Page 91 of Summer on Sunshine Bay

Lila groaned. She’d heard the same thing at every bar they’d visited. Johnny eyed Megan and Willow as they got up to go to the restroom. “You two are cut off. Leave your bikes at the back.”

“Johnny’s right,” Lila said when her cousin and Megan returned to the table. “We should probably call it a night.”

“We can’t. I told Mom, Zia, and Jennifer we’d join them at Last Call,” Willow said, gathering up her things. “We’ll just leave the bikes here and walk to the beach.”

Lila was more than ready to call it a night, but she wouldn’t mind checking on her parents. They went to settle the tab, but it had already been taken care of.

When they walked onto the sidewalk, they were swallowed by a crowd of people. Main Street was packed, parties from the bars spilling onto the sidewalk, people blasting their horns, waving and yelling as they drove slowly down the road. There was a loud boom, and then red-white-and-blue fireworks exploded over the bay. Tourists and locals alike cheered, lifting their faces to watch the show.

She smiled, thinking of the view the guests from Windemere were getting out on the bay on theCaptain Joe. David had seemed a little squeamish about her suggestion that they charter Luke’s boat for a late-night cruise, but like Lila, Jennifer had thought it was exactly the event to leave an impression on their guests. They’d eventually won David over. Gavin had, of course, been a harder sell. Lila had been a little uncomfortable reaching out to Luke, but even he couldn’t turn down the amount of money Windemere was offering to charter a two-hour cruise.

The chef had supplied a picnic basket for each of the guests and was offering a fabulous brunch the next day for the person who took the night’s best photo from the cruise. Lila had come up with designated hashtags for Windemere’s guests to use on their social media posts to promote Windemere and Captain Joe’s, hoping to generate buzz for both businesses.

“Hurry, we can watch from the beach,” Willow said as she danced across the road, stopping traffic. People called out to her, asking about Super Duck and the weather.

They eventually made it to the beach, flopping onto their backs in the cool sand to catch the end of the fireworks. Lila was lying between her two cousins. They glanced at each other and smiled, remembering, she imagined, as she was, all the July Fourths they’d spent together doing exactly this. “Thanks for this,” she said. “It was a great night.”

“Even though you couldn’t party?” Willow asked.

Lila laughed. “I did. I was just sober doing it.”

“What was your favorite part?” Sage asked.

“There were so many, it’s hard to pick. But I think it was when we were singing and dancing to ‘I Gotta Feeling’ in Mom’s apartment.” She’d gotten a little teary eyed watching her family dance and sing together. Some of her best memories were of moments just like that. She’d wanted to freeze the moment in time, and in a way she had. She scrolled through her videos, held up the screen between them, and pressed Play.

They laughed, pointing out their grandmother’s signature move. They called it the Carmen Twerk.

“It was the best,” Willow said, then pulled them in for a group hug. “We’re so lucky.”

Lila and Sage agreed that they were, and then Sage said, “You should totally post that on La Dolce Vita’s Instagram account.”

“I already did.” Lila went to the account and saw the numbers of comments, likes, and shares. “Wow, it looks like it’s going viral.”

“We’re Insta celebs.” Willow cheered as she stood up, brushing herself off. “Time to head to Last Call before it really is last call.”

Lila laughed. “I don’t know how you’re still standing. I’ll catch up with you in a minute,” she said, and opened Windemere’s account.

She scrolled through the photos attached to the hashtags, surprised and relieved to see the incentive of a fabulous brunch had worked. Or maybe it was the handsome captain and his faithful dog who had incentivized the guests to take photos, Lila thought as she scrolled through all the shots of Luke and Admiral. She hadn’t seen them in over a week, and she couldn’t deny she missed spending time with Luke. Admiral too. There was still a dull ache in her chest whenever she thought about them. Although working with David on Windemere’s account had helped.

“Lila!” Willow and Megan yelled from down the beach.

“Coming!” she called back, but as she was about to close the Instagram app, a photo caught her attention. She zoomed in. It was David, and he was kissing Sam, and it wasn’t just a friendly peck on the cheek.

“Where are you going?” her cousin yelled as Lila ran past the bar and down the beach with her cell phone fisted in her hand.

“To the pier.” She pointed at the lights from theCaptain Joeas it docked alongside the wharf. By the time Lila reached the pier, passengers were disembarking. She recognized a few of the guests from all the time she’d been spending at Windemere, and they stopped to tell her what a wonderful time they’d had.

“I’m so glad you did. Don’t forget to post your photos before seven tomorrow.” Lila’s cheeks ached from forcing a smile. Her fake smile faded when she spotted David and Sam holding court, shaking hands with several guests.

Lila held back, waiting near the ticket booth.

David and Sam startled when she walked from the shadows. “Lila,” David said, pressing a hand over his heart. “I didn’t expect to see you tonight. How was your pub crawl?”

“I’m sure you didn’t,” Lila said as she removed her sash and tiara, offering them to Sam. “You should probably be wearing these, not me.”

Sam glanced from her to David. “I…I don’t know what you mean.”

Lila held up her phone, showing the photo of them, zooming in so they could see what she had.

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