Page 41 of Beach Vibes

She heard the smile in his voice and couldn’t help laughing. “You sound sure of yourself.”

“When I got my first place, I made it every weekend for six months. You know, to get it right.”

A simple confession that touched her in ways he could never understand. Dex was wrong about Rick—the man was exactly who he said. He was sweet and caring, and he tried so hard to do the right thing.

“I’d love to have you cook me dinner,” she told him.

“For sure? That’s great. I can’t wait, Jana.”

They settled on a date and time, then talked for a few more minutes before hanging up. When she’d set her phone on her nightstand, she headed for the bathroom to get ready for bed. Whatever Beth thought of her didn’t matter, she told herself. She liked Rick a lot, and she was going to continue to see him. Because men like him didn’t come around very often, and there was no way Jana was going to lose him—not without a fight.

9

Beth sat on the beach, watching the surfers ride thewaves. It was early—barely dawn—and cold. The air was salty and damp, and the sand had yet to absorb any warmth from the not-yet-seen sun. Despite the sweatshirt she’d pulled on, she was shivering slightly.

She hadn’t been able to sleep much and sometime around four had given up trying. All night long she’d replayed her conversation with Jana, wondering how much of the problem was what she’d said and how much of it was Jana being too sensitive. Only there didn’t seem to be much way for her to blame the other woman, which meant the majority of the responsibility lay with her.

One of the surfers paddled into shore, then got out of the water. He anchored his board in the sand, then unzipped hiswetsuit and began toweling off. When he’d pulled on a thick hoodie, he started toward her.

“You’re up early, B,” Kai said, settling beside her. “Couldn’t sleep?”

“How’d you guess?”

“A lot of people have that problem. Coming here clears the mind. It’s something about the rhythm of the waves, plus it’s the beach, so there’s no bad there.” He glanced at her. “What’s up?”

She was going to tell him she was fine, that it had simply been one of those nights. Instead she found herself blurting out, “I messed up with Rick’s new girlfriend.”

Kai frowned at her. “You said she was your friend Jana. How could you mess up?”

“In a thousand ways.”

She told him about their conversation after working at the food bank. “I went on and on about how I hoped Rick would find a nice surgeon or a radiologist.” She groaned. “Seriously, who talks about wanting their brother to date a radiologist? I sounded awful. I know she thought I was judging her and being mean.”

“You sounded like you’re worried about keeping Rick safe.” He flashed her a smile. “I wouldn’t mind dating a radiologist.”

“I’ll ask around.” She sighed. “I really do like Jana. Why can’t I talk to her like a normal person? Why is this such a big deal?”

“Because you think she’s not good enough.”

His blunt statement made her wince. “That’s not true. Like you said, we’re friends. I like her a lot.”

“For you, yes. For Rick, not so much. You’re assigning value to how you feel, and you’ve decided some of what you’re dealing with is bad. You can’t pick your emotions, Boss, but you can control how you act despite them. Last night you weren’t in as much control as you would like. You hurt someone you care about, and that’s not who you are.”

He was right, she thought. About all of it. She was ashamedof what she’d said, and at the same time, she couldn’t shake the need to protect her brother.

“What do I do?” she asked, trying not to think about the fact that she was seeking life advice from a kid in his twenties. Only Kai had an old soul, and she trusted him.

“Have a little faith. Rick’s a grown man with a successful career. He can take care of himself.”

If only. “He has a terrible track record with women.”

Kai shot her a knowing look. “Maybe, but even if he has, that’s not your rock. You get too involved. Remember last year when he was buying his condo? You were all up in his business.”

She felt herself flush. “That’s not true. I was helping. He’d never bought a place before. He didn’t know how the whole process was going to go.”

Plus he’d been so busy with his new practice. She’d been happy to go look at different condos, sorting through them so he only had to go see the top contenders.

“You take on too much with Rick because doing that allows you to hide from your own life. If you’re always worrying about him, there’s no time to think about you and what you want. You don’t have to put yourself out there. Which sounds good, but then you end up with nothing while Rick has an oceanfront condo.”

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