“Flying burrito,” Quinn yells just as Jimmy’s half-eaten breakfast lands on our dad’s bare chest.
Every single one of us starts to laugh. Peyton snorts, which makes us all roar. And over all of our noise, Jimmy is yelling at our dad in some unintelligible British language, though I definitely picked up a few curse words.
“What’s so funny?”
We all stop and straighten up as Eden stares at us.
“Come eat, honey,” Jenna says, reaching for her daughter. Eden slams her board into the sand and ignores her mother’s hand. Jenna frowns but looks down at the ground so no one sees it. Ah, the teenage years of thinking you don’t need either of your parents only to lie awake at night, wishing you could tell them all your secrets because the burden is too much. I remember those days well.
As soon as everyone’s done with breakfast, I run back to the house and change into one of my older swimsuits. I don’t care how many times it’s been through the wash, it still smells like sun and sand. Back outside, I look at my family, wishing Ben was with us, but I’ve ruined things there. I have a feeling my family knows something is up because no one has asked where he is this weekend. Normally, he’d be with me and be
part of my family.
Down in the water, everyone but my mom and Jenna are hitting the waves. I stand back and watch Eden, who is better than any of us. “Wow, she’s amazing.”
“She wants to go professional,” Jenna says. “Jimmy and I aren’t sure because of the time she’d have to devote.”
“You’d have to travel a lot, I’m sure,” my mom adds.
Jenna nods. “Hawaii and Australia, mostly. There’s plenty of competitions here, but she would have to train year around. I don’t know. I think she should wait. Jimmy doesn’t say much because either I’m the one who moves with her or he has to quit the band. Eden hates us right now because we can’t make a decision.”
My mom pulls Jenna into her arms, consoling her. I have a hard enough time with the life-changing decision I’m trying to make. I can’t imagine being faced with one that changes your entire family.
I give the rest of my family my attention, watching as they ride the waves. My dad, Quinn, and Eden ride flawlessly, while Noah and Jimmy fall off, and Peyton never stands on her board, choosing to paddle back in.
“You coming out, princess?” my dad asks as soon as he’s back on the shore.
“I don’t know. Watching Eden, I feel like I’m not very good.”
Eden laughs but doesn’t say anything. She drops her board in the water and paddles back out.
I’m on the cusp of making my decision when I’m picked up from behind. I scream, my arms flail and I try to hang out, but to no avail. I’m dropped into the ocean with barely enough time to hold my breath. I come up, sputtering with my hair covering my face. When I finally move the rat’s nest from my eyes, my brother is standing in front of me with his board.
“Bet you can’t catch me,” he says before tossing his board onto the water and paddling away.
“Ugh!” I groan, much to the delight of my family, who are laughing again.
After hours of surfing, playing volleyball, laying in the sun, eating and napping every chance we can, Quinn and Noah have started up the bonfire again, and the parental units cook dinner. Peyton and I are sitting side by side, watching the guys.
“I thought you had to fly home today?”
“We did,” Peyton says. “But Noah thought we could use another day. We’ll leave in the morning. Private jet and all.”
“The perks.” I sigh as if it’s so bad to have a private jet at our disposal. Peyton and I start laughing, likely thinking the same thing, which causes Noah and Quinn to look over at us. “He loves you, you know.”
“How can you tell?” she asks.
“It’s the way he looks at you, the way he watches you. He’s always smiling. And he knows where you are at all times. While everyone was on the beach today, you walked up behind him. I thought for sure he was going to scream, but it’s like he knew you were there the whole time. He didn’t even flinch.”
“He’s my dream come true, Elle.”
“Your fairy tale?”
“My happily ever after. He’s my best friend. He’s part of my soul, and without him, I don’t feel complete. Noah’s my forever.”
I reach for my sister’s hand, holding it tightly. It wasn’t too long ago that I begged the man who she’s about to marry to let her go, to tell my sister goodbye. Every day I thank God he never listened to me.
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