The grey-haired woman looked around for the culprits, but the tweens were already bolting out in every direction to hide.
“Hey, get back here!” Kappy thundered, striding across the room. “That was disrespectful. Go apologize to that woman.” He caught one of the kids by the collar of his shirt. “C’mon, man up. Go.”
“Oh my God,” Piper murmured beside me. “He sounds just like…”
“Hans.” I smirked. It was ironic, really. While all of us were troublemakers to some degree growing up, Kappy was the worst. He and Hans engaged in a game of cat and mouse for years which eventually resulted in a crashed zamboni and only ended when Kappy started working at the rink.
Looking around our little group, we all laughed with tears in our eyes.
“Well,” Piper said suddenly, straightening her posture and wiping her eyes. “I need some coffee.” She shot Mer a look that I couldn’t quite decipher.
“Oh! And I need to change Callahan’s diaper,” Mer blurted out. She moved toward the bathroom, then reached back and grabbed Colt’s arm, yanking him to follow her.
“Sorry?” Colt said confusedly to me and Ali—the only ones left standing by the dessert table. “I guess she needs help?”
When we were alone, Ali sighed. “Wanna bet they did that on purpose?” she asked before popping a mini eclair in her mouth.
Shocked she was staying and speaking to me, I cleared my throat. “Nah, I don’t take bets I know I’m going to lose. Mer has a shit poker face.”
She chewed thoughtfully, making me squirm in the silence.
“Ali,” I started, “I’m sorry about—”
She started coughing into her hand.
“You okay?”
Holding her chest, she continued coughing while her face turned a brighter shade of red.
“Shit, are you choking?” I moved behind her to do the heimlich.
She quickly shook her head and warded off my hands. “M’fine,” she managed to say between coughs.
“Are you sure?” I looked at her incredulously while reaching for a water bottle on the buffet table behind us.
She tried to hold down another cough while struggling to crack open the water.
Taking it back, I easily cracked the bottle open for her. “Anything else I can get ya?”
She shook her head, but looked like she was sucking on sour candy. After a long sip of water, her body convulsed again. This time, she shoved the water bottle at me before bolting for the women’s restroom.
Confused as to what just happened, my eyes bounced from her water to her empty wake.
Kappy came up behind me and slapped me on the back. “Hey, where’d everyone go?”
“Piper went for coffee, Mer and Colt went to change the baby. Ali just ran to the bathroom,” I mumbled, rubbing my forehead and staring at the women’s restroom door. “She was coughing.”
“Damn, you sure Al Pal wasn’t just trying to get away from you?” Kappy chuckled. “She asked the girls to help run interference between y’all.”
I shook my head. “No, she was really coughing. Wait, what?” Iturned to stare at him. “She said that?”
Kappy’s mouth dropped slightly open. “Shit, I think that was a secret too. You think it was a secret?” He held his jaw. “Any chance you could forget I said that?”
Without another word, I strode toward the women’s room.
“No, dude, just forget I said that, okay?” Kappy rambled behind me. “It’s not a big deal. You know whatwillbe a big deal? Piper killing me. She could, ya know? She could do it. She’s scary when she’s angry. And she’s the one that controls my meds, ya know?”
“Becuase she knows you won’t take them, dumbass,” I mumbled before knocking on the restroom door. “Ali, I’m sorry, okay?” I continued knocking.
