Page 48 of Summer on Sunshine Bay

“That’s great news. You must be stoked,” she said, and then she realized what his bad news was. “He’s joining you for dinner at Windemere tonight, isn’t he?”

“He is. I’m sorry, honey. I couldn’t risk putting him off. You understand, don’t you?”

“Sure. It’s not a big deal. We can do dinner tomorrow.”

“Actually, I’m meeting with one of our suppliers for dinner tomorrow. How about lunch here? I can fit you in between one and two.”

“Really? Between one and two?”

“Come on, Lila. Don’t be like that. If you stayed with me here, this wouldn’t be an issue. It’s something we need to talk about.”

“You’re right, we do. We also need to talk about the prenup. It has to be signed this weekend.”

“I don’t understand why this is suddenly an issue. Your mother’s making a big deal about it, isn’t she?”

“No, she’s not. I told you I was the one who had my father’s lawyer draw it up, and now—”

“I have to go. Drop off the paperwork tomorrow, and my dad and I will take a look at it.”

She stared at the phone. He’d disconnected without saying goodbye. Lila lost her appetite and walked into the house. She wrapped the steaks and put them back in the fridge, then transferred the mushrooms into a bowl. She snapped on the lid and shoved them beside the steaks, deciding to walk to La Dolce Vita and hang out with her parents and Jennifer. She shelved the idea almost as quickly as it had come to her.

As supportive as her mother had been, it wasn’t a good idea for Lila to be around her tonight. She was too perceptive, and Lila had a feeling she wouldn’t be able to hide that she was royally ticked at David. Instead she turned off the music, shut the patio door, and took the stairs down to the beach.

Her bare feet sank in the cool sand, and she wiggled her toes, looking up at the house. She still couldn’t believe it was hers. If David wasn’t happy about the prenup, she imagined her father’s wedding present to her wasn’t going to improve his mood. It should, though. They’d be living in a gorgeous house on the beach that they never would’ve been able to afford on their own.

She walked down to the shoreline, lifting her maxi sundress to her knees to let the foam-capped waves roll over her feet. The water was chilly, but she enjoyed the feel of it lapping at her calves. Her anger at David dissipated with the rhythmic shushing of the waves and the warm salt-scented breeze lifting her hair.

“Admiral, no!” a familiar deep voice called out.

Lila turned in time to see what looked like a black bear hurtling across the sand toward her. She lifted her hands to ward him off, but he jumped up, placing his gigantic paws on her shoulders. His weight pushed her backward and into the water, and she fell on her butt. The animal licked her face and then galloped through the waves with its tongue hanging out as if it was off on a great adventure.

Somewhat dazed, she watched as it swam out to sea.

“Lila, are you okay?” Luke helped her to her feet with a worried expression on his face.

“What was that?” she asked.

“My dog.” He put his hands on her shoulders. “Are you okay? He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

Luke’s reaction to her falling on her butt seemed a little over the top until she remembered that he knew about the baby. “I’m fine, honestly. But is he okay? He’s pretty far out.”

“He’s in his glory. He’s a Newfie. They love the water.” He put his fingers between his lips and whistled. “Admiral, get back here!”

Lila laughed. “He looks like he just flipped you off.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” he said with a smile. Then he glanced at his watch. “Hey, doofus,” he called to the dog again, “if you don’t get in here in the next fifteen minutes, you’ll be shark bait, and I’m not swimming out there to save you.”

The locals knew not to swim at dawn or dusk. The sharks were more active then. “You would totally swim out to save him.”

“I totally would, but he doesn’t know that.” He glanced at a couple of laughing boys running down the beach with their brightly colored kites flying behind them. “He’ll come in now. The only thing he likes better than the water is kids.”

Sure enough, Admiral was swimming back to shore. “You might want to warn them.”

“I plan on grabbing him before he gets his paws in the sand. You might want to stand back,” Luke advised as he waded into the water up to his muscular calves. He wore board shorts and a T-shirt and had a beach towel around his neck.

As if he knew what his owner was up to, Admiral made a beeline for the shore several yards from where Luke was standing. But Luke was faster, probably because the dog’s waterlogged coat slowed him down. He clipped the leash to the dog’s collar before Admiral got his paws out of the water and onto the sand.

“I’m impressed,” Lila said, walking toward them, which she instantly regretted when Admiral did a full-body shake, spraying water everywhere.

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