Summer's Fun (The Boys of Ocean Beach 2)

“A few weeks,” I reply. “I hope everything’s okay.”

“That’s not too, bad. My first was eight days late. This is way better.”

I watch as the crowd parts to let the pregnant lady pass through. Anita stops and ask, “Can you stay and close up?”

“Of course.” I grip her hand and pull her into a hug. “Good luck and I’ll be there as soon as possible.”

My mother rushes behind her with her phone to her ear. “Richard and I will head to your mom’s house to take care of Sibley. They’ll meet you at the hospital.” She glances at me. “Summer, you’ll be okay?”

“Of course. Go. I’ll close up here.”

“Alright people, clear the way,” Bobby shouts. Anita rolls her eyes but she also has her hands clenched around her stomach.

“Good luck, cousin.” I give her a quick hug before her husband whisks her off.

Justin stops and says, “I’m going to drive them. The last thing we need is Bobby driving into a ditch.”

“Good idea.”

He kisses me and then darts after his brother.

The crowd leaves and I still haven’t said anything about the flowers in my mom’s office. I didn’t have time—not in the craziness of Anita’s water breaking. When it’s over there’s just a few of us left. Pete, Whit, and Nick. Shay and Avery. Isabel and Jessica have vanished.

“Let’s get this place cleaned up so we can head to the hospital,” Pete says.

“You’re going to go?”

“Well, yeah. We went last time, too. It was awesome. Bobby was totally panicking. We could hear Anita cussing him out all the way down the hall. No way I’m missing a repeat,” Nick says as he tosses trash in the can under the bar. He glances up at Avery. “If you’re sticking around, do something,” and hands him a trash bag.

While I close up behind the counter, totaling up the day’s sales and making sure to shut down everything, Shay stays to help, taking down the decorations and the book signing table while the boys break down the security system and tables. Avery gets put on trash duty, which allows him time to follow Shay around, talking about meeting my mom.

“Julia’s a rockstar. She let me hang out and ask a million questions. No wonder she beat Gaskins. She’s strong and smart.”

“She is,” Shay says, handing him a stack of cups left on the table.

“Like, I thought she would be, but you never know when you’re reading a book if someone’s boosting themselves up, right? But Julia. She’s a survivor.”

He drones on and on and I’m thinking no wonder my mother made a bee-line for the door. Avery’s intense and a true fan but wow, he gets worked up.

Nick walks over with a box of cords and I say, “Hey, listen, did you see anyone come in with a vase of yellow flowers?”

He shakes his head. “No, but I was pretty busy talking to people all night.”

“Sell any photographs?”

“Yeah, I did.” His face lights up. “Thanks for giving me the opportunity.”

“You made that opportunity for yourself.”

Whit comes up and asks, “What had you so freaked out earlier?”

I look down at the computer. “Nothing. I heard Anita and panicked. I thought something was wrong out here.”

He frowns. “I didn’t hear anything.”

Pete comes out of the kitchen. “I put all the food in the refrigerator—there’s a bunch left over.”

“You should take some back to your apartment. We’ll never eat it.”