“Frack?” Brian called, entering the house. “You here?”
“On the deck!” He heard Nick respond. Brian walked through Nick’s oceanfront home and out to the deck where Nick was playing with Aidan. “Hey.”
Nick glanced up at his best friend. “What’s up?”
“Nothing much. I take it I’m the first one here?”
Nick nodded. “Yup. AJ just called. Said he would be here in a little while. Aidan’s going to go to bed soon. Then we can all hang out.”
“I brought some beer. I think Kev’s going to pick some up too.”
Nick picked up Aidan and gestured to Brian to follow him inside. “Have you talked to Kev today?”
“Yeah,” Brian responded. “I talked to him earlier. Why?”
“I don’t know.” Nick shrugged. “He sounded kind of funny when I talked to him. I wonder if something’s up.”
“Don’t know.” Brian got up to play with Aidan just as the doorbell rang.
“I’ll get it,” Nick announced, walking to the front door. He opened the door to find AJ and Howie there. “Hey guys. Brian’s out back. Still waiting on Kevin.”
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
“Hi guys!” Katelin announced, walking inside the house. The first person she came in contact with was Lanie. “Hi.”
“Hi,” Lanie mumbled, brushing past her into the living room. Katelin sighed. She had honestly tried to get along with Lanie but Lanie’s attitude made it too difficult. She decided that she was sick of trying.
“Took you long enough!” Ang exclaimed, waving her margarita around. “Go grab a drink.”
“I was coming from Tampa, Angie,” Katelin laughed. “And you need to come with me and make it for me.”
“Kate…” Ang began.
“Ang,” Katelin whined. “You make them better than me.”
“Fine,” Ang huffed, standing up. “I’m coming.” She followed Katelin into the kitchen while everyone else hung back in the living room. “So what’s up? How’s the family?”
Katelin glared at her. “Shut up. And Nick and Aidan are fine. I would hardly call us a real family.” She glanced in the direction of the living room. “I mean, I can understand her insecurities with the whole situation we’re in, but I never intentionally did anything to her. There’s no reason for her to cop such an attitude with me.”
Ang sighed. “Kate, you have to understand where she’s coming from. She met Nick when he was at his worst. And it was all over you leaving. She listened to him talk about you and pine over you for months. When Nick finally began to get over you, she was there. That was how their relationship started. Of course she’s insecure. After hearing all of that and then you come back into his life, along with his son, how else would you expect her to act?”
“I know,” Kate sat down and sipped her drink. “I just can’t keep trying to get along with her anymore. I’m sorry. I know you’re friends with her and you want us to and I know Nick needs us to, but I can’t do it anymore. It’s up to her.”
“Let’s go back in there,” Ang said, changing the subject. She hated talking to Kate about this because, although Katelin had been her best friend for a long time, she and Lanie had become pretty close in the last couple of years. She completely understood where Lanie was coming from. Although, she could have maybe handled it a little better, Lanie had every reason to be insecure and defensive when it came to Katelin. “People are going to start to wonder what happened to us.”
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Adrienne stepped off of the plane at Tampa International. She couldn’t really believe she was here. New York was just getting to be too lonely for her. She couldn’t stay in that penthouse anymore. Everything reminded her of what she had lost. Her husband, the only life she had known for the last three years. Even Katelin was gone now. Although they had originally gotten off on the wrong foot, in the last three years they had gotten so close. They were no longer step-mother and step-daughter. They had been each other’s best friends. While Adrienne’s family was in New York, it just wasn’t the same anymore. She decided that maybe she needed a fresh start in a new place. Not that she wanted to forget about Mike. But she was only thirty one years old. She had her entire life ahead of her still. She decided that she was going to start over where she could be free to do whatever she wanted. And she was going to do that in Florida.