Page 4 of Cole (Dirty Misfits MC 4)
“Sandy! Cody!” I yelled as I walked into the kitchen, “your food’s getting cold!”
The kids skidded into the kitchen in fuzzy socks that made them slide across the floor. I giggled with delight as they soared toward the beautiful marble table their parents had purchased last month. They sat perfectly down into their seats and dug into the cheesy scrambled eggs and chocolate chip pancakes I had whipped up for them when I had gotten to the house an hour ago.
And after we all finished eating, I shuffled them back upstairs to get changed into their bathing suits.
“Make sure to put on sunscreen, too!” I exclaimed.
“Cody! Where’s my sunscreen?” Sandy called out.
“Sandy, did you take my sunscreen!?”
I rolled my eyes as I walked up the stairs. “All right, let me help you guys find the sunscreen!”
After tracking down the two bottles to their parent’s bedroom of all places, I made my way downstairs to clean up the kitchen. I knew it would take Sandy at least twenty minutes to pick out which bathing suit she wanted to wear, so I had enough time to toss everything into the dishwasher. The hot sun streamed through the kitchen window, causing the pool to glisten as if it were filled with crystals. I made up a small plate of snacks and snatched up some drinks before I walked them outside to set up a nice little side-table with niblets and things to sip on while they splashed around.
And as I walked over to lay in one of the lounge chairs by the pool, the family’s border collie, Max, barked as he raced for me. I bent down and took him into my arms, allowing his soft fur to comfort me.
“Cannonball!”
Cody raced past me and splashed his way into the pool as loudly as he was brazen. I picked up Max in my arms and sat in a chair by the side of the pool, watching Cody splash around as Sandy made her way over to the steps of the pool. She eased herself in and cracked open a book she had in her hand, and the moment caused me to smile. Sandy and Cody were both so carefree.
A pang of jealousy coursed through my body as a memory came crashing back to my mind.
“No! Stop!”
Dad growled. “Come on, Molly. No need to fight.”
“Mom! No! Someone help me!”
He wrenched my hair, tossing me into the back seat of his car. “Shut up, Molly, before I make you regret this decision.”
“I didn’t even do anything!” I shrieked.
“Miss Molly?” Cody asked.
His innocent little voice ripped me from the recesses of my mind. “Yes, honey?”
“Does Max wanna get in?”
The dog turned his nose up at me and I gazed into his eyes. “Whaddaya say, boy? Wanna go swim?”
And that was all I had to say.
Max leapt from my arms, scurried across what little concrete there was, and jumped straight at Cody’s face. Cody caught him in his arms before the two of them went under, and when they both resurfaced, they swam around. I peeked over at Sandy and watched as she mindlessly flipped a page in her book. I grinned as I picked up a grape and plopped it against my tongue, chewing it and savoring it as the sun beat against my shoulders.
Leave it to my father to ruin a perfectly good Saturday morning.
As I drew in a deep breath to calm my heart, I heard something way off in the distance. The popping sounds gave me pause as Sandy whipped her head up from her book. Max went from barking and licking Cody’s face to growling as he paddled toward the steps of the pool. And as I stood to my feet, the popping continued.
Before it slowly grew closer to the house.
“Fireworks!” Cody exclaimed.
I narrowed my eyes. “I don’t think those are—”
Sandy looked up from her book. “Can we get fireworks?”
Cody gasped. “Yeah! I mean, we have all of this yard. We could totally have our own fireworks show!”
I shook my head. “Fireworks are illegal in Santa Cruz, you guys. I’m sorry.”
Sandy’s lips downturned into a frown. “Then, why are people firing them off right now?”
It sounds more like gunshots, to be honest.
Cody groaned. “Of course, they get to have all the fun and we don’t. Typical.”
I hated seeing them sad or feeling like they were out of the loop. Their parents did that to them enough with how much they traveled and were gone on business, and I didn’t want them to feel like that with me, too.
So, an idea hit me as the “fireworks” slowly faded away. “Why don't we make our own explosions?”
Sandy peeked up from her book. “I’m listening.”
Cody got out of the pool. “What do you mean, Miss Molly?”
I eased myself back into my chair. “I mean, there are plenty of experiments that we can do that create their own explosions. You know, like chemical reactions and stuff.”
