Page 41 of Changing Tides

“I can’t believe you made plans with them last night,” I say as we climb out of the golf cart.

Sebastian, Anson, and Parker are waiting for us in the parking lot.

“They offered to take us out. What was I supposed to say? Besides, I think Anson is just as interested in watching you and Sebastian combust as I am,” Amiya teases.

Great.

When we make it to the boys, they guide us up the ramp to the entrance to the Beacon Seafood Buffet Restaurant.

“I hope you girls are ready to eat your weight in fried seafood,” Sebastian states.

“Leia loves crab legs,” I say.

“Really? So do I. They’re my favorite,” he tells Leia.

“I bet I’ll eat more than you,” she challenges.

He gives her a pacifying grin.

“No way. You’re just a little girl,” he replies.

“I bet you ice cream,” she declares confidently as she extends her hand.

He eyes her suspiciously. “Why do I feel like I’m being hustled?”

I laugh as he takes her fingers into his and shakes.

Leia grins and then skips off toward the front door of the restaurant.

“Because you are, sucker,” Amiya whispers as we breeze past him.

The hostess leads us to a high-top table on the glassed-in deck at the back of the restaurant.

The waitress brings us each a glass of water, and Leia asks for Sprite.

“And we don’t need these.” Anson hands her back the stack of menus the hostess left on the table with our wrapped silverware. “We’ll all be having the buffet, and we’ll need crab legs crackers and mallets.”

“And a bowl of melted butter. Not a little ketchup bowl. A big one, with Old Bay sprinkled on top, and a lobster bib, please,” Leia requests.

Sebastian looks at her and quirks an eyebrow. “I like your style, kid.”

Amiya stays with Leia while I follow the boys over to the buffet. I grab two plates from the stack, walk straight to the crab legs station, and pile them both high.

“You have to try the lobster mac, clam chowder, and salmon risotto,” Parker says as he lifts the ladle from a stainless steel pot and fills a bowl with thick, creamy soup.

“I will. I’m just making Leia’s plates first,” I say.

His eyes go wide. “Both of those are for her?” His chin jerks toward the two mounds of crab legs that I can barely see over.

“Oh, yeah,” I reply.

He bursts out laughing.

I return to the table, and the waitress has brought Leia a Styrofoam cup of Sprite. I unwrap a straw for her and slide thebeverage in front of her. Then, I set the hot bowl of butter on a saucer and place it to her right, tie the plastic bib around her neck, and give her one of the crackers.

“Thank you, Mommy,” she says as she comes up on her knees so she can better reach the pile of delicious crustaceans.

The boys arrive back with their plates.

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