Page 112 of Mark

“She has a fantastic support system though. She will get there. And so will you with your sign language.”

“Fingers crossed,” I reply.

I’m about to ask more about her conversation with her sister, but her attention is drawn to the crowd, her eyes wide. “Oh my god,” she whispers.

I turn in the direction she’s looking and my jaw drops. Max is making his way through the parade wearing an abundance of bright colours matching those in the parade. Instead of wearing a mask, they have painted his face. He’s currently shaking some maracas, twerking his hips side to side to the beat of the music.

He spots us and his smile morphs into a bigger one. “This is the best holiday ever. I’ve met my people.”

The man beside him hears and hollers whilst banging his maracas to his chest. “Let’s go to the beach before he tries forcing us to join him.”

Having learned her lesson to listen to warnings about Max, Freya gets to her feet quickly.

“Come on, join me,” Max yells, whacking the maracas in the air.

“I can hear Mum calling me,” I yell, and help Freya over the small wall that separates the path and the beach. “Bye.”

“Has he ever been tested for ADHD?” Freya asks, concerned when two men pick Max up and place him on their shoulders.

“Apparently our granddad tried when he was a teenager but he somehow managed to get removed from each and every doctors service. It became too much for my granddad so he left it.”

We walk along the beach, and I find myself taking her hand. It’s something I find myself doing a lot, and I find I like it. I like her close.

“Mark,” Lily calls out, waving to us from where she’s sitting under a tree with Jaxon, Mum, Dad and Charlotte.

“What happened to your face?” I ask Charlotte when I see blood dripping down her nose.

Mum winces, holding Charlotte’s head back with a tissue pressed against her nose. “She got smacked with the volleyball,” she mutters.

My eyes widen, my gaze shooting straight to Charlotte. “You weren’t playing, were you?” I question.

Everyone knows not to let Charlotte anywhere near sport activities. She has a habit of getting hurt.

“I wasn’t playing. I was watching Drew,” she mumbles through the tissue.

“Hayden accidentally whacked the ball too hard and it hit her in the face. Drew has gone to get some ice.”

Myles comes rushing over, out of breath. “I can’t find Max anywhere. I think he might actually be on the rubber dinghy in the middle of the ocean.”

“He’s in the parade,” Freya rushes out as she takes a seat next to Lily and Rose.

“In the parade?”

I wince. “Inthe parade. Evidently, they like him so much they made him a part of it.”

Mum’s eyes widen. “Someone go and find him. The parade ends in a part of the island not open to the public.”

“That doesn’t sound like a problem,” Dad replies.

Mum glares at him. “He will never make it back to the boat.”

“Again, I don’t see the problem,” he mutters.

She sighs and glances at Myles. “We will never hear the end of it if we leave him on this island.”

Myles scrubs the back of his neck as he glances at Dad. “He already has abandonment issues.”

Dad growls low. “I’m going to kill him. He has kids. He has a wife. A respectful job. Yet even twenty-five years later, I’m still parenting him.”

---