Chapter 18
Harper was glad to be headed to the beach. Today felt like a good day to do nothing in a beautiful place with a beautiful view. Much better than doing nothing inside. She and Frankie could lounge and talk and enjoy themselves while getting a little sun.
It was perfect.
In one of the storage closets in the first-floor rec room they’d found all sorts of useful outdoor things: beach chairs, beach umbrellas, a couple of canvas beach bags, each embroidered with a large M, a canvas and metal wagon with knobby tires, blow-up rafts, pool noodles, coolers in various sizes, a badminton set as well as lawn darts and bocce balls, life jackets, small buckets and shovels in bright neon colors, and a whole host of random other things.
They picked out two chairs, one umbrella with a screw-in holder, and a small cooler to take some drinks and snacks in. They each grabbed a big beach bag for the rest of their stuff as well.
Frankie was in charge of packing the cooler. Harper found beach towels and a couple of bottles of sunscreen that were probably past their most useful date, but better than nothing. She wore her green and blue floral bikini with the hipster bottoms and a cropped top that covered her to the middle of her ribcage. Modest by L.A. standards, but at fifty-three, she wasn’t trying to compete with the starlets.
All the same, she worked hard at staying fit and trim and wasn’t going to hide her body. Especially not on a beach that would be nearly deserted. She tugged on her denim cutoffs and a vee-neck T-shirt over the bikini, then put on her flipflops, sunglasses, and hat.
She made sure her phone and her tablet were charged, then went to see how Frankie was doing. Her sister was in the kitchen getting things together, but she’d changed into a swimsuit, and had a pretty navy and white coverup on over it.
“How’s it going?” Harper asked.
Frankie looked up from the grapes she was washing. “Good. I’ve got some fruit, some cheese and crackers, a couple of protein bars, four bottles of water, and a bowl for Archie so he can have some, too. You think we’ll need more than that? There’s still a little room in the cooler.”
“That should be plenty. We’ll be back for dinner.”
“Which will be what?”
“I bought a London broil. I was thinking we could grill that? Or there’s shrimp and chicken in the freezer, but we’d need to get it out now.”
“London broil sounds great. We can have it with salad. You’ve got tons of salad ingredients in there.”
“Works for me.” Harper held up the towels and sunscreen. “I’m bringing my tablet, so I can maybe finish that book.”
Frankie chewed her lip. “I was thinking about bringing my laptop so I could get some work done, but I don’t know if taking my laptop to the beach is such a great idea. I’d hate to get sand in it.”
Harper made a face. “Yeah, that wouldn’t be good. Just leave it. You can work when we get back. I’ll make dinner, so you can work until that’s done, if you want.”
“I might do that,” Frankie said, nodding. “But I’m taking my notebook and pencils with me so I can at least sketch out a few ideas.”
“Awesome.” Harper was so ready for today. “Are we set then?”
Frankie zipped the cooler closed. “Just need to grab my stuff.”
They hit the beach fifteen minutes later. It was glorious. The ocean stretched out in a vast ribbon of blue-green with a wide band of intense, cloudless blue overhead. The waves crashed in white, foamy surges that tumbled a few shells here and there.
Toward the distant end of Hideaway Bay where the development met the rest of the barrier island, a couple were out walking a dog, but there wasn’t another soul in sight.
“This is crazy,” Frankie said. “Why is no one out here?”
Harper shook her head. “Beats me. If I lived here and didn’t have to work, like I think is the case with most of these women, I would be here all the time.”
“Same.” She glanced at her sister. “How do you get that life?”
Harper stared out at the sea. “You marry well. Or you figure out how to do something that makes you incredibly rich, I guess.”
They set up their chairs with the cooler between them, then planted the umbrella. That was easy enough, thanks to the screw-in base that drilled right down into the sand with a little twisting.
Archie lay down in front of the chairs, taking full advantage of the shade.
“Hang on, buddy,” Harper said. “I brought you a towel to lay on so you don’t get completely covered in sand. Even though you’ve already got a start on that.” She called him to her side, then laid out the towel for him. “There you go.”
But Archie was fixated on a curious seagull that was edging closer and closer.
“Archie, no,” Harper said firmly. Even so, she knew he’d go after the bird if given a chance. She hooked the loop of his leash around one of the legs of her chair, then sat in it. She fished around in the beach bag for her own towel, which she spread over the back of the chair, then tossed the other one to Frankie.
Frankie grabbed it and put it on the back of her chair, too. “Are you going to go in?”
“Probably a little bit. Like up to my waist maybe?” Harper pulled off her T-shirt, then wriggled out of her shorts and stuck both in the bag.
Frankie sighed. “You have a great figure. I know you told me, but I can’t imagine the effort it takes to look like that.”
Harper grinned as she sat. “It’s all that fake sugar and oat milk.”
Frankie laughed. “Which is why I look like this. Body by real food.”
Harper laughed, too. She stretched her legs out and tipped her head back, pushing the chair into a slant. The chairs reclined, which seemed pretty fancy for a beach chair, but then, Arlington had never skimped on anything. “This is really nice. Not just the beach, but the two of us being here together. I’m so happy about that.”
“It’s great. Really unexpected to be here, but the timing couldn’t be better.” Frankie took a breath to say something else when a familiar female voice called to them.
“Hello, there, my friends,” Prisha sang out.
Harper sat up and looked over. “Prisha! Hi!”
Prisha had her beach chair in one hand, a tote bag over her shoulder, and a large sunhat that shielded her face, already partially hidden behind big sunglasses. “I am so glad you’re here. I owe you an apology for last night. I am so sorry about Suzanne. That was not polite of her, but that is her way. No excuses for her, just telling you that’s how she is. Are you terribly upset with me?”
“No,” Harper said. “I’m not upset with you at all. It’s not your fault. And my relationship with Ford hasn’t exactly been a secret, although I have really been hoping to keep my name out of all the gossip.”
“Of course,” Prisha said. “I understand completely. Those social media vultures take such joy in the downfall of others, don’t they?” She shook her head. “After you left, I told Suzanne her behavior was unkind. Fat lot of good that will do, but it needed to be said.”
“Thanks, I appreciate that.” Harper gestured to the shady spot next to her. “Why don’t you join us?”
“I don’t want to intrude,” Prisha said.
“It’s no intrusion,” Harper promised. “We’d love to have the company. You were so nice to invite us to your book club. Come on. Have a seat.”
“Thank you. That’s very nice of you.” Prisha settled in.
Harper looked over as Frankie pulled out her notebook and pencils, flipping the book open to a clean page. She tried to catch her sister’s eye, but Frankie seemed intent on getting to work. “You okay?”
Frankie nodded, gave a quick smile that didn’t last, and said, “I’m great. Just need to get some work done.”
Harper could tell Frankie wasn’t thrilled about Prisha joining them. She wasn’t sure why,. Prisha was a lovely woman. Maybe Frankie had just wanted it to be the two of them. Or she thought the talking would interfere with her work? Both were legitimate concerns. But it would have been rude not to invite Prisha. Wouldn’t it?
She reached over and touched Frankie’s arm. “I’m really glad you drove down.”
Frankie glanced over, nodding again, but her eyes were solemn. “Me, too.” Her smile returned then. “Beautiful day. Maybe later I’ll take Archie for a walk, wear him out. So he doesn’t decide to go chasing racoons in the wee hours of the morning again.”
Harper laughed. “That’s an excellent idea.” She looked over at Prisha. “You are never going to believe what Archie did last night…”