The laughter of children mingled with the sounds of gulls and the rough surf. She handed Lisa a glass of lemonade, then plopped down on the wooden bench opposite her, the ocean breeze blowing her hair around her face. “I’m used to the harem of girls materializing around C.J. each day, but I wasn’t expecting the group of boys that seemed to have found their way to this end of the beach,” Carly said before taking a swallow of her drink. Glancing down at the beach, Lisa saw the familiar bikini-clad teenage girls angling for her son’s attention, but she looked surprised by the four teenage boys bantering with Emma. “Good God,” she said. “Matt is going to blow a gasket when he gets wind of this.” Carly chuckled softly and looked farther toward the shore to where Molly was busy burying Troy in the wet sand. “The resiliency of children never ceases to amaze me,” she said. Lisa followed her gaze to the younger children.
