Beachcombers Read Free Page B

You're gorgeous, you're free. You should love your life."
    "I want a family. I want your life," Marina insisted. "I want your children."
    Christie burst out laughing. "Are you kidding me? I tell you what, you stay here for the weekend with my bunch. Bob and I will go off on a little jaunt together and leave you in charge." She saw the alarm on Marina's face and laughed even harder.
    Marina laughed, too. She felt better already, and as she drove back home in the winter twilight, she decided she would tell Gerry that if she wasn't pregnant by her fortieth birthday, she was going to stop trying. They would have to move on. And she told him, and he accepted her decision.
    Perhaps Marina had secretly hoped that her ultimatum to herself--to Fate or Destiny or whoever gave women babies--would make her body sit up, take notice, and get to work. Get pregnant.
    Then her fortieth birthday arrived.
    And everything changed.
    Now Marina reminded herself: No wallowing! Move on! She sat up in bed, planted her feet on the cool wood floor, and surveyed her funny little loft bedroom.
    Focus , she told herself.
    What was number five? Okay, the fifth thing she was grateful for was to be on this island. The flamboyant, generous beauty both hurt and healed her. Some days the intensity of the wild blue sea, the dense clouds of pink climbing roses, flew straight to her heart like an arrow, spearing her with emotions, so that she had to crouch to the ground, pressing her knees into her chest to keep from crying. But some days the beauty soothed her, even cheered her.
    She believed that someday, someday soon , she would walk on the beach, and she would smile.
    3

    Abbie
    A bbie!"
    The instant Abbie stepped out of Jason's truck onto the driveway, her youngest sister opened the front door and flew out of the house. Lily had been waiting, watching out the window, and this tugged at Abbie's heart. Lily was twenty-two now, a grown woman, but she would always be Abbie's little sister. And Lily was little, four inches shorter than Abbie, and petite.
    "Abbie, I'm so glad you're here!" Lily was almost jumping up and down.
    "Me, too, kid." Abbie wrapped her sister in a big hug.
    Lily was the beauty of the family, with her red hair and green cat eyes. She was sexy, too, and not unaware of her charms. Abbie felt Lily's attention shift to Jason, the island man who had been on her plane and offered her a ride home from the airport.
    Jason was lifting Abbie's luggage from his truck. He was two years older than Lily and six years younger than Abbie. He'd just gotten out of the army, and he was grown up and bulked up. He'd been a hunk to start with, with his dark hair, black eyes, and the exotic looks he'd inherited from his Cape Verdean ancestors.
    Abbie reached for her duffel bag and roller suitcase. "Jason, thanks for the ride."
    "No problem." Jason nodded at Lily. "Hi, Lily."
    "Hi, Jason. Thanks for bringing Abbie home." Lily batted her long lashes at Jason. "Would you like to come in for some iced tea or something?"
    "Another time, maybe. Abbie tells me she hasn't been home for a while. You guys have some catching up to do." With a smile, Jason climbed up into his truck and drove away.
    Lily grabbed her sister's arm, pulling her toward the house. "I can't believe you're really here! I went out to Bartlett's and got a bunch of their arugula ..."
    The front hall was cool and dim; the back of the house got the sun. As she dropped her bags down by the stairs, Abbie saw the dust powdering the baseboards, the frame of the mirror, and the etched glass globes of the overhead light.
    "Look!" Lily nodded toward the hall table, where a vase of wildflowers stood next to the brass bowl where the family tossed their mail and keys. "Just for you!"
    "How nice, Lily! Thanks." Abbie hugged her sister again, but she couldn't keep her gaze from sweeping over Lily's shoulder. She'd been gone for just eighteen months. How could the house have become so cluttered in that short space of