Page 37 of A Beach House Beginning

After a long moment, he sighed. “I know you’re right. But I don’t have to like it. It was a really amazing kiss.”

She could not disagree.

The girls came out of the room before she could answer.

“Guess what?” Brielle exclaimed. “We found Addie’s shoes right away. I guess it was only my shoe that Abigail hid.”

“Whew. Good thing.” He smiled again at his daughter with so much warmth and affection, Jenna’s toes curled again.

“I’ve got to go. I’ll see you all later.”

Brielle gave her father a brilliant smile. “Bye, Dad. I’ll see you tonight.”

“Have fun at camp. Learn all you can about science so you can teach me stuff.”

“Okay. But you already know lots of stuff.”

“I’m always willing to learn more.”

Before he left the apartment, Wes sent Jenna a look that had her wondering exactly what kind of things he knew...and regretting that she would never have the chance to find out.

After she walked the girls to the community center and checked them both into their day camp, Jenna decided that morning was too beautiful to go straight home.

On impulse, she decided to head down to the beach with Theo and walk home along the seashore.

She and Addie had already discovered the dog loved the water. After his initial hesitation, Theo had become a big fan, dancing through the little waves and sniffing every sand mound and seaweed tendril along the beach.

The morning was cool and lovely as they walked along the hard-packed sand close to the water’s edge. They certainly weren’t alone on Cannon Beach, but it was far from crowded, like it could be on a July afternoon.

A couple of teenagers flew colorful trick kites on the sand and a few hardy souls played in the water, though she considered it still too cold for comfort.

Sometimes Jenna still had to pinch herself to make sure she really was lucky enough to live here, beside the Pacific.

She loved the ocean and found it both invigorating and, conversely, calming.

She wasn’t sure if she could ever return to her home state of Utah. While she loved the mountains there, Oregon had mountains, too, whenever she might need a fix.

Utah held plenty of sad memories. She had lost her husband there, had worked to rebuild her life, then had fled, abandoning everything because of one selfish man who didn’t know the meaning of the wordno.

Here in Cannon Beach, she had found peace. Had it been perfect? No. But she had found friends and a community here. Everyone here had been kind to her from the moment she moved into Brambleberry House.

They had nearly reached the beach below Brambleberry House when she spotted a familiar figure moving toward them from the opposite direction with a beautiful Irish setter pacing protectively beside her.

“Rosa!” she called as they approached. “Hello! How are you, darling? And how are you, Fiona?”

“Jenna, my friend. Hello.”

Rosa’s serene features lit up with happiness. Her friend was round and lovely, her pregnancy giving her a graceful beauty that Jenna loved to see.

“Who is this little sweetheart?” Rosa asked with a smile.

“This is Theo. He’s a rescue dog we picked up last week at the shelter. I’ve been promising Addie we would get a dog forever. I finally ran out of excuses.”

“He is beautiful. I am so happy for you and Addie. She must be thrilled.”

“They adore each other,” Jenna said. “It’s been really sweet to see. How are you feeling? Do you need to sit down? There’s a bench over there. Let’s stop for a minute and visit. We haven’t had the chance to talk in forever.”

After a moment’s consideration, Rosa nodded and made her way to the bench, where she lowered herself down, still graceful despite her advanced stage of pregnancy.

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