The party was in full swing by the time Milly's friends, Rag and Raj, joined them. Alex watched all of them, with a cold drink in his hand, from his seat on the steps of the deck, his barefoot feet in the sand. Will and Rag were in charge of the grill, so Raj made a beeline towards the family cousins for food. Jem was helping Torry bring out the desserts from the kitchen.

Raj volunteered to be their DJ that night, and Torry, Jem, and Milly were dancing to the beat around the bonfire, laughing. It kind of reminded him of that jungle dance scene from the old movie,...