Page 46 of Resting Beach Face
“Hi, Declan. Good to see you.”
“You too.”
He turned to Monroe. “We’re going to do bubbles in the backyard. Do you want to stay here and catch up with Declan?”
Monroe gave a relieved sigh. “Bless you, you wonderful man. I wouldloveto stay here and rest—er, I mean,catch upwith Declan.”
Will laughed and pressed a sweet kiss to her cheek. “Take your time.” He scooped up Amelia with one arm. “Come on, birthday girl. Let’s go play!”
Amelia squealed in delight. “Bye, Uncle Dec!”
“Happy birthday!” I called. “Have fun!”
Monroe slumped with a groan when the room quieted, the clamoring voices and squeals trailing away as the kids all went outside.
“If you ever have kids, don’t have the party at your house. Pay the exorbitant fees to hold it at an arcade or a bowling alley. It’ll be worth every penny.”
I smirked. “I take it the party is going well, then…”
“My house looks like a tornado just hit it.”
“No jokes like that allowed when you live in Tornado Alley. You’re tempting fate.”
She pulled a face. “Sorry. My house looks like a hurricane hit it.”
Little chance of a hurricane hitting Missouri. I nodded in satisfaction. “Better.”
She picked up a Diet Coke and took a swig. “We’re supposed to be catching up. Tell me something new I can tell Will later.”
“Well…” I hesitated.
She straightened, perking up like a hound who’d just caught a scent. “Oh, this must be big. What is it?”
I huffed, annoyed. How did big sisters always know?
“I’ve decided to sell the B&B.”
“I see.”
I couldn’t read her expression. Where was the shock or the horror?
“It wasn’t an easy decision to make,” I said irritably.
“I don’t imagine it would be,” she said. “You’ve spent years there, trying to prove you can be worthy of Aunt Millie’s gift.”
I tensed. “You know she wasn’t playing favorites, right? You had your flower shop already, and the kids love seeing Mom and Dad every weekend. You wouldn’t have wanted to move to the Ozarks.”
“Plus, I never lived there for a whole school year,” she pointed out.
Guilt niggled at me. “Was she playing favorites, then? Did you want to?—”
“No.” She cut me off with a laugh. “I hated it there when we visited. I couldn’t tolerate more than a week or two.”
I swallowed. “Right. That’s what I thought, but…”
“You’ve always felt a little guilty she left you the B&B,” Monroe said, because of course she’d noticed. “But there’s no need for that, Dec. I wasn’t upset. That place saved you when you needed to get away from the homophobia and bullying here.”
“Not like the Ozarks were much better,” I muttered. “But no one knew me here. I could disappear.”
