Page 223 of Steamy Ever After

“It’s only worth it if you drive south to north. Otherwise, the views are all behind you.”

“You wanna take the wheel?”

“You’ve got this.” She smiled.

Brodie drove through town, to the highway.

“Can we go one more exit?” Peyton asked when they reached San Luis Bay Drive, the turnoff for See Canyon Road. “It’s been so long since I’ve been to Avila Beach, and it’ll only take us a couple of miles out of the way.”

“I can’t remember the last time I was there. I used to stand on the pier while my dad tossed crab nets in the water, imagining I’d live in the Point San Luis Lighthouse one day.”

“Really? Wow! Were the nets for Dungeness?”

“They were, and the seafood feasts we’d have at my grandparents’ beach house were epic.”

They drove through the lush oak valley where most of the spas featuring natural mineral hot springs had been built. When they arrived on Front Street, he parked her car near the pier.

“Every time I visit, it seems like there’s another fancy hotel or restaurant hogging more of the bay’s already small shoreline.”

She felt the same way. In fact, she expected the pier was already overtaken by tourist traps like so many along the Central Coast had been. “Did you spend much time here, growing up?”

Brodie smiled. “We were in Oceano most of the summer. Gramps called their place the Slough House because it sat beside one. When we visited Scotland when I was a boy, I realized the house was almost an exact replica of any you’d find in the fishing villages on the Isle of Barro.”

“What happened to it?”

“Years ago, someone who bought it and the one next door demolished both and built one massive house in place of the two.”

“Such a shame.”

“Have you heard these stories before? I don’t wanna bore you.”

She shook her head. “I haven’t, but I want to.”

“We’d arrive from the hot valley on Friday night, and the next morning, two of us boys would go to Pismo Beach with my grandfather. We’d dig for those huge Pismo clams you can’t find anymore. The other two boys would come here with our dad. He’d toss the nets, and then we’d drive north to a place so secret, I’ve never been able to find my way there again.” Brodie glanced over at her.

“Go on. This is fascinating.” She smiled and he shook his head.

“You’re so damn pretty. I’m having trouble remembering the rest.”

She rolled her eyes. “Right. Get on with it, Brodie.”

“When we were little, Dad would take a crowbar down to the rocks and pry off abalone. Can’t find that anymore either.”

“Mmm, I miss abalone.” Peyton closed her eyes and put her hand on her stomach. “Sometimes they have it at the Sea Chest.”

“One of my favorite restaurants.”

“Mine, too. Sorry to interrupt you, Brodie. This is a great story. Keep going.”

“After the abalone harvest, we’d return to the pier and raise the crab nets. If we were lucky, they’d be filled with Dungeness.”

She chuckled. “You’re making me hungry again but keep talking.”

“We’d haul our take to the house where Gramps, Dad, and all us boys prepared dinner.”

“What did your mom and sisters do?”

“Relaxed, which they never got to do at home. Especially my ma. My grandmother loved to talk to her about Scotland. Ma’s from a village close to where Grandma Analise was born. The two would talk ‘home’ all weekend long, and then the next time we visited, reminisce about the same stuff all over again. Which is why I asked if you’d heard these stories before. I got so I would tune them out.”

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