Page 60 of New Day at the Beach House

Kat lifted her chin, smiling as she said words she’d never imagined would come out of her mouth. “What can I say? I think I might be a surfer girl now.”

Willie snoozed a little on the poolside lounge chair. The sun and the warmth lulled her to sleep without her even trying. The beautiful day, the distant rhythm of the waves, and being out by the pool made the nap even better.

It helped, too, that Willie’s hangover was finally gone. She was never drinking that much again on a mostly-empty stomach. Well, not that much rum, anyway. She was old enough to know better and too old to be that foolish.

If she’d been the kind of woman who got embarrassed, last night would have done it. Thankfully, she was too old for those sorts of regrets, too. She chose to live her life without caring what other people thought.

The sound of splashing water made Willie open her eyes.

Roxie was swimming laps, something Willie should probably do, but she was too comfortable to move. She checked the time on her phone. She’d invited Miguel over and he should be here any moment. Wouldn’t do to get her hair wet, not with how nice it looked right now. Trina had fixed it up for her a bit before she’d left to go surfing.

“Hola!” Miguel called out.

She lifted her sunglasses and saw him coming through the side yard. She smiled. What a nice sight to see. “Hello, there.”

He was in swim trunks with an unbuttoned tropical shirt, sunglasses, a straw fedora, and had a towel draped over his arm. On his feet, he wore tobacco-brown wide-strap leather sandals.

The man, Willie thought, looked like a movie star in everything. She patted the chaise next to her.

He unfurled his towel over the chair and sat, kicking off his sandals to cross his ankles as he reclined. “You look lovely, as always.” He patted her hand. “How are you?”

Willie went with straight-up honesty. She blew out a breath. “For most of the day, I was feeling the effects of all that rum last night.”

He nodded in sympathy. “Aye yai yai, so was I. We overdid it, I think. I am sorry about that.”

She shook her head. “Nothing to be sorry for. We had fun.”

“Too much fun,” Miguel said.

“Eh, it’s only too much fun if someone ends up with a tattoo they don’t remember or needing bail money.” Although now that she thought about it, she hadn’t really looked all of herself over yet today. It was possible she’d come home with ink, but she didn’t think Miguel would have let her do that alone. “We didn’t get tattoos, did we?”

“No.” He laughed. “You are some kind of woman, Willie.” He looked at her. “You’re feeling better now?”

“Oh, yes. I’m good. Been staying hydrated. You?”

“I am better, too. Looking forward to a good dinner, though.” He patted his stomach. “I made breakfast for Danny but didn’t eat much of it myself. My appetite is coming back now, thankfully.”

“I have to have carbs when I’m hungover. Roxie made me pancakes for breakfast, and we’re ordering pizza for dinner. Well, I am. Roxie will probably get a salad. The place we order from does a nice one with Italian meats and cheeses on it.”

He nodded. “That sounds good. Danny is making pollo guisado for us this evening. That’s chicken stew. Very delicious. Claire and Ivelisse, my granddaughter, are coming over, too. We have a lot to talk about with the bakery, so it’s a business dinner.”

“I’m sure you’re all very busy with that,” Willie said.

“We are.” He looked around. “Where is your granddaughter?”

“She’s out with Kat and the two young men they’ve gotten to know. The boys took them surfing today. They’re going out to eat somewhere after.”

“And the rest of your house?”

“Claire is here, but I don’t know what she’s doing. Jules and her son were down just a few minutes ago for a quick swim, but then they went back in to work on some music. He was working at the Dolphin Club today. We should go sometime. You love music.”

“I do. She’s a singer, right?”

Willie nodded. “She is. I looked her up on the internet. She’s a pretty good one, too.”

“Life is funny,” Miguel said. “You never know who you’re going to meet, do you?”

She shook her head. “You really don’t.”

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