Page 7 of Tangled Weeds

“I followed the list Dale sent,” Shamus said, and tried to act like he’d followed it exactly.

“So, was a set of towels on the list? Or how about that Lego advent calendar, was that on the list?” I asked and watched as he completely ignored me while trying to carry as much as he could in one trip.

“I might have grabbed a few extra things,” he finally said with a grin.

“Let’s get it all put away before Dale and Kathleen get here so it’s all ready to go.” He kissed the side of my head before we managed to take the rest of it into the house. We’d just put the last of the meat into the refrigerator when they arrived.

“Come in,” Shamus yelled when they knocked on the door.

“Everybody out of the kitchen. I need to get the meat marinating and Kathleen is going to make a few salads. So, unless you’re going to be cooking something we need you to step aside,” Dale said as he stood there holding four canvas bags of who knew what.

For a moment we all froze but when they both came in and basically shoved us out, none of us resisted. “Let’s go make sure the grill is ready to go,” I said to Shamus. He widened his eyes and clenched his teeth in an exaggeratedoh shitlook before nodding.

“Please tell me ya didn’t forget to get whatever you need to cook with,” Drake said with a glance back in the direction of the kitchen. “Dale’s gotten a bit serious about his cooking don’t ya think?”

“Rory said he’s been cooking a lot since he’s retired,” I said, as Shamus dragged the grill over to the side of the patio.

“Oh, thank god there’s enough gas,” he said when he lifted the canister. “Dale’s usually so chill, I’ve never seen him this serious about anything.”

“Psst, guys,” Kathleen said as she slid the patio door shut and walked over to where the four of us were still standing next to the grill.

“Hey, Kathleen, is Rory getting here soon?” I asked and really hoped he was.

“I just sent him a message. Sorry about Dale, he’s a little bored since he retired, and this week cooking is his thing. Since he’s mostly been cooking for me, he’s very excited to cook for all of you but he’s also a little over the top about it,” she explained.

“Holy shit, I thought something had happened to him, I’ve never seen him so serious,” Drake said and chuckled.

“Oh, this is nothing. He’s watched nothing but food shows on television and now he’s in a bunch of social media groups where they take pictures or videos of them cooking and share it. He keeps making me be his taster.” She glanced over her shoulder, and we all followed her line of vision to where Dale was busy organizing everything in the kitchen. “Not all of it’s been good,” she whispered, and I swear to god had the same grimace andoh shitlook Shamus had just had.

“Fuck, is he okay to cook everything today?” I asked because now I was worried even though I wasn’t really sure why. We’d eaten lots of shitty food on the road.

“Oh yes, he’s great at barbecue and regular food, he’s just been trying things he’s never tried before and probably shouldn’t try again,” she said and laughed. “Rory will be here soon.”

“Honey, can you help me in here,” Dale asked from inside without looking up from whatever he was working on.

She grinned at us before turning around and walking back in. Shamus’s eyes met mine and we both stifled a laugh. “Who would have thought he’d become a high stress social media influencer when he retired,” I whispered.

“I’ve never been more thankful for Kai taking care of that shit than I am right now,” Shamus said. He wasn’t on social media at all, and we’d found that since Kai had been handling it,our visibility had gone up a lot. Something we all both loved and hated. It was strange to see our pictures online, but I was thankful it was Kai, and he never shared anything personal. It was all strictly band business.

“Hey, where’s everyone at?” Rory said as he walked straight into the house without knocking, followed by Kai.

“They’re out back, why don’t you take this tray out, so they have something to snack on until dinner is ready,” Kathleen said.

After a quick hug he picked up the tray and Kai opened the slider for him. “We brought food,” Rory said as soon as he stepped onto the patio making us all laugh.

“You realize we can hear everything in the kitchen?” I said as he set down the tray that looked more like a charcutier board on a plate.

“I don’t care who made it as long as we can eat it,” Shamus said and picked up some cheese and a slice of turkey. “I didn’t think we’d see you two until dinner was served.”

Rory looked at Kai and the two of them laughed. “We were going to stay in bed all day but then we decided we should probably come over and see what was for dinner,” Rory said.

“Dude, your dad is being super intense about cooking. When he offered, Liam and I were thrilled, but I think he might think he’s Gordon Ramsey or some shit,” Shamus whispered making us all laugh.

“If that guy cooks like Gordon Ramsey you won’t hear a complaint from me,” Drake said as he took a bite of something from the tray on the table. “So, Vegas next week?”

“Yep, four different venues. It should be fun,” Rory said, as he slung his arm around Kai and kissed his cheek.

“Or crazy. Hopefully we don’t have any issues before Rocktoberfest,” Shamus said.

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