Page 32 of Lahaina Noon

“Dude, IamGreenPrincess1,” she said. “You ready to go?”

Gabe’s eyes went round, and he looked like he had just been confronted with the face of God herself. He nodded mechanically, then followed Siobhan and the others to a large gaming room down the hall.

Bridget heard the sounds of Gabe’s favorite game booting up and the excited cheers as they settled in to join or spectate the match. She smiled, grateful to the team for distracting Gabe from earlier events. She wasn’t sure how much she could tell Jorrie and wondered where Vaughn had slipped off to.

The door opened, and Vaughn walked in, trailed by Jack. Vaughn didn’t look very happy. In fact, he looked downright thunderous.

Bridget was about to inquire when she heard a chorus of meows and growls. “My cats!” she squealed, running over to relieve Vaughn of the two carriers he had. Jack had the other, and a bag of what she assumed were essentials for her babies. “Oh, thank you, thank you.” She kissed Vaughn repeatedly.

“Hey, don’t I get some of that? I carried Lovecraft!” Called Jack.

“Of course you do!” Bridget laughed, running over to hug her other favorite man.

“Yeah, you carried him because he bit me,” snarked Vaughn.

She whirled back to Vaughn and snatched his hands, looking for the bite. “You need to wash that right away,” she worried, “Cat bites can get infected if not properly treated. He was probably just scared, poor baby didn’t know what was going on.” She continued to look at his hands but didn’t see any marks.

She looked up at him questioningly, and he whispered in her ear, “I heal quickly. Dragon perks, remember?”

She nodded and glanced at the others; they were focused on calming down the angry felines. “Where can we put them?” she asked Vaughn, “I don’t want them to run around and destroy things. They’re like ninja scientists. Under foot, trying to kill you, constantly checking on gravity. Why did you bring them here? Someone could have just fed them.”

He smiled and pointed down another hallway. “I had Liam set up a little room just for them so they would have some space to chill out and get used to being here. We don’t know how long you’re going to be here.” He opened a door to something that looked like an ad for cat Nirvana. Scratching posts, cat trees, a fancy litter box that seemed to clean itself, and lots of comfy beds. Toys everywhere.

She could see three noses poking out of their carriers, eager to explore the space. “Vaughn, this is just too much for a night or two.” She turned to him. “Thank you, though.” She took the carriers into the room and opened the doors. Poe shot straight out of his and up the ramp to the highest perch. Dante and Lovecraft held back for a minute, preferring to get the lay of the land before venturing forth. “We’ll let them settle in first, and I’ll check on them later. I need to see if Liam is back with the supplies to feed this army you’ve brought over.”

Jorrie and Jack cornered Bridget in the kitchen, they’d volunteered to help her feed the large group so they could get her alone to question her.

“Alright, Bridget,” Jack started, “You’ve dodged us enough. Exactly, what the hell is going on here?” He stared at her, concern in his eyes.

Jorrie set down the cheese she was grating and leaned a hip on the counter. “C’mon, Bridge, you’re being very cagey about all of this.When you went on the date last night, I told you to have sex with the man, which I’m very proud of you for, by the way, but I didn’t mean you should move in with the guy the next day! I mean, what the hell girl? That’s way too fast.” Jorrie looked at Jack for confirmation.

He nodded and added, “Babe, Bridget, you know I love you, and I want what’s best for you right?”

Bridget nodded, staring at the floor, wondering where to start and how much she could tell them.

Jack continued, “Look, I only want you to be happy. Vaughn is a great guy. He really cares about you, and I’m glad he finally got around to asking you out. He’s been mooning over you since the day he met you!” Jack rolled his eyes.

Bridget looked at Jack in surprise. “You knew the whole time? I thought you just found out!” she said incredulously. Jack had a reputation as theworstsecret keeper in the world. Especially if he’d had tequila. Bridget looked at Jorrie to get her take on it and saw Jorrie was suspiciously busy grating cheese again.

“You both knew,” she laughed. She set down the spatula she’d been using. “You come in here questioning me when you both knew what was going on? What else do you know?” she demanded.

“Nothing!” Jorrie said, holding up her hands. “Look, I could tell Jack knew something. You know how he is with a secret.”

Jack nodded and mouthed,the worst,at Bridget, which made her smile.

“I made him go out to Margarita Madness with me and plied him with enough tequila to get him talking. He told me Vaughn was interested in you, and how he kept talking about you and asking questions.How he would invent some reason to be around you. And you were so blind to it all! It was honestly just so sweet and romantic,” Jorrie sighed. “I knew, if you knew, you’d just close him out and be awkward around him until he finally got around to asking you out. He’s the only man since Brian that I’ve seen you even remotely interested in, and it needed to happen.”

Bridget stood there for a minute then smiled at her friends. “I love you guys. Seriously. But don’teverkeep secrets from me again!” She threatened them with the spatula.

Jack pretended to cower in fear while Jorrie just rolled her eyes. “Okay, your turn, spill!”

Bridget thought for a minute and shook her head. “Look, guys, I haven’t moved in. We’re just staying a night or two for safety reasons. I need to talk to Vaughn first. Some of these secrets are not mine to spill. Let’s get through dinner, and then we can all sit down and talk together, and then figure this out. Can you trust me for that?” She got two hugs as an answer.

Chapter 20

Dinner was a noisy,boisterous affair, as expected. She was glad she’d made as much as she had. She thought she’d made too much, but after seeing how all the ‘kids’ ate, she understood how a frat house mom must feel. She smiled at them, so easy with each other, including Gabe in conversations like he was part of the team. She could tell they’d had large group dinners here before as they all settled in like they were home. It made her unexplainably happy to realize she was now part of it and they’d accepted her easily.

Of course, Gabe managed to seat himself next to Siobhan and was recounting his epic tournament prowess to her.

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