Page 92 of New Day at the Beach House

“He’d love it.” She grinned. “But seriously, you’ve been warned. You won’t get rid of him.”

“I knew I liked that kid.” He opened a set of double doors that led into a room at the back of the house, which was the side that faced the beach. “This is my bedroom.”

The back wall was glass, just like the downstairs, and it, too, opened onto a deck, this one about half the size of the first floor’s deck and completely open. The bed was positioned so that it looked toward that wall of glass, meaning Jesse woke up to an incredible view of the beach and water beyond. The scheme here was simple. Blue, white, and tan with hardwood floors. A beautiful, modern fan whirled slowly over the bed, its three long blades reminiscent of a futuristic plane prop. The whole space had the feel of a very expensive hotel suite on some distant tropical island. Except for, once again, the well-used dog bed in the corner.

“Beautiful space,” Jules said. “More of your mom’s doing?”

Jesse nodded. “Yep. Although I picked out the fan.”

Of course he had. “I love it.” Jules’s stomach rumbled. She put her hand on it to cover the noise.

He laughed. “Come on. Let’s go get you fed.”

They went back downstairs, Shiloh rushing ahead of them like she knew there might be bacon for her. He got the quiche out of the oven while Jules fixed them each a cup of coffee. He sliced the quiche, then made up plates for them with fruit and bacon, which Shiloh got a small piece of, then he carried them to the outside table.

Another trip for napkins and utensils and they were set. Shiloh lay down in the sun a few feet from the table.

They tucked into the food. Jules tried the quiche right away. Ham and cheese with some broccoli and onions. “This is great. It’s just perfect.”

“Thanks.”

She thought about how his house reflected his love of music. And about how she’d been thinking about asking him if he’d like to accompany her on part of her tour.

But now she wasn’t sure. Did that love of music mean he was married to his club? Or that he’d actually want to come with her? She knew he wanted to spend more time with her, which was why he’d mentioned hiring someone to take some of his responsibilities.

But that didn’t mean he’d want to leave his business completely. Or want to accompany her on tour.

She couldn’t decide whether to ask him or not. So she didn’t.

As much as Claire loved to bake, it was nice to have a day off from it. Especially the cleaning up part. After she and Kat had breakfast—just the two of them, since Margo and Jules were already gone and Cash was still sleeping—she took a leisurely shower. The hot water felt great after the walk they’d had.

She spent more time fixing her hair and makeup. Even if they were just going out to shop at Classic Closet, she wanted to look nice.

That was all part of the new her. Putting more time and effort into herself. Looking as good as she could. Caring about her appearance. Taking care of herself. Getting more exercise. Eating better. Trying new things.

Like shopping at a thrift store. She laughed. She’d tell her mother about that eventually, but not just yet. Her mom had enough going on with buying a new house.

After Claire was ready for the day, she went to see if Kat was ready, too. Claire had a couple of things she wanted to accomplish before they headed out for the day. For one thing, she wanted to rewrite and better organize some of the lists she was working on for the bakery. She wanted to categorize them by item. Cookies in one list, bars in another, cakes, pies, and so on. It would help her get a better visual image of what the display cases would look like once they were filled.

She was even thinking about trying to draw out the display cases and where the various items would go, even though her artistic abilities were pretty limited to stick figures and doodled flowers.

But first, there was the matter of getting the house in Landry emptied and up for sale. The sooner, the better.

She found her daughter dressed and in her room, sitting on the bed, looking at her laptop. “Busy?”

Kat looked up. “Sort of. But it’s nothing I can’t put aside for a minute. What’s up?”

“I was going to ask if I could borrow your computer and maybe look up what it would cost to rent a truck to move our stuff.”

Kat smiled. “I’m already working on that.” She patted the empty space next to her on the bed. “Come on. We can look at it together.”

“Okay.” Claire went over and sat on the bed beside Kat. “What have you found so far?”

“Two different places. U-Haul, naturally, but the other one is a smaller company called U-Move-It. Both are about the same price, but U-Move-It seems a little more flexible.” She showed her mom the company’s website. “I really just need to talk to Cash and see what day he can go with me. Alex, too. Although he said he’ll switch his shifts with someone else if he has to.”

“And we’d be renting the truck in Landry?”

“Yes,” Kat said. “Renting it there, returning it here. Have you decided if you’re going to go with us?”

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