He scratches his head. “We’re kind of on vacation,” he says.

“Oh.” They probably get recognized everywhere they go. “You don’t want anyone to know.”

He shakes his head. “No, not at all. We’re here for the month. We’ll be filming at the beach festival.”

“Doing tattoos?” I ask.

He nods. “The girls will be here soon with the kids.” He points to Carrie’s house. “Do you live there?”

“No, my girlfriend does. Well, she’s not my girlfriend yet. But she’s going to be. She just doesn’t know it yet.” I can’t believe I just said all that. Crap.

He chuckles and swipes a hand down his face like he wants to wipe his grin away. It doesn’t work though. He probably thinks I’m an idiot.

“So you guys are bringing all the kids?” I ask. There are a lot of them.

His eyes narrow a little. “You watch the show?”

“Every week.” I brush a hand through my hair, trying to look like I’m not star-struck. “It’s not like I’m a stalker or anything, though.”

“I didn’t assume you were.” He pulls a few boxes to the edge of the tailgate. The brothers come out the back door, their arms empty. Shit. That’s Logan, Pete, Matt, and Sam. In real life!

“Okay, I might be a little bit of a stalker,” I admit. They introduce themselves and I stand there like a little kid waiting for a snow cone on a hot summer day. “But just, like, the I-really-admire-you kind. Not the I-want-to-steal-your-personal-effects kind.”

Paul nods. “O-kay,” he says slowly. He lifts a hand to me and goes inside, grinning the whole way.

“I guess I’ll see you guys around,” I shout.

“Hey wait,” one of them calls. I turn around and see that it’s Matt. “Do you know where we can get some firewood?”

“It’s summer,” I remind him.

“We want to have a little fire on the beach. Roast some marshmallows.”

Duh. Of course they do. “I can get you some.”

His brow arches. “Before tonight?”

I nod. “I’ll take care of it.”

“Thanks, man,” he says, and he goes inside. He sticks his head back out. “See you later?”

I nod.

I just freaking met the Reeds.

A series of cars arrives in the drive. Women start to pour out of the vehicles, along with kids. I grin, because I know who they all are. Every last one. I wave to them and walk away. But wait…Friday’s not pregnant anymore. She was still pregnant last week on the show. She removes a car seat with a baby in it. I guess I know where the kid is now.

I have to get to work, or I’m going to be late.

###

After work, I go and pick up firewood for the Reeds, and I stack it neatly by their garage door. They’re down on the beach with their whole family, and it looks like there’s a camera crew with them. A small crowd has gathered around them, but some big guys are holding the perimeter. I have no idea what it’s like to be famous, but I imagine it’s hard.

I don’t need to bother them, because they’ll find the firewood when they come up from the beach.

I go home to take a quick shower. Malone is there when I arrive and I can hear him griping at Jackie from outside. I step into the trailer and close the door behind me. They immediately go silent. “What’s up?” I ask. I look from one to the other and back. They both avoid my gaze, though.

“Nothing,” Malone bites out. He flops onto the couch and flips the TV on.

Jackie follows me into my room and sits down on the edge of my bed.

“What did you do now?” I ask, as I pull my shirt over my head and walk toward the bathroom.

“He has his panties in a twist because he caught me talking to Dale.” She lies back and scoots up to put her head on my pillow.

I freeze. She went to see the douche? “Why were you talking to him?”

She shrugs. “I don’t know.” Her voice is small.

“After what he did to you last summer, you had better be smart enough to stay away from him.” I stand there and stare at her until she nods. She bites her lower lip and wipes tears from her eyes.

He really left her in a bad place. She was pregnant, and he didn’t care. I thought she’d learned her lesson, but I guess not. I was the one who held her hand through all that. I was the one who stayed up with her all night while she miscarried. I was the one who watched her blame herself for the way that it ended.

I start the shower, knowing she’s going to follow me in there in just a minute. As soon as I put my head under the spray, she starts to talk. “Dale went and talked to my dad.”

I push the curtain back. “And?”

“Dad likes him.” She sits down on the toilet lid.

“So?” Her dad isn’t a shining example of humanity’s finest.

“So, he suggested I go and get an ice cream with Dale. So I did. That’s what Malone saw. That’s all he saw. Nothing more.”

I heave a sigh. “If you let him back in, I’m not going to try to stop you this time.” I will, though. I always will. But I don’t want to.

“He was a douche. He’s still a douche. He even tried to grab my boob.”

“And what did you do?” I blow water from my lips and wait.

She doesn’t say anything, so I look out and find her wincing.

“What did you do?” I ask again.