Back to the Beach (Hunt Family Book 4) Read Online Free
Author: Brooke St. James
little. "She's always got some new promotional thing going on. I'm sure I'm not even aware of about half the stuff she does around there."
"Aww shucks, y'all!" I said, smiling shyly.
"I'm so proud of all my babies," Dee-dee repeated, handing me a mug with a huge smile on her face.
"Thanks, Dee-dee," I said for both the coffee and the compliment.
I drank half of my coffee before heading out to the beach with Cody. Paige and Dee-dee stayed behind to listen for Isabel, saying they'd meet us down there once she woke up and had the chance to eat.
Cody's daughter, Ryan, ran up to us the second we walked onto the beach. "I have some super bad news," she informed us with a serious expression on her face. She was shaking her head gravely.
"What?" Cody asked, seeming unconcerned since he knew it was nothing serious.
"This is not a good sandcastle," she said. "Memaw does not know how to do it."
"I think we need some help over here!" my mom called from the area where they were set up.
"See?" Ryan said, still so serious like this sandcastle business was really on her heart. "It's not a good one at all ."
"Why don't we start over?" Cody asked.
"Yeahhhh!" Ryan yelled. It was as if the thought had never crossed her mind. "Memaw, let's just knock this one over," she said excitedly.
We spent the next three hours building a gigantic, professional looking sandcastle. It was almost big enough for my niece to go into it like an actual princess. Okay, so it wasn't quite that big, but Cody knew what he was doing when it came to sandcastles, and we built a showstopper or two every year. Our stretch of the beach was fairly private, but neighbors would walk by every now and then, and they all loved looking at our creations.
That evening, we were all exhausted from the construction efforts, so we decided to get take-out and call it a night. We ordered Mexican, and Dad and Cody went to pick it up. We turned in early in anticipation for the chaos that would ensue the following day.
That chaos began at 9AM (when Ryan woke me up for breakfast) and continued all day. We swam in the ocean and played around with our sandcastle that morning followed by a trip to the grocery store. It was later in the afternoon when Ryan volunteered her mom's services to braid my hair. After making sure that Paige didn't mind doing it on her day off, I took her up on the offer.
Everyone told me it looked pretty, but I didn't see the final result until I went upstairs a little while later. I stared at myself in the mirror, smiling at her work. It was a loose, but intricate braid that fell over one shoulder and I reached up to touch it absentmindedly. I fished a hand-held mirror from the drawer and used it to see the back of my head in the reflection of the main mirror.
"Wow," I whispered, even though no one was there to hear me. The braid started on one side of my head and wrapped around, hanging over my shoulder. She strategically pulled on certain parts of it to make it loose and wispy-looking. It was beautiful.
Looking at it made me feel a sudden urge to put on a little powder and maybe even some mascara. Sure it was vacation, but it would be a crying shame to wear this beautiful hairstyle and not do a little something with my face.
I was in the middle of applying a coat of lip-gloss when I heard footsteps coming up the stairs. I had the bathroom door open and could clearly hear that someone was coming. My dad had gone to pick Evan up from the airport, so I figured that's who approaching.
"Is my brother here?" I called, knowing by the sound of the footsteps that someone was about to round the corner.
"Your cousin is!" Charlotte said, coming to stand in the doorway behind me. She stepped into the bathroom, and I smiled as I turned around to hug her.
"Your hair looks amazing!" she said, hugging me loosely enough that she wouldn't mess it up.
"Thank you," I said. "Paige just braided it. When'd y'all get here?"
"Just now," she said. "Ryan's taking Cub on the
"Aww shucks, y'all!" I said, smiling shyly.
"I'm so proud of all my babies," Dee-dee repeated, handing me a mug with a huge smile on her face.
"Thanks, Dee-dee," I said for both the coffee and the compliment.
I drank half of my coffee before heading out to the beach with Cody. Paige and Dee-dee stayed behind to listen for Isabel, saying they'd meet us down there once she woke up and had the chance to eat.
Cody's daughter, Ryan, ran up to us the second we walked onto the beach. "I have some super bad news," she informed us with a serious expression on her face. She was shaking her head gravely.
"What?" Cody asked, seeming unconcerned since he knew it was nothing serious.
"This is not a good sandcastle," she said. "Memaw does not know how to do it."
"I think we need some help over here!" my mom called from the area where they were set up.
"See?" Ryan said, still so serious like this sandcastle business was really on her heart. "It's not a good one at all ."
"Why don't we start over?" Cody asked.
"Yeahhhh!" Ryan yelled. It was as if the thought had never crossed her mind. "Memaw, let's just knock this one over," she said excitedly.
We spent the next three hours building a gigantic, professional looking sandcastle. It was almost big enough for my niece to go into it like an actual princess. Okay, so it wasn't quite that big, but Cody knew what he was doing when it came to sandcastles, and we built a showstopper or two every year. Our stretch of the beach was fairly private, but neighbors would walk by every now and then, and they all loved looking at our creations.
That evening, we were all exhausted from the construction efforts, so we decided to get take-out and call it a night. We ordered Mexican, and Dad and Cody went to pick it up. We turned in early in anticipation for the chaos that would ensue the following day.
That chaos began at 9AM (when Ryan woke me up for breakfast) and continued all day. We swam in the ocean and played around with our sandcastle that morning followed by a trip to the grocery store. It was later in the afternoon when Ryan volunteered her mom's services to braid my hair. After making sure that Paige didn't mind doing it on her day off, I took her up on the offer.
Everyone told me it looked pretty, but I didn't see the final result until I went upstairs a little while later. I stared at myself in the mirror, smiling at her work. It was a loose, but intricate braid that fell over one shoulder and I reached up to touch it absentmindedly. I fished a hand-held mirror from the drawer and used it to see the back of my head in the reflection of the main mirror.
"Wow," I whispered, even though no one was there to hear me. The braid started on one side of my head and wrapped around, hanging over my shoulder. She strategically pulled on certain parts of it to make it loose and wispy-looking. It was beautiful.
Looking at it made me feel a sudden urge to put on a little powder and maybe even some mascara. Sure it was vacation, but it would be a crying shame to wear this beautiful hairstyle and not do a little something with my face.
I was in the middle of applying a coat of lip-gloss when I heard footsteps coming up the stairs. I had the bathroom door open and could clearly hear that someone was coming. My dad had gone to pick Evan up from the airport, so I figured that's who approaching.
"Is my brother here?" I called, knowing by the sound of the footsteps that someone was about to round the corner.
"Your cousin is!" Charlotte said, coming to stand in the doorway behind me. She stepped into the bathroom, and I smiled as I turned around to hug her.
"Your hair looks amazing!" she said, hugging me loosely enough that she wouldn't mess it up.
"Thank you," I said. "Paige just braided it. When'd y'all get here?"
"Just now," she said. "Ryan's taking Cub on the