Page 82 of Midnight Ink

What did we do?

Alexander walks in and greets us both with a smile then looks at his wife.

There’s something off here and I don’t know what.

“Good morning, you two.” Alexander thanks Xia who pours him a cup of tea. “Uh, sleep well?”

“Alexander,” Xia hisses.

A slight smile springs to his lips, and I see him bite his lip before he sips his tea. “Hell yeah, banana bread.” Julian walks around, grabbing a small plate and taking a slice, oblivious to the tension that seems to be in the room. “We did sleep well.”

“Good to hear—I mean, to know. Good to know.” I notice Xia give him another scathing look; his ears pinken at the tips. “Any plans today?”

“If you go out, be careful today. The rain is picking up again. We should be far enough from the coast,” she reassures. “But just be careful outside.”

I just want to stay in bed with Julian all day. “We don’t really have plans today.”

“If you’re interested, on Friday there’ll be a Chinese lantern festival down at the boardwalk for the end of summer fair. Lots of fun things to do. Artisan booths, food, games, rides. It’ll be fun. We’re going at night if you’d like to ride with us. The rain should break tomorrow.”

Our flight is on Saturday. This time has gone by so fast, and I may even be sad to leave.

I look at Julian. “That sounds like fun. Yeah?”

Mid-bite, Julian nods then swallows. “Sounds great.”

“It’s not fair!” We jump at Violet’s outburst.

“Violet,” her father scolds.

“Why do they get to jump on the bed, but I can’t?!”

Xia’s eyes widen, and Alexander shuts his, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Violet, I told you guests are⁠—”

“Jump on the bed?” Julian asks. “What do you—” Then I see the exact moment it hits him. “Oh.”

My face flames. “Oh, we uh—” I scrub my face. “I’m, we are⁠—”

“I get in trouble!” She glares at us.

“Violet!” Xia scolds as her daughter crosses her arms across her small chest.

“Oh my god.” Julian buries his face in his hands. “Oh my god.”

“We are so sorry. We didn’t think⁠—”

“It’s perfectly fine.” Xia smiles. “We uh, it’s okay. It’s natural. We uh, we’re⁠—”

“Going to mind our business from now on.” Alexander’s brows rise in her direction. “Sorry. The um, the uh, beds in the regular guest rooms we had weren’t that squeaky.”

“I’m going to die here,” Julian whispers. “We’re sorry, we weren’t . . . thinking.”

“No, not a lot of thinking.” I look at Violet. “We won’t bounce on the beds anymore. You’re right, that wasn’t fair.”

“We’re really sorry,” Julian says behind his tattooed hands. “We’re never bouncing on the bed again,” he whispers at me. “Ever!” he hisses.

“We’re really sorry.” I rub his arm, and shit, I can’t help but laugh a little. “I need to call Jamie. Do you want to wait for me upstairs and rock in the fetal position for a little while?” Julian stands up, nodding. “I have to call a friend back home. He’s going to go upstairs and shrivel in shame.” Julian leaves us, heading for the stairs.

Violet busies herself with something else. “We really are sorry. We weren’t um, thinking.”