Page 47 of Starlight Bay

Grant: Everything ok?

Lana: Eh. Sort of. My mom popped in for a surprise visit

Grant: Not a good surprise, I’m guessing?

Lana: Bingo

Grant: When can I see you again?

Lana: IDK. She’s going to be here a week, apparently

Grant: I can’t wait that long

Lana: Me neither. Plus she’s sleeping in my bedroom. So I guess I’ll be on the couch

Grant: I have a bed

Lana: God, so tempting. I’d MUCH rather be in your bed

Grant: I’d much rather have you in my bed

Grant: Or on the patio. Or the beach. Or the kitchen island

I blushed, heat surging through me as I visualized Grant kissing me in all these scenarios.

Lana: Maybe I can sneak out. But what about Hudson?

Grant: I can tell him you need a place to stay while you have company. You can “stay in the guest room.” At least until he’s sleeping

Lana: Sounds divine. I’ll float it by Bethany. She won’t be too thrilled

Grant: The offer stands

Lana: Thanks, I’ll let you know

“Who are you texting? Grant?” Bethany whispered loudly, scampering over to me. She was ready for the beach, in her t-shirt and shorts, her yellow bikini straps peeking out from her shirt. “How was your date, by the way? Or should I say your sleepover?” She waggled her brows over her glasses and I giggled, my face heating.

“Amazing. He’s amazing. We had the table out on the dock at the Boathouse, then went back to his place…” My voice trailed off.

“Don’t hold out on me; I want the details.” She gripped my arm.

“Later,” I murmured as our mother appeared in the kitchen, wearing a different boho dress, this one blue-and-white tie-dye.

“All set,” she said, popping a huge straw sunhat on her head. “Get ready, Lana. We want to be sure and get a spot. It’ll be crowded, since it’s a holiday.”

“It’s Starlight Bay, Violet. There’ll be space on the beach,” I grumbled, but headed back to my room anyway. Anything to avoid talking about Grant in front of my mother.

As much as I’d love to have a sleepover with him all week, I had no idea how to propose the idea to my sister and mother. I didn’t think either of them would take it well. But the thought of not seeing him for a week was equally terrible, so I guessed I’d just have to break the news to them later. Much later, after we’d spent all day together at the beach.

“Tell me all about your lives, girls. What’s been going on? Are you still enjoying teaching, Lana?” My mother leaned back in her beach chair, wiggling her toes deeper into the wet sand as the tide came in.

“Not much to tell,” I said, trailing my fingers in the cool, ebbing water. “I teach first grade at the elementary school and I already told you I teach swimming in the summer. Everything is pretty much the same here.”

“What about you, Bethy? You work from home now? Isn’t that isolating?”

Bethany shrugged. “No, it’s fine. I have an online work team and we do a lot of the development as a group project. It’s better than what I was doing in Boston. Lana and I like Starlight Bay.”

Our mother shook her head, clucking her tongue against her teeth. “You two should really get out there and see the world, while you’re still young and free. Don’t settle down like I did.”

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