Page 20 of Sea Breezes at The Beach House Hotel

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I drove Clint to the house, and Vaughn and I stood by as Clint greeted the kids.

Seeing him greet Bailey and Ned with heartfelt hugs and kisses, I felt a sense of relief about him.

“Whoa! Ned, how’d you get hurt, Bud? Where was Mommy?” Clint asked him.

“Mommy works at the hotel,” Bailey said proudly.

“Well, I’m back now, and she doesn’t need to do that,” Clint said.

“We like the hotel,” said Ned.

“Yes, it’s a beautiful place,” said Clint, turning to us. “After I get settled, I’ll drive to the hotel to see Nell.”

“I’m off to work,” I said. “See you later.”

Vaughn walked me out to my car.

“I met Clint’s business partner, Claudine Everett. She wants you to drop Clint off at the airport on Saturday so she can meet you. She’s definitely a woman who knows what she wants. And I think it might be Clint.”

“You don’t like her,” said Vaughn.

“Seeing the way she and Clint were acting and her dismissive manner toward me, I’m not a fan. No wonder she makes Nell feel insecure. I love Nell, and I’m afraid she’s going to be hurt more than she has been.”

Vaughn’s lips thinned. “I’m going to try and find out why Clint is acting this way.”

“Nell has told me some things, but you might have a better chance of getting information from Clint than I can. As we’ve promised one another, we can get information, but we have to let them work it out.”

“Right,” said Vaughn. “But nobody is going to carelessly hurt my daughter.”

I headed to the hotel to a different Thanksgiving than I’d thought we’d have.