Emma:“Moistness”??? God, Willow, I think you just foodie sexted me.
Nikki:Anywayyyy. I feel like I’ve aged a decade since I’ve been home. Nate walked in on me in the bathroom yesterday applying wrinkle tape.
Emma:Speaking of aging… T-4 days until the Dirty Thirty!!!
Willow:Yay! Can’t wait to have you finally join the club, Niks!!
Nikki:Ughhhh don’t remind me. Ok I gotta go. I’m probably late for another one of my mom’s Wedding Meetings.
Sybil:Wait I want to hear more about this Nate guy… Also, I’m a visual learner so maybe a few pics?
“BABE, UGH, NOOOO,”Ioverhear Cara saying before I even enter the kitchen the next morning. I’m in a chipper mood, having organized the bud vases I bought yesterday into a box hidden in my makeshift guestroom. I am looking forward to Cara’s surprise at what I chose. It’s notthatbad, but I do crack myself up sometimes. “FarmhouseChic” totally means vases in the shape of little farm animal figures, right? I look forward to putting the pig at her place setting.
Hearing Cara and Cooper bicker—even a little—puts me in an even better mood.Get rid of her!I want to say, but instead I just put on a perky smile as I round the corner. “That fresh coffee I smell?”
“Nikki,” Coop says, turning from the coffee machine to face me in the doorway. “I’ll give you a cup of coffee if you help convince Cara to get out on the boat with me today.”
I laugh and look between the two of them. Cara is sitting at the kitchen table in a bathrobe over her pajamas—wait, is that mymom’s robeshe’s borrowing? Her blond hair is tangled with bedhead, and she’s nursing a mug of coffee. I’m taken aback by it—by how comfortable she looks in my home. Especially since, unlike her, I’ve already done my hair and face for the day—in a sleek ponytail and minimal makeup, just a hint of a dewy glow.
“Um, first of all,” I tell Coop, “you will give me a cup of coffeeregardless, because I am your wonderful big sister. But second of all, I’ll go! It’s a perfect day for it. Maybe the kids want to come, too, and we can get the tubes out.”
“You read my mind,” says Cooper. “They’re already suited up.” He nods his head toward the porch windows where we can see out to the lawn. William and Anna Carol are playing by the shore, while Linney lounges with a book nearby.
“Great! I can go anytime,” I tell him. I’m already wearing my bathing suit under a pair of white-and-blue striped shorts and a white top. It’s a particularly flattering emerald-green bikini, to be specific. I’d been thinking of seeing whether Nate would be up for a swim. I don’t see him out by the gazebo or doing repairs on the deck, so maybe he’s still asleep…
“Cara, you have to come with us though,” Cooper says, cutting through my wandering thoughts. “It’s tradition!”
I smile at her. “Anyone who doesn’t want to go out on a boat on a beautiful day like today has lost their mind!” I say it cheerily, but the dig is not lost on Cara.
“Not me,” Cara says, not taking the bait. She heads to the coffee maker for more. “I don’t do great out on the water. Especially if there are any waves.” Her face almost looks green just thinking about it.
“Really? That’s too bad. Our familylovesbeing out on the water. It’s like an essential part of being a Bennet,” I say, grabbing an orange from the fruit bowl.
Cooper raises an eyebrow at me. I just shrug and juggle the orange in one hand.
He turns to her, wraps an arm around her. “Babe, it’s okay if you’d rather stay back,” he says. “I mean, I’d be disappointed but—”
“And don’t worry, we won’t do too much talking about you behind your back!” I cut in. Cooper shoots me a warning look this time. “What? I’m joking, obviously. Jeeeez! Trouble in paradise?” I start to peel the orange.
Cara smiles back at me. “No—there’s no trouble in paradise. I just didn’t grow up on the water, and my sense of balance sucks.”
“Oh, that cannot be true,” I goad her. “Didn’t Nate say you were a black belt in something? Tae kwon do?” I pop an orange piece into my mouth.
“Karate and jujitsu,” she corrects, and for a moment, I’m startled mid-chew—and even a little intimidated. That’s actually quite an intense combo. I’d sorta thought Nate was exaggerating.
“Well then,” I reply, recovering quickly. “You’re an athlete. You’ll be fine on an inner tube. It’s like waterskiing for dummies.”
“Cara’s not a dummy,” Cooper says.
“I never said she was!”
“You know what? I’m in,” Cara says. She throws me a big, megawatt smile. “I’m sure Nikki’s right. I can handle it. And if it’s really a Bennet family tradition thenof courseit’s something I need to try.”
Ugh. I didn’tactuallywant her to come with us; I just wanted to make her feel like a loser for hanging back. But it turns out this girl can take my punches—and throw them back. Maybe she has a black belt in good old-fashioned Southern spite too.
“Amazing!” I lie.
“You won’t regret it, babe,” Cooper tells her. “Hey, do you think Nate would want to go too?”
