Page 10 of Kiss Me, Darling

“The biggest thing I’ve learned here on Calusa Key is that family is what matters most.” I held up my wine. “To family. I’m so grateful we’re all here together at last.”

* * *

It turned into a great night.Maybe it was the wine. Maybe it was the company. It didn’t really matter. The sun set and the candles and tiki torches took over. Everything was soft like a memory.

Linc dozed in Chris’s lap while Olivia leaned against his shoulder. Ben sat on the floor in front of London, who ran her fingers through his hair as he told ridiculous stories about our childhood.

Lucy sat in a chair only inches from mine. We were the only “couple” not touching.

“Grandma Kaine traveled with us that summer. She’d somehow never been to Canada, but instead of just telling Mom and Dad she wanted to see Canada, she came up with this whole concocted plan to teach us to cook.” Ben made faces as he described the phases of Grandma Kaine’s culinary lessons.

“Don’t forget the Polish cooking,” Chris laughed. “She never understood how much I hated boiled cabbage.” He made gagging noises.

“Ah yes,” I took a sip of wine, “the gwumpki lessons. I’ll never forget those.” I could smell the kitchen even now. The cabbage, the meat, the sauce.

“Anything’s better than the clam pizzas.” Ben shuddered.

We debated the many questionable meals of Grandma Kaine for a while before Lucy asked if we liked anything she made that summer.

We all stared at each other thinking. Thinking and thinking, until Chris burst out with, “She taught us to make whipped cream.”

“It was like we were being secretly punished.” My eyes found their way back to Lucy, stealing glimpses of her eyes and smile. “Because she normally made such good food. The chicken wings?”

Ben rubbed his belly. “Not to mention all the breads and baked goods. Her cookies are still my favorite.”

London leaned down and kissed his cheek. “Sounds like you were definitely being punished.”

“What did we do?” Chris laughed. “Oh wait! Was this the summer right after Scott snuck on stage?”

The hair on my arm rose up. “Do I have to remind you that all three of us were involved in that mistake.”

“You were the only one that got caught,” Ben laughed into his wine glass as he took a sip.

“And whose fault is that?”

He slowly raised his hand in the air.

A whole lot of memories hit me at once. The complete embarrassment of knowing I was in trouble—and so did the five thousand people in the audience. The blinding stage lights. The heat of the stage.

Oh, and of course watching Ben grab Chris and run before our parents saw them, leaving me all alone to take the blame.

“What happened?” Lucy asked, leaning just a little closer to me.

But not close enough.

I glared at my big brother. “Ben thought it would be fun if all three of us appeared on stage to sing a song with Mom and Dad. He’d been on aThe Sound of Musickick.”

He laughed. “I own that. It’s true.”

“He got us all hyped up. It was a great idea. We’d be famous for a few minutes and shock the crowd with our amazing talent. And then...he got stage fright. I thought I’d show off how brave I was by leading us on stage. That’s when the spotlight hit me and Mom squealed. Big Ben over here tucked tail and ran, leaving me to take the blame.”

Lucy, Olivia, and London all snorted.

“What?”

The girls traded glances.

“What?”

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