Page 57 of Holiday on the Rocks
“Hey!” Rachel hugged Allie as her eyes scanned the room. “Look at this place!”
Rachel was a die-hard friend to all she had. There was a quiet confidence about her that’d always left me to believe she could kill, bury a body, and arrive at a restaurant for lunch without anybody knowing better. Yeah, be afraid of the quiet ones. They sit back, observe, and plan while the rest of the world is normally bat shit crazy.
Lexi popped through the door pulling a suitcase behind her wearing a crocodile smile. “Allie!” Now Lexi was a one-of-a-kind person who had Beth Dutton flair to her and a long memory; don’t mess with Lexi.
“So happy everyone is finally here!” Allie’s smile lit up the room.
Lexi leaned in. “Oh my gosh, Allie! What happened to your face?”
“Uh, my car hit some ice.”
Rachel took her by the shoulders and gawked. “Ice did this? Stitches?”
“Actually, the tree I ran into did this, but it’s okay. The doctor said you won’t be able to see the scar.”
“Holy shit, Allison. You’re sure you’re okay? Does it hurt?”
“Nah, I’m good.”
My cousin Evan entered with two suitcases in hand. We were the same height, and he had brown hair and sported his typical jeans and Nebraska Cornhusker hoodie. He dropped the bags on the floor while Rachel took everybody’s coats and started hanging them in the closet next to the door.
Lexi did a little jump. “This place is awesome!”
Allie’s baby blues shot up to me, and I could feel her nerves all the way upstairs.
Evan pulled Allie in for a hug. “Are you okay?” He examined her stitches. “Looks sore.”
“Now Evan, you know I’m a bad bitch and stitches will not get me down.”
His nose wrinkled. “I kinda don’t know that for sure.” He laughed. “When I texted my cousin, he said the pool was killer.”
“It is.” Allie ran her hands through her hair. “Just beautiful.”
“Where is he?” Evan walked to the Christmas tree and looked up. “This is awesome.”
Allie’s hand went out as she looked at Rachel and Lexi. “Now I want everybody to stay calm, okay?”
Lexi’s brow shot up. “Why do you say that? You know ya can’t say stay calm and actually expect people to stay calm. It’s like saying I have a drinking problem because you get on my freakin’ nerves.”
“It’s just a really small world because we know Evan’s cousin. It’s like an unexpected coincidence.”
Rachel’s head shook. “I heard a quote once that said not to believe in meaningless coincidences. That we should believe that every coincidence is a message, like a clue that needs attention or action.”
Allie looked up. The second Rachel’s eyes landed on me I learned “white as a ghost” was a thing.
Lexi groaned. “What the fuck? The attention this one needs is death.”
Allie put her arms out again. “Guys, it’s okay.”
Lexi looked at her as if she was speaking Bulgarian. “This is anything but okay.” Her narrowed eyes walked back to me as I made my way down the stairs. “He needs to go.”
Evan walked to me. “What’s happening?”
Rachel grabbed Evan’s arm. “This is your cousin?”
“Yeah. This is Levi. He’s been in Brazil since we’ve been together.”
Lexi slapped Rachel’s shoulder. “Rach, how can you not know Evan is related to this son of a bitch?”
