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Joel straightened his shoulders and glared at Archer. “I can’t believe you haven’t figured it out yet. Your father would have caught the culprit by now.”
Archer tightened his grip on the handle of his chair.
“Okay, we’re not doing this.” Rhonda wagged her finger between Sandy and Joel. “New rule. No one compares Archer to Astor. If you haven’t noticed—and you should have, because it’s obvious—Archer has been doing an excellent job taking care of this place without any of our usual help.”
Soft fingers brushed against his clenched white knuckles. He turned to Tea, who looked back at him with a reassuring smile. She nodded.
He loosened his grip.
Joel squared his shoulders toward Rhonda. “You’re probably defending him because we all know it’s your sons who are the problem.”
Rhonda coughed out a laugh. “My sons? Have you met them? Do you ever seem them fish? Danny is way too busy posting TikTok videos of him dancing to some ‘Savage’ song, and Chris is too busy making out with Ashley.”
Jorge jumped up from his seat. “They’re making out?!”
A chaotic rush of yelling befell the group. Tea attempted to calm everyone down, but after a few please calm downs and we have a lot to discuss, she groaned in defeat and leaned back in her chair.
Archer smirked. “Still think we don’t need to account for derailed conversation?”
She rolled her eyes.
The derailed conversation cost them thirty-seven minutes of meeting time. Archer was also highly amused at how flustered Tea was when she realized she underestimated how long the Fourth of July party planning would take (twenty-six minutes). After concluding that they would proceed with the party outside as normal, the meeting had coasted past an hour and a half. They hadn’t even touched on jet skis yet, and to Archer’s dismay, they didn’t find a solution for whoever was wreaking havoc in the finishing cabin.
They finally called for a vote by noon. Archer raised his hand in favor of jet skis, holding his promise to stand in solidarity with the twins. Tea, to his surprise, raised hers to be in solidarity with him. It made him look like less of a loser when everyone else voted against them for the umpteenth year in a row.
He was already dreading the horrifying fire pit he would wake up to in the morning.
Archer tucked his hands behind his head and reclined in his chair as the owners dispersed. Wayne was the first to bolt out of his seat and head straight for his boat. Kelly made her way to Victoria and Lily to talk more about who was cooking what for the party, the three of them standing a little too close for his comfort. But he lost all of his ability to fight them on anything, especially after they voted on continuing to pause the cleaning services that summer. It meant he was still on his own for all of it, and he desperately wanted a reprieve.
Tea sat silently next to him, legs tucked under her dress as she finished scribbling the meeting minutes in a spiral-bound notebook.
Rhonda crossed the circle, stepping up to Archer and blocking his view of the sun. “Beer?”
He cocked a brow. “A little too early for one, don’t you think?”
“We’re living through a global pandemic and you survived your first owners’ meeting. I think we’re past following societal norms.”
He hesitated for a moment, then decided fuck it. He swiped his hands down his legs and grinned. “Yeah, okay. I’m in. Your porch?”
“No, we’re going out.”
He froze.
Rhonda pointed to Tea. “You coming?”
“For a drink?” she asked.
“No, for the rodeo. Yes, for a drink.”
“The rodeo sounds unsanitary.” Tea eyed him, understanding painted clearly on her face. “And so does a bar.”
“I promise, this one is outside and safe.” She made her way backward toward Steph. “Meet us at my car in twenty.”
He exhaled a low hum.
“Hey.”
He turned to Tea, her face full of concern. He hated it.
