Page 47 of New Day at the Beach House

“Okay,” Claire said. “I guess I’ll talk to you later, then.”

He nodded. “For sure. Bye.”

He went back down the steps.

As he left, the elevator opened and Cash came out, hair still tousled from sleep. Toby hopped down off the couch to greet him. “Smells good in here.”

“You’re just in time to set the table,” Kat said. She took the plate of toast over, then returned for the jam and butter.

“Okay.” He came over and got plates.

Her mom was putting the eggs and bacon on a big platter.

“Hey,” Kat said to her cousin. “Would you be willing to help me one day with moving stuff out of the Landry house? Not everything. Just the stuff we want to keep and bring back here. Alex is going to help, but an extra set of hands would be great. Plus, I might need someone to drive my car back. I haven’t fully worked out the details yet.”

Cash nodded. “As long as I’m not helping my mom in the studio, sure. I have to go over to the Dolphin Club today, actually.” He put plates on the table, one at each spot. “Mom, are you coming with me?”

“Since I’ve already had a look at the studio, I think I’m going to stay here and work on new music.”

“Okay,” Cash said. “Then can I use your car to go over there?”

“Of course.” Aunt Jules got up to refill her coffee.

Cash looked at Kat again. “Once I know what the recording schedule is going to be like, I can tell you what days I’m available.”

Kat smiled. “Thanks, Cash. So, are you working at the Dolphin Club now?”

He’d returned to the kitchen for utensils. “I mean, sort of. Besides my mom’s stuff, I’m helping Jesse put the open mic night together.” He shrugged. “That’s work. Did you get that job you interviewed for?”

Kat grinned. “I did.”

“Dude, that is awesome.” He put his fist out.

“Thanks.” She bumped hers against his, then carried the plate of melon slices to the table. “All right, fam. Get your coffee or juice or whatever and let’s eat.”

Toby let out a woof, making Kat laugh. “Not you, little man.”

“He might need breakfast, too,” Aunt Jules said. “I’ll check his bowl.”

While her aunt did that, Kat got herself more coffee. She knew her mom wasn’t happy about the insurance money, but Kat wasn’t really bothered. Not with this new job on the horizon. And her mom had the bakery to look forward to.

Things might have been bumpy for a while, but she felt like that was all behind them. She hoped, anyway.

They deserved an easy path from here on out, didn’t they?

After cleaning up the breakfast mess and loading the dishwasher, Roxie went to get her shower. Trina was still working on the computer in the living room and Roxie’s mom had fallen asleep in her chair with some game show on the television.

Trina said the sound didn’t bother her, so Roxie let them be. She went into her room, but before she started the shower, she did some squats, some lunges, then moved on to pushups and triceps dips off of a chair. She finished with some leg lifts and crunches.

This afternoon, she hoped to swim some laps again. Being here at the beach made her want to work on her fitness even more than before.

If she was really going to be working at the salon, she wanted to look her best. Kind of important in a beauty shop.

She’d even been thinking about changing the color of her hair. Not completely. But maybe she’d lighten it up to a strawberry blond instead of it being such a bold red. Might be fun for the summer.

She’d see what Trina thought. She trusted her daughter’s opinion on things like that. She turned on the shower, then went to pick out her clothes while the water got hot. She went with white denim shorts and a blue gingham top. Not nearly as bright or sparkly as her standard stuff, but she was going grocery shopping with Claire.

Not exactly a dressy occasion. But she’d be wearing her white crystal flipflops, so she wouldn’t be completely boring. Maybe her cherry earrings, too. Those were super cute. And if she really felt like glamming up, she’d tie a scarf in her hair, pinup-girl style.

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