Page 24 of Sunsets at the Beach House

He looked up. “Sweet. Can we run through that today? That would be fun.”

“Sure.” She thought about what else Billy had said. “Listen, Billy thinks you need to be prepared for being outed as my son on this album. He said it’s exactly the kind of thing social media will pick up on and probably leverage for clicks.”

Cash nodded. “Yeah, I thought about that.”

She sat on a couch, a cushion away from him. “You okay with that? You’ve always wanted to make it on your own.”

“I know.” He leaned forward, putting his phone down. “It’s a two-edged sword, you know? I mean, I’m having a lot of fun and really grateful for this chance, but at the same time, you know there’s been a lot of garbage in the media lately about nepo babies.”

“You mean kids of famous people making a name for themselves because of their parents.”

He nodded. “Yeah. I guess it’s inevitable that I’ll get called that.” He shrugged. “Not much I can do about it, so why get bothered. Maybe we should take advantage of it and push the family angle ourselves.”

“Maybe.” There was some wisdom in that.

“Whatever happens, I’m not about to turn down working with you. This is the most fun and the most I’ve felt in a long time like I was doing something that I was meant to be doing. I don’t care what anyone says about me. I want to keep doing this.”

Jules reached out and patted his leg. “So do I. Let’s go see how we sound in that studio, okay?”

Cash nodded. “Yeah. Thanks, Mom. I really appreciate you doing this for me.”

She smiled. “You’re welcome.” Then she winked at him. “I’m so glad you haven’t seen through my plan of using you as cheap labor.”

Kat hadn’t been in a Michael’s craft store in a while. She was amazed by how many different things they offered. Pretty much anything crafty, they had. Plus a lot of stuff that was only marginally crafty.

While her mom went nuts in the baking section, Kat wandered the aisles, looking for inspiration. There was plenty of it available. Jewelry-making kits, but also tons of supplies that could be bought separately if you knew what to do with them. She didn’t, as much as she loved the idea of making jewelry.

There was yarn of every color, thickness, and texture you could imagine. Knitting needles in metal, wood, and plastic. Some as big around as her thumb. Some so thin they looked like they were meant for mice. Another area held paints, brushes, and canvases, all of which she found intimidating. Her skill set did not lie in that direction, that much she was sure of.

It wasn’t in scrapbooking, either. That felt like a lifetime commitment, which was definitely more time than she was willing to spend.

Some of the aisles, like the ones that held all of the artificial flowers, vases, and the stuff that went with making bouquets, she skipped altogether. Creating silk arrangements held no appeal.

She moved on to look through the seasonal stuff, which was heavily focused on summer, Memorial Day, and the Fourth of July. Some of it was already marked down, because apparently, they needed to make room for, what, Labor Day stuff? Back to School?

She had no idea and didn’t care. All she wanted was something simple and fun, that wouldn’t create too much mess, take three weeks to complete, or require a set of skills she didn’t already possess.

There had to be something in the store that fit that description.

She was currently standing in an aisle that seemed to contain mostly pre-made wall-hangings that looked hand-painted but probably weren’t. Silly little signs that said things like, “Just Breathe,” and, “Eat, Sleep, Beach.” That last one was actually cute and might look nice over the sliders that went out to the porch.

Maybe she could make something like that. She’d seen unpainted wood plaques in another area, along with all sorts of unpainted wooden things. Boxes, letters, numbers, birds, bunnies—you name it, they had it in wood or brown papier mâché.

Would she be able to paint letters that looked that nice, though? She doubted it. Her handwriting wasn’t even that good.

Then she took a few more steps and found the exact thing she’d been looking for. Smiling, she reached up and took the box off the shelf. It was a kit to make a clock, the body of which was a surfboard about eighteen inches long. It came with a small palette of paints in plastic pots and a single brush, as well as the clock mechanism and a hanger on the back to attach it to the wall.

There were only two kits left, because they were marked down to half-price, which meant she could get both of them for twenty bucks total. She took them and put them in her basket, then went back to the area where she’d seen craft paints and brushes.

She picked up a few bottles of colors that were beachier that what was included. An aqua, a soft coral, and a lemony yellow, then a bright white, because that seemed like an important option to have. She also selected two additional brushes.

She’d already decided to use the first kit as practice. She’d make it for herself, so if it didn’t come out that great, that was okay. But the second one was going to be a gift for Alex. A thank you for teaching her how to surf and for always being there when she needed him and for just being a good human. And a pretty spectacular boyfriend.

She put everything in her basket and went to find her mom. Kat found her still in the baking section, looking at flavorings. Her cart was nearly overflowing.

Kat glanced in. “Did you leave anything for anyone else to buy?”

Her mom laughed. “Not much.”

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