Page 87 of Summer on Sunshine Bay

“No, I’m fine. Thanks for asking, though.”

“No problem.” She nodded at David. “Make sure he eats. He hasn’t eaten since yesterday afternoon,” Sam said, seeming to imply that Lila wasn’t doing a very good job taking care of her man.

“Good thing he has you to look after him, Sam.”

Sam blushed, and she gave Lila a strained smile before hurrying from David’s office.

“Lila, it’s not what it looked like.”

“Really? Because it looked and sounded to me…” She inhaled a deep breath. After what had taken place on the bridge with Luke, she had a lot of nerve acting like the jealous fiancée. “I’m sorry. I guess I’m overly sensitive. But in my defense, you’ve made it pretty clear you didn’t want me here.”

“It’s not that I don’t want you here. It’s that I didn’t want you to have to put up with my father and his snide remarks.”

As she looked closer at David, she saw what Sam did. He was pale, and he had lost weight. “It hasn’t gotten any better?”

“No. If anything, it’s gotten worse.” He gave her a weak smile. “I have a better insight into what it must’ve been like for you growing up.”

She didn’t think he did, not really. He was an adult, and she’d been just a kid. But she could sympathize. It wasn’t fun to be caught between your feuding parents, no matter how old you were. “What can I do to help? Do you need a hand with your plans for the Fourth?”

“No, I should be okay. And I don’t want you to take time from your other clients for me.”

She shrugged, a little hurt he’d so easily brushed off her offer. “I’ve wrapped up my contract with Luke, and I’ve already got Heather’s business plan and website done.” The week before, she’d convinced Heather to start thinking of her photography as a business and not a hobby. “Willow’s business is just at the planning stages, so I can’t do much for her yet. But if you don’t want my help, that’s fine.”

“I didn’t want you overdoing it. But if you’ve got the time, there’s nothing I want more than to work with you on this.” He smiled. “It’ll be just like old times, the two of us working together. I think I’ve missed that the most these past couple of weeks. We always made a great team.”

She relaxed. “We did.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

They were streaming the Fourth of July live episode at the beach house, and it wasn’t going well. Eva sensed Lila trying to get her attention from behind the camera and was afraid to look, wondering what she could’ve done wrong this time.

At a subtle throat clearing, she glanced to where her daughter stood, giving Eva an exaggerated smile. She wanted her to smile? Eva thought she had been. She smiled, and Lila’s eyes went wide. It seemed Eva couldn’t do anything right today. She’d given the viewers the recipe for grilled eggplant and tomatoes with parmesan basil bread crumbs, only to realize halfway through that she was making summer farro—a nutty Italian grain salad.

She blamed James, not to the viewers, of course. At least she hoped she hadn’t. She missed him, and it was making her crazy. Because she didn’t want to miss him. She’d been relieved when he’d left for London the day after he’d announced his intention to stay in Sunshine Bay. The thought of his moving here had been terrifying, just as terrifying as seeing him only when he visited Lila, a few times a year.

She never should’ve started back up with him. She should’ve put a stop to it after their second night together. But she couldn’t bring herself to. She enjoyed being with him, cooking with him, taking long walks with him, sitting curled up beside him and binge-watching Netflix, simply being with him. She’d convinced herself it was just a summer fling, but somewhere along the line, it had turned into something more. She was in love with him, the head-over-heels kind of love, the can’t-think-straight kind of love. Which she’d certainly proved today.

Her sister stepped on her toes. “Eva?”

“What?” She heard Lila groan from behind the camera. Eva reached for the bottle of wine and laughed. “Sorry, I may have had one glass too many of this gorgeous albariño from California.” She hadn’t had any. “With its crisp notes of melon and lime, it’s the perfect accompaniment to our Italian-sausage burgers with garlicky spinach, our summer farro salad, and our farfalle noodles with zucchini and parsley-almond pesto.” She poured herself a glass and started to lift it.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” her sister asked.

“Sorry.” Eva covered her groan with a laugh and poured Gia a glass.

Her sister sighed. “Thank you, and I’m sure the albariño will also pair beautifully with our simple but delicious wildflower honey–sweetened mascarpone topped with berries and pistachios to enjoy at your Fourth of July celebrations.”

Unable to resist, Eva leaned over to take a spoonful. “Madonna santo, this is divine.” She helped herself to another spoonful, moaning. “You outdid yourself, G.”

“You made it,” her sister said dryly, trying not to laugh.

“Really?” Eva choked on a berry and reached for her glass of wine.

“Say goodbye and sing,” Lila hissed from behind the camera.

Eva and her sister raised their glasses. As soon as their eyes met, they started to giggle. “To the good life. Happy Fourth!” they gurgled, trying to keep it together. “Come join us at La Dolce Vita if you’re in Sunshine Bay. We’re featuring all of today’s recipes on this month’s menu.”

They not only sang Katrina and the Waves’ “Walking on Sunshine,” they danced to it too.

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