Page 56 of Rebuilding Friendship Inn

“I suppose I’ll have to,” Kristen said. She took a bite and her eyes rolled back in her head. “Robin, you’re a blessing.”

Robin giggled and said, “Even if I did interrupt you kissing your boyfriend.”

“Oh, hush.” Kristen swatted at her, but her eyes held such life. Life like Robin hadn’t seen in her Seafaring Girls leader in a long time. She finished her cookie and asked, “Should I bring my potato salad to the beach on Sunday?”

“Is that even a real question?” Robin grinned at her, hugged her, and added, “I just miss everyone.” She didn’t walk with Kristen, Lisa, and AJ in the morning. She worked a lot in the summer, and she was glad she’d had the time with Mandie this year, but that didn’t erase that she wanted to connect with her friends.

“Beach day will be great,” Kristen said, and Robin could only hope she was right.

Sunday afternoon came,and Robin loaded the cooler into the back of her van. “Jamie, get the peanut butter bars, okay?” They needed to go on top, and Robin had forgotten to grab them.

AJ had texted the location of the super-secret beach that her sister loved, and Robin had burst her bubble and said they’d been going there for years. AJ had never responded, and Robin only slightly regretted sending the text. She felt very removed from AJ and what was happening in her life, and some of that came from AJ herself. Some of it happened because Robin couldn’t just let things be.

Mandie brought out the towels, her beach bag, and all the sun hats. They got put in the van, along with the food, the umbrella, and the chairs Robin had packed that morning. Jamie finally came skipping down the steps with the peanut butter bars, and as she handed them to Robin, she asked, “Can I invite Damien to the beach?” She reached up and twirled one lock of hair around her fingers.

Robin’s first instinct was to say no. “The boy you kissed in the grocery store?”

Jamie didn’t answer, other than to lower her hand and narrow her eyes. Robin hadn’t caught them; Duke had, and that had been worse, she knew. She hadn’t spoken to Jamie much about him, other than to check her phone and keep up with where she went and who she went out with.

“Yes,” Mandie finally said. “The boy she kissed in the grocery store. She kisses him every time they’re together.”

“Hey,” Jamie protested. “I didn’t blab about your kissing.”

Robin’s gaze flew to Mandie. “Who are you kissing?”

“Charlie,” she and Jamie said together.

Robin backed up a step. “What? When did this happen?”

“I went out with him last week,” Mandie said. She wasn’t embarrassed or anything. She looked at Jamie. “It’s always easier if you just tell Mom what’s going on.”

“You didn’t tell me you went out with him.” Robin planted her hands on her hips.

“You had a training session,” Mandie said. “And I’m an adult.” She turned and walked to the front of the van, opened the passenger door, and got in. “We’ll be late,” she called.

Robin looked at Jamie, who blinked back at her. She had no idea how to fight the tide of boys in her daughter’s lives. She probably didn’t need to. Someone should tell mothers they only got fourteen years to raise their daughters, though, not eighteen.

“Okay,” she said. “On one condition,” she clarified as Jamie squealed. She quieted and nodded. “You two will stay within my sight at all times. You will introduce me to him as your mother, using my name and his. You will not ignore the other people there because of him.”

“Okay,” Jamie said.

Robin studied her for a moment. “Okay.”

Her daughter squealed again and went to get in the van too. Robin reached to close the back hatch, and she looked up to the ceiling in the garage. “Duke, I wish you were here to help with this.”

But he wasn’t, and Robin could’ve wasted her whole life on wishes. Instead, she drove them to the “super secret” beach and started trekking across the sand to get everything set up. To her great surprise, Alice, Arthur, and the twins were already there. They’d already staked out a large portion of sand and set up two shades for people to sit under.

Mandie didn’t run to Charlie, but they definitely greeted one another in an intimate, flirtatious way. She smiled at him and let him sweep his lips across her cheek as she said, “Hey, Charles.”

“My Mandie,” he said, and they laughed. They both worked to set up chairs and move coolers while Robin met Alice’s eye.

“I’ve only know for a few days,” Alice said by way of hello. “He’s an adult. She’s an adult. I didn’t know what to do.” She looked nervous, and Robin didn’t want that. She waved away Alice’s concern.

“It’s fine,” she said. “You’re right. They can do what they want.” She watched them for another moment, and then Kelli called for help. Robin turned to go grab the bag of food swinging precariously from her arm, and from then on, a steady stream of people Robin loved showed up one after the other.

With all the shades, they’d essentially made a place where they could sit in a circle instead of a long line or two rows, and Robin took her seat and opened the cooler while plenty of people still worked on finding their place.

Eloise sprayed her girls with sunscreen, sent them off to the water, and collapsed into a chair beside Robin. She sighed and then smiled. “This was such a good idea.”

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