Page 11 of The Beach House With You 2

“He might have been our stepbrother,” Amanda explained, “but he was a lot more like most of our family than we were. Our mother, Miriam, was a gentle soul. She passed that on to Whitney, me and her niece—your mom. But the rest of our family was more like Joe than like us. When they ran out of family members to use and lean on, they all drifted away to some other part of the world. Joe did too, for a while. But he always ended up coming back. The last time he did was a few years ago, and he had it in his head that he was going to 'restore our family legacy.’ Whatever that means.”

Carmen sipped on her coffee as she processed this new information.

“Is that why I’ve never met my grandma or grandpa on this side of the family?” she asked.

Amanda and Whitney shared a look, then took seats on either side of Carmen.

“Yes, sweetheart, it is,” Whitney admitted. “It’s why your mama left and never wanted to come back. Sometimes…well, a lot of times, it becomes difficult for people to hold light and love in their hearts once they’ve taken on a certain amount of pain. And, at some point during your mom’s childhood, her parents stopped being able to hold that light and love. Women like us, we can’t stand shouting and hateful words or actions. We’d much rather put up with being ignored than deal with that type of interaction.”

Carmen’s mind raced back to her childhood, making connections that allowed her to see even more into her mother’s life. Her father may have ignored many things, but he was never one to shout or get angry. And her mother never gave him a reason to.

“So how do we get Joe to leave you guys alone?” she asked, coming back to the original conversation.

“You don’t have to worry about that,” Amanda quickly assured her. “Joe can’t stay out of trouble for long. One way or another, he’ll create a situation that gets him in trouble and he’ll disappear again. He’s spent the last few years burning every bridge in town he possibly could. Soon he won’t have anyone to back his half-cocked get-rich-quick schemes, or worse, get arrested again.”

“Do you think we should ask him about the guy that was on the security camera the other night?” Carmen asked.

“The police already took care of that,” Whitney replied, her tone gentle. “He claimed he had no idea who it was.”

Before Carmen could ask any more questions, the doors to the kitchen opened once more, and Jeanette walked in still in her pajamas. She smiled brightly when she saw Carmen and wrapped her up in a hug.

“Good morning, baby,” she said warmly, “I can’t believe you’re up this early.”

“Yeah, well, I’m the one who practically slept until noon yesterday,” Carmen replied, hugging her mom back. “I’m just happy Franny’s getting her beauty sleep, and I didn’t want to risk waking her.”

“Good call,” Jeanette laughed, pouring herself a cup of coffee. “We have a wonderful lazy day ahead of us. Amanda, Whitney, will you be able to join us?”

“Yes,” they replied in unison, followed by their joint laughter. Carmen couldn’t help but laugh with them as this happened. No wonder my mom likes it here, Carmen thought, listening as the three of them began to chat animatedly. She’s finally with people that are just like her. Feeling an overwhelming sense of happiness for the community her mother had been able to find, Carmen got up from the table and went to the fridge.

“So, who wants what for breakfast this morning?” she asked cheerily.

“Oh, honey, you don’t have to do that,” Amanda protested, already pushing her chair back from the table.

“We’re happy to make you anything you’d like,” Whitney added.

“I know,” Carmen said warmly, feeling their family bond grow stronger, “but I’d really like to make you something. For letting Franny and I stay with you… and for helping my mom.”

Carmen’s gaze went to her mother, who was looking back at her with a surprised look. She grinned wider at her.

“I’ve never seen her this happy.”

Jeanette smiled with pressed lips as she put her hand over her heart. As they looked at each other, they communicated in the way that all women who love each other do. Jeanette thanked her for her understanding, and Carmen accepted that her mother knew exactly what she was doing with her life.

* * *

“Everyone to their places!” Jeanette yelled, her smile wide as she held up the bright yellow kerchief over her head. “Ready in three…two…one…GO!”

Amanda, Whitney, and Javier erupted in cheers as the last game of beach polo ensued. The warm day had brought all of the locals out onto the beach and, before they knew it, Carmen’s family was busy playing games and sharing food with the others who had come out to enjoy one of the last days of sunshine. Now, as the older adults sat on the beach to watch the activities, Carmen, Jacob, Franny, and Tony, a worker from Jason’s crew, were the finalists in their game of polo.

Straddled across Jacob’s shoulders, Carmen lifted the foam paddle up and began to fight for the title of winner. She and Franny had done an amazing job beating out the other polo teams and had worked together to knock them out of the running one by one. Now, though, they had to fight against each other, and Carmen had no idea whether she was about to win or lose.

“Give it up, Franny,” Carmen yelled with a grin, “you know I’m gonna win!”

“Just like you knew Barry Harris was going to ask you out to the tenth-grade dance?” Franny asked with a laugh. “Remember how that went down?”

Suddenly Tony lunged forward, bringing Franny within striking distance of Carmen. With the precision of a samurai, she swung her paddle down and upended Carmen from her seat on Jacob’s shoulders. Carmen let out a squeak as she lost her balance, but as she braced for the impact against the sand, she was suddenly caught by Jacob’s strong arms. Jacob laughed as he twirled with the agility of an acrobat, and set her safely on her feet.

“We’ve been defeated,” he said through his smile as he held her. Carmen grinned back.

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