“Here you go, Daddy.” She says gleefully, handing it to me.
Taking it out of the plastic baggy I put it in earlier. I take a couple pictures of just the castle itself.
“How about one with the creators of the castle?”
“Yes!” RJ and Angel squeal at the same time as each of them takes a spot on either side of Amberlee.
I take the photo, taking a moment to look at it. Beautiful doesn’t do her justice. Her breathtaking looks are far more exceptional in person than in a picture. Just for good measure, I take a couple more before the kids are back to eagerly working on their creation. Before I put my phone back in my bag, I take a moment to crop one of the pictures, making her and Angel my new screensaver.
I can’t wait to see her expression when I show her.
“Aunt Lee Lee, can you help me?” RJ tugs on her arm, pulling her gaze from the ocean.
We spend the next thirty minutes constructing the most magnificent castle anyone has ever laid eyes on. It's a comfortable conversation, mostly with the kids than with each other, but it’s slow progress. She didn’t run away when she could have.
Angel and RJ soon get bored with the castle building and run toward the ocean.
“No going in alone!” I shout.
“We won’t!” Angel yells.
Amberlee sits there, biting on her bottom lip and all I want to do is kiss her. To taste her lips on mine, replacing the vision I imagined with the real thing. She pulls her knees to her chest, letting her toes dig into the wet sand, and picks up a shell near her, looking at it.
“It’s beautiful, but doesn’t hold a candle to you.”
“Huh,” she coughs, clearing her throat.
“You heard me, I said, you’re beautiful, Amberlee. Hasn’t anyone ever told you that? If not, they're idiots.”
“Thank you.” She drops the shell to the ground and wraps her arms around her legs, softly humming.
Is it a tic? Am I making her nervous? Uncomfortable?
Turning my head, I check on the kids and find them splashing in the water. Maddy and Ryan have now joined them. I wantto push Amberlee harder, see if I can get her to loosen up and confess her feelings, but I can’t. Not with Ryan so close.
“I’m going to go join them.” She jumps and jogs toward them, leaving me sitting alone with the castle and my dreams. The only bright side is the view of her amazing ass as she walks away.
I watch them all play together. Ryan and Amberlee, taking turns swinging the kids into the water, all of them laughing. A family. Complete.
That’s what I want. A wife and mother for Angel, and more children. I don’t want it with just anyone, though. Amberlee is the only one I see a future with. All my visions of what I want, include her.
Standing up, I swat the sand off my ass and legs and head toward them.
“Hey man, we were just talking about heading back to the hotel and getting cleaned up. Maybe hit the strip before the kids need to go to bed,” Ryan says as he swings RJ back and forth into the water.
“Daddy, swing me.” Angel takes hold of my hands, pulling me further into the water.
“Okay, sweetheart, but just a couple of times,” I tell her. I guess I should have reprimanded her for cutting in when adults were talking, but she’s excited and I’m a big softie with her. I turn back to Ryan.
“Yeah, sounds good. I’ve worked up an appetite. What do you say we give them ten more minutes to play, then we go?”
“Hear that, kids? Ten minutes, then no complaining. I’m talking to you, RJ.” I can’t help but laugh at how RJ rolls his eyes at his father’s words. Ryan sets him down, letting go of his hands so he can run along the beach.
“You know, I’m tired. I might just order in some food and go to bed,” Amberlee steps up beside Ryan and whispers.
His jaw drops, and he looks at her in disbelief.
“Sleep? No way sister, the night is young and we’re hitting the strip. We’re going to Ripley’s, buy some ridiculously priced trinkets, take some old-timey photos, and then, and only then, can you go to sleep.”
