Page 147 of The Pact
She takes her sunglasses off the neck of her shirt and puts them on. “Yeah, I know.”
“Doc, this isn’t a house.”
“Yes, it is. It has bedrooms, bathrooms, and a kitchen.” She smirks.
“This is a resort hotel.”
Rhyan and Sera come into the room. She’s now wearing pink sunglasses and a hat twice the size of her head.
“I’ll claim this castle.”
I point to Rhyan. “See. She gets it.”
Presley laughs and reaches for Sera’s hand.
The girls walk outside, and Remy runs up to us, talking to the girls.
“There’s a pool!”
“And a beach,” Presley says.
“Der’s courts too,” Sera adds proudly, like she personally installed them.
Rhyan looks up at Presley. “Do we have swords?”
“No swords,” Presley and I say at the same time.
Rhyan sighs. “So, vacation has limits?”
“Mimi and Poppy are here!” Presley’s mom shouts as she walks out of the house to meet us.
Sera runs toward her, and Kate opens her arms and catches her. “There’s my peanut.”
James walks out next. “Hello everyone!” He claps. “Who’s hungry?”
“Me!” All the kids yell in unison and run toward the house.
Presley takes my hand. “Let’s go eat.”
I nod.
“Relax. Have fun.”
I remember James vaguely telling me that.
Everything after lunch was a blur, because now I’m standing in waist-deep water in a heated pool while Remy practices cannonballs, while Rhyan clings to my back, yelling in my ear, “Be a sea dragon, Uncle Wyatt.”
Sera floats nearby in teal goggles, declaring herself the mermaid mayor.
Presley sits on the edge of the pool, laughing so hard she has tears in her eyes.
“You gonna come in and help me?” I ask.
“No,” she says, shaking her head. “You look busy.”
“These girls are forming an aquatic government.”
“Then you should respect the democracy.”
