by Maci Grant
“Alright then.” He looked like he was about to say more, but then he turned and walked away without another word.
Blu stared after him for a moment. She still wasn’t clear on what had just happened between them. AJ didn’t seem angry, or disappointed that she’d declined his offer, so maybe he really was just being polite?
She shook her head to clear her thoughts. She turned and started toward the beach house. As she reached the end of the driveway it occurred to her that she could have just said yes and shared a nice walk with someone who seemed to be a nice guy, despite her attempts to find clues that contradicted that. So what was it about AJ that made her so hesitant to be alone with him?
Over the next few days Blu and the kids showed up every morning to work on their castles. Each morning the three experts were there as well. Blu didn’t see AJ again, but she did notice that Maddie had moved on to one of the newer contestants in the sand sculpture contest, which made her feel oddly relieved.
By the time they left the beach each day, Marley and Joey always changed their minds about their sandcastles. Blu enjoyed witnessing their creative sides.
She was fairly certain that she’d offended AJ but she tried no to think about it.
The closer the contest got, the more uptight Rachel became. She made sure everything was spotless, that Marshall’s favorite meal was ready to cook, and it seemed that she couldn’t help but mention his name every five minutes. Blu thought it was adorable, but she also hoped that Rachel wouldn’t end up disappointed.
On the Friday before the contest Blu was just about beached out. Her flip-flops were broken, her sunscreen was almost gone, and Maddie was on her third book. The tension between the experts had increased quite a bit. There was excitement as well as fear in the air.
As Blu gathered the kids to leave the beach, she nearly tripped over someone’s foot. She righted herself and looked up into an oversized pair of sunglasses.
“Oh, excuse me, I’m sorry.”
“It’s my fault.” The woman moved to the side. “I was just leaving.”
“So are we—a little too much sun today.” Blu looked at the woman curiously. She had seen her at the beach every morning throughout the week. “Are you entered in the contest?”
“Oh, no. No. I’m just a fan.” She smiled and adjusted her hat. “Oops, I must have forgotten my towel. I better go back and get it.” She hurried past Blu and went a bit further down the beach.
Blu squinted. She was sure that the woman hadn’t had a towel the entire time. She shook her head and turned back to the kids.
“Alright, you two, let’s get you home, bathed, fed, and off and into bed so that you can be ready early in the morning for the contest.”
“We’re going to win!” Joey jumped up and down.
“Well, Joey, the important thing is to have a good time, right?”
“Sure.” Joey rushed ahead of Blu toward the parking lot. “But winning is fun too!”
Blu laughed and raced to catch up with him.
The morning of the contest, Blu was as nervous as Rachel. She did her best to keep a cheerful attitude, but she could tell that Rachel was anxious.
As the kids finished their breakfast, Blu checked her watch. Marshall was late. She glanced across the table at Rachel. It was easy to see the tension in her face. The way her jaw was clenched, the furrow of her brow, and the tightness of her lips all blended together to create a strained expression.
“Should I take the kids down to the beach? You and Marshall could meet us there?”
“No.” Rachel set her coffee cup down on the table. “We’re all going to go as a family. Marshall will be here soon.”
“I don’t want to miss the competition.” Joey handed Blu his plate. “Please, can Blu take us now, Mom?”
Rachel sighed.
“Your Mom is right, Joey,” Blu said. “Your dad has been looking forward to this, and I’m sure that he’ll want to go to the beach with you. The contest runs all day long.”
“Thanks, Blu.” Rachel gazed at her coffee. She jumped when her phone buzzed.
When she picked it up, Blu held her breath. She wanted so badly for there to be good news—maybe Marshall was already at the beach, maybe he was right outside the door. But a moment later Rachel’s cheeks were red and her lashes drooped.
“His flight was delayed.” She tossed the phone down on the table. It landed with a clatter.
Marley gulped down the last bite of her cereal.
“Rachel, I—” Blu tried to think of the right thing to say.
“Just take them, please. Take them down to the beach. I’ll meet you there in a little while.”
“We can go together.”
“No. It’s better to take them now. Please. I just want them to have fun.”
Blu bit into her lip. She felt awful for Rachel. An ache started in the pit of her stomach. Maybe this was why she didn’t have much interest in romance. In all the families she’d worked with she had seen the intimate side of marriage that few others witnessed. She knew that it wasn’t always easy. Even with Rachel and Marshall, who adored each other, there were ongoing problems.
She turned toward the kids. “Okay, guys, go get changed, and get your game faces on!”
Chapter 9
When Blu arrived at the beach with the kids, it was already packed, just as Sunny had predicted. There were people in the water and many more people lined up in chairs with a good view of the sand where the contestants would be working on their sculptures.
“You two pick out a good spot to start building.” Blu sat down in the sand near them. She watched as they shared their toys and set up in the area where they wanted to build their castle. Once she was sure they were getting along well, she looked away from them, toward the area that was roped off for the experts.
She saw that Bianca had lit candles in all four corners of her patch of sand. Yale was mixing some kind of colored powder into his sand. She braced herself as she looked toward Kirk’s patch of sand. She was sure that he would be snapping and hollering with the amount of chaos on the beach.
His pristine sand was completely empty. She looked around at the crowded beach, but she didn’t see him anywhere. She did notice the woman with the floppy hat and the big sunglasses.
Just as Blu noticed her, the woman walked off the beach toward the Beach Bum. Blu was distracted for a moment as she wondered if AJ was inside.
“Blu, what do you think?” Joey plunked a shell on the top of a triangle of sand that he’d worked hard to build.
“It looks wonderful, Joey.”
“I’m making the moat!” Marley swept her shovel through the sand as fast as she could.
Joey brushed off some of the sand that she splatted on his arm. “Could you please keep your moat to yourself?”
Blu smiled at the kids but she was distracted by the empty sand. It was odd to her that Kirk wouldn’t be there.
The contest officially began and the two experts that were there set to work. Blu enjoyed watching the meticulous way that they crafted their sculptures. Then she noticed that some of the other competitors began to pull sand from Kirk’s space.
At first, it was a shovel here, or a pailful there. Then it seemed to become a free-for-all—with everyone hoping to beat one of the experts at grabbing up the sand from the empty spot. Blu thought it wasn’t very fair, but it was clear that Kirk had decided not to attend the contest.
Then she noticed something odd that stuck up out of the sand. Blu stared at the sand. She tried to reason with herself about what it was that she thought she was seeing. Were they some kind of oddly shaped shells? Maybe a crab of some type? What they looked like, they simply couldn’t be. Yet she couldn’t look away.
More and more sand was scooped away until there was no mistaking what she’d seen. She opened her mouth to cry out, but before she could someone else screamed. The high-pitched scream carried loudly over the din of the people at the beach—over the laughter of children and t
he splash of the waves.
Blu jumped up and grabbed Marley into her arms. “Joey, come here.” She held out her hand to him.
“But Blu, I’m still working on the castle. I want to see if I can get it to be taller than me.”
“I’m sorry, Joey, we have to go.”
Blu looked back over at Kirk’s section of sand. A crowd formed around it, but Blu was still worried about the children getting a clear view of what was sticking up out of the sand.
“What’s going on?” Joey tried to pull his hand away from her, but Blu kept a tight grip on it.
She steered the two children clear of the area and hoped that they didn’t hear the screams. Blu was so shaken by what she’d seen that she knew she couldn’t drive. Her hands trembled so much that she couldn’t think to text.
She led the kids toward the Beach Bum to escape the commotion and keep them away from the truth. The strange objects she’d seen in the sand weren’t shells or crabs, they were human toes—attached to human feet, attached to what she assumed was a dead body.
When she pulled open the door to the bar, she noticed it was empty inside. She was relieved that it was at least open.
“Blu, why are we in here?” Marley pouted. “I want to go back to the beach.”
“Yeah, Dad is supposed to meet us!” Joey crossed his arms.
“Right now the beach isn’t safe for us. We have to wait until the police say it’s safe to go back on the sand.”
“What police?” Joey peered out the window. Blu pointed out the police cars that were pulling into the parking lot.
“Somebody’s in trouble!” Marley sang out.
Blu ruffled her hair and tried to stay calm. Just as she took a deep breath the back door of the bar swung open. AJ stepped in with a large box in his hands.
“Blu, hi there.” AJ set the box down on the floor just inside the bar. “You okay?”
“We’re just in here to stay out of the way of the police.” Blu tilted her head toward the window. “I think there are some things that they just shouldn’t see.”
“You’re right.” AJ shot a frown toward the door. “I don’t even know what to make of it at this point.”
“I don’t think that the police do either.” Blu crossed her arms as she watched a police officer rope off the area.
AJ cleared his throat. All at once Blu remembered that AJ’s uncle was the police chief. “No offense, AJ. I just think that the situation is so outlandish. Who would do such a thing? In front of children?” She shook her head.
“No one in their right mind, that’s for sure.” AJ grimaced. “I’m not sure that the contest will go on.
“I’ll go check on things. You guys can stay in here as long as you need to.” AJ stepped out of the bar.
Chapter 10
Blu pulled her phone out and to call Rachel. The phone went straight to voicemail.
“Rachel, there’s a problem on the beach. I don’t know if you and Marshall are headed here now, but if you are, it’s probably better to meet back at the house.”
She texted her the same information.
Just when she was about to put her phone back in her pocket, it started to ring.
“Hello?”
“Blu, this is crazy!”
Blu winced when she heard Maddie’s voice. “Did the kids see?”
“No, they’re out in the water, thankfully.”
“Do they know who it is?”
“Yes. It’s Kirk—that grumpy guy that was in the contest.”
“Kirk?” Blu’s eyes widened. “So that’s why he didn’t show up for today.”
“Oh, I’d say he showed up alright. You should see the police officers out here trying to figure out how to get him out of the sand. I thought I was bad when it came to organizing, but these guys have me beat.”
“Is the chief there yet?”
“He just arrived. Oh, and of course AJ’s here.”
“What’s AJ doing?”
“Speaking to his uncle. They look like they might be arguing. Oops, I have to go. The police are clearing the beach.”
“We’re in the Beach Bum, if you want to come over here.”
“We’re going to head home, I think. I don’t want the kids knowing too much about what’s going on until I speak to their mother, since—you know, their father being in jail and all—this might bring up some issues for them.”
Blu grimaced. “You’re right. Let me know if you need any help with anything.”
“I will. Call me if you find out anything about Kirk.”
“I’m going to find out what I can. I hope they can get to the bottom of this quickly.”
“Right now they only seem interested in scooting everyone off the beach. Bye, Blu.”
“Bye.” Blu hung up the phone. A second later it began to ring again. “Hello?”
“Blu, what’s going on? Marshall and I just arrived at the beach and there are a ton of cop cars. Is everyone okay?”
“I guess you didn’t get my message. I’ll tell you what happened later. The kids are fine, but the beach is closed for a criminal investigation. Can we meet you two at the house?”
“Yes. Please do.”
Blu hung up the phone. “Hey, guys, guess what?” Blu steered them toward the door. “We’re going to go right home and see Mom and Dad.”
“Dad?” Joey’s eyes lit up. “Is he really there?”
“Yes he is, sweetheart, and he can’t wait to see you and your sister.”
The three walked out to the parking lot amidst a crowd of other people. Blu glanced over her shoulder at the beach. She saw the police tape that roped off a large area. As she reached the car she heard a loud voice.
“Just because he can’t win, now we can’t compete at all? It’s absurd. It’s an absolute travesty. How can we be punished because someone decided to give in to homicidal desires? It’s just like Kirk to die. He must have known he was about to lose!”
Blu stared with disbelief as Yale walked past with three others following after him. It took a very callous person to be able to speak so dismissively about someone’s death. She couldn’t imagine what Kirk could have done to Yale to make him so hateful.
She hurried the kids to the car so that they wouldn’t hear more than they already had.
“I can’t believe they canceled the contest.” Joey pouted as he stared out through the car window.
“It’s not fair.” Marley crossed her arms and kicked the back of Blu’s seat.
“It’s not anyone’s fault. Sometimes things don’t go the way we plan. At least you’ll still get to spend time with your dad.”
“I wanted him to see my sand sculpture.” Joey rested his forehead against the window.
“I promise, once the police are done with their investigation, we’ll all go out to the beach, then you can show him.”
“It won’t be the same.”
“It might be, if you give it a try.”
“It won’t be, because by the time they’re done, Dad will probably be gone.”
Blu pulled into the driveway of the beach house and parked the car. She turned in her seat to look at Joey. “Sweetheart, I know it’s hard for you to understand now, but one day you’ll see how hard he worked for you and your family.”
“I guess.” Joey opened his car door.
“Just try to remember that the only place either of your parents would like to be is right here with both of you. But when you grow up, and you have all of the responsibilities of being a grown-up, that’s not always possible.”
“But you’re always with us.” Marley smiled.
“That’s because I’m lucky.” Blu poked Marley’s nose with a light touch.
“Let’s go in. Your mom and dad are waiting for you. Try to have a good attitude, hm?”
Joey nodded and stepped out of the car.
Blu helped Marley out and the three of them walked up to the front door of the house.
Joey burst through the door and ran right into his fa
ther’s arms. Marshall swept him up into the air and hugged him close. Blu smiled to herself. Marshall might not always be home, but when he was, he was a very hands-on father. It was something that she admired about him.
“Hey, buddy, I’m so glad to see you.” He reached down and scooped up Marley as well.
Rachel laughed as she embraced all three of them.
Blu took the opportunity to slip away and allow them their moment as a family.
Chapter 11
Once Blu was in her room her thoughts returned to Kirk. She paced back and forth as she considered the possibilities of what might have happened to him. Around the children she was careful to keep her focus on them, but now all she could think about was the body. It unsettled her that Joey and Marley were playing only feet away from the dead body.
With Yale’s behavior fresh in her mind she decided to do a little research on him. Before she could get into it, she needed to check on the kids.
Rachel caught her in the hallway. “Blu, I want to take Marshall and the kids out to that new ice cream place in town. You can come along if you like, but only as a guest.”
“Oh, thank you, but if you don’t mind, I’d rather stay here. I know the kids are excited to have their time with Marshall, and I have a little bit of reading that I could catch up on.”
“Sure, that’s fine. What a horrible thing that happened on the beach today. A friend just filled me in.”
“Don’t worry—Joey and Marley didn’t see any of it.”
“Oh, I know that. You always take good care of them.”
“Enjoy your ice cream.”
“Enjoy your book.” Rachel winked at her, then walked back toward the living room to join the others.
Blu turned back to her room and closed the door. Without a moment’s hesitation she snatched up her computer. She logged in and did a search on Yale. She figured that a man with such a dramatic presence would certainly have an Internet presence.
It didn’t take long for her to find it. The first few links were just to sites dedicated to his creative sand sculptures. The next link was to a series of video blogs. Blu clicked on the first one and Yale’s voice filled her dark room. She grabbed her headphones and plugged them in.