Page 61 of New Day at the Beach House

“You should come over later, after our business is done. Meet my granddaughter.”

Willie smiled. “Yeah?”

“Yes,” Miguel said. “I’ve already told her about you.”

Willie was touched. If Miguel wanted her to meet his granddaughter, he was obviously serious about how he felt about her. Sure, he’d already asked her to marry him, but that was when he thought she might end up without a place to live.

“I’d love to meet her,” Willie said. Roxie was getting out of the water. “What time?”

“I’ll text you after we finish our dinner. You can come for dessert, if you like. Ivelisse is bringing a tres leches cake from the Latin grocery store. That means three milks. It’s one of my favorites.”

“Okay, sounds good.” Willie lifted her finger as her daughter joined them. “But I’m not drinking anything tonight.”

He made a face. “Don’t even talk about it.” He sat up a little straighter. “What do you say we get in that water? It looks so nice.”

Roxie grabbed her towel and wrapped it around herself before she sat down on the other side of Willie. “You should, Ma. It’s beautiful.”

“I will, but I don’t want to get my hair wet.”

Roxie didn’t lay down. Instead, she turned to see her mother better. “Do you want me to get you a pool noodle from the storage closet? There’s a ton of them in there. You can just float around and not have to worry about going under.”

A noodle would definitely keep her head above water. And require minimal effort on her part. Willie nodded. “That would be perfect. Thank you, honey.”

“Sure.” Roxie looked at Miguel. “You want one, too?”

“That’s very kind of you. Yes, I will take one.”

Roxie slipped on her flipflops and went back under the house. She returned with two fat foam noodles, a purple one and a green one. She held the purple one out to her mother. “Here. It almost matches your lavender hair.”

Willie laughed. “Thanks.”

She and Miguel stripped down to their suits, grabbed the noodles, and headed for the pool steps. The water was just cool enough to be refreshing without being too much of a shock to the system. They both went right in, tucking the noodles under their arms and floating off toward the deep end.

Willie enjoyed letting her feet dangle. It was like being weightless and she relished the feeling. In some ways, it made her feel like a kid again.

Miguel had his noodle tucked under his arms. He reached out to hold onto the ends of her noodle, putting them face to face. “This is very nice.”

“It is,” Willie agreed. “Why don’t we do this more often?”

“I don’t know,” Miguel said. “But I have a pool at my house, too. And there’s hardly ever anyone in it.”

Willie giggled. “You mean, so we could be alone? Whatever do you have planned?”

He shrugged as best he could without losing his noodle, his eyes twinkling. “Such things are best when they just happen, don’t you agree?”

Willie grinned. She loved spontaneity. “Oh, definitely. Does that mean you’re inviting me over for a private pool date?”

He nodded. “You’re welcome anytime. But with a little notice, I can make you some lunch, too.”

“That sounds like a great way to spend the afternoon. Maybe tomorrow?”

Miguel smiled. “Why not? There’s a very good chance Danny will go out to one of the shops, or maybe the new location. I’ll text you.”

Willie kicked her feet, closing the distance between her and Miguel even more. “And maybe by tomorrow, one little pina colada will be just the thing.”

He leaned in and gave her a quick kiss before laughing softly. “I thought you were worried about getting a tattoo you won’t remember.”

“You’ll make sure that doesn’t happen, won’t you?”

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