Page 22 of New Day at the Beach House

“Okay.” Jules went into the bedroom and put on shorts and a tank top and grabbed her sunglasses and a beach towel. She made sure she had her phone in her pocket, then went back to the kitchen, got the cookies from Claire, and went straight to the beach.

It wasn’t hard to find Cash, since he had Toby with him. Cash had him off the leash and was throwing a stick for him to chase, which he was doing to the best of his little legs’ ability. Even at top speed, Toby wasn’t that fast. Especially not on sand.

Jules grinned as she walked up to them. She crouched down as Toby came running toward her. “Are you having a good time, baby?”

Cash came over, bringing the leash. “I think I’ve worn him out.”

“I’m all right with that. He needs the exercise.” She took the leash and clipped it back onto Toby’s collar. “Thanks for helping with him.”

“No problem. How did the call with Billy go?”

She straightened and exhaled. “He liked it, a lot. He repeated a lot of the same things you said. He was very enthusiastic. The only problem is he wants me to cut a demo and get it to him for immediate release.”

Cash squinted. “Why is that a problem?”

“Because I don’t have a studio here, honey.”

“There has to be one in town. And if anyone would know, it’s Jesse.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right. I need to call him.”

“Why haven’t you already? I thought you liked him.”

“I do.”

“But what?”

She sighed. “But I don’t know. I guess…I guess I’ve been trying to do this too much on my own. I’ve been self-reliant for a long time. But it’s more than that. I do like him.” She liked him a lot. “I don’t want him to think I’m taking advantage of our new friendship for my own purposes.”

Cash laughed. “Mom, the guy is crazy about you. He would love to help you. He’s not going to think you’re taking advantage of him, I swear. Especially if you debut your song at the Dolphin Club. That would be a pretty big deal for him.”

She thought about that. “Yeah, I suppose it would be.”

“So you’ll call him?”

“I will.” Wasn’t like she had a choice anyway, unless she wanted to go back to Landry. “Oh.” She held out the bag of cookies. “Aunt Claire sent these for you. She wants to know what you think of them.”

“Cool. They’ll be perfect for when I come out of the water.” He put them with his flipflops and towel, then grabbed the skim board. “Thanks! See you back at the house.”

“Okay.” She looked down at Toby. “Come on, little man. We have a call to make.”

Willie added a second spritz of Jean Nate, touched up her lipstick, then went out to wait by the elevator for Roxie and Trina. “Hurry up, you two. Miguel said the car is only five minutes away.”

Trina and Roxie came out of their rooms at the same time. Both of them looked lovely. Roxie was adjusting her bra strap. “Hold your horses, Ma.”

Willie rested her hands on her fanny pack, which was fuller than usual, thanks to the bag of Twizzlers and the flask she was smuggling.

Trina turned the light off in her bedroom. “I’m ready. Do we have the tickets?”

“We pick them up there,” Willie said. “They’re under my name.” She pushed the call button for the elevator. It opened right away. She got on, then Trina, then Roxie, who put her hand on the doors to keep them from closing.

“What’s wrong?” Willie asked.

Roxie shook her head. “I feel like I’m forgetting something.”

“You have your phone?” Trina asked.

“Yeah.” Roxie took her hand off and the doors shut. “It’s not like we’re going out of town. I’m sure whatever it is, I’ll be fine.”

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