Page 97 of Summer on Sunshine Bay

It was skinny-dipping time. A summer family tradition, and one Lila hadn’t taken part in, in several years. She stripped off her clothes, laughing with her family when Carmen fell in the sand trying to take off her pants, and their shrieks filled the warm, salt-kissed air when they waded into the chilly water of the bay together, and a thousand memories washed over her. All the joy, the laughter and tears, and the frustrations and fights that came with being a family of six strong women filled her up, banishing the fears. She knew what she had to do.

“Lila, where are you going?” her family called as she ran out of the water, toweling herself dry.

“To see David,” she said as she pulled on her clothes. “There’s something I have to do.”

The man at the front desk at Windemere, whom Lila thankfully knew from previous visits, handed her a key card to the manager’s suite. She got turned around several times before she found herself standing outside David’s room. Heart racing, nerves jumping, she turned away from the door. She couldn’t do this to him. But as she started to walk away, she thought about what had brought her here in the first place and lightly knocked on the door, sliding in the room key and opening the door. David was in bed, but he was a light sleeper, and his head lifted off the pillow as he patted for his glasses on the nightstand.

“It’s me,” she said, walking over to the bed. She slipped off her shoes and lay down beside him.

He put on his glasses, reaching over to turn on the bedside lamp. “What’s wrong? Are you all right? Is the baby—”

“I’m okay and so is the baby.” She linked her fingers with his and briefly closed her eyes before turning her head to look at him. “I can’t marry you.”

“What? Why? This isn’t because of Sam, is it? Because Lila, I’d never—”

She gently squeezed his fingers. “No, it’s… I guess in a way it is, but not for the reason you think.” She let go of his hand, rolling onto her side to face him. “When I walked into Surfside that day the staff threw you the shower, you looked happy, happier than I’ve seen you in a long time, and you laughed, really laughed. We—”

“It wasn’t easy working with my father, but—”

“Let me finish, okay?”

He nodded. “Okay.”

“We haven’t spent any time together other than when we’re working on plans for Windemere. Anytime I’ve asked you to do something with me, you’ve said you were too busy. But you went to the bar with Sam, and you went on the Fourth of July cruise with her, and you’re afraid of the ocean.”

“It’s not just me, Lila. You were busy too. Busy with your consulting business, busy with Luke.”

“I know, and I’m not casting blame or saying any of this to hurt you. I’m just trying to explain why it would be a mistake for us to get married.”

“Is this because of Luke?”

“No, not in the way you think, but maybe, like Sam, he’s a catalyst. I do love you, David. I’m just notinlove with you, and I don’t think you’reinlove with me.” She rested her hand on the side of his face. “We haven’t made love since we found out I was pregnant. You don’t kiss me anymore. You haven’t told me you loved me in weeks. We’ve grown apart.”

“But what about the baby? You went through it, Lila. Surely you don’t want our child to grow up like you did.”

“Of course I don’t. But we’re not my parents. I think part of their problem was that they were still in love with each other, and obviously my dad living in London made an already difficult situation worse. But that’s not something we have to worry about. We’re both living here, and we work well together.”

He gave her a sad smile. “You’re right, we’ve always made a great team. You’re right about everything else too. I just hate the thought of telling my mom. She’ll be devastated. She loves you. She loves your family too.”

“And I love her. But we’re still a family, David. You, me, the baby, and your mom. Nothing can change that. And my family has kind of adopted her.”

His eyes glistened behind his glasses, and she hugged him. “I do love you, you know. I just think two parents who are happy and fulfilled is the best gift we can give our child.”

They talked for another twenty minutes, and then David glanced at his phone. “It’s getting late, and you’re tired. I’ll take you home.”

“Do you mind if I just sleep here?”

“Not at all,” he said, then grinned. “As long as you don’t hog the covers.”

She smiled, slipping off her engagement ring and putting it on the nightstand. They were going to be all right.

Lila woke up to the alarm on David’s phone going off at six a.m. “Why don’t you just stay here and sleep,” he said as he shut off the alarm and got out of bed.

“Can’t.” She leaped out of bed, making it to the bathroom before him. She used the toilet and then called through the closed door as she washed her hands. “Do you have an extra toothbrush?”

“In my shaving kit.”

She brushed her teeth, ran her fingers through her hair, and then ran out of the bathroom to the door. “Don’t cancel the wedding.”

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