porch steps. Thankfully, the girls were not with him.
I laughed along with my brother. Morrison looked like he wanted the earth to swallow him whole. “He went lobstering with me yesterday. I did not release the Kraken on his ass, as you seem to assume. You know what happens when you assume, Kennedy?”
Kennedy rolled his eyes. “It’s good to see you out of work. Let’s hope we can keep better track of Lola the Explorer today than we did last weekend.”
“Morrison and I will be on Lola duty,” I assured him.
“Hennnnnn! Watch me!” Lola shouted. She was standing in front of the swing set with a mischievous look in her eyes. Lola turned and took a few steps backward before breaking into a dead run.
“Oh, Jesus, what’s she doing?” I was rooted to the spot. Paralyzed by fear and something else I thought was awe.
“Suuuuuper Lola!” she shouted before leaping in the air and landing belly first on the swing. She soared into the air with a fist out in front of her like Supergirl.
My heart froze in my chest as the little girl roared with laughter. Her legs were out straight behind her.
“Dada! I’m flying!” she shouted at Dallas, who was racing toward the swing set at warp speed.
“She’s going to be the death of me.” Saxon’s right hand clutched his heart. He ambled toward the swings where Dallas was trying to wrangle his little superhero off the swing.
Kennedy swung his phone toward me. Instead of racing to save his niece or being too damn scared to move, he’d been recording the whole thing. “How do you feel, Uncle Hen?”
“That’s another ten years off my life.” I meant it. The only thing that had scared me more was when Lola had gone missing. And Stan Randall showing up in Gloucester, my mind helpfully supplied.
“You got a minute?” Kennedy asked, shoving his phone into the side pocket of his army-green cargo shorts.
It had been four days since my chat with Quentin. I’d been expecting to hear from Kennedy much sooner than this. “Yeah, I’ll grab a couple of beers.” I was stalling. I was sure my brother knew it, but I didn’t care. If I was going to rehash the Stan Randall bullshit, it was going to do it with a drink in my hand.
Kennedy was waiting for me over by the kid’s playhouse. Saxon and Dallas had disappeared with Lola. I assumed she was sitting on some timeout step after the two of them had hugged the stuffing out of her. “Here you go.” I handed a green bottle to him before taking a sip from my own.
“I just wanted to get your opinion on something.” Kennedy’s eyes were glued to the back door of the house.
I relaxed instantly. “This have to do with the wedding?” I could deal with the wedding and the million details involved. Talking about Dickface McGee? Not so much.
Kennedy nodded. “Gunnar and I decided to scrap the plans about surprising Mom and Dad.”
“I’m glad. We never got a chance to finish that conversation after Lola went AWOL last weekend.”
I snorted. “Lola on Rumspringa.” I could laugh about it now that the fear was gone.
“Jesus!” Kennedy started to laugh. “Dallas and Saxon are going to be gray and bald before she’s ten years old.”
“Imagine Lola as a tween? Or a teen? I’m guessing she’ll be into speed metal and will be begging her dads for a tattoo.” Or me! What the hell would I do if Lola asked me to take her for a tattoo?
“We’d like to announce the date today,” Kennedy said nervously.
In all the years I’d known my brother, I’d only ever seen him nervous a handful of times. “I think that’s a great idea. Why the hell do you look like you’re about to drop a litter of kittens? You’re not having second thoughts, are you? If you are, it’s totally okay. We’re all here for you.”
“No. It’s nothing like that. It’s just that you brought Morrison for the first time. It’s your day. We don’t want to step on any toes with this news.” Kennedy’s blue eyes met and held my own. He was definitely on edge.
“You’re not stepping on toes. I’ve known Morrison for a week. You’ve known him for years. He knows you and Gunnar are engaged. There’s no better time to announce this news to the family. They’re going to need something good…” I trailed off. I’d spent most of the week thinking about Q’s advice to tell