“Alright, we’ll catch you then. Bye, Brooks. Later, Evan.”
He trots off towards his car, and I heave out a pent-up breath. Evan gets Tally situated back in her stroller, and then he straightens and pulls me in by the waist. I brace myself against him with my hands pressed to his chest, my wedding band—more specifically, the compass engraved on it—glinting in the sun.
“Ready to go eat?” Evan asks me.
“Sure,” I sigh, looking back to see if I can catch a glimpse of Morgan. Of course, I can’t. Her dorm room is on the other side of the building. “Where to?”
“Figured since we’re already this close to Ternbay, might as well swing in and see my parents. Stay the night at their place. Tally can hang with Nanna and Gramps, while I take my husband on a date.” He smirks down at me. “I can ask Gan aboutborrowingthe boat again too, if you want,” he adds, waggling his eyebrows, knowing darn well we had a doozy of a time on it the last time we ‘borrowed it.’
I’m quite certain Gannett bleached every surface in there after we returned it, finding him very angry with us on the dock.“At leastwarna guy, Evan! I thought someone stole it! I’ve got a GPS tracker on this thing, you know!”he fumed at us.“Oh, and that’s just fuckin’wrong,bro.”He gagged, holding up the bottle of lube we’d emptied, pinched in his fingers.
“Oh, but who will feed Snarf and Tigger?” I ask, pulling myself from the reverie.
“The cats will be fiiine,” Evan drawls. “Sherri or Sully can go up and feed them… if, you know, they’re not too busy.” He snickers, because the two of them showed up this year officially as a couple. Pardon my language, but it was about fuckin’ time.
