“I'm just telling Uncle Tristan why I'll have fun.” She gave me a look that was all me.
“Come on, Kotyonok,” Kirill said as he scooped her up and laughed. “I'd best get you to Zariel's before your mama spanks you for acting too much like her.”
“Hey!” I scowled at Kirill.
Kirill paused to kiss my cheek on his way past, and I stopped scowling.
“I'll be back in a few minutes,” Kirill promised before taking our daughter downstairs to Sam and Fallon's suite to play with their daughter, Zariel.
“You want some coffee, Tryst?” Trevor asked. “Or some vodka? Or perhaps coffee and vodka? I think we even have Baileys; that would probably go better in coffee.”
“We've been drinking wine,” I said as I went to look in the cabinets for a bottle. “Aha!” I held a bottle of white aloft triumphantly. And then I grabbed one of red. “Hey, look, Tryst; we got red, we got white,” I said it in a thick, deep, pidgin accent. Pidgin being the local dialect of a mishmash of languages in Hawaii.
Tristan laughed his ass off as I put the bottles on the table and went hunting for a corkscrew.
“Do I even want to know?” Re asked as he came downstairs from his tower room.
Tristan's jaw dropped. He'd met Re before—at my first wedding—but Re has that effect on people no matter how often they see him. Today, in particular, the Sun God looked exceptionally hot; and yes, I meant that to be a pun. Re had on a pair of worn jeans and a Fisherman's sweater he'd bought on our honeymoon in Ireland. His deep-brown hair was getting longer; curling at his broad shoulders and glinting with blond highlights in the afternoon sunlight while his gold-dusted skin had a softer sheen to it that begged to be stroked. His eyes, an even brighter gold than his skin, seemed to glow and his sensual lips spread lazily into a smile when he set that golden stare on me.
“Tristan, it's good to see you again,” Re said as he sauntered over to the table and sat next to my friend.
“Um, yeah, you too,” Tristan said and then cleared his throat.
“And that was a rhetorical question,” Re said. “I do want to know.”
Tristan blinked at him.
“About the red and the white,” Re prompted.
“Oh, that's Vervain's story to tell,” Tristan said. “It's far too detailed for me to get it right.”
I pulled out the cork on the bottle of red—the white went into the fridge for later—and started pouring wine for all of us. The men took their glasses as they were filled and then I took a seat.
“It's a long story about my cousin's graduation party,” I said. “You don't want to hear it.”
“I think I do,” Re said and then shared a look with Trevor. “I think we both do.”
“Oh, go on, V; it's hilarious,” Tristan prompted.
“It's drawn-out and not nearly as funny as it was to experience it, but all right; you asked for it,” I said. “My Aunt went all out for her daughter's graduation party and rented out the Honolulu Aquarium.”
“You can rent out an aquarium?” Trevor asked.
“Honey-Eyes, you can rent out anything if you have enough money,” I said and chuckled. “My Aunt's a doctor; she has more than enough. Despite that, she made her family come in and help set up for the party and even cook most of the food.”
“She made you guys cater after dropping a load of cash on the event?” Re asked in surprise.
“She wanted Hawaiian food made in the way she liked it.” I shrugged. “I didn't care; I wasn't the one cooking. I happen to hate Hawaiian food.”
“You do?” Trevor asked. “I'm learning new things about my wife. Go on.”
“This is my dad's side of the family,” I clarified before I went on. “I rode down to the party with my grandma and had to give her therapy in the parking lot before we even went in. She was feeling neglected and threatening to move to South Carolina.” I sighed. “That was just the beginning. My family and I get inside and help set up tables and chairs. Some of the tables had these reserved signs on them; we figured they were for us.”
“But they weren't!” Tristan said gleefully.
Re and Trevor looked at me expectantly.
“They were for my Aunt's doctor friends,” I said. “My cousin only got one table for her friends even though it was her party, and the family got nothing.”
