Page 4 of The Beach Hut on Plum Island
“I did. Gray called me early this morning when he arrived in Boston,” Dawn said with a nod. “He was trying to get hold of you, Harriet, but you must’ve been in the dead zone on the beach.” She looked toward the Bugatti. “I saw him pull up from my balcony at the hotel and came to say hi to him.”
“So you’ve only known since this morning?” Harriet confirmed, and Dawn nodded, looking at Harriet worriedly. “What are you going to do about your uncle and the guests he’s bringing with him?”
“What guests?” Harriet and Alex asked her at the same time.
“Oh!” Dawn’s face fell into anoopslook. “Gray hasn’t told you?”
“No, I haven’t had the chance,” Gray replied as he and Finn joined them.
“Hi, Dawn,” Finn greeted her.
“Hi, Finn,” Dawn greeted him back before stepping up to throw her arms around Gray. “Hey. Gray.” They hugged. “It’s so good to see you again.”
“I know, Dawny. It’s been too long,” Gray told her.
“How is that son of yours?” Dawn asked. “Bailey said Matt is thriving in England.”
“Yeah, I’m so grateful that she’s there to keep an eye on him,” Gray admitted. “Seventeen year old kids alone in England tend to go astray.”
“Says someone speaking from experience.” Alex laughed.
“Gray, I have to get back to the Beach Hut,” Finn interrupted the catch-up session. “Pop by anytime, and I’ll show you my workshop.”
“Thanks, Finn,” Gray said before Finn excused himself and left. He turned teasingly to Harriet. “I see you’ve still got your giant crush on your surfing hero.”
“No! I don’t,” Harriet denied it and then moved the subject away from Finn. “Who is Uncle Titus bringing with him to Plum Island?”
“You’re not going to like it,” Gray warned her. “Heck, I don’t like it, and I tried to talk him out of it, but you know what he’s like being the king in the family and all.”
Cold fingers felt like they were crawling up Harriet’s spine, and alarm bells started blaring in her brain. She remembered an article her mother had sent her a few days ago, and now it was beginning to make sense why her mother had suddenly sent her something like that.
“Please don’t tell me it’s Leon!” Harriet closed her eyes and clenched her teeth.
“Why would you think it would be him?” Alex’s eyes blazed with anger. “That lout wouldn’t dare show his face atmyparty.”
“My mother sent me an article a few days ago telling me that Leon is single again after his fourth divorce,” Harriet told Alex. “I asked her why she thought I’d care, to which my mother replied that now you were married, maybe it was time I thought about settling down.”
“And your mother still thinks that Leon, after his what…” Dawn looked at Harriet for clarification, “third…”
“Fourth,” Harriet filled in the blanks.
“Fourth divorce is a good match for you?” Dawn was amazed.
“It’s peer pressure from my Uncle Titus,” Gray told Dawn. “She pointed out that Leon’s cousin Estelle was single again, too.”
“Are they still trying to set you up with her?” Alex looked at Gray, feeling his pain. “That woman is nothing but trouble.”
“Poison,” Dawn added. “She’s poison, just like Leon.”
“I love my parents,” Harriet said. “But it’s like I’ve always told you, they use us to keep my Uncle and everything he entails out of their lives.”
“I used to tell Harry she was being harsh when she said that,” Gray admitted. “But now I tend to agree with her. While they were trekking all over the world on one archeological adventure after the other, Harriet and I were locked in a gilded cage.”
“That’s a bit of an exaggeration,” Dawn said with a laugh. “The two of you spent a lot of time with my family, which I never minded. It was like having another brother and sister.”
“Yeah, I enjoyed it when the two of you stayed with us, as well,” Alex agreed with Dawn. “But I understand what you mean, as the two of you were the next in line to inherit the Joyce empire.”
“Gray was, not me,” Harriet pointed out.
