Where the hell was Alex?
As though summoned by the thought, there were footsteps in the sand behind her, and Jamie craned her neck around to find Alex looking down at her, an amused smile on his face.
“They’re looking pretty serious about making it to that water.”
“Lilli,” Jamie said, suddenly on the verge of tears, “almost did. Without me. Because I looked away for one second and then she was gone.”
Alex’s smile dropped and he leaned down to pick Lilli up despite her protests, holding her close in his arms.
Jamie gathered Benton up and stood. “Which wouldn’t have happened,” she said, “if you had stayed with us.”
He reached out a hand to her, and Jamie hesitated for just an instant before she stepped into the offered embrace, burying her face against her husband’s shoulder and taking a long, shuddering breath.
“She could have made it to the water,” she said, voice catching in her throat. “If I’d been just a second slower, she could have.”
His arm tightened around her. “It’s okay, baby. You got here. She’s here. She’s safe. They both are.”
They were both safe. Jamie nodded against Alex’s shoulder, still shaky, but able to breathe again. Nothing bad had happened. It was okay.
“I’m sorry that I walked away,” Alex said gently.
Jamie looked up. She shook her head as she stepped out of Alex’s arms, boosting Benton into a better position on her hip while he squirmed and protested being held. She sighed. “It’s okay,” she said. “It was important or you wouldn’t have taken it.”
“It was important,” Alex said, “but it’s dealt with now. And you’re what’s important.” He looked down at the twins, and then back up at Jamie, the smile on his face again. “What do you say we take them down and introduce them to the ocean?”
Jamie laughed, the last of the tension finally seeping out of her muscles. “Yeah,” she said, “okay. Let’s do that.”
Despite their earlier enthusiastic attempts to run open-armed into it, the twins were not very impressed with the ocean water, which this far north wasn’t all that warm even at the end of summer. Lilli slapped at it with one hand, then looked down at her fingers and shook them, trying to get rid of the feeling of the water.
Alex laughed. “I guess it isn’t as exciting as she thought it was going to be.”
“I guess not,” Jamie agreed, grinning at him over the twins’ heads.
Benton chose that moment to stick the hand he’d dunked in the water into his mouth, and promptly made a noise of disgust that set Jamie laughing and Alex off again.
“Okay,” she said when their mirth had faded. “We should probably take them back up the beach and get them some food.”
This time, the twins didn’t reach back for the ocean when Jamie and Alex started carrying them away. They would probably enjoy it a bit more in a few years when they were really allowed to play in it, but for now Jamie was glad they didn’t seem that excited about it anymore. If it meant no more attempts to run in unattended, she would breathe a little easier.
They pulled food out of the cooler they’d brought with them and set it up on the blanket, feeding themselves between bites for the twins. The breeze off the ocean was just cool enough to offset the warmth of the sun, and around them there were other families laughing and playing. Under the noise of their activity, the rhythmic hush of the waves provided a serene backdrop. It was exactly what Jamie had wanted.
Their family needed times like these. Time to just relax, to be together and bond and share the sunlight and the sound of the ocean. She knew Alex knew that, and wanted to be part of it, but he seemed to struggle with implementing the concept. With everything that had been happening at Reid Enterprises, finding time to get away was difficult. If he would just give more of the control to Zander, he could let go a little. Spend some time with them without having to worry about his phone ringing.
When the twins were born, Jamie had thought that would get him to do it, let go of som
e of the reins of the company and spend more time at home. And he had, to an extent. There were no more fifteen-hour days. No more falling into bed at midnight just back from the office. But she wanted them to have more. More days like this, sitting together on a blanket and watching the waves roll in.
Somehow, Jamie was going to make it happen.
Chapter 6
Mark woke a week after the news interview to the sun spilling in through the window, the light of it visible even through his closed eyelids, Erica curled against his chest and wrapped close in his arms. It wasn't a bad way to be woken up, really. In fact, it was a pretty nice way to wake up, and Mark smiled as the woman in his embrace stirred, not yet fully awake, and snuggled closer. His arms tightened around her.
“Mmmm… mornin’,” Erica said without opening her eyes.
“Morning,” Mark replied, his voice sounding low and husky. There was also a smile in his voice to match the one on his face. “We should get up.”
Erica sighed and Mark laughed, reaching a hand up to run it through her hair. “Come on. Up you get. I’ve got things I’ve got to do this morning, unfortunately.”