Page 13 of A Beach House Beginning

Brielle saved him from doing something so foolish. “Hey, Dad. Can Addie and her mom stay for dinner? You said we had too much pizza to eat ourselves.”

The awkward level had now ratcheted up to a ten.

“I’m sure they have other dinner plans,” he said quickly.

“We don’t,” Addie said. “Pizza would be great!”

“We were going to heat up some soup from the freezer, remember?” Jenna said, not meeting Wes’s gaze. “We were just saying how soup is just the thing for a stormy night.”

As if on cue, lightning arced through the sky, followed by a sharp crack of thunder that made both girls shriek in surprise, then giggle at each other for their shared reaction.

“I like soup, Mom, but I would rather have pizza,” Addie said. “It smells soooo good, doesn’t it?”

“We really do have more than enough dough and toppings,” Wes said. “We were just trying to figure out what we were going to do with it when you knocked on the door. It was perfect timing.”

Another bolt of lightning flashed outside and rain began to pelt the window.

It was beyond comforting to be here inside this warm apartment in the big, rambling house by the sea.

“It does smell good,” she admitted.

“And tastes even better,” he said, not bothering with false modesty. He had very few skills in the kitchen and was justifiably proud of his pizza dough, a recipe his father had perfected over the years before he died.

“All right,” she finally said. “If you’re sure we won’t be imposing on your time with your daughter.”

“Not at all,” he assured her. “We were just about to put the toppings on, if you want to come and choose what you want.”

She followed him to the kitchen of his apartment, which Wes had considered a decent size. He wasn’t sure exactly how it seemed to shrink with the addition of another child and a small woman.

“How can I help?” Jenna asked.

How long had it been since he had shared a meal with a woman besides his daughter? He honestly couldn’t remember.

“You could throw together the salad, if you don’t mind. I’ve already rinsed the lettuce and it just needs to be tossed.”

“I can do that.”

She crossed to the sink and washed her hands then went to work ripping leaves from the romaine and green lettuce heads he had purchased earlier that day before picking up Brielle from her mother’s.

“What do you like on your pizza?”

“I’m not picky. What do you usually have?”

“Brie is a big fan of plain cheese and pepperoni. I typically go for margherita, with crushed San Marzano tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil and a splash of olive oil.”

Her eyes had widened during his geek-out about pizza and she gave a surprised laugh. “That sounds really delicious. Addie will probably be happy with the pepperoni as well.”

“Perfect. So two margherita and two pepperoni. I can only cook two at a time on my pizza steel so let’s do the girls’ first. They don’t take long.”

“Okay.”

While he formed another ball of dough into pizza crust for Addie, then enlisted the girls’ help to add the sauce, mozzarella and pepperoni, Jenna began slicing cucumbers and tomatoes to add to the salad.

This was nice, he thought as the girls went to work setting the table. He had bought a kitchen-in-a-box set of plates and silverware and serving utensils that supposedly contained everything a person needed to set up a basic kitchen. Now he wished he had sprung for something nicer.

Once the girls’ pizzas were in the oven, he went to work with the other two balls of dough, expertly shaping them and adding the toppings. Jenna watched him work, her expression interested.

“You really do know what you’re doing.”

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