Page 44 of Beach Vibes

“I was reading.”

“Normally you read in your room.”

“I needed a change of scene.” He studied her for a second, then raised his eyebrows. “Interesting.”

She felt herself flush and knew he’d guessed what had happened. She didn’t know how he did it, but Teddy had a sense about things like that.

“I know, I know.” She sank onto the sofa and shook her head. “It was too soon. I can’t even tell you how it happened.”

“You’ve had a child, Jana. You have to know how it happens.”

She glared at him. “Ha ha. You know what I mean. I wasn’t planning on sleeping with him, but suddenly there we were.”

“Do you like him?”

“Yes. Otherwise there wouldn’t have been the sex.”

“Things are moving fast. Should I be worried?”

“About Rick? No. He’s a good guy.”

“I’d actually be worried about you.”

“I’m fine.”

She was. Mostly. There were complications with dating Rick—complicationsin the form of her friend Beth. Why oh why did she have to be his sister?

“I want to meet him,” Teddy said firmly.

She groaned. “No. You can’t. You’re making this more than it is.”

He looked at her without speaking, but she could hear his voice in her head—the one pointing out that if things were moving too quickly, whose fault was that? She’d agreed to meet Rick’s sister. It was only fair Teddy got to meet Rick as well.

“Could you just look him up online?” she asked, trying to keep the whine out of her voice.

“Already did. He seems legit. Now I want to look him in the eye. Man to man.” He paused, then smiled. “And the sister.”

“Teddy, no. Come on. It’s too much. It’ll be like a parade or something.”

“I was thinking more like dinner. We’ll keep it casual. Invite them over here. I’ll cook. Dex can take the kids.” He gentled his voice. “You like this guy. That’s great. I want you to be happy, but you have to remember that there’s always family lurking, and family doesn’t go away. To make this work with him, you have to make it work with Beth. Maybe I can help smooth things over with her.”

While she appreciated his concern, she wasn’t six anymore, crying because some bully stole her lunch money. “I can fight my own battles.”

“You can, but you don’t always have to. I got your back, kid. Always.”

* * *

Beth spent the week trying to figure out why she’d acted so badly with Jana. She knew some of the problem was how Rick had described the other woman. Not on purpose—he would never deliberately mislead her about something important, but he didn’t always get the details right. Beth was also willing to admit she might have been a little too quick to assume the worstinstead of waiting for more information. But the real issue, the very heart of the problem, seemed to lie more in what Kai had so bluntly told her. That no one would ever be good enough for her brother.

And while that was pretty bad, Beth was fairly sure that there was an even uglier truth lurking underneath. That in her heart of hearts, she didn’t want her brother to find anyone because if he did, she would be alone.

Not that they hung out all the time now, but knowing he wasn’t able to find someone and settle down meant maybe her problems weren’t her fault. Maybe they were both just damaged, and if they were, then she had less responsibility to fix herself. The cowardly and lazy way out.

She wasn’t sure how long she’d been hiding that feeling. While she would guess it had always been there, the divorce might have given it a little more power. She’d focused on her brother because he was a distraction, and it was easier to worry about him than try to fix herself.

The week of soul searching had been mentally exhausting, but Beth liked to think she’d grown from the experience. She wasn’t healed, but she felt she had a lot more clarity. With that had come the realization that she’d been a horrible friend. She liked Jana very much, admired her, even, and yet had treated her badly. When she thought about what she’d said and how she’d acted, she was embarrassed and ashamed.

She got to the food bank a few minutes early and went right to work. Part of her wondered if Jana would show up. She didn’t doubt her friend would still volunteer, but maybe she’d arranged to change her day. An hour into her shift, she caught sight of Jana helping someone in produce. For a second their eyes locked, but neither of them said anything. Jana returned her attention to her customer.

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