Page 47 of Summer Love

"She had a place on Captiva. It's too big for me, but it's fine."

Elena looked around the table. "Oh, I would have thought you all lived on Sanibel."

Shep winked at her. "I like my space."

"Shep spent a lot of time with my mom. And when she passed, she gave him the house," Mom said by way of explanation.

"That's sweet," Elena said.

"I'm anything but sweet," Shep said flirtatiously.

"I'd tell you to behave, but it's a losing cause at this point," I grumbled.

"Let the girl eat," Mom agreed.

"Luna said she needs one of you to check out a house for her soon," Dad said.

"She wants to flip a new one?" I asked.

"Sounds like it." Then to Elena, Dad explained, "Luna flips houses on the island, and takes on interior design jobs."

"That must keep her busy."

"I don't like that she lives off-island a good portion of the year, but she really seems to have found herself. She knows what she wants, and she created a successful business for herself," Mom said.

Dad's expression was serious. "That was my fault for not encouraging her ideas when she came to me. But interior design was outside my wheelhouse. We still refer customers to her, and she can work some of the jobs remotely."

"That's nice," Elena said between bites.

"It allows her to have the freedom to live wherever she wants," I agreed.

"And that's why you should get on this flip, so she'll come home for a few months," Mom said pointedly.

"I'm on it," I said.

Talk turned to other things going on around the island: a craft fair at the community center that Elena might enjoy and a new musical playing at the theater.

When dinner was done and cleaned up, we walked to the beach. A few of us carried chairs and a cooler with drinks. Shep threw a football to Coop. I drew a line in the sand with my foot for the end zones.

We set up a few beach chairs for whoever needed a break and lit the tiki torches we kept on the beach for evenings like this. Then we started a pickup game. Elena sat on one of the chairs next to Mom, and I wondered what they were talking about.

I wanted them to get along. It shouldn't matter though. Elena wasn't my girlfriend.

The ball flew by my head.

"Get your head in the game," Shep called to me.

I refocused on the game, and we got into a nice rhythm, moving the ball up and down the beach.

"You looked like you were having fun out there," Elena said.

"Yeah, we play around whenever we're all home," I said to her.

"You're lucky you had so many siblings to play sports. That doesn't work with just one," Elena said.

I didn't remember her brother, but then again, he was older than us, and I didn't remember much about Elena either. Back then, I probably should have been more present in the moment, not so worried about my future.

"None of you are dating anyone seriously?" Elena asked as we stood around.

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