Page 49 of A Beach House Beginning

The morning fog had blown away, as it usually did during the summer, leaving the day sunny and mild. She parked as close as she could manage. She would have been better off walking, judging by the number of vehicles clogging the downtown area.

The tourist season was in full force. From here, she could see the wide, long Cannon Beach stretching north for miles. It was dotted with umbrellas, bikes, swimmers and the occasional kite.

The crowds of visitors descending every summer could be a nuisance but so much of the Cannon Beach economy depended on them that she couldn’t be too upset.

Crowds were a small price to pay for the sheer delight in living in such magnificent surroundings. And if the masses of people became too overwhelming, she could always take a drive down the coast and find an isolated beach somewhere or she could hike into the hills east of town and find a beautiful mountain river wending its way to the ocean.

That was the beauty of the Oregon Coast. It was long, vast and certainly not overpopulated.

She let herself into the employee entrance of the store just as Rosa was coming out.

“What is this?” her friend cried, looking aghast at her bandage. “What have you done to yourself?”

“It’s nothing. Just a bit of bad luck. I fell on the beach this morning when I was walking with Theo and Addison and managed to land on a broken shell. I’m fine. Eli gave me only five stitches and some local anesthetic so I can’t feel a thing right now.”

“Oh, you poor thing. You must go home and rest your hand. I can work for you instead.”

Jenna rolled her eyes at this very pregnant woman trying to be protective of her over a little scratch.

“Absolutely not. Please don’t worry about me. The bandage is annoying but it should not stop me from doing anything.”

“I am sorry this happened to you. Did Addie help you with your bandage?”

She held up her bandaged hand. “Dr. Sanderson and his staff get the credit for this one. But Wes helped me with the initial triage.”

Rosa gave her a side glance. “Did he? I told you, he is a good man.”

Jenna was beginning to agree. Whenever she remembered the tender way he cared for her injury, she felt warmth seep through her.

She did not tell her friend that Wes was not only a good man. He was definitely a good kisser.

“Do not worry about me,” she said again to Rosa. “I’ll be just fine. Go and put your feet up.”

Rosa sighed. “Wyatt will probably come with his police car and drag me home if I don’t rest. If not him, Carrie and Bella will do it.”

Carrie was the sister of Rosa’s husband and Bella was Carrie’s daughter. Both of them adored Rosa and were even more protective of her than Jenna was.

“Good. You should listen to them. I’ll see you later.”

She hugged Rosa and hurried into the gift shop, grateful again for good friends.

Chapter Eleven

On his lunch hour, Wes decided to eat his brown-bag lunch while he walked three blocks downtown to find a birthday present for his sister, who lived in a little town in Idaho called Pine Gulch, on the west slope of the Tetons.

He had a single destination in mind, the gift shop owned by his landlady, Rosa. It was the logical choice, he told himself. By-the-Wind carried unique local products that represented the best artists and craftspeople in the area. His sister would love something handmade, especially something he had specifically picked for her.

As he walked toward the store, he reminded himself there was little chance he would bump into Jenna, though he knew she worked part-time at By-the-Wind during the summer.

Logic did nothing to stop the little buzz of anticipation as he made his way through town.

The sidewalks were busy, but it wasn’t the kind of crowd he had been warned to expect in summer. Mostly families were browsing for beach toys or T-shirts or fudge.

He still could not believe he lived in this busy little beach community on the Oregon Coast, that he was working as a mechanic, of all things, and enjoying all of it.

Life had a funny way of taking a guy on adventures he never could have imagined.

Four years ago, he thought he had his life completely figured out. He had loved the hard work of making the security company a success. While his marriage definitely had its ups and downs, he was trying hard to make that a success as well.

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