Chapter Four
Ada stood at the top of the beach access stairs, her beach bag over her shoulder, chair under her arm, and her phone, unfortunately, pressed to her ear. “I promise, Vincent, I will tell you if I hear about a miraculous beachfront for under a million. But I don’t think one exists.”
“I’ve got to find something,” Vincent said. “The McEllens don’t believe it’s as impossible as I’ve told them. They’re turning on me. I’m bringing George along for protection.”
George was five foot six and about as terrifying as a newborn kitten, so Ada didn’t think Vincent actually thought he was in any danger.
“I’ll be sure to offer a moving eulogy at your funeral,” she said, “but only if you don’t call me again. It’s my day off.”
“What realtor gets to take a Saturday off?”
“One who got five incredible deals for clients this week,” she said. “Like my business cards say, I’m the best.”
“I hate you.” Vincent said that a lot, but never meant it. “Have fun goofing off.”
“Have fun cowering behind George.” She dropped her phone in her bag and took a deep breath of salty ocean air.
It had been a good week. She’d negotiated killer prices for clients, found an amazing new home stager to use, and signed a new client looking to spend a small fortune.
The one downside: Craig hadn’t called or texted except to discuss the townhouse he’d made an offer on.
He’d seemed happy to get an even better deal than expected.
He asked a few technical questions. Their interaction had all been very impersonal.
I guess our date really wasn’t a date. And here she’d been thinking it was the best first date she’d ever been on. She had actually been hoping for a second one. She never hoped for a second date.
Her thoughts kept swirling as she took the stairs down to the beach. She and Craig had a lot in common. They talked easily, as if they’d known each other for years instead of days. But maybe he was like that with everyone.
“Ada!” Shantice had beaten her to the beach. She waved Ada over.
Shantice always looked like she’d stepped off the cover of a fashion magazine, even at the beach.
Her striped sunhat perfectly matched her red suit.
Her sandals weren’t the usual dollar store flip-flops everyone else wore.
She could probably have given the Hollywood red carpet walkers a run for their money.
Ada, on the other hand, tended to buy the first suit that fit and then add whatever accessories were most sensible.
“How’s the water?” Ada asked.
“Too cold for me. But Devon and Ruff don’t seem to mind.”
Shantice’s boyfriend and dog were playing fetch in the waves. They weren’t alone. California’s beaches filled up in June despite the water not being very warm yet. For her part, Ada enjoyed just sitting on the beach, clearing her mind of work and worries.
They talked while she set up her chair next to Shantice’s.
They touched on everything from family issues to weekend plans to the latest movies.
Conversations between them had come easily ever since they met at the agency.
Ada had supported her through a terrible divorce.
Shantice had been there for Ada when her mother died. They were as close as sisters.
Ada settled into her beach chair, ready for a relaxing morning.
“Okay, now, don’t shoot me, but. . .” Shantice eyed her nervously.
“That doesn’t bode well.”
Shantice didn’t move from her position lying out on the lounge-style beach chair. “I just want to know if you’ve heard anything from Craig.”
“Not since you asked last night,” she said dryly.
“Why are guys so stupid? You two hit it off, and he doesn’t ask you out for real? That’s idiotic.”
Ada adjusted her sunhat to shade her face better. “In his defense, I could ask him just as easily.”
“So why haven’t you?”
Why haven’t I? “Probably because I figured he’d say no. I got a strong he’s-just-not-that-into-you vibe this week.”
“But he asked you out,” Shantice repeated for the hundredth time that week. “That sounds interested to me.”
Ada shrugged. What could she say? She’d thought he was interested too.
“Maybe his divorce was nasty,” Shantice said. “That makes dating seem like a disaster waiting to happen.”
Could be.
“And you said he has a kid. That would make any guy— any decent guy anyway— more cautious.”
“I wasn’t looking to move in or take over his life. I was just hoping for a second date.”
And yet, Shantice had a point. He had reason to be careful. But she’d also thought there had been a reason to talk to her about something other than his condo.
“Ada!” Shantice’s whisper was almost frantic. “Ada, look. Look who’s talking to Devon. Look!”
She knew that dark, wavy hair in an instant. Craig. How was this possible? Miles of beaches, millions of people, and Craig was standing right there, talking to Shantice’s boyfriend. A boy— Jack, probably— was playing with Ruff.
“It’s fate,” Shantice whispered. She whistled, and Ruff came bounding over.
Ada was immediately on alert, sitting straight up in her chair. She didn’t trust the scheming look in Shantice’s eyes. “What are you doing?”
“Getting you a second date.” Shantice waved the dog over more eagerly.
An instant after Ruff arrived, Jack did too. The dog’s tail wagged excitedly.
“You can keep petting him if you want,” Shantice said. “He likes you; I can tell.”
“He’s great,” Jack declared, popping to his knees in the sand and going to town petting the dog and scratching behind his ears.
“His name’s Ruff. I’m Shantice. This is my friend Ada.”
“My dad knows someone named Ada,” Jack said, not looking away from Ruff. “He told my aunt Bianca about her.”
Shantice shot her a wide-eyed look and an I-told-you-so nod. Ada didn’t let herself get her hopes up. Bianca Adamson was a friend of a friend. She was the one who suggested that her brother-in-law hire Ada. Craig could have mentioned her as nothing more than his realtor.
“I know your dad, actually,” she told Jack. “I’m helping him buy his new house.”
“Oh, then you’re not Coffee Ada.” Jack shrugged, looking a little disappointed.
“Coffee Ada,” Shantice mouthed.
Ada’s heart leaped around unexpectedly. She was usually pretty levelheaded. “I might be,” she told Jack. “We did have coffee on Friday.”
That brought the boy’s gaze to her face at last. “Really?”
“Really.”
Jack jumped to his feet. “Don’t go anywhere, Ruff.” Then he bolted toward the waves. “Dad! Dad!”
Ada couldn’t hear what he said, but Jack pointed back at her as he spoke to his father. Almost as if in slow motion, Craig turned his head in her direction. Surprise registered on his face, followed by a slow, heart-melting smile.
“You are so getting a second date,” Shantice said.
Ada couldn’t take her eyes off Craig. “That smile. It’s killer, isn’t it?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“And he’s a genuinely good guy, which is even better. Smart. Funny. A great dad.” It was little wonder she wanted a second date so badly. You didn’t meet someone like that every day.
Craig, Jack, and Devon made their way over, Craig eying her with curiosity.
“Hi,” she said when he was in earshot.
“Small world. What brings you out?”
She moved her sunglasses to the top of her head. “I thought I’d come watch the seagulls attack some tourists.”
“Hey, Dad, that’s what we do!” Jack had a nine-year-old’s version of his dad’s smile. In a few more years, he would break some hearts.
“Have you seen any attacks today?” she asked Jack.
“Nah. The seagulls are busy or something.” His eyes kept darting to Ruff, who ran back and forth between Shantice and Devon.
Craig, however, was looking at her.
“Do you and Devon know each other?” she asked.
“We go to the same gym, though he’s obviously getting more out of his membership.” He patted his belly as if there were a big gut hiding under his close-fitting T-shirt rather than the trim stomach actually there.
She stroked her chin in an overdone show of contemplation. “I’m sure there’s a protein shake for that.”
Good grief, that smile!
Devon held a hand out to Shantice. “Come into the water, babe. It’s not that cold, I swear.”
The doubtful look she threw at him was almost comical.
Devon tried again. “If it’s freezing, I’ll get you a tea on the way home, okay?”
Shantice took his hand in one of hers, the other holding her hat against the stiff breeze, and let him pull her to her feet. Before walking out with Devon, she shot Craig a quick look. “You can use my chair. Then Ada won’t have to crane her neck so far back to talk to you.”
He took the offer, plopping next to Ada as though entirely comfortable around her. So he probably hadn’t hated their coffee non-date. Why were guys so hard to figure out?
“How does Jack feel about switching schools?” she asked.
“He didn’t throw a party or anything, but he seems okay with it. Jack’s a resilient kid. He’s had to be with everything that’s happened.”
Ada could appreciate that. “My folks split up when I was a little younger than he is. They never quit hating each other, and my brothers and I were always caught in the middle. We learned quickly how to negotiate any minefield.” It had been a miserable way to grow up.
“That’s why I try so hard to get along with my ex.
It’s not Jack’s fault our marriage fell apart, and I don’t want him to suffer for it any more than he has to.
” He shook his head, even laughed a little bit.
“I don’t know how you get me to spill so many things.
I don’t usually talk about myself so much. ”
She slid her sunglasses into place once more. “I’m telling you, it’s a superpower.”
His attention returned to Jack, who was laughing uproariously as he and Ruff chased each other. “Why do I get the feeling I’m going to have to buy a dog?”
“That’s a dog’s superpower.”
Craig’s laugh sounded very much like a deeper version of his son’s. “Dogs get kids addicted. It’s underhanded.”
“Shantice and Ruff come here almost every Saturday morning. You’re welcome to bring Jack if he ever needs a dog fix. I’m here, too, whenever I can get a Saturday morning off.”