All did not appear to be well in the Olson family.

A plate of cheeseburger sliders, fries, and broccoli materialized in front of her.

Two large, capable-looking hands appeared on either side of the plate. “Eat.”

The man just couldn’t stand back and let her self-destruct.

“I didn’t order these,” she said, despite the fact that her stomach was now audibly growling over the scent of fresh red meat.

Brick loomed over her from across the bar. “You’ve had two drinks strong enough to put down a full-grown man, and you barely touched anything on your plate last night.”

“Stop looking at my plate.”

“Start eating.”

Remi pretended to rub at the corner of her eye with a middle finger.

“Play nice,” Darius coughed into his elbow.

Brick and Remi both paused long enough to glare at him.

Kimber interrupted the glaring contest. “I have to go,” she said, sliding her arms into the sleeves of her coat. “Apparently Kyle feels unequipped to feed the kids dinner.”

“Are you serious?” Remi asked. She caught the subtle shake of Brick’s head and shut her mouth. “I mean. Okay. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Why?” Kimber frowned, pulling on her jacket.

“Because we’re sisters, and if Kyle needs an ass-kicking, I want to be a part of it,” Remi told her.

Kimber paused, and for a second, the mask slipped from her face. There was something softer and sadder in her eyes.

“Thanks, Rem.” Her sister turned to the men behind the bar. “Boys, it was a pleasure as always.”

She reached for her wallet, but Remi waved her off. “I’ve got the tab. You go save the day.”

Kimber eyed her as she tugged her braid out of her coat. “You sure?”

“Yeah. Go be Super Kimber.”

“You’ll get home okay?”

“I’ll be fine,” she insisted.

“‘Cause you’re listing pretty hard to the right,” her sister observed.

Remi did her best to straighten up and overcompensated, jostling the plate into her empty glass.

“I’ll make sure she gets home safe,” Brick promised.

“Thanks for taking up babysitting duty,” Kimber said.

Remi was too fuzzy-headed to be properly offended. “Do you know what that’s all about?” she asked Brick after the door closed behind her sister.

He shrugged and turned around to key something into the order screen.

“A fount of information as usual,” she complained, picking up the dredges of her pink flamingo and slurping at the ice.

He turned around and removed the glass from her hand. “Maybe you should have been paying closer attention to things at home.”

“Question. Does everyone on this island have a problem with me, or are you and my sister the only members of the Remi Sucks Club?”

Darius elbowed Brick out of the way.

“So, Ms. Artist. Catch me up. What are you painting? Studly nude gentlemen?” he demanded.

She knew he was redirecting her. But the nice man had given her such good alcohol. It couldn’t hurt to share just a little bit of the truth, could it?