Page 30 of Dead Calm
Friday morning dawned grey and gloomy. Hurricane Sophie was off the coast of New Jersey, hundreds of miles to the south, but the storm was so big that clouds blanketed the hotel. From the front deck, Ten could see big waves pounding the shore. He didn’t want the kids anywhere near the ocean. As the day went on the waves were only going to grow more powerful.
The last weather report he’d heard mentioned strong rip currents and how several people in Maryland and Virginia needed to be rescued by lifeguards from the life threatening tide. The beach at Hurricane Pointe didn’t have a lifeguard, so he and Ronan were going to have to fill that role.
“Morning,” Ronan said, wrapping his arms around Ten from behind.
“Good morning,” Ten leaned back against his husband.
“We’re not letting the kids anywhere near the water.” Ronan sounded firm on the matter. He led Ten back inside just as it started to rain.
“I was just thinking the same thing. Now that it’s raining out, maybe the hotel will offer extra arts and crafts classes to keep the kids busy?” Ten asked.
“And the adults!” Ronan laughed. He picked up his masterpiece from the coffee table. “I’ve got real talent, don’t you think? Maybe painting could be my side gig?”
“You do have a lot of talent,” Ten grinned, pressing a kiss to Ronan’s neck. “But to be honest, it lies inanotherarena. One that can’t be exhibited for others to see.”
Ronan snorted. “Are you kidding me? If we released the tapes, I would be famous!”
“What tapes? You mean home movies?” Everly asked, walking out of her bedroom. Aurora and Wolf were behind her. Both girls had serious cases of bedhead and Wolf looked like he’d stuck his finger in a light socket.
Tennyson wasn’t touching that question with a ten foot pole. “It’s raining, so it looks like we’re going to have an inside day.”
“We’ll go have breakfast as soon as you guys shower and get dressed,” Ronan said. “Do you two want me to walk you back to your rooms?” He pointed back and forth between Aurora and Wolf.
“Yup! Let me go get my stuff.” Aurora ran back into the bedroom. Wolf was hot on her heels. Both kids were back a few seconds later, bulging backpacks in hand.
“I’ll be right back with Ezzie.” Ronan grabbed his keycard from the table and hustled the kids out the door.
“There’s something Daddy isn’t telling us about Kurt,” Everly said. “I’ll go take a shower so you can talk about it.”
“Do you know what it’s about?” Ten asked.
Everly didn’t answer, she’d already run back to her room. The door clicked shut behind her.
Ten had noticed there was something on Ronan’s mind the night before, but between the camp fire and getting the kids settled into bed afterward, Ten had been too tired to ask Ronan about what was bothering him.
The door beeped and Ronan walked inside carrying Ezra, who ran for Ten when Ronan set him down.
“There’s my big boy. Did you have fun at your sleepover with Lizbet?” Ten asked.
“Yup! Me watch Memo!” Ezra made a fish face.
“Do you want to watch him again?” Ten grabbed Ezra’s tablet and turned the movie on for him. “Stay here, me and Dad are gonna get dressed, okay?”
“’Kay,” Ezra said, already tuned into the movie.
When Ten walked into the bedroom, he was surprised to see Ronan’s suitcase open and his clothes neatly packed inside. He must have done that before he’d come out of their room. Ten needed to do the same thing.
“Hey, babe!” Ronan said, walking from the bathroom into their bedroom, dressed in his underwear. “There’s something I need to talk to you about.” He picked a shirt out of his suitcase and shrugged into it.
“Something about Kurt?” Ten asked.
“Yeah, how did you know?” Ronan pulled on his cargo shorts and zipped them up.
“When you came to the bonfire last night, I could see something was bothering you. I knew we’d talk about it when the coast was clear. What happened?”
Ronan sighed and took a seat in the chair across from the bed. “Before Fitz, Jude and I came out to the fire last night, we wanted to pop in to see how Lainie was doing. When we walked into the Taproom, she and Kurt were hugging each other.”
“Damn.” Ten shook his head. “I was hoping he wouldn’t be able to make bail. Did Lainie bail him out?”
