Page 9 of The Beach House With You 2

Jacob nodded his head in agreement.

“Alright then. I’ll grab your bags for you. Go ahead and find your mom.”

4

“Oh, my sweet babies,” Jeanette said comfortingly, setting down the large mugs of hot chocolate, “I am so sorry that this happened. Especially on your first day here!”

“It’s not your fault, Mom,” Carmen urged, wrapping her cold hands around the warm mug.

“I should have gone with you,” Jeanette continued, “or warned you about him. But he’s never even seen a picture of you that I know of.”

“He said he could tell by my freckles and hair that I was his 'kin,’” Carmen replied, rolling her eyes. “I swear it makes me almost want to dye my hair.”

“Don’t you dare,” her mother whispered. Standing right beside Carmen, Jeanette gently pressed her daughter’s head into her side, stroking her curly locks lovingly. “You have such beautiful hair. Don’t change it for something like that.”

“I agree,” Jacob said, walking into the kitchen. He stopped at the door frame and leaned on it. Jeanette smiled at him warmly as Carmen lifted her head from her mother’s bosom.

“I don’t mean to interrupt,” Jacob continued, “but I wanted to let you know that your bags are in your room,” he paused, then added, “and make sure that you were okay.”

“We’re okay,” Carmen said with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. Franny nodded in agreement.

“Thank you so much for driving us today,” Franny added, “and for putting up with my grumpy behavior this morning.”

“It was my pleasure and no problem at all,” Jacob replied warmly, looking from Carmen to Franny. He then looked up and met Jeanette’s eyes.

“I couldn’t find Miss Whitney or Miss Amanda, but I wanted just to double-check that you knew we’re not going to be by tomorrow. Jason gives us a long weekend for Labor Day, so we’ll be back at it on Tuesday.”

“Yes, of course,” Jeanette quickly agreed. “He reminded us earlier today.”

“Alright then,” Jacob replied, nodding his head. He began to take a step back, then paused.

“If you have any more trouble, please give me or Jason a call, okay? It won’t take either of us very long to get here.”

“We will,” Jeanette quickly assured him, giving him a grateful smile. “Thanks again for driving them, and please tell your mom I said hello.”

Jason promised her he would, and after one more round of goodbyes, he left the three of them alone in the bed and breakfast.

Carmen waited until she heard the door close before she turned back to her mom with more questions.

“Mom, I’m super thankful for Amanda and Whitney offering you a place to stay here, but are you sure it’s what’s best for you? I mean, you just left one problem in Montreal and it seems like you’re just hopping into another one here.”

Jeanette pulled her readers down to the edge of her nose, looking at her daughter pointedly. It was a look Carmen received many times as a teenager, and it read something like Watch it kid, you don’t know what you think you know.

Sheepishly Carmen smiled at her mom and reached for her hand.

“I know, I know.” She sighed. “I’m just worried about you.”

“I know you are, sweetheart,” Jeanette replied, pushing her readers back up her nose as she squeezed her daughter’s hand. “But you don’t need to be. Joe is an annoyance from time to time, sure, but that doesn’t change how moving back here makes me feel. I feel like I’m starting to get me back. I didn’t realize how much of myself I put away in order to make my marriage with your father work, but now that I do, I’m not ever going to go back to that. For him or anyone. This is where I want to be. And this is where I’ll stay.”

Carmen nodded. “I understand. And if that’s what you want, then of course I support you. I guess I’m just sorry that you have more drama to deal with.”

Jeanette laughed dryly and leaned back in her chair.

“Honey, as long as there are people, there is going to be drama. Just trust me that I’d rather be dealing with this kind.”

“Done,” Carmen agreed quickly. She leaned toward her mom in her chair, and the two of them hugged tightly.

“Okay,” Jeanette sighed when they pulled away from one another, “that’s enough of this talk, yeah? Since the crew isn’t coming tomorrow, why don’t we spend the day together on the beach? It’s going to be one of the last few warm days we have before fall really sets in and I’d love to show you around.”

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