Summer Beach Reads 5-Book Bundle: Beachcombers, Heat Wave, Moon Shell Beach, Summer House, Summer Breeze (85 page)

On an early July morning, Carley was in the kitchen slicing fruit for fruit cups. She’d already poured a cup of coffee for her B&B guest Melody, and had one for herself nearby.

Melody glanced quickly at the door, then asked, “Well? What do you think?”

Carley paused to rinse her hands. “I like him,” she decided. “He’s articulate and intelligent.” She didn’t add that anyone would be better than that Jack fellow who’d left Melody on the moors two years ago.

“And he’s major nice,” Melody crooned. “He’s already graduated and he’s working in his father’s company, and I can tell he likes me
a lot.
” She widened her eyes at Carley, anticipating a positive reaction. “Don’t you think he likes me a lot?”

Carley dried her hands and sat down at the table. “Here’s what I really think, Melody. I think you’re twenty years old, too young to get serious and way too young to think of marriage. You’re a splendid young woman, and you’ve got a world of possibilities before you.”

Melody looked crestfallen. “You don’t like him.”

Melody’s new boyfriend, Quentin, entered the room, stopping their conversation. He kissed Melody’s cheek and threw himself into a chair. “Good morning, all. It’s going to be a scorcher out there.”

Carley set coffee and a bagel with lox and cream cheese in front of him. Quentin politely declined the fruit and Carley politely declined from acting like his mother and telling him that fruit was good for him. She was already bossing enough people around.

Cisco strode into the room. “He’s awake!” Since Paul’s birth
seventeen months ago, Cisco had grown even taller, with a wide-shouldered, lean and lanky build that made her look elegant on horseback. She was strong, too. Dealing with horses had strengthened her back and arms, and good thing, Carley thought, because Paul felt like he weighed about seventy pounds.

Cisco had already dressed Paul for the day in tee shirt and shorts, but left his feet bare. He wriggled in her arms, eager to get down.

“Good morning, darling!” Carley kissed Cisco first, because she didn’t want to show favoritism to the baby. She kissed Paul. “Hello, big boy!”

Paul shrieked with joy, allowed himself to be hugged, then struggled away.

Jewel came into the kitchen, following Cisco. In spite of the tortoiseshell glasses and baggy clothes fifteen-year-old Jewel chose to wear, it was obvious that she was going to be a stunner. Jewel didn’t ride, but she attended all the shows and in deference to Cisco’s obsession, read every young-adult novel about horses, entertaining Cisco with summaries. More than that, she was perfectly happy to play babies with Cisco, and good thing, because when Cisco wasn’t on a horse, she wanted to be with Paul.

“Gotta go.” Quentin rose and held out his hand to Melody. “The beach is calling.”

“Have fun!” Carley said. “Clean beach towels on the hooks.”

Her guests went out into the hot day. Carley dropped happily into a chair. The other guests had already had breakfast and left. She could catch her breath.

Paul was toddling as fast as he could go, running after Tiger, who seemed to enjoy the morning chase routine. Mimi, who liked to observe from afar, perched on a blue quilted cushion on top of the cupboard, but Tiger strode around and around the kitchen table, tail high, just teasingly out of Paul’s reach. If Paul got within a hair’s touch, the cat easily zipped out the door and down the hall. Carley had learned to let Paul work off some of his morning energy.

The front door opened and Lexi stalked in, wearing fabulous
jeweled sandals and a batiked and beaded sundress. Her long blond hair was twisted into a high knot held with a stick. She kissed Jewel’s cheek, then sank into a chair.

“Just checking in before I go work in the fields,” she said.

“Please,” Carley scoffed. “Your shop is air-conditioned and perfumed like a spa.”

“Exactly. People come in for relief from the heat. That’s why I’ll be working like crazy.” Reaching over, she picked up a fruit cup. “How is everyone?”

“Hot,” Cisco told her. “We should get air-conditioning.” She shot a look at her mother.

“We’ve been over this before,” Carley told her older daughter. “It would cost a zillion dollars to air-condition this huge old house. Besides, it’s perfectly cool in the yard, especially with the sprinkler going. Oh, yes, and may I just mention that the riding ring is not air-conditioned!” As she talked, she snatched Paul and swooped him up into his booster chair. Before he could object, she set a bowl of dry Cheerios in front of him. His fat little hand grabbed for the cereal.

“Jewel,” Lexi said, “what’s your schedule today?”

Jewel looked wary. She seemed to fear that her glamorous almost-stepmother was trying to lure her into the den of fashion, but Lexi knew well that Jewel, at least for the time being, didn’t have the personality to work with the public.

“I was wondering if you could pick up some lunch for me and my assistant and bring it down.”

Jewel looked over at Cisco, who looked over at Carley.

“We’re going to the beach this morning,” Carley said. “What time do you want lunch?”

“Anytime around one.”

“That works for me,” Carley said. If she could wear out Paul this morning, she could get him down for a nap this afternoon, and she could get something accomplished in her office. Cisco could change clothes and bike out to Lauren’s to spend the afternoon with the horses. Later in the afternoon, Margaret could help with the baby while the big girls were gone. Margaret often complained that she
didn’t get to spend much time with Paul because of Cisco and Jewel, but this was a delicate issue since she was only seven. Margaret seemed torn between loving Paul and wanting to be a baby herself. Sometimes she asked Carley if she could have her milk from a bottle or sippy cup, and usually Carley allowed this, because thirty minutes later, Margaret would be stalking Jewel, asking what she was reading, if she wanted a bead bracelet, did she prefer vanilla or chocolate ice cream?

The phone rang. Cisco snatched it up. “For you, Mom.”

“Hi, Carley,” Maud said. “Is it crazy over there?”

“Is it ever not?” Carley retorted.

“Well, look, I’m taking the maniacs to the beach today. Want to meet me there? And since I’m making lunch for all of us, I’ll make it for you guys, too. Just tell me how many of you there’ll be.”

“That would be fantastic,” Carley answered. “There’ll be—let’s see, Cisco, Jewel, Margaret and me, that makes four, and Paul, but I’ll bring his food.”

“Great. Jetties at nine?”

“See you there.”

“Must go.” Lexi rose. “See you around one, Jewel. Oh. Here’s some money for the food.” She handed Jewel a wad of cash, blew a kiss at everyone, and stalked out the door on her very high heels.

“She’s going to trip on the bricks and break her ankle,” Jewel said, shaking her head.

“She’s got to look chic,” Cisco argued. She tugged Jewel’s arm. “Let’s go put on our bathing suits.” They skipped up the back stairs, whispering and giggling. These days they giggled about everything.

“Good morning, everyone.” Wyatt came in from the front hall, crouching so that Margaret, who rode his shoulders, wouldn’t hit her head on the door frame. He wore a blue cotton button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up and he looked so sexy that Carley wanted to shove him down on the table and have sex with him right there.

Instead, she reached up to accept her younger daughter as Wyatt
slid her off his shoulders and into Carley’s lap. Margaret was still in her cotton pjs, her hair tangled, sleep dust in the corner of her eyes. “It’s hot, Mommy,” she whined.

Carley could guess where this was headed. Wyatt sometimes took Margaret into the office with him. She’d become fiercely attached to her stepfather and wanted to do everything with him. She was good, Wyatt said, happy to sit peacefully on the sofa, playing with paper dolls or coloring or reading. “We’re going to the beach,” Carley told Margaret. “We’re going to meet Percy and Spenser.”

Margaret still pouted.

“Try this.” Carley stabbed a piece of watermelon onto her fork and lifted it to Margaret’s mouth. “This is cool.”

Wyatt poured himself a cup of coffee and leaned against the counter, looking at the crowd gathered around the table. A year ago he and Carley had been married here at home in a small private ceremony with only Cisco, Margaret, and Paul attending. Carley and Wyatt had reasoned that this would help their odd little family bond, and it looked as if they were right.

“Paul,” he said. “Cheerios go in your mouth, not in your ears.”

Paul giggled mischievously.

“Paul-y.” Margaret slid off Carley’s lap and stood next to Paul, smoothly pulling the cereal bowl out of reach. “Want some of my banana, Paul?”

“What chaos.” Carley took a deep breath. She’d planned to tell him privately, but she couldn’t wait another moment. “Wyatt, it’s going to get more chaotic. Soon.”

Wyatt reached for a bagel. “Really? Why?”

Carley didn’t speak. She couldn’t—the lump of happiness in her throat was too large.

Wyatt put the bagel down. “Carley?” In a flash, he read the message in her eyes. His jaw fell. “Are you kidding me?”

She shook her head and found her voice. “Not kidding.”

“You’re pregnant?”

“I am!”

“When is the baby due?”

“January.” Wyatt went pale.

“You’re going to have a baby?” Margaret asked. Her eyes were wide. “Oh, goodie, a baby for
me
!”

“Are you okay?” Carley asked her husband.

With careful precision, Wyatt said, “We are going to have a baby.”

Paul banged his spoon on the table and babbled.

Margaret put her face next to Carley’s belly. “Are you a boy or a girl? If you can hear me, kick!”

Color was returning to Wyatt’s face. He looked dazed. He looked
dazzled
. “This place is going to be wall-to-wall with children, Carley. Will you be able to run Seashell Inn this summer?”

“Oh, I think so,” Carley told him. “These days I feel like I can do anything.”

For Charley
My Man