Summer Beach Reads 5-Book Bundle: Beachcombers, Heat Wave, Moon Shell Beach, Summer House, Summer Breeze by Nancy Thayer

“Okay, I’m off to the kitchen floor.”
    “And I’m off to work.” But Howell didn’t move. Instead, he stood staring at Abbie, as if he had something else to say to her.
    It was a moment, Abbie thought, like others she’d known, when she and a man looked at each other and were caught in the exhilarating grip of mutual attraction.
    Wow.
    Wait. Was she nuts? He was married. She’d just met his wife.
    Flushing, Abbie ripped herself away and hurried down the stairs to the kitchen. “See you later!”
    Harry had changed positions. He now lay on his stomach beneath the kitchen table. He was rocking his horse back and forth in a galloping movement. When Abbie sat down, he froze.
    Abbie lay down on her stomach, parallel to the boy. She placed her horse parallel to Harry’s horse, just a few inches away. Harry whipped his head around so that he faced the other way.
    Abbie rocked her horse back and forth on the floor and madeclicking, horse-walking noises with her mouth. “Okay, Licorice. It’s time for lunch. Here’s some hay.”
    “Thunder. His name is Thunder.”
    Abbie smiled to herself. “Okay, Thunder,” she said, “come over here and I’ll give you a nice pile of fresh hay.”
    For the next hour, she sat and lay on the floor, clopping the plastic horse around, talking to him, speaking for the horse in a series of whinnies and neighs. Harry didn’t speak to Abbie, but gradually he began to walk his own horse over the floor, winding in and out through the table legs. Abbie developed a cramp in her neck and turned over, lying flat on her back. She drew her knees up and made Thunder slowly, with much huffing and puffing, ascend the mountain her legs made.
    “This mountain is so high!” she huffed in the best baritone she could muster—she thought Thunder should have a masculine voice. “But I know I can reach the top. I just have to keep trying.” She could sense that Harry had turned on his back and was watching her. Slowly she walked the horse up her leg and brought him to rest on top of her knee. “Wheeeee!” she whinnied. “I made it!” She brought the horse into a triumphant pose, rearing to stand on just two back legs. “Wheeee! I’m Thunder, the king of horses!”
    Howell walked into the kitchen. He smiled down at Abbie, who felt ridiculous, lying there on her back.
    “I just want to get a soda from the refrigerator.” Howell squatted down to his son’s level. “How’re you doing?”
    Harry turned on his side with his back to his father.
    “It’s a hot sunny day, Harry. Wouldn’t you like to go down to the beach with Abbie?”
    “We could bring the horses,” Abbie said. “We could make an awesome corral for the horses out of sand. A barn, too.”
    Harry shook his head.
    “Maybe tomorrow,” Abbie said easily. “Anyway, it’s going to take Thunder a long time to get down this mountain.”
    “Thunder looks kind of lonely up there,” Howell said.
    “I know,” Abbie agreed. “It sure would be nice if Thunder had a friend to do things with.”
    Howell said, “Harry, what do you think? Would Storm like to climb the mountain with Thunder?”
    Harry didn’t respond.
    “Well,” Howell said. “I guess I’ll get my drink and get back to work.”
    Abbie waited until Howell left to begin the dramatic progression of Thunder down the leg mountain. “Thunder is exhausted, he’s going to take a nap. And I’m going to get a drink. I’m thirsty.” She stood up, brushed off her shorts, and opened the refrigerator. It was fairly empty, although there were plenty of juices and soft drinks.
    “Would you like some juice, Harry?”
    No answer.
    She grabbed a soda for herself and poured a cranberry drink for Harry.
    “Here you are!” she said, leaning over to put the drink near him.
    He didn’t respond.
    She leaned against the counter as she drank, staring out at the sunny day. She wondered if she could somehow persuade Harry as far as the backyard.
    “I’ve got to pee,” she said.