Page 6 of The Restaurant on Plum Island
“Hi, baby,” Ethan greeted his daughter. “Harriet told me you’ve been hiding out with our neighbor instead of socializing.” He looked at Carly. “Thank you for looking after her. I hope she wasn’t a bother.”
“She was a delight,” Carly told him, smiling at Shay. “I also hated functions as a teenager, so I know what Shay felt.”
Ethan tilted his head as he watched Carly help Shay gather her things. She looked so familiar to him, but he couldn’t place her. Ethan stood in the doorway of Carly’s bungalow, and from what he could see, the layout mimicked his bungalow next door. He was about tostep further inside when Shay and Carly appeared from the living room.
“Thank you for giving me a lift and letting me stay with you until Dad came home.” Shay smiled at Carly.
Then, his daughter surprised him by giving Carly a hug. Shay never hugged anyone!
“Yes, thank you,” Ethan repeated what Shay said. “It was very kind of you to look out for her.”
“No problem at all. Shay is welcome here anytime,” Carly assured them as she herded them through the door, giving Ethan the impression she was trying to get rid of them or, rather, him. “It was lovely meeting you, Shay.”
Carly stood in her doorway, waving them off as they walked across the pathway to their house, which was to the right of hers. He unlocked the door and let them into their comfortable, modern, new, four-bedroom home, which was smaller than his townhouse in New York. But it was the first of their houses that Shay had told him felt like home.
“I’m going to shower and go to bed,” Shay told him, walking through to her bedroom, the room closest to his.
“Okay, sweetheart,” Ethan called after her retreating back. “I have some work to do. I’ll be in the study.”
“Okay,” Shay called back before he heard her bedroom door being kicked closed.
“Why can’t kids just close doors?” Ethan muttered, sighing and shaking his head. “Why must they slam everything?”
As he entered the study, Ethan took his shoes off and put them on the rack near the door, along with his jacket and tie. He undid the first few buttons on his shirt and rolled up his sleeves as he walked to the silver tray that held a few crystal decanters of various scotches. He poured himself a decent amount and took the glass to his desk. Pulling out his phone, Ethan winced, seeing another five calls from the production taking place in Egypt.
“Dad, you couldn’t have waited until Bailey was ready to take over before retiring?” Ethan blew out a breath.
Ethan scanned his phone, looking for his younger sister’s phone number and hitting the dial when he found it. Bailey was currently studying at the National Film and Television School in Buckinghamshire, England. They called her their parents’ surprise, as Bailey was born on his mother’s forty-fifth birthday, a few months after Ethan and Alex had turned twenty-three.
He glanced at the clock above the study door. It was ten in the evening. Ethan grinned, aware that his call would annoy Bailey since it was three in the morning where she was.
“Lo,” Bailey mumbled into the receiver after her phone rang for quite a while.
“Good morning, little sister,” Ethan greeted cheerily.
“What’s so good about it?” Bailey yawned. “Please tell me you’re in an English prison and need me to bail you out, and that’s the reason for the call, or I’m hanging up.”
“Aww, you’d get out of bed to bail me out of prison?” Ethan teased. “That’s so sweet of you.”
“I can hear you’re not in prison, so goodnight, big brother.” Bailey yawned again.
“No, wait!” Ethan said. “If you hang up, I’ll only continue to call until you answer again.”
“I’ll turn my phone off,” Bailey told him.
“I have other ways of contacting you,” Ethan reminded her.
“Agghhh!” Bailey groaned, and her voice became muffled.
Ethan could picture her pulling her pillow over her head, as she’d done since she was young when she didn’t want to be disturbed.
“Bails, I need your help,” Ethan explained. “This Egypt production is driving me crazy, and you’re the only one I trust to help me with it.”
Ethan heard shuffling, and his sister switched to a video call. Her face, with sleep-ruffled hair, popped onto his screen. He hit accept onhis end and waved at her when his face appeared on the top of the screen.
“Do I get to go to Egypt?” Bailey was suddenly fully awake.
“Yes.” Ethan nodded. “I’ve already asked Tina to book your tickets and hotel.”
