Page 44 of Trust Again

Spencer laughed and his chair gave another creak as he stretched his legs to either side of my body.

“Please, we all know Dawn’s secretly lusting after me,” he announced and suddenly his hands were on my shoulders. “Isn’t that right, Dawn?”

All I could do was roll my eyes. “You guys are all crazy. Every single one of you.”

“And that’s exactly why we get along so well,” Scott said. “Now, can we talk about Allie’s birthday? Are you guys really sure that we should throw the party on the night before her birthday? It’s a bit unusual, isn’t it? And Kaden, you wrote that you wanted to talk about a gift.”

Kaden nodded. “I love the idea of partying past midnight and into her birthday! She’ll never guess what’s coming. And you all know that Allie’s not big on presents. So I thought it might be nice to all go away somewhere together.”

“So let’s celebrate the night before. I kind of like the idea. But I’m not so sure about the trip. If you’re talking about some sort of extreme hiking adventure on Mt. Hood, I’m out,” Monica stated.

“That’s not what he said, Baby,” Ethan murmured in her ear. “Just listen.” He interlocked his fingers with hers.

Monica looked relieved. “Just saying.”

“Allie’s wanted to go out to the coast for a while now, but somehow we haven’t made it yet,” Kaden continued. He looked over at Spencer and nodded.

“A few years ago, Kaden and I rented a house at the coast,” Spencer said, and I leaned back to look at him. He took his hands from my shoulders and gestured to the others. “I’ve done some research and found a place that’s pretty cheap if we all chip in. We thought it would be nice to reserve it for a weekend and do day trips from there.”

“That’s a great idea,” I said. Spencer looked down at me.

“You think?”

I nodded for emphasis.

“I’m in,” Scott added.

“We’re in, too. Right, Baby?” Monica asked Ethan, who gave a thumbs-up.

“Can I use your laptop?” Kaden asked Ethan. “If no one minds, I’ll book it right now so Allie won’t have any idea. Then I can show you the house, too.”

It was so cute, the way Kaden was trying to hide his excitement. He might be a tough guy to the world, but when it came to Allie, he was a softie. And it made me smile.

“Of course, buddy. Let me get it,” Ethan said, disappearing briefly into the bedroom. A few seconds later, he reappeared with his computer in hand. He set it down on the coffee table in front of Kaden, who immediately started typing and scrolling.

“Look.” Kaden turned the laptop toward Scott and Monica.

“That’s gorgeous! Wow,” Monica said, and Scott nodded.

Kaden described the location, the view, and the layout of the house. When it was my turn to look at the screen, I did a double take.

The house was right on the beach in Coos Bay and it was really affordable if we all chipped in. Two of the four bedrooms had an ocean view. Images of writing in a room overlooking the sea and drifting off to sleep to the sound of crashing waves drifted through my mind.

“She’s going to love it,” I gushed, and pushed the laptop back to Kaden.

“Then I’ll make the reservations now.”

Meanwhile, we started planning the party.

“For sure Kaden can’t do the shopping and keep all the food at their place,” Monica said eventually. “And our fridge is too small.”

I nodded. “So is mine.”

“I’ll get the food and keep everything at my place,” Spencer volunteered.

I put his name on the checklist next to “food.”

“Who’s going to distract Allie?” Scott asked.