Dirty Sexy Knitting (34 page)

“Who wants to go swimming?” another voice boomed out.

Riley forgot all about blossoms and shells and even Luis as the man she loved most in the world approached. “Daddy!” She jumped to her feet and ran toward him. He swung her up in his arms and smacked a kiss on her cheek, his dark whiskers already a little rough.

“How are you, Mommy Froot Loop?” he called over her head.

Riley’s mother smiled sleepily. “Incubating just fine, Gabe, thank you very much.”

Her mom was pregnant again, her belly as big as a beach ball. It was another male baby her parents said, but Riley didn’t mind. That would leave the three girl cousins in charge of all the boys, just as it should be.

She scrambled around to grasp Daddy’s shoulders so he could cart her, piggyback-style, into the water. He loped toward it, the boys trailing behind. His feet splashed into the surf, but Riley was still high and dry. He turned his head to look at her. “Happy, honey?”

“Happy, Daddy.”

He smiled, shaking his head a little. “Those blue and green eyes.”

Riley had them, just like her aunts Nikki and Juliet. None of the other kids did, which she was secretly pretty pleased about. Artists didn’t want to be like everyone else.

Her father strode deeper into the water and Riley looked back toward shore. The other adults in her family were gathered around the blanket, her aunts Nikki and Juliet and her uncles Jay and Noah. Luis’s parents, Shana and Jorge, were there, too. Serena was sitting with Annabelle now, and they were playing with a baby. It had to be Marlys and Dean’s new one, because those two grown-ups were herding their other kids toward the group.

Riley’s mom had gotten up though, and was standing at the edge of the water watching as they waded. She ran her hand over the sarong-covered bulge of her belly. Riley waved to her. Then she waved to the dark-haired little girl standing nearby. She was wearing pink tights and flat pink slippers. Riley saw her every once in a while, sometimes at the beach, sometimes at home. She was always smiling. The ballet girl waved back now, then pirouetted off down the sand.

Cold water splashed Riley’s legs as her daddy went deeper into the ocean. She squealed just a little and held him tighter. His back was warm and solid and she rested her cheek on his shoulder for a moment, then peered over it to look out at the endless water. She was never going to forget this moment, this day . . .

Oh, who was she kidding? She
would
forget today, she knew it, but only because there were a bazillion others just as perfect waiting on the horizon.