were out here, the guys most likely already had one reserved.
I was wrong. Ash walked over to us from a nicely set-up area. Surfboards were lying out in front of canopies, keeping us closer to the shorelines. Beach blankets were laid out carefully, and there were chairs that I could sit on and fall asleep in if I wanted to.
“Hey, you,” Ash said from under a floppy, white hat with oversized sunglasses, looking stylish with her pregnant belly in her swimsuit and beach coverup. “The guys are already out there screwing off. You just missed Collin’s wipeout.” She chuckled and looked at Addy. “Hey, sweetie. I’m Ash. You look like you’re all ready for a day at the beach.”
“I am. I’m Addy. Can I surf too?” She pointed out to a man in a wet suit who just took a wave.
Ash laughed and looked at me. “That’s Jake. He’s my husband. At the rate he’s going, you’re going to watch him bite it, and then you might not want to do it. How about some smaller waves?” She looked at me, wondering if she’d overstepped her bounds.
I smiled. “We’ll see, Addy. Let’s just relax and watch the guys for now. You can take those cool beach toys that I know you conned Jim into buying you and play with them.”
“We didn’t buy toys, Mom,” she said.
“That was Jake and me,” Ash smiled, and looked at Addy. “We thought you’d love to bury Jake in the sand.”
Addy giggled her tired laugh. “I’ll bury him to his neck,” she said, making Ash laugh.
“Then I’ll help you give him a mermaid tail. Do you like mermaids?”
“I love mermaids and unicorns.” Addy started to perk up.
“Then we’ll make Jake a mermaid when he comes in and is too tired to care,” she said, leading the way to the cabana area they’d set up.
“So, do the guys own this part of the beach or something? This is insanely awesome,” I said, sitting in a lounge chair next to Ash.
“They definitely act as though they own it,” she said with a laugh. “We’re rarely here, so this is a nice change. Maybe if we’re all not wiped out this afternoon, you guys can come to take a look at my gallery. I have some neat mermaid paintings.” She shrugged. “Jake pulled off some miracle, and with the lighting in there, it looks super cool. It blew my mind, and I painted the damn—” she covered her mouth, Addy sitting in front of us, but still ignoring us. “Oops. I’m sorry, dang things.” She shook her head. “It might be fun for Addy to pick out a picture.”
“You all are too good to her and me.”
“It’s nice to have the company of a woman I can relate to. The guys are all great, but having a woman around who’s not prattling on about superficial stuff all the time is a breath of fresh air.”
“That bad, huh?” I smiled.
“I’m just glad you’re here,” she answered as she reached for a thermos. “We brought coffee. Do you want some?”
“Yes, please. I take it black, thanks,” I said, reaching for the cup she handed me. “So, are they all single?”
“Alex is messing around with a girl named Summer. She’s come around once or twice, but being that she’s Jim’s secretary, they’re trying to play it low key. She seems sweet, but she hardly talks, so I don’t really know. I’m not one to judge people prematurely, but she seems more interested in the superficial side of Alex. That could just be a bit of immaturity. Who knows. As long as he’s happy.” She eyed the men out there, catching waves, “Collin is hit and miss. He brought one woman around, but she acted like she was being tortured by having to hang out with people who were beneath her. Jake and Jim instantly didn’t like her. She seemed like maybe she was more suited to date a prince or something. Honestly, I don’t blame any of the women. These guys aren’t exactly serious. Maybe someday,” she finished with a shrug.
“I get what you mean,” I said, knowing Ash was probably holding back so she wouldn’t sound like a beauty-parlor gossip. Some people made it hard to have something nice to say about them, and I got the feeling these guys attracted a lot of those types. It was hard to attract meaningful people if you acted like a goof, though. Ash was right about that.
“Then,” Ash hung onto that word