Page 2 of The Beach Shack Summer
“You’re being you. Tyler knows who you are. He asked you to stay here, remember?”
That was true. When she’d needed to head from San Francisco to Laguna Beach—leave everything—Tyler hadn’t hesitated.
My place is your place, Meg. Stay as long as you need.
But that was before Stella. Before important news.
“We should go,” she said, checking her phone again. 1:03. “Traffic might be?—”
“Meg.” Luke’s voice was gentle. “We have time.”
Meg’s phone rang. Margo’s picture filled the screen—a photo Tyler had taken last month of her arranging shells on the café ceiling, her face tilted up to the light.
“Hi, Margo.”
“Just checking you remembered to put fresh sheets in the guest room.” Her grandmother’s voice held that particular tone that meant she was both teasing and serious.
“I changed them twice.”
“Of course you did.” There was definite warmth in Margo’s voice. “Tyler called me from San Francisco during his layover. He sounds nervous.”
“Tyler’s nervous?” Meg couldn’t picture it. Tyler, who’d surfed waves that made her stomach drop just watching, who’d traveled solo through Southeast Asia at nineteen with nothing but a backpack and a camera.
“Like you wouldn’t believe. Kept asking if the house was clean, if you were comfortable there, if we had enough food at the Shack for a welcome dinner.”
“He wants to bring her to the Shack?”
“Yes.” A pause. “This is big for him, Meg.”
“I know.”
“Joey’s beside himself. He’s convinced she must be a model. Or a professional surfer. Or possibly both.”
Despite her nerves, Meg smiled. “Why would Joey think?—”
“Because Tyler said she was special and that’s all the boy needed to hear. He’s been cleaning the espresso machine for an hour. Bernie finally told him he was going to wear the chrome off.”
“Poor Joey.”
“Poor espresso machine. You haven’t seen Joey in a state of anticipation yet.” Another pause. “How are you doing with all this, really?”
Trust Margo to cut straight through. “I’m...” Meg searched for the word. “Processing. It’s just happening fast.”
“Change usually does. But Tyler wouldn’t bring her home if she wasn’t ready for us.”
“What if we’re not ready for her?”
“Oh, sweetheart.” Margo’s voice gentled. “We’ve been ready for Tyler to find someone for years. Andyou’ll always have a place here, no matter what changes.”
The sudden thickness in Meg’s throat caught her off guard. “Thanks, Margo.”
“Family is family. That doesn’t change because it expands.”
“I know.”
“Good. Now go get them. And Meg? Try not to alphabetize anything on the way.”
“I don’t alphabetize?—”
