“She’s a very interesting young lady.” Aunt Victoria walked up next to me. “You don’t need to worry. She’s way too smart to be interested in my son.”
“I’m not interested, I was just wondering about her father.” I turned toward the band. “I think I’ll go ahead and let them leave instead of making her sit out there.”
“Good idea, I suppose. Everyone is tired tonight.” Aunt Victoria smiled. “I’ll let the staff know to come help load them. Goodnight.”
“Thanks, I’ll see you for breakfast before you leave.” I kissed her cheek. “Goodnight Sienna, thanks for your help tonight.”
“Goodnight.” Sienna waved and followed Aunt Victoria
I took a few minutes to thank the band for coming over for just us.
“I’m going to let you guys head home early. It appears your ride is here and everyone is tired.” I stood in front of the drummer. “I’ll still be paying you for the full night, of course.”
“Thanks, Mr. Hawthorne,” the drummer, Andy, said.
“Boys, please, call me Sawyer. I’m not big on the formal names.” I shook hands with each of them. “My staff will be out here any minute to help you load up.”
“Sorry, we heard Jade call you Mr. Hawthorne, so we figured you preferred it,” Andy answered for the group.
“I keep telling her to call me Sawyer, but she seems pretty annoyed with me, so she keeps to the formal name.” I shook my head. “Is she always so annoyed?”
“Jade? No way. She’s super nice,” Joe laughed. “I think her being annoyed with you might be about the pushing thing.”
“How do you know about that? Did she tell everyone?” I demanded.
“Um…no, you did.” Joe looked to the other band members, then back to me. “Don’t you remember talking about it at the bar that first night?”
“No! Well, maybe, to just a small group that was drinking with us,” I looked out to the dock, “but that’s all.”
“Mr. Hawthorne, I mean, Sawyer, you were telling everyone in the bar and even if you weren’t, it’s a small island community. If you told one, you told them all.” Joe chuckled and the others joined in. “She’s probably mad ‘cause people have made comments to her about it.”
“Geez, really?” I didn’t think I’d drank that much that night,” I groaned. “Have people been mean to her about it?”
“Nah, everyone likes Jade and Admiral, but they tease her,” Joe chuckled. “She doesn’t seem to like that much.”
“I can’t blame her. I wouldn’t want to hear it either.” I started for the dock, then stopped. “I wonder if it would make her more mad if I apologize?”
“Never know until you try, sir.” Andy stood next to me looking out at Jade. “Looks like maybe she likes your cousin, though, so maybe he can fix it for you.”
“Yeah, maybe, but I doubt it. See you tomorrow night, boys.”
I started walking out to where Asher and Jade sat talking. “I thought you had some paperwork to get done? Sorry if Asher kept you from it.”
“It’s alright, I probably needed the break anyways. I can get it done at the hospital when I get back.” Jade jumped back up on her boat. “I see the band coming, you didn’t cut them short because I was here early, did you?”
“Definitely not. Everyone was tired, except Asher that is, so I decided to give you all a break tonight.” I stood with my hands in my pockets. “You’ll be coming back for my aunt in the morning, correct?”
“Yes, I will. Let me know ahead of time if you need anything from the island. I can always bring it with me.” Jade started the engines as the band climbed aboard. “Hey, boys, you sounded great tonight.”
“Jade, great talking to you. Next time, come and stay longer.” Asher waved and walked off whistling.
I watched Jade glance Asher’s way, then back to me. “Is he ever serious about anything?”
“Not really, or should I say, not if he doesn’t have to be,” I smiled. “You have a safe trip across.”
“I think we’ll be fine. The kraken don’t come out until well after midnight.” She pulled the boat away from the dock.
Chapter 35