Page 82 of Deadly Misfortunes

“Yeah,” Prescott said. “We’ve been to the beach but never went to the nature reserve. It has a long boardwalk and makes for a nice hike.”

“If anyone doesn’t want to go, you can stay here.” Gregory didn’t want to drag anyone to anything they didn’t want to do.

“Heck, I’m all for it,” Damon said.

Camden agreed. “I want to see the alligators and tortoises.”

“Okay, we’ll get breakfast and head over there in the morning. I want Red to stay here and watch the place.”

That evening, they all got some drinks, chips, cheese, and slices of sausage, carried them into the living room, took their seats, and began a game.

“Okay, why don’t we start with describing an awkward first date,” Camden said.

Everyone laughed.

“The groom goes first,” Prescott said.

“Well, it wasn’t exactly a date, but I wished it had been. I wanted to dance with Sascha in the worst way, but she had danced with Camden instead.”

Camden laughed. “Yeah, at Prescott and Kat’s party.”

“Right. And then I invited her to my place to come to a party and be our fortune teller, and I planned to have that dance.”

“But she ended up in the accident with Raymond,” Gregory’s dad said.

“Yeah. So that was my awkward date—when I really, really wanted to have one with the mysterious woman and the whole thing was messed up.”

“At least things have turned around for you,” Prescott said.

“Yeah, I can’t be happier for that to have happened.”

“Mine was with Katrina, of course,” Prescott said. “Camden danced with her too.”

Camden laughed. “You guys were being too slow about making your interest in each other known.”

Smiling, Prescott shook his head. “She kept telling me I was in danger, but I just wanted to date her.”

Uncle Jimmy sighed. “That’s the trouble with having abilities and no one believing in them.”

“You have them too, don’t you, Jimmy?” Gregory’s dad asked.

“Yeah, I do.”

Damon cleared his throat. Gregory was afraid that he would talk about dating Sascha, but he said, “When I was a teen, I asked a girl to go with me to the prom. She said no.”

“Why?” Gregory asked.

“She was asking another girl.”

Everyone smiled.

“Well, I was dating a woman and then saw Meg,” Uncle Jimmy said. “I fell for her at once. I never believed in love at first sight, but she was the one for me. Of course, she had seen me with the other woman and was with her girlfriends at the time. So when I was finally able to ditch the other woman and ask Meg out, she said no. When she finally did go out with me, she figured I would ditch her as soon as I saw another woman who appealed even more.”

They all laughed. “And then you married her,” Gregory’s dad said.

“I sure did, but it sure took some time before I could earn her trust.”

“Well, I dated a woman who turned out to be a distant cousin, so that was awkward,” Gregory’s dad said.