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“Don’t tell me. You need help serving.” She grabs an apron off the rack and wraps it around her waist.
A bowl crashes in the sink, and Edward flinches, still petting the small cat.
I touch his arm. “Let’s hit the pool tables. Get away from all this noise.”
He nods, and Kimmie is right at our waists, not missing a thing. “I want to learn to play pool! Will you teach me, too, Uncle Zee?”
“I’ll teach you, but tonight, I need you to watch.” Her shoulders drop, but I lift my chin at Austin. “Come with us. You can help me teach Eddie.”
“Sure.” He continues past his mom to where we’re standing by the double doors leading to the dining room.
“Get me, Aussie!” Kimmie hops up and down, holding her hands over her head.
Austin bends down so she can hop onto his back, and she cheers, swinging her stuffed red turtle over her head.
“Have you seen my cooter, Aussie?” She leans forward, holding his shoulders.
“No.” Austin’s tone is flat, and he cuts his eyes at Allie.
She and Dylan stand in front of the table with their lips bit between their teeth and their eyes glassy from holding back laughter.
“Look at my cooter!” Kimmie says it louder, waving the stuffed animal at his face.
Allie shrieks, and Dylan’s knees bend as she laughs.
Austin exhales a frustrated growl. “Make her stop.”
I step over to take my niece off his back. “Come on, troublemaker.”
My niece squeals, and Edward walks over to take her hand. “Pool is a serious game, Kim. If you’re going to play with us, you have to take it seriously. No goofing off and no talking about cooters. Or you’ll have to stay here.”
He gives her hand a little shake, and she nods, looking up at him with round eyes. “Okay, Ed.”
Edward leads her through the double doors into the dining area, and I glance back at the ladies. Dylan’s eyes are wide.
“This should be interesting.” Allie has managed to recover enough to hold back her laughter.
Austin waits impatiently beside me, until I hold the door for him, following Edward and his little soldier to the pool area.
The regular Dare night crowd grows as the restaurant quickly fills with customers. When Dylan is ready, the wait staff will march out with whatever new pepper recipe she concocted followed by all the pomp and flare. Allie or Craig will call out the heat warning, then the lights will change and loud music willerupt. The girls will hop on the bar and start dancingCoyote-Uglystyle, and the whole place will turn into a heat-themed disco.
I’m not sure when the dance-party exploded, but I’ve learned to go with it. Edward, however, is more sensitive to light shows and loud noises. Being away from the chaos, out on the side patio where the pool tables are, provides a buffer from the noise. At the same time, the screen walls will let me see when Rachel finally arrives.
“Inexperienced players do better with a medium to soft tip.” Edward takes one of the shorter pool sticks off the special, children’s rack and hands it to Kimmie. “Have you ever played pool before?”
“Daddy taught me how to hold the stick, and he picked me up so I could hit the ball.” Kimmie holds the pool cue looking up at him.
She’s a little hurricane, but she is very serious about hanging with the big boys and learning pool. It’s helpful that someone other than Jack can be firm with her.
“That sounds like the most ineffective way to put a ball in a pocket,” he responds.
“It worked!” she argues.
“Let’s get started.” I nod to the triangle of fifteen balls Austin has racked.
Edward’s brow furrows, and he glances down at his stance before surveying the table again. “Feet should be a little wider than shoulder-width apart and at a forty-five degree angle.”
He recites the instructions as if reading a manual. Austin and I exchange a glance, and I think we’re both curious to see if he’s going to be a pool-playing prodigy on his first attempt.
