The Cliff House

by RaeAnne Thayne

  Bea watched them go, her mind spinning. Cruz made it clear several times over the course of the evening that he wanted to get back together with her. How could she possibly do it, step back into that world that left her so anxious and uncomfortable? She didn’t want to, but would Mari be happier if her mother and father were together so she didn’t have to split her attention between them?

  She couldn’t answer that question tonight but also sensed she wouldn’t be able to sleep for some time, so she opted to take Jojo to her studio to get things ready for her trip the next day.

  Once at work, surrounded by clay and paints and watercolors she used in her mixed-media canvases, she felt the tension leave her shoulders. Here she felt like herself, as if the rest of the time she was only pretending.

  She picked up a new canvas and began an idea that had been kicking around in her head, and before she realized it, an hour had passed and she had done the preliminary outline for a new painting.

  “What do you think, Jojo?” she said to Mari’s little dog. “Is it working for you?”

  The dog cocked his head as if actually studying the painting of Sanctuary Head, where crazy kids dived into the water during high tide.

  She decided to celebrate her progress by sitting in the hot tub for a few moments to work out the kinks in her shoulders. She changed quickly into her favorite comfortable one-piece swimming suit, shoved her feet into flip-flops and headed out her master bedroom door to the pool.

  A figure was swimming laps there while a big yellow Lab watched from the pool deck and she wondered if this was what had led her outside.

  Her mouth went dry and for a moment she stood frozen, not knowing what to do. The coward in her told her to go back inside but she hesitated. It was her house, she reminded herself. Her pool. And Shane was her friend.

  She needed to regain that friendship somehow. After a moment, she made her way stealthily behind him. This was the sort of thing they used to do all the time. Tease each other, laugh, dunk each other in the pool. She wanted that back, desperately.

  He didn’t seem to notice she was there, or Jojo joining up with Sally. Or maybe he did and was simply ignoring her. She pushed away that worry and focused instead on regaining the fun and spontaneity of their prior relationship. Feeling mischievous and playful, she swam quietly behind him, and just before he made the turn, she reached out and grabbed his leg.

  Surprising him was a grave mistake. She knew it instantly.

  “Hey!” He kicked out, catching her right in the stomach.

  Her breath tangled somewhere in her chest and she clutched her stomach as her vision grayed a little.

  He looked horrified when he realized what he had done and swam toward her. “I’m so sorry, Bea. Are you okay? I’m an idiot! You startled me and I acted without thinking.”

  “My fault,” she managed to gasp out when she could draw air into her lungs again. “I was...just teasing you. I...thought maybe you...knew I was there.”

  “I was focused on the workout, I guess. Are you okay?”

  “I will be...when my lungs kick in again.”

  She sucked in a breath and then another until the tightness in her solar plexus eased.

  “I really am sorry.”

  She shook her head. “Don’t be. I should know better than to interrupt you when you’re in the groove.”

  She paused, taking another breath, then asked a question she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to know the answer to. “How was your date?”

  He treaded water for a moment then flopped onto his back and floated beside her. The night was lush with stars and the quiet murmur of the ocean below them. “It was nice. She seems great.”

  “Will you see her again?”

  “Probably.”

  If she was a true friend, she would be thrilled he had found someone he liked with potential. She would want him to be happy. He was a good man who deserved someone wonderful.

  She didn’t want to feel this jealousy that pinched at her like a snotty girl in gym class.

  “How about yours?” he asked. “Cruz drew quite a crowd, as usual.”

  “The food is always good at The Fishwife. You know I love their halibut.”

  “I’m glad.”

  They floated for a moment beside each other as the waterfall rippled and the moon crested the mountains east of Cape Sanctuary. She was intensely aware of him beside her, athletic and graceful and gorgeous.

  She hadn’t realized she’d made a sound until he splashed her a little.

  “That was a big sigh. What’s wrong?”

  She couldn’t find the words to tell him about these feelings she was beginning to realize had been growing inside her for a long time. What if he laughed at her? What if he told her he could never consider her anything other than a friend or that kissing her would be like kissing his sister?

  Their friendship was too dear to her. She couldn’t risk ruining everything.

  “Cruz wants to get back together,” she finally said, floating a little away from him.

  He rose to his feet, the wake washing over her. “Are you going to?”

  “I don’t know,” she answered honestly. “Some part of me thinks of how much easier it would be on Mari if we were back together. No more shared custody, no more having to split her time between us. I’m just not sure I’m ready for all the...stuff that comes with it.”

  She finally risked a look at him. He looked tough, dangerous, carved from the finest Carrara marble. “What would you suggest I do?”

  A muscle tightened in his jaw and he headed for the pool ladder. “I can’t make that decision for you, Bea. This one is yours.”

  She followed after him and reached for her towel. “You’re my best friend. I’m asking advice. I’m interested in what you have to say.”

  He wiped off his face with his towel and lowered it to meet her gaze, his expression unreadable.

  “My advice? Don’t ask me whether you should get back with your ex. I’m the last person whose opinion you need. I know how much he broke your heart.”

  “I’m not in love with him anymore. If I went back, it would be strictly for Mari’s sake. My heart wouldn’t be involved.”

  “You can tell yourself that story but I doubt you and Cruz would be on the same page. He’s probably looking for more.”

  He was right. Cruz had a pathological need for everyone to love him. “So you’re saying I either have to give everything or nothing.”

  “I’m saying I’m the wrong person to ask. What do Stella or Daisy say?”

  “I haven’t told them,” she admitted.

  “There you go. Start with them.”

  She could only imagine what they would say. Daisy had married a man decades older than she was, for reasons Bea still didn’t understand, and Stella had never dated anyone more than four or five times.

  “Sure. Okay. Thanks anyway.”

  He looked as if he had something else to say but must have changed his mind. He slung his towel over his broad shoulders. “I’ve got practice early in the morning. I should go.”

  “Right. Well, thanks for the swim.”

  She reached up to kiss his cheek, as she had done dozens of times before. Did he have any idea how badly she wanted to slide her mouth to his? To press her body against his?

  She didn’t do either of those things. She simply stepped away, forced a smile and watched him whistle for his dog then go inside the guesthouse while the air eddied, cool and empty, around her.

  * * *

  Bea tried not to brood the next day as she drove to Trinidad with her pieces, but she had a feeling she wasn’t successful.

  Even Jojo, whom she had taken along for company, seemed to give her a wide berth. She couldn’t blame the dog. She wasn’t fit to be around anyone, human or canine.

  The drive back down the c
oast to home cheered her up considerably and she felt better by the time she pulled into her driveway behind another of Cruz’s luxury SUVs, this one a white Escalade.

  He must have brought Mari home earlier than planned. She let Jojo out of the car, knowing the dog would lead her to Mari. Sure enough, when she followed the dog, she found her daughter and Cruz kicking around a soccer ball on the grass near the pool.

  Cruz stopped what he was doing and gave her what she used to call his smolder look, half-closed bedroom eyes and that secretive smile that drove women wild when he sang.

  It used to drive her wild, too. Now it just left her uncomfortable.

  “Hi, Mom!” Mari’s features were bright and happy, and love for this girl was a thick, heavy ache in Bea’s chest. She and Cruz had screwed up so many things but their child was a miracle.

  “Hi, baby. How was your day?”

  “Super. We had a ton of fun. We went on a ride and then went down to the beach to surf a little.”

  She shivered. “Crazy people. That water is freezing.”

  “We had on wet suits. Plus, it’s a warm day,” Cruz assured her. “We were careful, I promise.”

  “I believe you,” she said softly.

  She did. Cruz was always careful about Mari’s safety—far more than he was his own.

  “Want to join us?” Cruz asked. The eagerness on his features was almost painful to see. “We could use one more out here.”

  She wanted to soak in her jetted tub with a good romance novel and a glass of wine but she had a feeling that wasn’t going to happen.

  “Sure. Just let me change.”

  “You look great, babe. Really great.”

  She rolled her eyes. She wore four-inch heels and an off-white linen tailored pantsuit with a vibrant turquoise shirt out of what she called her Successful Artist wardrobe.

  Sometimes she had to dress the part of a fashionable creative, especially when dealing with gallery owners.

  “I’ll go change,” she said firmly. While the bathtub still beckoned, she changed instead to capris and a T-shirt and pulled her hair up into a quick messy bun then hurried outside to join the soccer fray.

  They spent the next hour in the sweet August sunshine, chasing the ball around her lawn and playing with Jojo.

  It was almost more relaxing than that bath would have been, much to her surprise.

  “That was fun,” Cruz said after she went into the house to bring back chilled water bottles for all of them.

  He looked gorgeous, relaxed and happy with his dark hair plastered to his head and his T-shirt dampened with sweat.

  If his fans could see him now, in this natural element while he played soccer with his daughter, there would be mass hysteria.

  They all flopped onto the grass. Jojo crawled onto her lap and she sipped at her water bottle, wondering if there might be a chance they could make things work a second time.

  “I have a proposition for you,” Cruz said.

  Bea frowned. She did not want him bringing up his desire to get back together in front of their daughter. That would back her into a corner and leave her in a position to disappoint Mari all over again.

  “What sort of proposition?” she asked warily.

  “I have to fly down to LA tomorrow. Since I canceled the next few weeks of the tour, I’ve had a last-minute request from some rich foreign businessman to play at his daughter’s sixteenth birthday party. I’ve been told I can take guests, if I want. I’d like those guests to be the two of you.”

  “Why would we possibly want to go to a birthday party for someone we don’t know?” Bea asked.

  He grinned. “Trust me, you’ll want to go to this one. It’s an after-hours private event at Universal Studios. The park will be closed to everyone but the few hundred guests of this birthday party and any guests I bring along.”

  The sheer decadence of closing down an entire amusement park for a private party astonished her, though she knew it shouldn’t.

  “Wow! Are you serious?” Mari’s face lit up. “That would be so awesome! Can we go, Mom? You were saying the other day that we should plan a trip down there to see Hogwarts.”

  “What about Rowan? I thought she was coming over tomorrow to hang out with you.”

  “You can invite her, too,” Cruz said. “There’s plenty of room on the plane.”

  If they invited Rowan, they would likely have to invite her father, whom Bea had only met once. On the other hand, she could invite Stella along, too, and work on matchmaking.

  “I suppose we could do that,” she said slowly. “I’ll have to talk to Rowan’s father. It could be your one big fun event before school starts again.”

  Mari’s face lit up. “Yes. Thank you.”

  She ran to her father and hugged him tightly. Cruz grinned. Years ago that smile would have sent Bea’s insides spinning. Now she felt nothing.

  “What time do you want to leave?”

  “The party doesn’t start until eight and I don’t perform until ten. What if we left at two p.m.? That would give us time to fly down and have an early dinner in the city first.”

  “All right. I’ll make some phone calls and see what I can arrange with Stella and Dr. Clayton, Rowan’s father.”

  “Invite Daisy along, too, if you want.”

  She would extend an invitation but was almost positive her sister would have some excuse for why she couldn’t come. Sometimes she felt an almost physical ache, missing the fun, mischievous sister she remembered from her girlhood. Other times she wondered if she had imagined her.

  “What about Shane?” Mari asked. “Can he come? He loves roller coasters.”

  Cruz didn’t look thrilled with that idea and Bea quickly stepped in. “It’s a busy time of year for Shane. He probably wouldn’t be able to make it anyway.”

  Mari looked disappointed. “That’s too bad. Maybe we can take him next time.”

  Bea didn’t see that happening, ever, especially since Cruz and Shane barely tolerated being in the same room together. She didn’t even want to imagine the chaos that might occur on a small private airplane.

  12

  DAISY

  “You want me to what?”

  Daisy stared, speechless at her sister’s face on her phone screen.

  “We’re flying to Los Angeles tomorrow afternoon with Cruz and going to Universal Studios, where he’s performing at a private event. The park will be closed, just for a small group. No lines, no crowds. Just us and a few hundred strangers celebrating some girl’s sixteenth birthday. Doesn’t that sound fun?”

  It did, actually. But Daisy couldn’t possibly drop everything and leave right now.

  “This is sort of out of the blue, isn’t it?”

  “Yes.” Bea managed to look both exasperated and amused. “You know how Cruz can be. Apparently, he only took the gig at the last minute, after his schedule opened up from the cancellation of his remaining tour dates. For the record, Stella is coming, too, along with her old boyfriend, the sexy Dr. Clayton, and his daughter.”

  Daisy made a face at her sister’s obstinacy on that particular topic. “We have no proof he was ever a boyfriend.”

  “He was. Trust me. I know he was the man I saw in that picture she used to keep. This trip will give me the perfect chance to test the waters there and see if there’s any chance they could get together after all these years.”

  She wanted to warn Bea not to meddle again but knew she was wasting her breath.

  “You have to come with us. Cruz says there’s plenty of room on the plane. Of course there’s room. I mean, why would he take a small plane when a big one looks so much more impressive?”

  Cruz did love to spend his money but Daisy knew he could certainly afford it. In a case like this, the person throwing the party was probably footing the bill to fly him in, anyway.

&
nbsp; “It’s going to be fun,” Bea pressed. “I know how much you love Harry Potter.”

  “I do. It’s true.”

  For several years it had seemed as if the books and movies had been one of the few things she and Bea had in common.

  “Then come with us! It will be so much fun. Like when we were kids again!”

  They had never gone to amusement parks when their mother had been alive, unless you counted the cheesy carnival rides at some of the county fairs where Jewel had tried to sell her artwork.

  That sort of thing hadn’t been Jewel’s scene and she would have hated it. Bea went to Disneyland a few times with her own father. Of course, he never offered to include Daisy in the outings. Why would he?

  “I wish I could,” she said, somewhat surprised it was true, “but I’m afraid I can’t be away that long right now.”

  Bea frowned. “Don’t tell me you have too much work to do. You’re always working. You need to relax once in a while. It will be good for you.”

  “I can’t,” she said.

  “What’s so important that you can’t spend an evening with your family, Dais?”

  Left with no choice, she scooped up Louie from where he had been chewing one of the toys she bought at the grocery store the other night with Gabriel Ellison.

  “This,” she answered.

  Bea said nothing for a full thirty seconds, until Daisy thought for sure she’d lost the connection. “Oh, my word. He is the cutest! When did you get a dog? I can’t believe you didn’t tell me! You need to bring him over to make friends with Jojo and Sally. They will love him.”

  “He’s not mine,” she said quickly, though she was beginning to wish with all her heart he was. “He’s a rescue and we’re trying to find his owners.”

  “We?”

  “Uh, the person who found him on the cliffside. You don’t know anyone who might be missing a little French bulldog, do you?”

  Belatedly, it occurred to her she should have asked Bea right away. Her sister and her aunt knew everyone and everything that went on in Cape Sanctuary.