As soon as he heard that, Lucian turned to glance at Roxanne. He figured Roxanne had said something to them.
“Daddy, listen!” Estella was persistent in making Lucian listen to it. After all, Archie, Benny, and Roxanne had listened to it. Lucian was the only one left.
Estella’s persistence made Roxanne flash Lucian an awkward smile. She then stretched out her arm, wanting to hand him the conch. To her surprise, Lucian grabbed her wrist and brought the conch to his ear.
Roxanne’s hand was so close to his face that her palm could touch his face if she moved it a little. Realizing that, Roxanne’s face stiffened, and she clenched her teeth as she did everything she could to fix her wrist at a certain angle.
A long moment passed before he let go of her hand. “How was it? Did you hear anything?” Estella stared at him expectantly.
Lucian cast Roxanne an unfathomable gaze and raised a brow, answering, “Yep. heard it.”
Estella squealed with excitement when her father confirmed it. Roxanne noticed him glancing at her earlier, and she felt as if an electric current ran through her veins.
After taking a few seconds to recollect herself, she smiled at the children as if nothing had happened. “All right. Let’s go find some more, or else they’ll be taken by the boys.”
Taking the conch from Roxanne, Estella nodded, held the former’s hand, and walked forward. Meanwhile, after having heard the sound in the conch, Archie and Benny dashed off eagerly to find their own conch.
Roxanne took Estella’s hand while walking behind the boys, occasionally glancing at them to make sure that they were safe.
Suddenly, the boys halted in their tracks and squatted, their eyes seemed to be fixed on something.
Feeling curious, Roxanne hurried over with Estella.
“Mommy, look!” The boys pointed at the tiny crab on the beach. A crab as big as a thumb came into her view, and it was timidly crawling into a milky white conch..
As if shocked by the presence of humans, the crab covered its eyes with its pincers and continued crawling into the conch. “How can we make it come out?” Benny eyed the conch with frustration.
It had not been easy for them to find one. And now, there was a crab in it, which prevented them from taking the conch. Roxanne shook her head at the boys. “This is a hermit crab. The conch is its home. Let’s not disturb it and look for another one.”
When they heard her say that, the boys stared at the conch curiously for another long period of time. They even tapped it gently, saying with a sweet voice, “Hey, little hermit crab. Let’s play together!”
Their actions shocked the hermit crab, causing its little body to quickly come out of the conch and flee from them.
Seeing the creature leave, the children looked at Roxanne guiltily. They just wanted to play with it, but they never expected the hermit crab to be so frightened.
Roxanne smiled and consoled, “Let’s go. Maybe it’ll come back when we’re gone.”
Hearing that, the children nodded and walked forward. At the same time, they kept turning around to see if the hermit crab would return.
Alas, there was no sign of the hermit crab, even when they had lost sight of the conch. The children were upset for a while, but they were quickly distracted by something else.
As Roxanne walked with the children, she occasionally squatted to pick up a few seashells. She wanted to use them to make a necklace for Estella.
Meanwhile, Lucian followed behind them at a moderate distance. A rare, warm gaze poured out from his eyes as he watched them from behind.
It was getting dark by the beach, yet the crowd was getting larger and larger. Roxanne’s anxiousness flared as she recalled the incident the night before.
Even though a day had passed, she was still worried when she saw the large crowd. She hurriedly rounded up the kids and left the beach. Coincidently, it was dinner time. Lucian took them straight to a nearby restaurant.
The kids’ pockets were full of sea shells. They emptied their pockets and set all the shells on the table before launching into a debate over who owned the best looking shell.
Roxanne’s eyes softened and laced with amusement as she watched the kids hard selling the shells in their possession.
After a moment, a waiter came to their table with their food. Seeing that, the kids unwillingly kept all their shells.
Both kids and adults were starved after spending the entire afternoon at the beach, so they were silent as they dug into their meals.
After dinner, Roxanne and Lucian took the kids to a craft workshop. The workshop had a variety of tools and materials to provide their customers with the opportunity to explore their creativity and skills.
Roxanne and the kids sat in a row as they started working on their pieces. Meanwhile, Lucian sat on the side, waiting for them to finish. He would occasionally help the kids with the polishing or sanding but left the rest to the kids.
Estella stared intently at the first shell she picked up with a frown as though she was waiting for an idea to pop up in her mind. She wanted to gift the shell to Roxanne but didn’t know what she should make.
After contemplating it for a long while, Estella carefully tugged on Lucian’s sleeve and yanked him to her station. Lucian cast the little girl a confused look.
“Daddy.” Estella shot him a pleading look. “I want to give this to Ms. Jarvis as a present, but I don’t know what to make.”
Lucian’s brow arched at the request. I never thought she would want to give Roxanne a present, but doing handicrafts wasn’t my forte.
Creases formed on his forehead when he couldn’t come up with an idea. “I’m sure she’ll like anything you make.” His answer was no help to Estella.
She gave Lucian a disappointing look and returned to her seat with her brows furrowed. Roxanne went up to Estella looking all concerned when she saw Estella scrunching her brows. “What’s wrong, Essie? Do you need help? I can help you.”
Estella stared at Roxanne for a few seconds before she reached for her shell and showed it to Roxanne. “What should I do with this, Ms. Jarvis?” she asked, feigning as though it wasn’t a present for her.
Roxanne looked at the shell in Estella’s hand and was troubled when she couldn’t come up with an immediate answer to her question.
After mulling over it briefly, she suggested, “You can make it into a keychain. It’s simple. All you have to do is punch a hole at the end.”
Estella’s eyes brightened at the suggestion. She obediently nodded her head. “Thank you, Ms. Jarvis.”
Roxanne smiled and returned to her station to finish her craft.
Lucian was surprised when he saw Roxanne had a shell on her desk too. He didn’t notice when she picked it up from the beach. He watched as she reached for two thin wires and carefully glued the shell onto them. Despite her busy hands, she would occasionally slide her gaze to the side to check on Estella.
An overwhelming mix of emotions stirred within Lucian when he saw what she was making. These two are oblivious to each other’s identities, but they think alike. He turned his gaze to Archie and Benny.
After studying them for a while, he had no clue what the boys were making. He watched as they swiped across the tablet the workshop provided for one moment, then carefully polished their shells the next.
Lucian observed them for a little longer but still had no idea what they were making, so he retracted his gaze from them.
Roxanne finished her bracelet soon after. When she swung her gaze to the side, she saw Estella’s head was still buried over her desk, so she silently sat at her station, waiting for Estella to finish.
“Ms. Jarvis!” A while later, Estella’s voice rang out beside her. She turned around to see a finished sea shell keychain dangling in front of her.
Roxanne was stunned briefly. Thinking Estella wanted her to comment on her craft, Roxanne praised, “It’s beautiful.” The shell Estella picked up was already pretty and colorful by itself. When Estella attached a blue chain to the shell, the final product looked lovely.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.