Page 93 of Sunsets at the Beach House

It hadn’t done anything to change her feelings about Bryan, though. She was still mad at him. Still very much over what he’d done and any lingering feelings of grief she’d had. How had she been so wrong about the man she’d married?

But if she was really honest with herself, maybe there had been signs of his true nature all along. Signs she ignored.

Signs she definitely didn’t see in Ethan. Thank heavens.

When she finished her salad, she called Ethan.

“Hey, there,” he answered.

“Hi. I went to see Paulina.”

He sucked in a breath. “How did that go? Or shouldn’t I ask?”

She laughed. “It went fine. I’m glad I went, which isn’t something I thought I’d be saying. But it was the right thing to do. Thanks for helping me see that.”

“Sure. You do sound less like you want to kill someone.”

She chuckled. “I’m definitely in a better place. I relate to her more than I realized. She’s basically become a single mother, which is how I pretty much raised Trina. Bryan was so rarely around that I might as well have been.”

“I’m glad you found some peace.”

“I did. Thanks for being a part of that.”

“Anytime.”

“How’s your day going?”

“Good. I’m working at the shopping center. A woman stopped by looking to get information about rents. She’s looking to open up an insurance office.”

“Kind of boring, but rent is rent.”

“I gave her your mom’s number. Did she call yet? I couldn’t tell if she was serious or just a tire kicker.”

“I don’t know if she called or not. My mom is over at Dunes West with Miguel doing more house stuff today. They bought a lot yesterday and picked out a house to be built on it.”

“Wow, good for them! Well, I’d love to know if the woman actually calls and rents the place. The store next to the bakery is probably the one I could have ready the quickest.”

“I’ll tell Willie that when she gets home.”

“Thanks.” He hesitated. “You doing anything tonight? There’s a free concert at Carlton Fisk Park tonight. Light jazz. Under the stars. I thought we could bring a blanket and a bottle of wine. Maybe some cheese and crackers.”

She smiled. “Wow, look at you getting all romantic.”

“Well, if you’d rather go to a monster truck rally…”

She snickered. “No, the concert sounds nice. The whole evening does. What time?”

“Concert starts at eight o’clock, but we should probably get there early to make sure we have a decent spot. Like leave my place at seven. I’ll bring the wine and the blanket if you bring the cheese and crackers.”

“I can do that. See you at your place then.”

After she hung up, she took her salad dish inside and looked through the fridge and cabinets to see what she had in the way of cheese and crackers. She had cheddar and pepper jack, plus Ritz and some wheat crackers. She made up containers of each and put them into a lunch bag.

She was about to tuck that away in the fridge to keep it cold, but first she added a bag of grapes that she’d washed and dried, a small can of mixed nuts, and a handful of squares of individually wrapped chocolate she kept around for emergencies.

That seemed like a much more rounded-out picnic to her. Especially if they were going to have wine.

In the side pocket of the lunch bag, she put some paper plates and folded paper towels to use as napkins. She wondered if Ethan would remember to bring a corkscrew and glasses. Probably. He was pretty thorough like that. She stuck a corkscrew in the bag anyway.

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