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“I’d be happy to.” Wiping her hands on her apron, the older woman took the envelope with a smile. “I have a bunch of errands to run this morning anyway. Shall I do it now?”
“Yes, please, if you don’t mind. And please get a tracking number and receipt.”
“Oh, my.” Mrs. Lee tilted her head. “It sounds important.”
“It is. It’s a present. For my...my sisters.” Lola’s heart was beating fast. She knew the girls were happy in their adoptive family. She’d long ago given up thoughts of custody. All she wanted now was for her sisters to remember her. And maybe, if she was very lucky, to forgive her. “Thank you, Mrs. Lee.”
After the housekeeper was gone, Lola changed into a modest swimsuit and cover-up, put a swimsuit on the baby and slathered him with sunscreen, and put hats on them both to block out the hot California sun. Carrying Jett with one arm, and a large wicker basket full of toys with the other, she struggled out onto the white sand. Stretching out a beach blanket, she set up her baby comfortably, then sat down beside him.
With a deep breath, Lola stared out at the wide blue ocean stretching out to the west, all the way to Hawaii and Japan. She wanted to call back Mrs. Lee, and tell her not to send the letter. She felt scared and alone. Would her sisters ever forgive her?
But as she reached for her phone to call back Mrs. Lee, she heard Rodrigo’s firm words.
You know how to argue people into things. When you’re ready to see your sisters, you’ll figure out how.
With a deep breath, she put down her phone. She’d try to be strong.
She wondered where Rodrigo was at this moment.
Staring out at the horizon, she saw something out of the corner of her eye. Turning, she saw a man coming toward her on the beach. For a moment, she thought it was Rodrigo. But it was a stranger. It was so unexpected, she sat up straight on the beach blanket, blinking in surprise.
A stranger? On this beach?
All of California’s beaches were public, at least in theory, but this beach was virtually private, as it was on an isolated inlet surrounded by cliffs to the north and south.
The man looked like a surfer, wearing board shorts, flip-flops and an unbuttoned shirt that showed off his hard-muscled chest. He had blond hair, a deep tan and a toothy smile.
“Hello,” she said, frowning.
“Hello,” he said, smiling down at her. “Are you all alone? You’re too beautiful to be lonely. Would you like some company? You and your charming baby?”
Lola’s mouth dropped. Was this stranger hitting on her?
She wasn’t wearing a bikini but a modest cover-up. But he was looking at her as if he were a cat and she was a fish. For the first time, she wished the bodyguards were around.
“No, thanks.” Picking up Jett from the blanket, she quickly packed up her things in the wicker basket. “I was just leaving.”
“You were?” he said, his tanned face disappointed.
“Sorry.” Straightening her big sun hat, she carried the baby and wicker basket back to the house, walking swiftly. Once she reached the safety of the terrace, she turned to look back. The beach was empty. The stranger was gone.
Of course he was. Lola exhaled. Obviously, she’d been alone in this house too long, to get so weirded out just by someone being friendly. Or maybe she’d finally become a true New Yorker. Strangers talking to her made her suspicious and alarmed.
But still, she couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling.
Inside the beach house, she went to find the bodyguards. Lester was nowhere to be found, but she discovered Tobias pacing angrily in the courtyard, speaking into his cell phone.
“Chelsea, what are you talking about?” He gripped his phone. “You know I’m supposed to have him. This is the third time you’ve brushed me off.” He listened, then an expletive escaped his lips. “That’s a lie and you know it. He doesn’t have homework. He’s five! I deserve to see my son. And he deserves it, too. I pay child support. I’ve tried to be patient, but we both know the real reason...”
Tobias saw Lola, and his face went pale. “I have to call you back,” he said, then scowled, “No, Chelsea, tonight. And if you even think you...?
??
Coming forward, Lola calmly plucked the phone out of his hand. “Hello, this is Mrs. Cabrera. Tobias’s employer.”
“So?” the woman’s voice was sour, ready for battle. Good, because that was exactly Lola’s mood.
“If you don’t let him see his son, which is apparently his legal right, we’re going to have to either let him go, which means you’ll be getting no more child support, or else we’ll consider sending a full team of LA’s best lawyers to ask the judge to reopen the case and pursue full custody on his behalf.”
