Why hadn’t she kicked over his motorcycle instead of getting on it all those years ago?

Thankful for the sunglasses she wore, she watched as Angie threw sand in a bucket in a cute little two-piece that made a starfish across her belly. But when Lucy looked at her face, she was scowling.

She was not happy with Lucy.

“Mom. Where is Benji? Can I call him? We had plans here,” Angie said, frustrated, and Lucy shook her head.

“Honey, he’s busy,” she said once more, her voice breaking a bit. She didn’t miss the way Avery looked at her, shaking her head. Avery was the only one who knew what had happened, and Lucy had threatened her life if she uttered a word to anyone. Even to Ashlyn.

“This is so stupid! He promised me he’d be here to help me,” she complained, throwing her bucket down and letting out a long breath. Lucy’s heart broke a little. Shit, she was hurting everyone. This was so stupid. Maybe she should just call him. But how could she own up to this? Now it was her pride. She couldn’t call him and ask for help after she ran, thinking she could handle it all on her own. No, she had made this bed, she was going to lie in it and fix it.

She just didn’t know how.

Avery let out a knowing sigh, shaking her head once more, and Lucy cut her gaze to her. “What? Got something to say?” she asked and Avery shrugged her shoulders, checking on Ashlyn, who was sleeping in her little sand crib, a shade over her.

“Oh, nothing. It’s none of my business,” she said, holding her hands up. She still must have been upset from when Lucy snapped at her over breakfast. She just didn’t want people telling her what to do. Especially when she already knew what to do.

Call Benji and tell him she was an idiot and she needed his help.

“One thing is for sure, you need to get the sand out your vag,” Avery said before standing up and pulling her bottoms out of her butt.

“There isn’t any,” she snapped back and Avery scoffed.

“You need to check. I think a whole sand castle is up in there,” she threw back as she stood before Lucy in all her beautiful glory. It made Lucy sick that she was still so skinny after having a baby. Not one stretch mark. Bullshit. “I’m going to go make a sand castle with my niece ’cause she’s nice. You’re a brat.”

“Well, if there is already one in my vag, why build one?”

Avery glared back at her. “Because we don’t want your stinky, angry one.”

She almost laughed, but she didn’t want to give Avery the satisfaction as she went over to Angie, sitting down to help her. When Angie looked to Avery, her little face sad, Lucy felt like shit as she asked, “Do you know where Benji is?”

“No, honey, sorry,” Avery said. But then Angie stood, her face changing as she waved her hands above her head.

“There he is!” she screamed, running past Avery and toward the house. Lucy turned, and she wasn’t sure why she was so surprised, but there he was.

Benji.

Angie jumped toward him and he caught her midair, kissing her hard on the cheek as she hugged him tightly. How did he find them? What was she going to do?

But, oh, thank God he was here.

Lucy looked back to Avery, shocked. But Avery must have thought her look was accusatory because she shook her head. “I promise I did not tell him.”

“Benji! Where have you been? I missed you soooooooooooo much,” Angie stressed, her body wrapped around him like a koala. “I thought I was going to have to make this castle by myself, and I was so mad you weren’t here. Where were you?”

“Sorry, sunshine, little miscommunication. But come on, let’s make this castle,” he said, carrying her toward them. He looked gorgeous. No shirt, his muscles rippling and bunching as he walked in a pair of swim shorts. He had a hat on and a pair of sunglasses, a careless grin on his face, like he was supposed to be there.

And he was.

If Lucy hadn’t told him not to come.

Even with the sunglasses, though, she felt his gaze on her as he stopped beside her, bending down while still holding Angie to press his lips to hers. Closing her eyes, she almost cried at the feel of his lips before he pulled back, looking deep into her eyes. “Hey, sweetheart.”

Breathless, she swallowed hard. “Hey, I thought you weren’t coming.”

He smiled. “Yeah, your mom said to tell you she loves me more.”

That stunned her for maybe three seconds before she glared. That Autumn Moore! As much as she wanted to be mad at her mom, she couldn’t be. She wanted Benji there. She was just too damned proud to admit it.

She watched as he carried Angie to the sand mound she had made. He put her on her feet before looking back at Lucy. “Nice suit.”

His lips curved and she fought a grin as she covered her chest with her arms. She was wearing a suit he had picked out for this trip, and while it pleased her that he liked it, she still wasn’t sure what to do. He was acting as if everything was fine, but what did that mean? Did he know what was going on?

“Hey, Benji,” Avery said as she stood, dusting sand off herself but he stopped her.

“You don’t want to build?”

She laughed. “I was the stand-in till you showed up,” she said with a grin before patting his back. “It’s good to see you.”

“You too.”

Lucy watched as Benji bent down, getting to work with Angie as Avery came back to sit down. Leaning back in her chair, she said, “Maybe he can clean the sand out of your vag.”