Jim struggled to move his towel into the shade of the beach umbrella that had been thrust into the sand.

“You know,” Dan said with a slight smirk, “no matter where you put your towel, you’re still gonna get sunburned.”

“Nope, I have sunscreen on,” Jim replied tersely.

Dan sighed. Every conversation with his friend seemed strained. All the Bob-Whites thought that it was a good thing that Jim and Trixie had ended their relationship, a relationship that consisted of fighting, breaking up, then making up. Neither Jim nor Trixie ever seemed to be happy for very long. When the two had broken up a few weeks earlier, all expected them to get back together within a day or two, as they usually did. But that had not happened and the Bob-White brotherhood had to deal with a testy Jim and a sad Trixie. Honey and Diana rallied around Trixie, while the boys tried to be supportive of Jim. The result was that the close-knit group was at odds with each other. Nonetheless, they had all agreed to spend this particular weekend at the beach and had driven to the coast the day before. By keeping Jim and Trixie apart, the car ride and dinner out had been peaceful and pleasant for all.

Dan fumbled in the cooler and pulled out an icy beer. He held it out to Jim, but all Dan got was a slight shake of the red head.

“Hey, what about me?” Mart questioned.

Dan tossed the beer to his friend and grabbed himself another one. The four males lounged on their towels and watched the interesting people parade by them. The girls had parked themselves at another spot at the beach. Dan supposed they were doing the same thing as the male Bob-Whites; laying around, watching people, and not mentioning the breakup.

“Is there anything to munch on?” Mart asked.

Dan shoved the cooler toward Mart, who happily dug through it in search of a snack. He was gleefully opening a bag of potato chips when he suddenly froze. Dan, watching his friend, looked in the direction in which Mart was focused and sucked in his breath. “Oh, man,” he muttered.

“What?” asked Brian as he also turned to see what the two were staring at.

“Whoa!” exhaled Brian. “Where did he come from?”

“What are you guys talking about?” demanded Jim as he sat up on his towel. Following the gaze of his friends, he saw what they were watching and his face paled.

“I guess it didn’t take long for Trixie to bounce back,” remarked Mart as the four friends watched Trixie happily frollicking in the waves with a blond, tanned male.

“I’m glad she’is bouncing back,” remarked Brian slowly, “but does it have to be with Ben Riker