Emma smiles wide and claps her hands together as Theo watches on, shaking his head. He lays a kiss on top of her head and her lids drop closed for a second as he whispers something in her ear. She turns toward him, laying a chaste kiss on his lips and I return my attention to my phone.
“Usual beach, usual time?” I ask Em.
“Yep.”
I nod and text AJ.
Me:I’m going to the beach tomorrow afternoon with my sister and her family if you would like to join us
Immediately my phone vibrates.
AJ:Which beach and what time?
I tell him and he agrees to meet us there. I blow out a nervous breath and glance at my sister, who’s watching me like a hawk. I nod and she smiles. She had better not embarrass me or I’ll never forgive her.
CHAPTER12
–aj–
I finally pullinto a parking space after driving around in the heat for the last fifteen minutes. I glance at my watch. I’m late. I hate being late. It’s one of the worst traits. I always aim to be early rather than late. When I left home, I didn’t consider how busy it would be at the beach today. I shouldn’t be surprised—it’s damn hot. I don’t know how I’m going to find Sarah and her family among the hordes of people down here.
I tug on my baseball cap, grab my cooler and towel, and head toward the beach. The pavement is hot as hell beneath my flip-flops and the sun is already burning my skin. I hope Sarah’s wearing sunscreen because her pale skin must fry. Now to find the red umbrella she said they would have. As I reach the edge of the sand, I shield my eyes and scan the area for a red umbrella. There are at least a dozen red umbrellas scattered from one end of the crowded beach to the other.
I take off toward the first umbrella, studying the people underneath, no Sarah. I continue on until I get to the sixth umbrella and finally lay eyes on the woman who always seems to be on my mind. I’m not sure if it’s because I was with her every second evening last week and haven’t laid eyes on her at all this week, but I can’t get her off my mind.
She hasn’t noticed me yet because she’s busy building a sandcastle in the shade with a little girl, while two boys, which look to be a little older, eat apple slices. They look as though they’ve been here a while already. Sarah glances up, spotting me and preventing further observation, so I step forward. She stands, brushing sand from her butt and thick thighs as she steps forward to greet me, her eyes skating around her sister’s family. She’s told me a little about them, so I at least feel I know who each person is.
She smiles at me. “Hey. You found us.”
“Yeah. I had no idea it would be so busy. I’m sorry I’m late. I had trouble finding a parking space and then …” I point to the red umbrella. “There are quite a few red umbrellas.” I chuckle mildly.
She shields her eyes and peers around. “Oh. Sorry about that.”
I step into her space and lean down to press a light kiss to her cheek in greeting, then glance around at her family. Her sister and brother-in-law are watching us closely. Emma’s lips are tipped up slightly at the edges as she watches my interaction with Sarah, while Theo appears ready to land me on my ass. Shit, maybe I shouldn’t have kissed her. Sarah pulls away abruptly, then turns toward her family.
“Uhm, this is AJ. This is my sister, Emma.” I step forward to shake her hand, only she pulls me in for a hug while her husband continues to give me the evil eye.
“Hi, AJ. It’s nice to meet you.”
“You too. You and Sarah look a lot alike. I think I would pick you as sisters even if I didn’t know you guys.”
“Oh, you’re so sweet! Obviously Sarah’s the beautiful one.” She chuckles.
“Peaches,” Theo growls, moving closer to us.
Sarah blushes but continues with the introductions. “This is her husband, Theo.” I move to shake his hand. His roughened palm slides against mine and he squeezes—hard—as he tips his chin.
“Hi, Theo. Nice to meet you.”
“We’ll see.”Oh-kaythen.
Sarah clears her throat. “And these are their children, Lachlan, Austin, and Kenny.” She points to each child as she introduces them.
The boys wave at me from their position, but Kenny jumps up and wraps her arms around my legs. “Hello, Uncle AJ!”
Sarah and Emma laugh while Theo glares at his little girl. I’m not quite sure what to do, so I pat the back of her head. She seems like a sweet kid. His glare moves up to me and then he glances at his wife, who smiles widely at him. He shakes his head and moves closer to her, landing a kiss on her forehead and I only wish I had the privilege to do the same with Sarah.
Kenny tugs my hand. “I want to go for a swim.”