Page 55 of A Beach House Beginning

They started for the house when the door opened and Wes walked out, arms loaded with blankets and lawn chairs.

Her little buzz became a full-on tremor.

“Oh. Hi. You’re home,” he said. His face seemed to light up when he spotted them. For his daughter, she told herself. Certainly not for her.

For a moment, she let her imagination wander, wondering what it might be like to have his hard features glow with welcome like that for her.

“There’s my girl.”

“Hi, Dad.” Brielle launched herself at her father, who managed to set down the lawn chairs and blankets in time to catch her.

Jenna found the affection between the two of them sweetly touching, even as it made her ache a little for her fatherless child, who watched their joy-filled reunion with a little glint of envy in her expression.

How Wes must have missed his daughter during those three years he had been incarcerated. When children were young, even a few months’ development could mean fundamental changes in maturity, communication and social skills. Jenna couldn’t imagine how much Brielle had changed in the three years they were separated.

He lifted his gaze from his daughter to Jenna and something in his expression warmed her to her toes.

“Hi. I’m sorry I wasn’t home half an hour earlier or I could have picked up the girls so you didn’t have to.”

“It’s no problem. I was planning on it.”

“How’s your hand? Were you okay to drive?”

In truth, her hand was throbbing more now than it had since the initial injury but she didn’t want to tell him, for fear he would suggest canceling the outing.

She didn’t want to disappoint the girls. At least that’s what she tried to tell herself was her motive for ignoring the pain.

“It’s fine. I’m a little bit sore but not bad.”

“Are you sure you’re up for a picnic? If you’re not, we can do it another day.”

She shook her head. “We’re all looking forward to it. Aren’t we, girls?”

Brielle and Addie both nodded with enthusiasm.

“Give me a few moments and I’ll be ready,” she told him. “I have to change and take care of Theo.”

“Take as long as you need.”

The only trouble was, she had no idea how long it would take her to figure out how to protect her heart so she didn’t completely fall for Wes Calhoun.

Chapter Thirteen

Could this really be his life or merely some delicious dream he didn’t want to end?

Throughout the afternoon and evening Wes spent with Jenna and their respective daughters at the beautiful state park south of Cannon Beach, he had to stop more than once to soak in the moment.

It was a perfect summer evening, in company with his daughter, whom he loved more than anything else in the world, as well as the lovely Jenna Haynes and her daughter.

Only months earlier, he would have been standing in the chow line waiting for his bologna sandwich and pudding cup. If he was lucky.

Now he was sitting on a blanket a few dozen yards from the Pacific Ocean, watching the sky light up with color as the sun began its slow descent into the horizon.

The air was filled with the sound of the girls’ laughter as a cute puppy with gangly legs loped around with enthusiasm, trying to catch the tennis ball they chucked between them.

Across from Wes on the blanket, watching the girls with a soft smile, was the warm, beautiful woman who was becoming increasingly important to him.

He wanted to bottle up this moment, to take it out when life felt hard or when he gave in to his occasional bouts of self-pity at all that had been taken from him by someone he had trusted.

---