Page 67 of A Beach House Beginning

She started to protest that he didn’t need to do that, then swallowed her words. She was running out of time and still needed to bring down a few more items for the party from her apartment. This was also a good test as to whether they could set aside their feelings and be friendly enough to both stay here at the house.

“I’ve got a few cleaning supplies stored under the serving table there.”

He nodded and went to work without another word. For some reason, his simple thoughtfulness made her eyes burn with tears.

Wes was a good man. Any woman smart enough to build a relationship with him should consider herself very lucky.

She wanted to be that woman, suddenly, with a fierce intensity that brought a lump to her throat.

She swallowed it down quickly. “I’ve got to run upstairs for a few more things. Thank you so much for your help. I’ll save you some cookies.”

“This is the kind of thing friends do for each other, right?”

Was that a shadow of bitterness in his voice? She couldn’t quite tell...and her daughter’s excited shriek distracted her from trying to figure it out.

“Hi, Logan! You’re here!”

She looked up to see Rosa walking toward them, along with Bella and Rosa’s stepson, Logan, who had become fast friends with Addie when he and his father temporarily lived in Brambleberry House after a fire at their own home.

“Hi, Addie.” Logan beamed at her. “Where’s your dog? I can’t wait to meet him! I wanted to bring Hank, but my dad said he should stay home since a book party might not be the best time to see if he and your new puppy get along.”

“Theo likes everybody,” Addie said. “Don’t you, buddy?”

In answer, their new puppy licked at Logan, who giggled.

Rosa gave Wes a curious look as he continued wiping off the chairs. “I do hope you’re joining us for book group.”

“Not me. Sorry. I don’t even know what book you’re reading.”

She told him and he shook his head. “Haven’t read that one, thought I did read the author’s last book.”

“You should come next month,” she said with a warm smile.

“By then, we’ll have a new baby.” Wyatt’s teenage niece Bella beamed at Rosa.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay with these three?” Jenna asked, pointing to the children and the dog, who were chasing each other around the part of the yard not currently set up with tables.

“We’ll be great,” Bella answered. “We’ll go for a long walk on the beach and build sandcastles and tire everybody out, then come back and watch a movie. I can’t wait to hang with them.”

Bella was a sweet girl who looked enough like Rosa to be her sister.

Another car pulled in behind Rosa’s. Kim, Jenna saw, with the food.

She hurried over to help carry the catering trays to the tables. By the time she returned to the pergola, Wes had disappeared.

“It was nice of Wes to help you set up for the party,” Rosa said sometime later, after the book club gathering was in full swing.

Jenna knew she shouldn’t feel this little pang in her heart just at the mention of his name. “Yes. He’s been very kind.”

“I wish he had stayed for the book group. He could have made more friends.”

“Too bad he didn’t,” Kim said. “Maybe we can talk him into helping us move some tables or something later. All those muscles.Mmm.”

Jenna fought down a little spurt of annoyance with her friend, which she knew was completely unreasonable. Kim was extremely happily married and was only teasing about Wes. That didn’t stop Jenna from feeling protective of him.

She had no right to feel that way. He wasn’t hers. She had made sure of that.

She forced a smile. “I think Wes is making himself scarce on purpose tonight. He said doesn’t want to get in the way of our fun.”

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