Page 26 of Alice & Meg: Summer Vacation
I grinned.“Extra sprinkles, please.”
“I second that,” Meg added and raised her hand.
Hero stood too, but Reva jumped up beside him.“I don’t know what flavor I want.I’ll come with.”
Rigid, Clash, Adley, Greta, and Bear all followed them like children chasing a sugar truck.
Which left me, Cyn, Meg, Raven, and Wendy standing in line that was thankfully shaded slightly by the overhang from the restaurant’s roof.
I nudged Cyn and nodded toward the bar.“You think I can bring a margarita on the boat with me?”
Meg laughed.“If you don’t want your margarita to get waterlogged, you should keep it on land.”
Raven’s eyes widened.“I knew it!We’re going to get soaked, aren’t we?”
Meg looked around and lowered her voice.“I mean, don’t tell Adley, but yes.We’re about to get drenched.They do these crazy stops and turns that just dump water into the boat.Being in the front row is the worst, though.”
Wendy clapped her hands.“We are so putting Adley in the front row.”
I bumped her shoulder.“That sounds evil, and I like it.”
Wendy sighed, and her smile faded.“I just want Adley to loosen up.She just seems different since she came home.She won’t really talk to me about it, other than she just wants to be closer to family.”
“What did she do in Chicago before moving home?”Meg asked.
“Marketing for some big company,” Wendy said.“She lived in a beautiful apartment, and we thought things were going great for her.About two months ago, she told us she was moving home.Quit her job, gave up her apartment, and now she’s staying in the basement until she gets back on her feet.”
“She’s burned out,” Raven said with her arms folded.“From the little she told me, she was just done with the big city.I can’t really blame her.”
Wendy sniffled and rubbed her nose.“That may be, but why won’t she talk to me about it?It’s kind of like she’s just given up.”
I slipped my arm around Wendy’s shoulders.“She’ll be fine, honey.I think she just needs a reset, and what better place to do that than with the club surrounding her.”
“She said she was going to work for the club,” Meg said.“Is she going to do marketing for it?”
Raven snorted.“She is going to be slinging drinks and managing the pool tables.We’re short-staffed, and having Adley home to help is great.”
Wendy tilted her head.“But once we hire some more people, she could do marketing for the pool hall and bar.”
Raven shrugged.“If that’s what she wants.I just don’t think we should make her feel bad for just wanting to work at the pool hall.”She motioned at all of us.“We all do it in one way or another.”
“Meg hangs out at the pole dancing studio,” Cyn laughed.
“Oh, stop,” Meg said and waved her off.“You’re right there next to me.It’s a good workout, and Lo isn’t complaining about the things I’m learning.”
Raven blinked rapidly.“Oh, hell.We are so adding a pole dancing studio to the pool hall.”
I laughed.“Could you imagine?No one will be at the pool hall; they’ll all just be watching the pole dancing.”
We kept talking and laughing about learning pole dancing, throwing out ideas and names for what we’d call our fantasy studio, but I leaned into Wendy again and said quietly, “I know how worried you are about Adley, honey.”
Wendy sniffled again and smiled.“I just want her to be happy, and I just don’t think she is right now.I don’t know how to help her.”
Meg smiled and nudged her gently.“You are helping her.”She nodded toward the cluster of our people gathered around the ice cream stand.“Right now she’s with her dad getting ice cream, and she’s damn lucky to be able to be on this amazing vacation with us.”
Wendy chuckled.“Yeah, I know you’re right, but I just wish she would talk to me.”
“Give her time.Maybe she’s still trying to figure out what she wants and can’t say it out loud yet.Just be there for her, Wen,” I said softly.
