“We had a bit of a disagreement.”
“Knock knock,” a voice called from the front hall.
“Lusanne!” my mother exclaimed when our cousins walked into the kitchen. She was with her brother Tristano, and only Hudson and I, and Cos, knew they were in town. Apparently, Lus asked Cos if any of the cottages were available, said that she and Tris were coming for a few nights on business.
When they came into the brewery earlier, I’d been surprised to see them. Although Bridgewater was only a few hours away, with their own family business to run, and Tris now owning his own restaurant, we saw them less and less over the years.
“What are you guys doing here?” my mother asked.
At this point everyone had gotten up from the table. They were hugging and shaking hands as if Lus and Tris had been on the moon when we’d actually just seen them a month ago for my great uncle’s funeral.
“I wanted to surprise you.” Lus told her as my sister hugged her like they were long lost sisters. Of all our cousins, the two of them had always been the tightest since they were close in age.
“Is it just the two of you,” Dad asked Tris as they embraced. “Tony here?”
Tony was my father’s brother. But since he owned his own pizza shop in Bridgewater, they didn’t see each other as often as either would like. At least, that was before my parents retired. They’d been down to Bridgewater twice in the last year.
“It’s just the two of us,” Tris said. “We’ll tell you all about it.”
“Come on in. We were just sitting down to eat.” My mother added plates to the table as my father brought chairs in from the kitchen. “I can’t believe you guys are here. Where are you staying?”
“Cos snagged us a cottage. We just got in a few hours ago. Saw the brewery already,” Lus smiled at me. “Marco told us about dinner. So...surprise?”
“What a nice surprise,” Mom said as everyone began to sit back down.
“Min,” I got my sister’s attention, nodding to the living room.
She followed.
“You talked to her,” I guessed, not wasting any time.
Min was about to say something when she looked into the dining room. And then back at me. “Wait a minute. Lus was at the brewery?”
“Yeah. She and Tris came in on their way to the cottage. More importantly, did you talk to Rae?”
I was becoming impatient.
“Simmer down, loverboy. I think it’s important.”
“What the hell are you talking about? What’s important?”
“Did you hug Lusanne, by chance, in the brewery?”
“Ok, now you’re just being weird. What the hell kind of question—”
“Did you?”
I threw up my hands. “Yes, of course. Your turn. Did you see Rae today?”
“Oh man,” Min was smiling. “I am so sorry.”
“For not answering my question?” I was going to ring the woman’s neck in about two seconds.
“For jumping to conclusions. So...” She hesitated. “Don’t get mad.”
“Too late.”
“I think Rae saw you with Lus. Yep, that must be it.”