Later in the evening, Gabe froze, and then, with a long, regretful sigh, rolled away from Kate to sit on the edge of the bed. He inclined his head toward the door.
He waited to announce what he sensed, wanting to confirm their impending disruption before he alarmed Kate. But yes, both sets of parents had just entered the cottage.
He was attuned enough to his dad and mom to intuit their actions even from a distance, which meant he felt his dad’s amusement after he switched on the kitchen light. He was reviewing the detritus from their lunch on the kitchen floor. Gabe even caught a picture of what he saw: the bathrobe, the open bag of potato chips, the empty yogurt cup, and then glasses trailing down the hallway.
Then he heard John’s muttered comment. “Sex camp.” Carmen and Cara, he noted, both smothered laughter, albeit poorly.
“What’s the matter?” Kate asked.
“Remember your question about what my mother would think of this?”
“Yes?” She braced herself.
“We can question her in person. She’s here.”
Kate hissed, pulling the sheets up to her neck.
“Mm-hmm,” Gabe confirmed. “So’s Dad, and so are your folks.”
“What!” Kate shrieked, this time rolling off the bed to search frantically for her clothes. Gabe huffed and donned a shirt and pair of shorts. He held his hand out to Kate, glowering in the direction of the kitchen. “Let’s get this over with.”
Kate would have rather died than leave their room to greet everyone but agreed they should get the meeting behind them. As they entered the kitchen, she glanced at the items on the floor, blushed scarlet and tried to run away. Gabe’s hand on hers was all that kept her from bolting. She closed her eyes, vacillating between humiliation and seething anger, and, somehow, stayed put. She glared daggers at each of the newcomers.
Gabe radiated his own irritation as he visually excoriated all four people in the room. “What the hell are you doing here?”
John’s coughing was no disguise. All of them were trying not to laugh. Cara and Carmen couldn’t even face them, instead clutching each other doubling over. Michael stepped forward to take the heat, managing to contain his amusement to just a smile. “Hi, kids! It appears congratulations are in order!”
Carmen and Cara came to them then, clucking apologies as they approached. The couple stood stonily while their mothers petted them, Kate feeling nothing but annoyance now. She wondered if there was any chance they did not look like they’d been having sex for two straight days, but a glance at Gabe, especially at his tousled hair and swollen mouth, destroyed all hope along those lines.
“Seriously, Mother, I could so cheerfully kill you right now.”
Click Follow to receive emails when this author adds content on Bublish
Comment on this Bubble
Your comment and a link to this bubble will also appear in your Facebook feed.