Page 38 of The Green Card Baby Deal

“It makes absolutely no sense at all,” Luis said with a sly grin. “But tell me anyway.”

CHAPTER 22

CLARA

Dawn insisted on taking Clara with her on vacation. Stan was busy, she’d said, and Dawn didn’t want to miss out, so Clara had to come. It was, after all, likely the last vacation Dawn would get to have for a while, since she was going to have a newborn in no time. Clara suspected this was all an excuse Dawn used to get her sister out of the funk Luis’s rejection had put her into. And honestly, although Clara would never admit it, she really did need this break. She needed to be forced to think about literally anything other than him because she couldn’t get her mind off him, and it made her feel pathetic.

When they got to the hotel, Clara found out Dawn had booked separate rooms for them. “I don’t smell that bad, do I?” Clara inquired with a laugh.

“Oh, you know…” Dawn looked to be searching for an excuse. Clara had never seen her so flustered. “It’s just so we can sleep a little better, right? Otherwise, we’ll stay up all night watching movies. You know how we are.” She sped up her words as she went along, which had always been a surefire way to tell that she was lying. Once Dawn got going on a lie, she just had to barrel through it. She couldn’t get it into her head that less was more. She would explain and explain until she worked herself into an explanation frenzy.

Clara decided to put a stop to it before it got out of hand. “It’s okay to just say I’ve been a bit of a bummer to be around. It won’t hurt my feelings. I know it’s true.”

“It’s not, though!” Dawn looked so offended that Clara almost believed her. “Ugh, you’ll see.”

Clara narrowed her eyes at her sister. “I’ll see what exactly?”

“Just…” Dawn’s face went pink and she wrung the handles of her purse. “Just you’ll see. Never mind, okay? Let’s just get our stuff to our rooms and get out to the beach. I really, really, really want to see the beach. Got to send pictures to Stan so he feels bad about missing out.”

They went to their respective hotel rooms, and Clara unpacked what she could. They were only staying a couple nights, so there wasn’t much, but it felt good to unpack anyway. The room was colorful and vintage. All the décor looked like it was from the early 1900s, and she did kind of like it. There was a clawfoot tub and everything. She tried to be positive about her situation. Lots of people had their hearts broken all the time, and not all of them had wonderful sisters who took them on vacations to get their minds off things. Clara should be grateful, and she was really. But it didn’t negate the hurt either.

She dressed for the beach — layers because further north the weather was less predictable — and waited for her sister, who made Clara stand outside her hotel room for some mysterious reason. Clara could hear that Dawn was on the phone with someone but not exactly what she was saying. It was fishy, but Clara chalked it up to a possible fight with Stan. Maybe that was the real reason he hadn’t come along. Well, if that’s what it was, Dawn didn’t sound angry now, so maybe they’d made up. It would be great if Stan could join them after all. Then she’d be glad they each got a separate room, considering what Dawn had shared about the quality of their make-up sex.

Soon, Dawn came shooting out of her own room with a bag and a pair of sunglasses propped up on her head. She looked breezy, dressed in flowing white clothes like she’d just walked out of a commercial for some kind of medication with a long list of side effects the viewer was meant to ignore.

“Ready?” Dawn said. “I’m so excited!”

“For the beach?” Clara laughed. Her sister had never been so thrilled, and it was only a beach. It was the strangest thing.

“It’s not just a beach,” Dawn said. “It’s a beach with sea glass all along it. It’s famous! We’re going to go down there and take all the pictures, and it’s going to be gorgeous. I just know it. Remember how we talked about going to this beach when we were kids? You were determined, but then Mom and Dad had that whole thing and we never made it, and you were so disappointed.”

“Aha!” Clara pointed an accusing finger at her sister as they made their way down the hall toward the parking lot. “I knew this trip was really about me.”

Dawn sighed and threw up her hands. “Fine, fine. You caught me. I wanted to show you a good time after all the bull you’ve been through lately. But this is for me, too, you know. I want to bond with my sister. I want to see her laugh and smile the way she used to. It’s going to take a whole lot of weight off me to know you’re feeling better.”

Halfway across the parking lot, Clara reached over and wrapped her arms around her sister. “I am feeling better, Sis. Thank you so much.”

They kept walking like that, Clara clinging to her sister while Dawn patted her arms and kissed her. She was showing her pregnancy already, Clara noticed, which meant Clara would be showing soon, too. She couldn’t decide whether she dreaded it or whether she’d be the most excited she’d ever been. She hoped for the latter.

The beach really was beautiful, just like Dawn had said it would be. They weren’t at the main beach but a smaller, quieter one. Dawn had explained that much of the sea glass had been taken from the more popular beaches by tourists, but she knew of this less well-known beach that still had piles of sea glass all along it. When the water hit the glass, it made the most beautiful sound, like a fizzy drink, Clara thought. This beach, this place, was somewhere Clara had always wanted to visit.

“It’s beautiful, Dawn.” She hugged her sister again. “Thanks so much for bringing me here.”

“You should start looking for your favorite piece,” Dawn said with a mischievous grin. “I don’t want to take too much like everyone else has done, but I figure, if we just take one, it’ll be okay. I think you should pick the one we take.”

Clara gazed out over the beach and started toward a spot that looked to have the most glass. The sea glass was glittering in the light of the setting sun, and she felt like a child again, going through treasure that had no value other than the value she gave to it.

From behind her, Clara heard Dawn say, “Love you, Sis. I’m going to go find a toilet really quick. The baby’s starting to push on my bladder.”

“Okay,” Clara called back without looking behind her. She enjoyed slowly sifting through the sea glass, noting all the colors she could: blue, orange, white, and green. One blue piece in particular caught her eye. It really did look like some kind of gem, and the knowledge that it had been whittled down by hundreds of years and the current of the ocean made it all the more beautiful to her. She held it to her eye and saw the sunset glimmer through it.

Then she heard a voice say, “Is that the one?” and it wasn’t Dawn. It wasn’t a stranger either. She would have known that voice after only one syllable. It was Luis. She turned to see him standing behind her, his face bathed in the light of the setting sun.

“What are you doing here?” she asked and then amended. “I mean I’m happy to see you. I just didn’t expect?—”

“It’s not an accident,” Luis said, stepping closer. When he came too close, she thought her heart might stop. There were his soulful eyes and that melting smile. And then he dropped down on one knee, and Clara gasped. “Clara Ashford…” he began.

“Wait, wait.” She couldn’t help herself. “This was planned?”

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