Page 4 of Sunsets at the Beach House

Willie sucked her teeth. “Oh, Lord, help us.”

Trina came out from behind the counter. “Of course I want to meet him. How do I look?”

“You’re going to meet a newborn,” Willie said. “Unless you’re the Cookie Monster, it doesn’t matter.” Then she looked at Roxie. “I don’t have to come, do I? NCIS was just getting good.”

“No.” Roxie knew better, though. Willie would want to see this woman for herself. “You can if you want to in a few minutes. Claire and I were going to give the girls some time with Nico while we get more details from Paulina.”

Willie nodded. “Good plan. Shoot me a text when you want me to come down.”

“All right. You ready, Trina?”

“Yep.” Trina was all sparkly-eyed and smiling, just like Roxie had expected her to be. “Stairs?”

“That’s fine.” Roxie glanced over her shoulder as she and Trina left. “Don’t wait on us to eat, Ma, or that pizza will just get cold again.”

Willie threw her hands up. “I can’t eat at a time like this!”

Roxie just shook her head as they went out the door and down the steps and to the conversation area. Paulina was sitting on one of the couches, Nico in her arms. She stood when Roxie and Trina appeared.

Roxie gestured to Trina. “This is my daughter, Trina. Trina, this is Paulina and Nico.”

“Hi,” Trina said. “Is that really my baby brother?”

Paulina nodded. “He is. Bryan was his father, too.”

“Wow.” Trina breathed the word out as she walked toward the baby. “Hi, little brother. Oh, he’s so beautiful. Could I hold him? Would that be okay?”

“Sure,” Paulina said as she handed the baby over.

The elevator doors opened. Claire and Kat got out. Claire made her introductions, then Kat went over to Trina and looked at the baby. Her brows were bent, and she seemed to be staring at him with an analytical eye.

Roxie sat near Paulina, who then sat back down. Claire joined them. Roxie didn’t know how much time they’d have, so she started right in. “I assume you got your insurance check like we did?”

Paulina nodded, her eyes widening slightly, like she hadn’t been expecting that. “I did. I was happy to see that Bryan cared enough about us to do that.”

“Did you think he wouldn’t?” Roxie was surprised by her response.

“I wasn’t sure,” Paulina said. “But I hadn’t given it much thought, either. I never thought he’d pass away so suddenly.” She sniffled.

“Neither did we,” Claire said, without any real emotion in her voice. “So, he told you he had two ex-wives?”

Paulina nodded. “Yes. That’s why he traveled so much. For his business, of course, but also to spend time with his daughters. I always loved what a good father he was.” She glanced at her son, still in Trina’s arms. “I can’t believe Nico will never get to know him.”

A strange thought came to Roxie. “Did he get to meet Nico? How old is that baby?”

“Almost two months. Yes, Bryan met him.” Paulina sniffed again. “He was so happy to have a son.”

Roxie exchanged a look with Claire before speaking. “I’m sure he was. But you realize there’s no way you were legally married to Bryan. Not when he was already married to us.” Her brows went up as she looked at Claire again. “Come to think of it, since he married you first, I’m not sure I was legally married to him.”

Claire shrugged one shoulder like it was no big deal. “Only takes seven years to be common-law, but I’m not sure Florida recognizes that anyway. Regardless, you were married to him as much as I was. And at this point, it doesn’t really matter.”

“True.” Roxie returned her attention to Paulina. “What exactly do you hope to gain out of this visit?”

Paulina seemed confused by that question. “I told you. For Nico to know his family. That’s it. If you think I’m here for money, I’m not. I have the condo Bryan bought for us and that’s paid for, so I should be just fine. It’ll be a while before I can work again, but I also have my mother here from Mexico to help out with Nico. Bryan helped make that happen.”

Of course he did, Roxie thought.

Paulina sighed. “It’s hard being a single mother.”

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