Page 63 of Sunsets at the Beach House

She watched a few more minutes of the show before her grandmother joined her. “Your drink is ready and waiting.”

“Fantastic. I am definitely putting you in my will.” She was in her purple nightgown patterned with martini glasses and her purple fuzzy slippers that Trina knew had orthopedic inserts.

Trina laughed. “Mimi, you are in a mood.”

“I’m about as happy as a person can be.” She sat in her recliner, kicked up the footrest, then took a long sip of her drink and let out a contented sigh. “That’s the stuff right there. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Trina crossed her legs under her. “All right, let’s go. Give me all the details about this new house.”

Her grandmother laughed. “To start with, we bought a beautiful lot. Nice and big. Sits right on the water that leads out to the Gulf, so you can have a boat and everything. And get this—there were dolphins in the canal. Real ones.”

Trina’s mouth came open. “That’s amazing. I love dolphins.”

“I know you do. I hope that means you come to visit us a lot.”

“I will, I promise. But you said you bought a house.”

“We did. Sort of. We signed a contract for the lot and for a house to be built on the lot. We already picked out the house. The model is called The Carrington. Very fancy. You can go to the Dunes West website and look at the floorplan if you want. They gave us a folder with one in it, but Miguel took that with him. We still have to meet with the landscape people and the waterscape people, but it’s all coming together.”

“What are waterscape people?”

“The people who design the pool.” Her grandmother waved her hand. “They have snazzy names for everybody these days. Anyway, we need to get all of that taken care of, but it’s a done deal. We’ll be moving over there once the house is built.”

“How long is that going to take?”

“Maybe eight or nine months.” Her grandmother shrugged. “Depending on how things go.”

“Sure,” Trina said. “And Miguel liked it all, too?”

“He did. We even went and watched the sunset from our new lot. It was beautiful.” Her grandmother took a deep breath, her smile going all dreamy. “I never thought this would be my life again. To be in love and be married again. And to have a brand-new house. It’s really something, my girl. I feel so blessed.”

“I’m so happy for you, Mimi. I never thought you’d get married again, either, but Miguel is really special.”

Her grandmother nodded. “Yes, he is.” She let out another happy sigh, took a sip of her drink, then wiggled a bit to get comfortable. “So, what did I miss today? Anything new at the salon? How was everything back in Port St. Rosa?”

“Nothing new at the salon that I know about. But Mom found something at the house that upset her.” Trina made a face. “A necklace hidden way back in Dad’s dresser drawer with a diamond initial ‘P’ on it.”

Her grandmother frowned. “That would have upset me, too. I hope she threw the stupid thing away.”

Trina rolled her eyes. “No, Mimi. It was gold and diamonds! But I also don’t know what she’s going to do with it. I offered to take it to Paulina, but Mom held on to it, so who knows.”

Her grandmother snorted. “That man had a lot of nerve marrying a woman the same age as his daughters. He had a lot of nerve in general. The bum.”

“Mimi, it’s not Paulina’s fault. I know you and Mom don’t like her, and I get it. Dad really did a bad thing by hooking up with her, but I can’t overlook the fact that I have a brother now. That sweet little baby is certainly not to blame.”

“I know all that, Trina, and you’re right, the baby is innocent. But my loyalties are always going to lie with my blood family. That’s you and your mom. You can’t expect me to ignore what your father did.”

“I don’t expect that. But he did the same thing to Claire with Mom, and she’s been pretty understanding.”

Her grandmother shot her a sharp look. “Not at first.”

“No, not at first. Which is why I’m just trying to give Mom some space and let her deal with this however she needs to.”

“Smart. How upset was she? On a scale of one to ten?”

“Maybe a nine. She kind of shut down. And, of course, I couldn’t talk to her on the way home because we were in separate cars. But she perked up a bit when Ethan invited her over. Not sure what she’ll be like when she gets home. I’m hoping he can lift her mood.”

“I’m sure he will.” Her grandmother picked up her glass again. “How’s that man of yours?”

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