Chapter 39: Island Complications
Chapter 37
The rain finally slowed down the next morning—not stopped, just downgraded from apocalyptic to mildly miserable. I took it as a win.
Breakfast was served in the resort's ocean-view dining hall, though the "ocean view" looked more like a gray smudge today. Alan, Grandma Evelyn, and my mom were already seated. Charlie, of course, stumbled in last wearing sunglasses indoors, like that helped anyone forget he wasn't exactly drinking juice last night.
"Rough night?" I asked with a smirk.
Charlie grinned. "I've had worse. At least nobody got arrested."
Judith raised an eyebrow. "That's your bar for success now?"
"Always has been," Charlie replied, sliding into his seat.
Evelyn, meanwhile, had her nose buried in some travel brochure, already plotting the next stop on her empire tour.
As I was buttering a piece of toast, I noticed movement near the entrance. It was Ross and the rest of the group—the six infamous friends plus David and Dr. Charlie Wheeler. Or not, this time it was Mike next to Phoebe.
Rachel gave a small wave when she saw me, while Monica looked like she was ready to wrestle the humidity into submission. Seriously, her hair was its own zip code.
"Morning, Jake," Chandler greeted. "Still raining?"
"Less rain, more tropical sadness," I said.