Page 58 of A Beach House Beginning

After driving back to Cannon Beach, he parked down the street from the small storefront selling gelato in at least two dozen varieties, handmade on the premises.

He and Brielle had discovered the place shortly after he arrived in Cannon Beach, and stopping here occasionally had become something of a ritual for them.

The night was lovely and pleasant, not too warm and not cold enough for a jacket. The streets of downtown were bustling with visitors but the line at the gelato shop moved quickly.

After they ordered and received their gelato—chocolate chip for him and the girls and butter pecan for Jenna—they found an empty picnic table outside the shop and sat down, licking at their cones and people watching.

This was another moment he would store in his memory bank. The girls giggling about something, Theo lapping the ground of any drips from the cones, and Jenna pretty and soft in the lamplight as she tapped her sandal along with the live music coming out of the restaurant next door.

“This has been a perfect evening,” she said as she worked to finish off the final few licks of her cone. “Thank you so much for suggesting it.”

“Yeah,” Addie said. “Thanks. It was really fun.”

“Can we do it again the next time I come to stay with you?” Brielle asked him. “Maybe we could go to another beach and try tide pooling there.”

“Sure.”

He wasn’t sure whether Jenna wanted to spend any more time with him, but Wes figured he could always take his daughter on his own.

Same for the camping trip. As much as he would enjoy going with Jenna and Addie, he and Brie could still have a great time, the two of them.

“Looks like somebody is pooped.” Jenna gestured to Theo, who had plopped down at her feet and didn’t look like he wanted to move.

“He’s not the only one. I think I know two girls who are going to drop the moment they get home.”

“I’m not tired,” Addison insisted.

“Me neither,” Brielle said.

“Well, Theo certainly is,” Jenna answered.

“Because he’s still a baby and babies sleep all the time,” Brielle informed her. “That’s what my mom says, anyway.”

“They do sleep a lot,” Jenna said. “All except Addie.”

She smiled at her daughter. “You were up and down all night long and didn’t sleep through the night until you were eight or nine months old. Your dad used to say you were afraid you were going to miss something. You were an early adopter of FOMO.”

“What about me, Dad?”

Through his own choices, Wes had missed so much after Brie had been born, too busy trying to build the company. At least his time in prison had helped him realize that any success he earned professionally could be gone in an instant. This. This was the important thing. Family. Friends.

Love.

He didn’t want to go there. Yes, he was developing feelings for Jenna but he certainly wasn’t falling in love with her. That would be completely self-destructive of him.

“You arestillafraid you’re going to miss something,” he said, focusing back on his daughter. “It’s one of the things I love most about you.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “I can’t help it if all the good stuff happens after I go to bed!”

After they finished their gelato, he helped all three of them back into his pickup and drove the short distance back to Brambleberry House.

“Thank you again,” Jenna said when he pulled into the driveway. “That was the most enjoyable evening I have had in a long time.”

“Same for me,” he admitted, his voice somewhat gruff.

“We can help you carry things back inside.”

“I’ve got it. Don’t worry.”

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