“Yes. He said Holly’s going to cook waffles.”
“I don’t know if Holly’s up to it after the bad night she had. What do you say, Holly?”
“Oh, I think I could still manage to whip up a waffle or six.”
“You seem full of energy today, Miss Jamieson. I think we should do something special because it’s the weekend.”
“McDonald’s?” Katie says, ever hopeful.
“No, you already did that this week. Have another guess.”
“Grandma’s house. “
“That’s next weekend.”
“You mean the beach?”
“Yes, the beach, if Holly is okay with that.”
Holly smiles. “I love the beach.”
Katie bounces on the bed in excitement. “I’m going to build the biggest sandcastle. You won’t let Jack knock it down this time, will you, Daddy?”
“No, we’ll fend him off.”
“I’m going to tell him.” She runs off. “Jack! Jack! We’re going to the beach.”
“I guess we had better get up.” Reid sighs.
“What are we going to say other nights? That I have bad dreams every night?”
“I guess so. It’s as good as anything. Better to say bad dreams than I want to fuck your brains out.”
“True that.”
“And may I just say for the record, if we didn’t have to get up and make breakfast, I would want to fuck your brains out right now.”
“I’ll take a rain check on that.”
“I’ll look forward to it.”
CHAPTER 18
Reid
Holly gasps when we finally drive down the coastal path and reach the house. “Wow! This is gorgeous, right on the shore. It feels like there’s no one for miles!”
“You like?”
“I love it. I didn’t even know you had a place here.”
“I picked it up years ago, and I’ve never wanted to let it go. We don’t get to come here often enough. With the time it takes to drive, it’s better to come for more than a weekend.”
I get out and let the kids out of the car, and they go careering down the beach.
“Don’t go too far!” I call but they are safe here—they know not to go in the water unless I am with them.
Holly gets out and I hug her to me. The spark between us is like magic, making a good day and a place I love better than ever. The ocean crashing on the shore and the breeze on my face is a world away from the office.
We watch Jack and Katie drawing in the wet sand with pieces of driftwood. “They love it here,” Holly says.
“They do. I’ve taken them to more exotic locations. I’ve bought a few places since this one, Villefranche being one of them, but I think they’d rather come here to this old beach house.”
“Thanks for bringing me here.”
“It means a lot to me that you like it. Mercia turned her nose up at the house as soon as she saw it. It’s been a bolt hole just for me and the kids ever since I put a stop to her plans to have the place knocked down and redesigned. It’s only for the special people in my life. Like you.”
She beams at me. The breeze ruffles her hair and I smooth it down. “I thought we’d have our picnic first and then we’d have a sandcastle building competition. The one with the biggest castle gets to choose the movie for tonight.”
She laughs. “I should have brought my bucket and shovel or we’ll be watching Frozen again.”
“I think you’ll find there’s a pink bucket and a bright green shovel inside that has your name on it. Sorry if those colors are so last year. Katie insisted on a new spotted one the last time we came.”
“I guess I’ll have to make do.”
“And you being a fashion guru. I thought we might have to hightail it to somewhere with a wide selection of colors and styles to buy you a new set.”
“As long as it goes with my outfit, I’ll live.”
I look at her blouse that’s in some soft gauzy fabric I could rip right through and her little cutoff shorts that show her legs to perfection. “You go with your outfit. That’s what counts, but even so I’ll have to confiscate your blouse and shorts later, because there’s a big problem with them.”
“What?”
“What they cover up.”
CHAPTER 19
Holly
They don’t make many days as special as today, days when you don’t have to do anything very much, when you get to mess about on the beach with people you love and just have fun.
“Nothing like a bit of sand with your sandwiches.” Reid laughs, brushing away a few grains that somehow ended up on the bread. We are watching Katie and Jack. They have had a sandwich each, orange juice, and pieces of apple, and they are collecting shells and pebbles on the wet sand by the shore to decorate the winning sandcastle later.