Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 74467 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74467 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
People at the beach were happy. He should be as well. He shook his head to clear his thoughts away from his earlier conversation with his sister. They were on vacation for the summer. He was going to enjoy it and make friends with the locals.
Especially Eloise if he ever found her again.
“Order for Kiel.”
Kiel went to the counter and grabbed the white to go bag. On his way back, he passed by the frozen lemonade stand and ordered five, grateful the cart had a carrying case for them otherwise he was going to have to make two trips or he’d spill one and end up wearing a freezing cold drink. They’d for sure melt before he got back to his family, but the cold concoction would be good, regardless.
His dad met him halfway and took the lemonades from him. The young worker at the stand had perilously stacked the fifth one haphazardly in the middle, which teetered on the edge of becoming sandy “ade.”
Kiel passed out the food and set the two large piles of fries in the middle. He sipped on the frozen lemonade and encouraged the others to try it.
“Why is snack shack food so good?” Ciara asked as she put a fry into her mouth. “Like I could eat this and food from a food truck every day.”
“Because it’s a treat,” Leona said as she took a bite of her lobster roll. Her eyes closed, and she hummed in satisfaction. “This is so delicious. I could get used to it.”
“And not something we’re doing every day,” Emmett added. “We have food at the house.”
Skyla rolled her eyes. “Mom brought up the lobster rolls,” she pointed out. “We would’ve been perfectly happy walking back to the house to eat.”
Kiel laughed. His sister was full of it. None of them wanted to walk anywhere now that they were on the beach. Tomorrow, he was certain their dad would bring a cooler. It only made sense. They couldn’t eat out every day, multiple times, for the entire summer. Besides, after a while you want a homemade sandwich or a good home-cooked meal.
After they finished eating, Ciara offered to take care of their garbage. Skyla went with her, leaving Kiel with their parents. As soon as they were out of earshot, he looked at his folks. “Is there something going on that I need to know about?”
“Like what?” his mom asked as she eyed Emmett.
Kiel shrugged. “I don’t know. I feel like something is off and I can’t pinpoint what it is. This summer long vacation is out of the norm.”
There was a long moment before his mom answered. “Everything is fine. Nothing for you or your sisters to worry about.”
Kiel apprised his parents and frowned. “Right, because that’s not ominous.”
“Kiel . . .” His father started to speak and then looked over his shoulders. “I don’t want this getting back to your sisters,” he said. “Between us, I’m being transferred in September.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
Emmett shook his head. “It’s why we’re on vacation. I wanted the girls to have one last great summer before I leave.”
“Wait, what? Where are you going?”
“I’m not sure, but I’m not going to interrupt the twin’s senior year by moving them. Your mom will stay behind and then come to wherever I end up after Ciara and Skyla have gone to college.”
They hadn’t moved in eight years. Kiel thought the Navy was past transferring his dad from base to base once he became an instructor. Not that they ever lived on base. His parents always made sure they had a house and weren’t living the military lifestyle, other than Emmett deploying or wearing his service khaki’s every day.
“What the hell, Dad?”
Emmett sighed. “Believe me, it’s not ideal, but I’m not ready for retirement. Not until the girls are through college.”
“Mom, what about your job?”
Leona shrugged. “I can find another one wherever we end up.” She squeezed Emmett’s hand. “Like your father says, it’s not ideal, but we’ll make it work.”
For whatever reason, Kiel hated the idea of his mom and sisters living by themselves while his dad was off wherever the Navy sent him. Knowing this pretty much solidified his decision about grad school. If he went, and it was a big if right now, he’d go locally so he could be home every night.
“Enjoy the vacation, son,” Emmett said sternly as the girls made their way back. He turned his attention back to the water before he pulled a book out of his backpack and prayed neither Ciara or Skyla could tell something was wrong.
After dinner, Kiel and his sisters took a stroll to the downtown area, which bustled with activity. Classic cars lined the cobblestone street, as well as scooters, motorcycles, and those motorized tricycles that their mother often joked would be the only type of motorcycle their father could own.