Maybe, though, what he needed was something else to think about. He felt exhausted. He picked his son up. “You do? I think we could do that—but after lunch and nap.”
Trey pursed his lips, more contemplative than pouting. “Aunt Rosie said she’d make us a sea picnic. And I’m a big boy. I don’t need a nap.”
Carlo was getting the continual impression that his baby sister was trying to get in his business. Keeping him busy. Now, she came in from the kitchen, looking cute and fresh in white shorts and a blue and white striped bikini top. Her streaked hair was up in a high ponytail, making her look like Helen of Troy—in a tiny bikini. “I put a nice meal together. And if Trey crashes, he can sleep on the boat. I thought I’d go with.”
He shook his head and smiled. “I think you’re scheming, Peanut.”
“What? It’s a nice day. Trey and I are bored. You’re the best sailor in the house. Entertain us.”
Yeah, this was a better idea. He needed to find a way not to obsess. Bina didn’t want that, and he didn’t, either. It wasn’t healthy. So, he packed up his little sister, his son, the dog, and a picnic lunch and drove them all back down to the harbor from which he’d just come.
They spent a few hours on the water. Elsa was great on the boat, having been seaworthy since she was a pup. She had a life vest of her own, and she knew to find her spot and stay there. A naturally calm dog, it wasn’t unusual for her not to move anything more than her head for the entire time they were out.
They had lunch, and Trey had a short nap. While they were at anchor, a pod of dolphins swam by, and Carlo tried to convince Trey that they were sharks. He’d gotten a very condescending look from his child, and then a patient lecture about the difference between dolphin fins—which were ‘bendy in the back’—and shark fins, which were ‘like triangles.’ It was a good afternoon, and Carlo found his center. The sea always helped him find his center.
Carlo had figured Trey for a quiet afternoon after the excitement of a sail, but he was very well rested after his sea snooze, and on their way back to the harbor, Carlo had seen a cluster of people at Carmen’s beach. After they docked and stored the sails, Carlo asked, and Trey was enthusiastic about the idea of finding the rest of the family. Rosa was, too, so they drove to Carmen’s and pulled their beach gear from the back of Carlo’s Macan. Impromptu beach parties—happened all the time.
Trey tore on ahead, Elsa loping after him. Rosa, on her phone with a college friend, lingered roadside, sitting on the hood of Carlo’s car. If she scratched his paint with the rivets on her shorts, Carlo would have a serious talk with her. He said as much, and she stuck her tongue out at him.
Just before Carlo came to the beachside corner of Carmen’s little cottage, Luca met him and handed him a beer.
“Gotta tell you, man,” Luca smirked. “I get it now, and I’d better say this before you’re in a position to take offense. I’d seriously consider blowing up the whole family, too, for just one chance to get my hands on that.”
“What are you talking about?”
Luca nodded at the beer in Carlo’s hand. “Drink that. You need it. You got company.”
As his heart picked up its pace, Carlo’s feet did the same. He turned the corner and saw Bina, sitting in one of the Adirondack chairs around the fire ring, her long, dark hair loose and tossed by the breeze, her golden legs crossed. She was wearing a black bikini that left virtually nothing to the imagination and chatting amicably with, of all people, Carmen.
He opened the beer and drank it down.
When Carmen saw him, she stood and came over, her smirk not much different from Luca’s. It was like his siblings were all in on a joke together—one at his expense. “Okay, big brother. I’m your cover. Sabina is my new bestie. She came down the beach a couple of hours ago, looking all lost. So I made nice, and she’s ‘visiting me’.” She made the air quotes. “You’re lucky—I actually like her. Come sit with us, and try to pretend you don’t want to pork her on sight, okay?”
Struck dumb, Carlo nodded and let Carmen lead him to the fire ring. All the siblings were present. Even their father was there, down the dune, bending over so that Trey could tell him a story, probably about sailing. And there was Bina, in the bosom of his family. The thought was exhilarating and terrifying all at once.
~ 8 ~
He was wearing long, faded red shorts, slung low on his hips, and nothing else, and he was beautiful. His chest. Mother Mary, his chest. Long and muscular, the chiseled space between his shoulders lightly covered with dark curls, a long, thin line of hair bisecting his sculpted belly. Sabina lost her breath.