Page 1 of Sunsets at the Beach House

Claire couldn’t think or speak or move for a good thirty seconds. She just stared, mouth open, at the young woman, Paulina, standing in the foyer of the beach house. Claire looked at the baby in the woman’s arms, searching for some resemblance to Bryan, Claire’s late husband, just to see if that really could be his child.

Maybe there was a little something in the nose or the shape of the eyes. Mostly Claire just found herself staring in disbelief. Except that she didn’t disbelieve it at all. This seemed right on course for Bryan.

Roxie, who was standing beside Claire, nudged her. “Now you see why I wanted you to hear this for yourself.”

Finally, Claire found her voice. She cleared her throat before speaking to Paulina. “You were married to Bryan, too? Is that really possible?”

Roxie snorted. “Sure it is. He married both of us, didn’t he?”

“But you’re divorced now, right? Both of you, I mean?” Paulina asked. She shifted the baby in her arms.

“What?” Claire blinked, still trying to comprehend what was going on. “You think we’re Bryan’s ex-wives?”

Roxie laughed but it was a bitter sound that died off almost as soon as it had begun. “No, we’re not divorced from him. We’re widowed from him. Like you are, I suppose.” She sighed. “I take it Bryan lied to you as much as he lied to us.”

Claire felt like she might pass out. Maybe that would be better. She really didn’t want to deal with this. She was so tired of Bryan constantly throwing curveballs at them from the grave. That shouldn’t even be possible. And yet, here they were. Meeting another of his wives. “Why are you here? Why are you looking for his family?”

Paulina’s brow furrowed. “You were both still married to him?” She blinked and shook her head. “He lied to me.”

“He did that a lot.” Roxie seemed to ignore the lack of answers to Claire’s questions. “Trust me, it came as a pretty big shock to us, too. When did you marry him?”

“Three years ago. In Mexico. We were so happy.” Paulina sniffed. “I thought.”

“Mexico?” Claire frowned. She really did not want the young woman to start crying. She was in no mood to be comforting. “What were you doing there?”

“I lived there. And it’s where we met. He was there on business, and I was working at the resort where he stayed. I was the conference coordinator. Things happened between us and we fell in love.” The baby started fussing, so Paulina put him on her shoulder and bounced him a little.

Roxie glanced at Claire. “I remember that trip. He had a client there who wanted him to look at some investment properties.”

Claire nodded as the recollection came to her. “Yes. He brought me back a silver bracelet.”

“Me, too,” Roxie said. “I bet they’re identical. The louse.” Her gaze shifted back to Paulina. “He was doing a lot more than looking at investment properties.”

Claire’s focus returned to the baby in Paulina’s arms, then to Paulina. Claire had so many questions. “You brought the baby, I assume, because you knew Bryan had other children, is that right?”

Paulina nodded. “Two daughters, right? Or did he lie about that too?”

“No, that part was true,” Claire confirmed.

“Hmph.” Roxie crossed her arms. “He sure told you more than he told us. This is the first we’re finding out about you and the kid, but then, we didn’t know anything about each other, either. What’s the kid’s name, by the way?”

“Nicolas,” Paulina answered. “Nico, for short. And, yes, I brought him because I didn’t want him to grow up without knowing his sisters. Now that his father is gone.” She patted the baby’s back. “I thought I should at least try. If they are willing.”

Claire was filled with questions and misgivings. She shook her head. “I don’t know what Kat’s going to make of this.”

“Trina will be thrilled,” Roxie said. “She loves babies. And she’s always wanted a brother.”

Claire didn’t think Kat would react that way at all. She put her hand on the stair railing. “I’ll go get Kat. We were about to eat, but dinner can wait.”

“Hang on,” Roxie said. “Why don’t we do this downstairs? On the ground floor? We can bring the girls down there without disturbing the rest of the house.”

Claire liked that idea. “Yes. Good thinking.” She looked at Paulina. “I’m sure you have questions for us, just like we have questions for you. We can all sit and talk down there where the conversation area is. Just go have a seat on one of the couches and we’ll bring our daughters down.”

Paulina looked uncertain but nodded. “All right.”

“Just give us a couple minutes,” Roxie said, escorting the young woman to the door. “Would you like something to drink? I can bring you something. Water? Soda?”

“Water would be fine.” Paulina was on the front porch now, but Claire lingered in case there was anything else she needed to hear.

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