Page 67 of Sweet Escape at Bayside
“What’s up, dude?” Justin set a hand on Andre’s shoulder and nodded to the others.
“Did Vi text you?” Dwayne asked.
“Yeah. Why? Did she text y’all, too?”
There was a collective “Yeah” from the group as Joni ran over with a beaming smile and said, “Hi, jelly beans!”
Everyone greeted her with silly comments as Rowan scooped her up and sat down with her on his lap.
Justin pulled out a chair beside Dwayne and said, “So, what’s going on? Vi just said she needed me and to find Andre when I got here.”
Andre splayed his hands. “I have no idea. She texted me and said to meet her here at seven. I didn’t know she’d asked you guys to meet her, too.”
There was more commotion by the front door and they all looked over. Desiree and Rick walked in, followed by Drake, Serena, Dean, and Emery. Rick spoke to Elliott, who called Rod over and pointed to Andre and the others. As Rod headed for them, Mira walked in, cradling baby Holly, followed by Matt, holding Hagen’s hand. They all looked across the room toward Andre, who was completely baffled.
“Hey, can I get some help with this?” Rod said as he pushed another table toward theirs. “El said Vi wants you all together. Looks like we need to add a few more tables.”
The guys helped him push several tables together, and he heard Justin say, “Gavin, Chloe, and Daphne just got here. And, dude, Daphne has ababy.”
“Yeah, a little girl.Hadley.” Andre looked up as Violet’sotherfriends approached.
Desiree was smiling, but she was also nervously biting her lower lip, while tucked safely beneath Rick’s arm.
“Daddy! Who are all these people?” Joni asked loudly. Rowan whispered something to her and Joni said, “She has lots of friends!”
Andre stood to greet Desiree and said, “I thought you were with Vi?”
“We went our separate ways hours ago. She said she had stuff to do.” Desiree leaned closer and said, “This is the place she told me about? Are those her other friends? Are they nice?”
Andre nodded. “They’re great. But how are you and Vi? Are you okay? Do you know why she asked everyone to come?”
“We’re more than okay, and I have no idea,” Desiree said. “She texted us all separately.”
“Dude, move over,” Dwayne said to Justin. Then he waved to the open chairs between them and said, “Single women over here.”
“That’s us, Daph!” Chloe snagged the chair beside Justin.
Gavin pulled out a chair between Daphne and Steph and said, “How about single dudes? Does this work?”
“Heck yes.” Steph grabbed his shirt and tugged him down beside her. She leaned closer and said, “I’m Steph, and you smellamazing.”
Everyone began claiming seats and introducing themselves at once. Rod headed up to the stage and played his guitar. As the others settled in, Hagen entertained them with stories of his first few weeks of school. Gabe brought a high chair for Hadley, and then took everyone’s orders.
“So you don’t know why we’re here either?” Desiree asked, looking around the café. “This looks like someplace Violet would enjoy. She told me about it, and her friends here. I can’t believe she’s had this whole other life for so long. She took me to meet some of the kids she works with at the hospital, and to see Justin’s studio. I saw the beautiful sculpture you guys made for Erin’s parents.”
“I’m glad,” Andre said. “I’m sorry it was so hard for both of you at first. Violet loves you. She loves all of you very much.”
Desiree put her hand on his arm and said, “You don’t have to explain. She told me everything. I’m glad she had this place, and I’m glad she has you.”
“What else did you two do today?”And why haven’t I heard from her?
Desiree’s cheeks pinked up. She turned her back to the others at the table and pulled the neckline of her sweater to the side, exposing a heart tattoo that was half orange and half purple. “Violet has one over her heart, too. Orange is my favorite color, and well, the purple is for Vi, of course. I had the idea to get sister tattoos, but Violet suggested we get a tattoo that matched the one Lizza has.”
That surprised Andre, but then again, he hadn’t expected Violet to show Desiree the studio or take her to meet the children she worked with. As he looked around the table, he wondered what else she had up her sleeve.
Rick leaned back with pride in his eyes and said, “My wife’s a wild woman.”
“If you think about it,” Desiree said, “it makes sense that we should honor Lizza, too. She might have made our lives harder, but how can we really know what they would have been like if she hadn’t taken Vi away? Besides, Lizza is the reason we reconnected, and she brought Rick and me together. She closed the distance between you and Violet, too. She’ll always be our mother, and despite her crazy antics, we love her. We just don’t want tobecomeher.”
