Page 85 of Deadly Misfortunes

Henry and Omar walked down to the water with the ladies once they had removed everything but their bathing suits.

They splashed each other in the water, all but the bodyguards, who were watching them, so that no one was pulled out by an undertow or went under and didn’t come up. Sascha loved how diligent they were about taking care of them.

After about half an hour of playing in the water, the surface warmed by the sun, the deeper water cooler, they got out, dried off, and took a walk along the beach. They dodged little white crabs barely visible because they were the same color as the white sand, diving into their sandy holes.

Laughing gulls were flying over crowds of people tossing food to them so they could take pictures, though they risked getting pooped on! But Sascha had fun taking photos of the birds, even capturing two fighting over a steak T-bone on the beach as the water kept encroaching and covering it.

A willet bird crossed the wave-washed beach, its reflection in the wet sand in front of them. She loved seeing all the wildlife, as pelicans flew high overhead.

Suddenly, Sascha saw a purple Portuguese man-of-war on the sand and pointed it out so nobody would step on it. Omar quickly dug a deep hole in the sand while they watched, and then buried the man-of-war to protect the beachgoers.

They saw someone else pointing out another, closer to where their kids were building a sandcastle, and they dug a deep hole to bury that one too. Between the shark Sascha had seen much farther out and now the Portuguese man-of-war on the beach, she was reluctant to go into the water again.

“Hey, it’s about time for lunch,” Katrina said, rubbing her belly.

Since she was eating for three, Sascha understood how she was feeling. She was getting hungry too.

“I was going to make reservations for the Mexican restaurant. How does that sound to everyone?” Katrina asked, still in charge of activities.

Sascha loved that Kat had everything in hand. She was a great planner. “That sounds great to me. What about everyone else?”

“I love their food,” Rose said.

“Yes, our family came here one time on a trip, and their food is really good,” Mrs. Landry said.

They returned to the house, showered and dressed, and then Kat got on her phone and called the restaurant. “Fifteen minutes? All right, we’ll be there.” She got off the phone and said, “They had a large group cancellation so we can go now.”

“Yes!” Sascha said, figuring they might have had snacks to hold them over until they could eat lunch.

They headed to their rental cars, then drove to the restaurant.

On the way over there, Sascha asked Kat, “Since I’ll be living with Gregory at his house, what will you do with the carriage house at your place?”

She felt bad that they had fixed it all up for her, only for her to move in with Prescott’s competition. But she was delighted that she and Gregory would be a couple and she would be living with him in the mansion!

“It will be a great guesthouse.”

“It sure will be,” Sascha said. “And, Rose, once this maniac is arrested, we want you to stay with us.”

Rose smiled. “Sure, I would love to.”

Sascha was glad. Rose had been living at Gregory’s home until the attempted murderer continued to target Gregory. She didn’t want Rose to think she wasn’t welcome once the guy was caught and jailed and she and Gregory were a married couple. She could see herself and Rose going shopping, visiting, and doing other things together while Gregory was busy with his business. Kat would be busy with baby stuff soon. Though Sascha would certainly be available anytime to help her.

“Oh, we need to do a baby shower soon,” Sascha said to Kat.

Kat smiled. “I’ll put up a baby registry, and we can decide on a date, games, and decorations. But it’s quite a way off. We need to learn what their sex is first.”

“True,” Sascha said. She knew they hadn’t started decorating the babies’ room yet because of that.

As soon as they parked at the restaurant, Sascha envisioned Gregory and the rest of his party sitting inside, enjoying their lunch.

At the same time, Kat and Sascha said, “They’re here.”

Kat must have immediately pictured Gregory and his companions eating Mexican food at the restaurant, too.

Immediately, the bodyguards surrounded the ladies, guns drawn.

Sascha took hold of Henry’s arm and clarified, “Gregory and his bachelor party crew are here.”