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“Not until you tell us.” It was now Charlie who was teasing. Sadie knew there was no way out of it. After all, they both knew anyway. They just wanted to hear it from her.

“Yes, we are dating.”

Delaney and Charlie squealed from the front seat as Charlie continued the drive. “I’m so glad it’s Ellie and not that Travis boy.”

“Trevor,” Charlie corrected.

“Either way, Ellie is a much better suitor for our daughter.”

“I don’t disagree.” Sadie’s comment made them all laugh, and she was glad that part was out of the way.

Now she just had to wait a wholeweekto see Ellie again.

Chapter 27

Ellie

With Sadie having only been gone a few hours, Ellie was trying to make the most of her next few days alone in the Cove. Or, well, as alone as one could be with their entire extended family there. Ellie loved them all; she truly did. Ellie loved that her aunts and sisters all had jobs where they could take a few weeks off every summer to be together. She loved that she got in quality bonding time with her mom and mama.

And she loved being able to sit by the pool while Everleigh, Brayden, Blake, Isla, Maddie, and Walker were in an intense game of volleyball while Alexis and Chase put the kids down for a nap. Harper was keeping score, along with going back and forth to whichever team was winning at the moment. Vera was down at the beach with Mason, Eden, and the dogs. Her family was loud most of the time—it was the Irish in them—but Ellie had found a quiet spot on one of the pool loungers to finally start her summer reading. Her mom hadn’t stopped talking about the new Jeneva Rose book, so Ellie was happy to finally get to start it.

However, her happiness only lasted a few chapters before Chase and Alexis sat on either side of her in the lounge chairs and waited for her to look up from her book. Which Ellie was definitely not going to do.

No matter how much they stared.

Silently.

God, they’re so weird.

Ellie tried not to laugh at her inner thoughts. Her older sisters had married two of the best women Ellie knew. They completed the Mackenzie family in a way that made it feel Alexis and Chase were always meant to be a part of their family. But they didn’t need to know that. She could let them assume she was ignoring them for a little while longer.

“Ellie,” Chase whined, lowering the book in Ellie’s hand slightly, “I know you see us here.”

“I do now.” Putting her bookmark in the book, Ellie sat it down on the lounge chair beside her. “What are you two up to?”

“We want to know how it went,” Alexis answered for them.

But Ellie decided to play dumb, although she knew exactly what they wanted to know. “How did what go?”

“Oh, don’t be coy, little Mason.” Chase narrowed her eyes at her, the slightest smile on her lips. “You forget, I’m married to your sister. I can read you like a book.”

“And I’m married to the other sister, so between us we’re fluent in Mackenzie.”

“I have no ideawhatyou’re talking about.”

“Ellie,” it was Alexis whining this time, “come on. Tell us about you andSadie.”

There was no way to stop the blush that colored Ellie’s cheeks. She buried her face in her hands as Alexis and Chase squealed in unison. Ellie took a few moments to try and compose herself before lowering her hands. Both Alexis and Chase looked like they belonged inGreasesinging “Summer Nights.”

Which, of course, made Ellie Sandy. A role she could definitely embody.

“Well, as they say, summer lovin’ can be a blast.”

“You’re such a theater kid,” Alexis playfully rolled her eyes.

“You love me for it.”

“We’d love you more if you’d spill about you andSadie.”