The Sweetest Summer(121)
He leaned over the gearshift and lifted her chin with a fingertip. “Not gonna happen, sweet Evie.” He placed a soft kiss on her lips. “I guess we’re officially on our date.”
“It seems like years since our last one.”
Clancy laughed. “How about we go inside and you can slip into something, you know . . . ?”
“Without fins and a wig?”
“Exactly.”
* * *
“Gather ’round, ye maids.”
Not everyone was settled, but Mona couldn’t delay. A half hour had already been wasted simply pulling people from their clambake assignments and getting them in her living room. This concern had to be addressed now or never at all. The window of opportunity was closing.
“Is this meeting gonna take long? Because I gotta—”
“Can it, Polly!” Mona immediately regretted snapping at her friend. “I’m sorry, but this is an emergency emergency meeting. As president, I am calling for a concurrent intervention ceremony.”
The whole room inhaled at the same time.
“Oh, my Lord! We haven’t done one of those in years!” Abigail scanned the room. “Does anyone remember . . . ?”
“It was Maureen Dulvaney in 2006. She put her house on the market to move in with that Rhode Island man she met on the Internet, the one who sent her a picture of his . . . member.”
“No, Izzy. Maureen was back in the nineties. The most recent was Cloris Buchnell in 2010. Remember? Her best friend slept with Cloris’s fiancé, but Cloris was sure all three of them could live together in harmony.”
“No, Abigail. It was Maureen and it was 2006. People didn’t even put photos of their members online in the nineties. That started much later.”
“And you know this how?” Polly slapped her knee and snorted, and Mona’s living room erupted into a cacophony of disagreement and peals of laughter.
Mona decided to just get down to business. “I am making this request for Clancy.”
It went quiet.
“Yes, you heard right.”
“But . . .” Darinda paused, then pushed on. “I don’t mean to second-guess the president, but didn’t you say that you were done trying to orchestrate your children’s relationships?”
Damn Darinda and her attention to detail.
“This is a highly unusual situation, ’maids. Please hear me out.”
Everyone stilled.
“Clancy needs the mermaid’s assistance at this very moment. I can’t tell you the specifics of the situation because I gave him my word I wouldn’t.”
Mona took a deep breath. “Before I go further, I must remind everyone that we took a vow of secrecy. You need to know that in this case, keeping your word could very well be a matter of life and death.”
Everyone nodded solemnly—except for Polly. “Hold up. Since when is Clancy’s love life a matter of national security?”
“’Maids, I tell you I am in a predicament. I swore I would not reveal the details, and yet he needs us to rally behind him.”
“Why the emergency emergency?”
Mona sighed and rubbed her forehead. “My son and his heart-mate are together right this moment. I believe that on some level, they know what they are to each other. However, there are grave issues that must be resolved before they can live in happiness.”