“Chicken,” Falcon calls as he pulls himself out of the water. Mr. Reyes begins to walk away, but Falcon quickly races after him, which has Mr. Reyes yelling, “Touch me, and I’ll disinherit you.”
“That’s okay. Julian will look after me,” Falcon teases as he grabs hold of Mr. Reyes.
Tears start streaming down my face, mixing with the droplets of water as I watch Mr. Reyes struggle against Falcon’s hold.
“Don’t you dare!” Mr. Reyes yells, but Falcon doesn’t stop pulling him closer. Then Mr. Reyes gives up and says, “Wait, I’ll jump in myself.”
The second Falcon eases his hold on his father, Mr. Reyes shoves him, sending him plunging back into the water. Laughter explodes from Mr. Reyes as he taunts, “Serves you right.”
Dad comes to stand next to Mr. Reyes, laughter dancing in his eyes.
Julian scoops some water up and throws it at his father. “Jump in, Dad.”
Mr. Chargill looks down at everyone in the water, then shrugs, “What the hell.” Grabbing hold of my father’s arm, Mr. Reyes shoves him forward before following him into the lake.
The whole group hollers and cheers, and then Mr. Reyes grabs hold of Falcon’s head, shoving him back under the water.
I only get to watch my friends and family playing around and having fun for a couple of minutes before Dad pounces on me.LeeI place all the different snacks we got on the table while Layla prepares the drinks. We’ve just finished when the other ladies start to arrive. Miss Sebastian goes to open the front door, and I quickly glance around to make sure we didn’t forget anything.
The weather is perfect, and I smile widely as all the ladies come outside. For a couple of minutes, everyone greets each other until Della and Jamie walk out onto the veranda.
“Where’s Kingsley?” I ask Della once all the women have helped themselves to some snacks and a drink.
“She messaged to say she’ll be here in the next ten minutes.”
“Oh, good.” My eyes stop on Della, and I admire how gorgeous she looks. You wouldn’t think she’s has three children and one of them is only three months old.
Della catches me staring at everyone, and with a smile, says, “I live for these gatherings. I get to rest while Carter takes care of the kids.”
I’m just about to say something back when Kingsley comes out of the house, dragging two huge bags behind her. “Are y’all ready to have some fun!”
The women all cheer, and Miss Sebastian is the first one to peek into the bags. “Do you have a plumbing problem at the dorms?”
Kingsley lets out a bark of laughter. “No, the toilet paper and plungers are for the game we’ll be playing.”
“Now I’m afraid to ask what game,” Miss Sebastian mumbles, her eyes warily on the two bags.
“It’s going to be fun.” Kingsley walks over to Jamie. “You need to split everyone into teams of two.”
“Yeah?” Jamie stands up and rubs her hands together while grinning. “Stephanie and Layla.”
Layla wiggles her eyebrows at her mom as she goes to stand next to her.
“Emilie and Evie.” Jamie pairs Evie with her stepmother, then she continues to pair my mother-in-law with me, Kingsley with Mrs. Chargill, Mia with Della, and Willow with Leigh.
“Miss Sebastian, you’re with me,” Jamie finishes, looking pleased with her choices.
Mom places her arm around my waist while giving Mrs. Chargill and Kingsley a daring look. “Team Cutler is going to kick Team Chargill’s butt.”
“You wish,” Mrs. Chargill taunts.
“Listen up,” Kingsley calls out. “One of you will pinch a toilet roll between your knees or thighs, and the other will do the same with a plunger. The stick has to face forward. When the game starts, you have to try and get the stick in the toilet roll hole. The first team with three rolls on their stick wins.”
My eyes widen, and I feel a blush creep up my neck as I sneak a glance at my mother-in-law.
She gives me a reassuring look. “You take the plunger, and I’ll take the rolls.”
Shrugging off the slight embarrassment, I pick up a plunger and pinch it between my knees. Luckily Mom isn’t much taller than me, or we’d have a problem.
When all the teams are ready, Jamie calls out, “In three… two… one! Go!”
It’s not even five seconds later, and already the women are starting to laugh while shuffling closer to each other.
“Quick, Stick it in the hole!” Miss Sebastian yells while she wiggles her body like a worm to try and get the hole lined up with the stick.
“Keep still so I can get it in,” Jamie squeezes the words out while she’s overcome with laughter.
“You hold your bedazzled ass still!” Miss Sebastian exclaims excitedly. Miss Sebastian tries to bend her knees while pinching the roll tightly, and it has all of us laughing so hard, no one can get any of the sticks through the holes.