The Unknown

After coffee

At the hotel the next morning

Shane's pov

Nigel and I meet over coffee while the girls sleep, to discuss the best course of action for dealing with our disobedient daughters. We decide to let them sleep as long as possible without making us late for the funeral, knowing they could use the extra time to fully sober up.

We agree that we'll wait until after the service and luncheon to discipline the girls for three reasons. Most importantly, out of respect for Aunt Fay. We don't want to draw focus away from the purpose of this trip, remembering and honoring the very special woman who touched our lives. Secondly, both Nigel and I are still extremely upset over the girls' misbehavior, hence we need more time to calm down so as not to unfairly punish the girls out of anger. Lastly, we figure the extra time the girls will have anxiously anticipating, nay dreading their upcoming punishments is well deserved.

Putting the events of last night aside, the four of us attend Aunt Fay's funeral, focusing only on paying our respects and honoring her life. I came to find out over drinks with Nigel yesterday that Aunt Fay graciously took Ava and her mother Emily in shortly after Ava was born. It's quite the dramatic tale involving a faked abortion, illegal drug trafficking, and betrayal between step brothers. Point being, Fay played an important part in Nigel's and Ava's lives as well as my own.

After the luncheon, we return to the hotel and sit the girls down so Nigel and I can voice our mutual concerns about last night before we dole out their punishments individually. Carrie looks appropriately nervous but Ava appears largely unconcerned. It's clear to me from witnessing some of their interactions that Ava has Nigel wrapped around her little finger due to his overwhelming, albeit inappropriate guilt over his absence during the first ten years of her life. Even though the circumstances were beyond his control, he still blames himself for not being there for his little girl.

I decide to start things off.

"We're extremely disappointed in the two of you. Sneaking into a club and drinking, plus you broke both of the rules we agreed upon. You didn't stay in your room after swimming and you certainly weren't asleep by 11pm. Were you?" I raise one eyebrow, cross my arms over my chest, and shoot them a chilly look before continuing.

"What you two girls did last night was not only reckless, but extremely dangerous as well. Even though things turned out okay, you put yourselves in a potentially disastrous situation and then added alcohol to the mix to further lower your inhibitions and cloud your judgment."

I'm becoming more incensed picturing how badly things could have ended last night due to their carelessness and disobedience.

"THEY WERE GROWN MEN, FOR CHRISSAKE. WHAT DID YOU THINK THEY WERE GOING TO DO TO YOU IF YOU LEFT THE CLUB WITH THEM? WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING, PUTTING YOURSELVES IN HARM'S WAY LIKE THAT?"

Nigel and the girls appear to be shocked silent by my angry outburst. I honestly didn't intend to lose my temper but flashing back to that man's hand on Ava's thigh and Carrie sitting there frightened and in tears in that booth next to his friend with his arm around her, has my blood boiling.

"DAMMIT, CARRIE ANNE, ANSWER ME!" Hands on my hips, I glare at my youngest.

She should know by now, my questions aren't rhetorical. I'm going to demand she voice out loud the potential repercussions that could have stemmed from the extremely poor choices they made last night.

"I'm sorry, Shane. We didn't mean for anything to happen and then things got out of control..." My heart aches as Carrie breaks down in tears, sobbing uncontrollably. Her breath hitching between words. "That's why I called you, Shane."