Jo’s heart clenched in her chest. She wanted to wrap this little girl up in her arms and wipe the worry from her face, to promise she’d take care of her dad, to make sure he was never lonely—
Damn. Where did that come from?
“It’s very sweet that you worry about your dad. I’m sure he appreciates that.”
“He says it’s not my job to worry about him.”
“He’s right.” Jo squeezed Annie’s hand. “But it’s hard not to worry about the people we love.”
Annie let out an exhausted sigh. “It really is.”
Okay, this got too real. Time to bring back the fun.“What do you say to hitting up The Love Shack for some tacos? We’ll need fuel if we’re going to plan our next big adventure.”
“I already know our next adventure. We’re going to find the gold they named the beach after and then we’re going to find the ghost.”
“Sure thing. One mountain of gold and one mysteriousghost, coming right up. But first, tacos.”
Annie glanced over her shoulder to where Midnight Storm and the members of Neon Empress, a long-forgotten girl group that had exactly one hit to their name, were engaged in an oddly competitive game of beach volleyball. Their corner of the beach had been cordoned off, creating a viewing area for the fans attending NostalgiCon to watch from a safe distance as their favorite bands battled it out in the sand. As they watched, Logan dove for the ball, bumping it up and over the net at the last second, his heroic save celebrated by the cheering fans.
“Can we bring our tacos back here to watch the rest of the game? I want to know who wins,” Annie said.
“Of course.”
Annie brightened. “And can we get tacos for Daddy and Kat too?” She pointed to where her dad and Kat sat on lounge chairs beneath an oversized red umbrella at the edge of the volleyball court. His dark dress pants and starchy button-down were out of place amidst all the tanned skin and tropical-printed bathing suits, his polished dress shoes sinking into the sand and taking on a fine coating of dust.
Jo couldn’t help but grin. Underneath all those fancy clothes, Derek wasn’t nearly as proper as he might like people to think, and she had the sore pussy to prove it.
“Tacos for everyone. But we have to go quickly if we’re going to get back before the end of the game. And then you can help me take some photos and videos of the guys playing volleyball for their social media.”
“Deal.” Annie wiped the sand off her palms and took Jo’s hand as they headed towards the taco shack at the edge of the beach. “Can I get chicken nuggets?”
“Someday you won't want to have chicken nuggets for every meal, you know.”
Annie wrinkled her nose. “Noteverymeal. Who would have chicken nuggets for breakfast?”
“Someone probably does.”
“They’re missing out. Pancakes are the best breakfast. Especially the ones Daddy makes.”
“What’s so special about your dad’s pancakes?”
“It’s his secret ingredient. He says it’s love, but I think it’s really vanilla extract. Or chocolate chips. It’s probably the chocolate chips.”
Images flooded Jo’s mind of sitting at a kitchen table, Annie on one side of her and Derek on the other. A stack of chocolate chip pancakes in front of her smothered in butter and syrup. Derek’s hand on her knee under the table. Annie excitedly recounting the latest Phoenix Princess book.
She swallowed down the sudden wave of longing. Jowasn’t the type to want something sodomestic.She wanted adventure, dancing on the bar at two in the morning, sneaking backstage at a concert, hopping the red eye to exotic places. She didn’t want quiet mornings over homemade pancakes.
Did she?
“Maybe he can make them for you someday,” Annie said.
“Yeah, kid. Maybe someday.”
“The guys are doing pretty well,” Kat said, tilting down her sunglasses as Beckett dove headfirst into the sand in a failed attempt to pop the ball back up over the net.
From the beach lounger next to her, Derek shot her a look of disbelief. “They’re down by seven.”
Kat slid her sunglasses back into place and leaned back, turning her face up to the sun. “I don’t mean the game. Nico and Zach are being careful about how much flirting they do with fans—enough to make them feel special, not so much they’re going to find someone naked in their beds. Beckett’s been too busy working out every spare minute to offend anyone and Logan is… well, Logan is never a problem.”