Jesus, the kid was going to kill him. “Sure, let’s go,” Makai choked out.
Lotte hugged him briefly in passing. “Hi,” she whispered, and Makai nodded at her, unable to speak a word.
Joy didn’t have that problem. She kept on a chatter all the way down to the shore and then to the edge of the forest patch. There, she stopped talking—and walking.
“Joy, what’s wrong?” Lotte asked from behind them.
“I… uh…,” Joy hesitated.
Makai got it. He crouched down on her level. “Hey, Joy.” When her concentration was back on him, he smiled at her. “It’s okay. I haven’t been there, either. Can we go together?”
“Y-yeah, okay,” she said in a quiet voice.
When he stood up, she looked at him and held up her arms. Makai picked her up and propped her on his hip, hiding a wince when the stitches pulled in his back. “Okay, here goes,” he murmured, and together they went along the path until the hustling and bustling sounds were obvious. “Ready?” he asked, and she nodded bravely.
Makai stepped out of the shade of the trees and into the space where the others were working.
Sheriff Newman was the first one to notice them. “Hey, lady,” he called out cheerily and came to them. “How you feeling, Joy?”
“I’m okay,” she answered without any visible shyness. “Now ask Makai!” she commanded, making the nearby adults chuckle.
“So, Makai, how areyoufeeling?” The sheriff’s eyes twinkled with amusement, and Makai could see some Emil in him.
“I feel pretty good too,” he answered. “How’s everything going in here?” He nodded toward the remnants of the shed.
“We need about an hour, and then we’re done.”
“We brought you some popsicles,” Lotte said and took the cooler from Emil.
“Ice pops!” Joy screamed out, and Makai lowered her down on the ground. They remembered they were supposed to be holding hands at the same time and almost slapped their hands together. Joy giggled, and Makai laughed too. He hadn’t felt levity like this in… well, he preferred not to think about it.
“So, what flavor do you have in there?” Sheriff Newman asked Joy who was opening the cooler with one hand.
“We made strawberry and orange ones, and the others are blueberry and lemon.”
“Can I have a strawberry and orange one, please?” Sheriff Newman asked, and Lotte took over, giving him one from a Tupperware container.
“Blueberry and lemon for me,” Makai said, and Emil wanted one too.
“Come get your popsicles!” Lotte called to the others, and the deputies and firemen stopped what they were doing and came to raid the cooler.
Something about Mark felt off to Makai, but Emil had warned him that the guy was a homophobe in one of the texts they’d exchanged during the week.
People sat on folding chairs someone had brought in for break time, and those who got there late and missed on a chair happily sat on boulders and tree stumps and just chatted and enjoyed their popsicles. Emil had told him to keep an eye on Lotte and Jason because he believed there was something going on between them, and now that Makai knew what to look for, he could see it too.
“Makai, can I show Mouse and the babies to Mommy?” Joy, who had been eating her popsicle while never leaving touching distance to her mother or Makai asked.
“Sure, remember the rules, and make sure Mouse doesn’t get out, okay?” Makai smiled at them.
“I also need to pee,” Joy whispered very loudly, and everyone—except for Mark—hid their smiles. Instead, Mark chose not to hide his sneer.
Luckily Lotte and Joy were already turned away and missed it. The sheriff didn’t, though. Everyone got back to work, Erin and Mark being the last ones by the cooler with Makai, the sheriff, and Emil.
Emil, probably because he could be a bit of an asshole, looked at Makai with something wicked in his gaze. “Wasn’t Joy’s dress really pretty?”
Makai, playing along, nodded. “Yeah, I liked the color. And her braids were awesome.”
Mark huffed, and the sheriff, who was in tune with what his son was trying to do, ignored it for now. Erin seemed to understand what was going on, so she smiled at Makai and Emil. “I think it’s called halo braids, the way her hair is today.”
