Page 40 of With Us

They obviously take their drinks seriously.

I probably shouldn’t admit I tried to drink cheap wine out of a takeout cup I washed.

Or that none of my everyday cups match, even though there’s only five of them.

And three of them have lids.

“No, thankfully the GPS was easy to follow, and I didn’t mess it up. I’m not super tech savvy.” I took a polite sip of the drink.

Then a much bigger one.

“Have Luc teach you,” Tina said, Julie nodding her agreement. “He’s a tech master.”

My phone is a basic prepaid and my laptop is closer to a doorstop than to anything high tech.

Somehow I’m not thinking Luc will be able to teach me too much on either of them.

“Help me do ‘Lympics!” Kat said, soaking Theo as she launched herself at him.

“One last time.” He tossed her into the pool again, her Olympic form resembling a flailing belly flop.

“How was it, Mama?” she yelled as soon as she surfaced.

“Ten points, definitely,” Julie shouted back. “Now, I believe you and Kat have something to do.”

Her face dropped as she nodded.

Both girls got out of the pool, trudging over to the deck. Mar played with the ends of her black hair, Kat fidgeting with a towel.

“Sorry,” they both said to me, taking me by surprise.

“For?” Tina prompted.

“Spelling your name wrong,” Mar muttered.

Tina’s tone turned into a warning. “Mariangela.”

“And for writing the note.”

“We should’ve minded-ed our own business and kept our cute noses out of it,” Kat added, something they’d clearly heard multiple times before.

“But did he answer the question?” Mar rushed out, looking between Theo and me.

Julie’s hand slapped over her mouth in an ineffective attempt to hide her laughter. Tina looked torn between embarrassment and amusement. And Theo just looked amused.

“Mariangela Moretti!” Tina shouted, shaking her head. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you.”

“Curiosity!” Mar shot back. “Curiosity got into me. Plus, Beth got to be a flower girl at a wedding a couple months ago. And she said I’m getting a little old to be a flower girl. I’m just trying to see what my chances are.”

Julie lost the fight, her laughter mixing with mine and Theo’s.

“That’s it,” Tina firmly declared, “no more Beth. She’s a bad influence.”

“But Mom—”

“Go get washed up for dinner.”

“But—”

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