Clara burst into giggles, which caused Mia to ask, “What funny?”
“Oh, uh,” Clara stammered.
“We were talking about how silly the little crabs are in the tide pools,” I filled in.I hadn’t been around three-year-olds much, but I was getting the hang of Mia’s curiosity and the constant questions.
"Tide pools!"Mia shrieked from the backseat."What a tide pool?"
I caught Clara's eye and we both smiled.This—the easy family moment—felt more natural than anything I'd experienced in years.
"It's a little pool of ocean water with creatures living in it," Clara said, then swung her gaze toward me.“So where exactly are you going, Mr.Mysterious?”
“We’re going to the house I rented for the week,” I told Clara, waggling my eyebrows.“On the cliffs.”
Her eyes widened, that giddy smile returning.“Yeah?”
“Yeah.It’s private.Secluded.Has a hot tub on the deck overlooking the ocean.An infinity pool.And"—I glanced in the rearview mirror at Mia—"it has a play area with a view that I think a certain little girl is going to love."
Clara's eyes went dreamy."Nash..."
"It's our honeymoon.I don’t skimp.Only the best for my girls."
The words flowed so easily.And I meant every last one.
She covered her mouth with a hand, like she was keeping another squeal inside."This is the best vacation I’ve ever been on.”
“You’ve only been on it for five hours.”
“Still the best!Hands down.”
I scooped up her hand and brought her knuckles to my lips.“And it’s only going to get better.”
It wasn’t long before we were pulling past the gate and up the curving, wooded driveway to the rental house.It was part cabin, part architectural wonder.We breezed through the house first, oohing and aahing over the floor-to-ceiling windows, the grand fireplace, the chef’s kitchen, the ridiculous views of Big Sur’s south coast.The entire southwest side of the house was wrapped in decks, and we stood out there gawking at the churning, sparkling ocean for what felt like a half hour.
“I’m in love,” Clara finally managed to say.
“Let’s have a toast.You two stay here, I’ll get everything ready.”
I rummaged through the kitchen, looking for the things I’d arranged with the host to prepare ahead of time: chilled rosé wine, a charcuterie board, a case of juice boxes.I’d never wooed a woman—or her daughter—like this before, but I enjoyed it more than I’d expected.Playing Clara’s husband came so naturally to me.Technically, I was Mia’s stepdad now.The pieces seemed so outrageous on their own, but they came together to form a picture that just made sense.
Married man with a wife and a stepdaughter.
Why did it feel so good?
“Ladies.”I breezed back onto the patio with two glasses of rose and a juice box for Mia.She giggled and scampered toward me, grabbing the juice box excitedly.Clara smiled at me warmly as she received the wine glass.
“What are we toasting?”she asked, propping herself up on the overstuffed lounge chair.
“Act like you don’t know,” I goaded her as I eased onto the lounge chair beside her.We had a perfect view of the ocean, the cliffs, the unending moody coast.“To our incredible matrimony, obviously.”
She dipped her chin, as though admonishing me.“We pulled it off, didn’t we?”
I could hear the subtext behind her words.For some reason, it chafed.“I’d say we did more than just pull it off.We fucking killed it.”We clinked glasses, and the longer I looked at her beautiful face, the bigger I grinned.“So this is to you.My wife.”
Her cheeks went pink, and I saw her throat bob.“To my husband.”
Mia swayed near the railing, looking out at the water again.I called for her and lifted my glass to her juice box when she came over.“To the prettiest flower girl I’ve ever seen.”
Mia giggled and skipped away, leaving Clara and me gazing at each other like there’d never been a contract between us.After her first sip of wine, her brows shot up.“This is good.Reallygood.”
