Page 30 of Sea Breezes at The Beach House Hotel

“How’s Clint? You told your dad you didn’t think he realized how hurt he’d been,” I said to her.

“He was in a very foggy state,” said Nell. “He’s on painkillers now, but they’ll be careful about keeping him on them for too long. He held my hand and kept saying, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not his fault,” I said.

“I think he was saying he was sorry for the way he’s been treating me,” said Nell, unable to hold back tears.

“I see,” I said. “You and he will now be able to discuss the situation. I can’t imagine he’ll be able to return to work for a while.”

“Not for a few weeks anyway,” said Nell. “It’s what I wanted all along, but not like this.”

“It’s all going to work out for the best,” Vaughn said, smiling across the table at her. “Let’s try to relax, have a nice dinner, and get to bed early.”

“I don’t know which I want more right now,” said Nell, trying to inject her usual humor into the situation.

“We’ve got time for it all,” I said, reaching to give her hand a reassuring squeeze.

The wine steward approached the table, and he and Vaughn quickly selected a Pinot Noir that would pair well with seafood.

As we sipped our wine, I thought of the past few days and how quickly everything could change. I remembered Nell and Clint’s wedding and how they’d made such a sweet, loving couple.

“What is everyone going to order?” asked our waiter. He turned to me.

“I’m going to have the parmesan sole with a lemon-garlic butter sauce,” I said.

“I’ll have the Chilean Sea Bass,” said Nell. “My favorite restaurant at home serves it, and it’s delicious.”

“And I’m going for the scallops,” said Vaughn.

After the waiter had left with our orders, Vaughn glanced at Nell and me. “Ah, it’s great to be with two of my favorite people. I’m sorry the circumstances aren’t better, but after the scare we had, I’m just glad to be here.”

“Did anything happen to Zephyr?” Nell asked him.

“No, but I thought it was going to be hit for sure.” As one of the Coast Guard told us, after picking up a load of drugs from either an airdrop or from a ship in harbor, these smugglers take off with no regard for anyone else. We were just lucky the Coast Guard boat stopped when they saw us in trouble.”

“Shouldn’t the smugglers be liable for this?” asked Nell.

“I don’t see how anything could be proven, especially without arresting the smugglers,” Vaughn said. “It was just a freakish accident.”

“And how,” I said. “It’s hard to believe something like this could happen. But we’ll have to deal with the consequences.”

Our dinners came, and we dug into the food, exclaiming over the delicious tastes.

As soon as our dirty dishes were cleared away, I felt my eyelids droop and couldn’t wait to get to our hotel room for a good sleep. Thank heavens we were close enough to walk to it.

In our hotel room, I called to make sure the kids were okay. Liana assured me everyone was fine there. Satisfied, I brushed my teeth, undressed, and crawled into bed, pleased I’d thought to pack an overnight bag.

Vaughn’s arm wrapped around me as he snuggled up against me, and I closed my eyes.