Quain sighed while everyone else was laughing again.
This was nice. My heart felt lighter as I glanced along the tables. This was exactly what I’d needed.
Ren swung around toward Errol. “Do you really blow stuff up or are you pulling my leg?”
Sophie tossed her cupcake wrapper in Ren’s direction to get his attention. “If you had a metal detector on this property, it would scream instead of beep.”
“Damned right! I could bury anything metal here and no one who didn’t know where it was could find it.”
My heart squeezed as the firelight glinted on the Kings of Men ring on my finger. I held my breath, then slipped it off and let it fall under the table. I used my foot to stomp it down intothe packed earth. Sophie looked at me oddly, but with the others here, she didn’t ask what I was up to. She was good that way.
“So, what do you have buried out there, Errol?” Ren asked, jutting his jaw.
“That’s Uncle Errol to you, kid. And wouldn’t you like to know?” He grinned.
“You told me once you had a bunker out there.” I stuffed a piece of pork into my mouth as he shifted his attention to me.
“What? I never! How did you know?” He squinted.
Barber kicked him under the table, and Errol grunted. “Hell, you get drunk and tell anyone who’ll listen.”
“Do not!”
Barber flung a spoonful of potato salad at Errol, then snorted out a laugh when it got stuck in his beard.
“Someone hand Dad a paper towel,” Sophie said, pointing to the end of their table at the roll.
Ren’s face was red—he was laughing without letting it burst free—as Errol cleaned up his beard while muttering.
“You know, that’s probably about right, Oli,” Errol finally said, but I didn’t trust the sly look that slid across his face. “Hey, Ren.”
“Hmm?” Ren glanced toward him, happily chewing food.
Errol lifted a mason jar from his side. I wasn’t sure if it had been sitting on the bench or the ground, but it was full of clear liquid. He set it beside Ren. “Want a nip?”
Everyone stopped eating, and Quain slowly shook his head.
I opened my mouth, but KC leaned across the table to cover it, amusement sparkling in his eyes. “Let him learn.”
Ren glanced around but shrugged. “Sure. Why not?”
We all held our breath as he twisted off the lid. With the courage of a soldier—or maybe a fool—he swallowed a huge slug. His face turned splotchy pink and he slammed down the jar while he coughed and wheezed. His eyes watered and hegrabbed for his beer to gulp it while Errol almost fell off the bench howling.
“What the fuck?” Ren wheezed out.
Errol’s chest puffed up as he got himself under control. “That one’s called Once in a Blue Moon.”
Barber grinned. “Because you can only drink it once in a blue moon or you die.”
Even KC snickered at the way Ren slapped his chest and wheezed. “Worse than lighter fluid.”
Sophie flipped her blond hair over her shoulder. “Basic rule. Don’t ever take drinks from strangers. It doesn’t get much stranger than this family.”
“Noted,” Ren coughed out.
Someone got Ren a new beer, and we went back to eating while the low hum of conversation filled the air. I noticed KC was making a face at his plate and eating slowly, but with his dad at my side, I didn’t want to ask what was going on in his head. When we were done, we burned the paper plates in the fire, and Sophie ran the silverware inside to the sink. We gathered around the firepit and dropped down into seats. The heat was nice, but it was making me sleepy. When Errol clapped his hands, I snapped awake.
“All right. You ready for the winner?” Errol carded his hand through his beard, then tugged when a finger got stuck.
