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A taller, balding man wearing a glaringly bright blue shirt strolled up. “Find some new friends, Susan?”
“This is my husband, James.” She smiled lovingly at him, squeezing his arm. “This is—”
Mac put out his hand. “I’m Michael. And these are my fiancés, Emily and Sebastian.”
I held my breath, but Susan and James didn’t even flinch as they shook our hands.
“We’re having a BBQ in an hour. You three should join us.”
“We couldn’t impose—” Em began.
“Nonsense. Our whole family will be there. Like fifty people. You’re not imposing.”
I would have never talked to these strangers in the first place, but I knew this was exactly the kind of thing Mac thrived on and Emily enjoyed. And this vacation was for them to unwind, too. I was perfectly content with just the three of us, but they found social settings refreshing. I didn’t want to be the one to hold them back, so I plastered on a smile.
“We would love to come.” I got out my phone and typed in their address as James relayed it to me.
“The directions can be a little wonky. When you get to a crossroads and the map tells you to go straight, take a left. There’s an old school bus that sits right in the middle.”
“Noted.” I typed the extra instructions and sent them to our group message.
We said goodbye to Susan and James after they gave us their number in case there was any confusion, and Mac stood there, silently gawking.
“What’s wrong with him?”
“You made plans,” Em said.
My stomach sank, and I grabbed my phone. “We can cancel. I should have asked you guys first—”
Em reached for my hand, stopping me. “You didn’t do anything wrong—”
“Unless you don’t want to go,” Mac cut in.
I watched our hosts’ retreating shapes as they got into their car. “It’ll be fun.”
“Beach Bardot has surprises up his sleeve,” Mac said, pressing a kiss to my cheek. “I like it.”
“I know this is what you enjoy doing and I want to put myself out there more. I never want to hold the two of you back—”
“But we don’t want you to be anything other than you.” Em grabbed my hand, lacing her soft fingers with mine. “We’re going to grow and change over the years, and I’ll love every version of you—just like I’ve loved every version so far—but I want those changes to be of your own accord. Not because you’re trying to be what you think we want.”
Mac frowned at her, but the look was quickly replaced by his signature smile. He wrapped his arms around both of us and he steered us toward the beach approach.
“I need some sand between my toes.”
Chapter Nine
Emily
“Not so close to the fire—” Nicole, James and Susan’s niece, cringed as she hopped out of her camp chair.
She chased after a little toddler with curly brown hair and a gnawing ache wrenched my heart. The little girl giggled and ran around a patch of wild strawberries growing in the grass. Nicole caught her and spun around, the two of them dropping to the ground, laughing.
I wanted that.
Bash snuck up silently, nudging my shoulder with his. “Cute kid.”
I smiled up at him and sighed. “She really is. I’m glad we came.”
