He nodded at me. “I’ll take care of it.” With one call, he made arrangements to have Jason clean it up.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
He loosened his grip on the steering wheel. “Did you talk to Marie about covering the bar while my parents are visiting?”
“Not yet,” I replied. I had been putting that conversation off.
“Tar, please. Can’t you take a couple of days off?” he pleaded. “I finally have a normal weekend and I really want you to be with me.”
“What were you planning on doing?” I asked, wondering how I could be in two places at once.
“I don’t know,” he answered. “I was sort of hoping that you might have some ideas. I want to take us all out to dinner Friday night though –
someplace very nice for my mom’s birthday. Do you have any suggestions of where we can take them?”
“I know a few nice restaurants.”
“Just one request… some place outside of Seaport,” he added.
“Have they ever been to Boston? It’s not too far of a drive from here. There are some things we can do in Providence too,” I suggested, thinking it would be easy to take day trips and still work the bar at night.
“I know what I’d like to do this weekend.” His tone was mischievous.
“And what would that be?”
“I’d love to take my parents up to the lake.” He looked over at me and raised his eyebrows. “I’d love to take my dad out on the boat. Can we do that?” He was so excited.
“Ryan, it’s Halloween. I have bands scheduled. It’s one of my biggest weekends of the year. Let me see if I can rearrange coverage for the pub
first, okay?”
We drove up the coast for almost a half-hour, then turned into a gated beachside community. I was relieved to see the security guard on duty and a huge metal gate blocking the rest of the world from entering. I never knew we had gated communities so close.
The homes were typical three story beach houses, all placed very close together. The house that Cal and Kelly had rented was only three homes away from the beach. “This must be really neat in the summertime.” I smiled over at Ryan.
“Yeah, too bad it’s October,” he said in agreement. I was glad to see that he was almost himself again.He opened my car door and held my hand as we walked up the sidewalk to the front door.
“Hey guys, come on in!” Cal greeted us and took our coats.
Behind him, the most adorable little girl with long blond hair came running down the hallway. She hid behind her daddy’s legs.
I peeked behind Cal and smiled at the little cutie. “Hi,” I said softly, crouching down to her level. “You must be Cami!”
She giggled at me and hid her face. “Cami, are you being shy?” Cal asked, tickling her head.
“Hi!” Kelly said as she joined us at the door. “Glad you could make it!” She gave me a big hug.
“Thank you so much for inviting us.” I returned her hug.
“Whyin!” Cami pointed at Ryan. Slowly she came out from behind Cal’s legs.
“Come here you!” Ryan scooped her up and kissed her on her cheeks before spinning her around in his arms to tickle her belly. Her giggles were precious. They obviously knew each other very well.
We walked through the front entryway and down the hall to the large family room that bordered the enormous kitchen. Something smelled wonderful. The house was decorated in shades of white, blue, and beige with hints of seashells and starfish; typical for a beach rental home.
“How was your ride over?” Cal asked Ryan.
Ryan set Cami down and looked at me before answering. “It was a bit crazy, but we made it. Taryn’s car was covered with notes.” He looked at me like he was guilty of something.
“You’re kidding?” Cal said. “How the…”
“The pop were waiting for us when we got back from the marina last night - they were at both doors. And then when we left to come here, the fans were waiting as well. The paparazzi even chased us for a couple of miles.”
Cal inconspicuously looked over at me. “How’d she do?” he whispered to Ryan, but I could still hear him.
“She did great. I was the one who flipped out!”
Even though I was interested in their conversation, I was distracted by a pair of big blue eyes and a naked Barbie doll staring at me.
“Is that a Barbie doll?” I asked Cami.
“Uhuh, wanna see?” She held the doll out to me.