As Claire got out of the car, she saw a little bundle of energy bound down the beachhouse steps and run to Kevin.  She held back as she saw who she recognized as Ella throw her arms around her husband.  It felt odd, knowing that this was a woman he would have sex with.  He had not been intimate with anyone except her since he was twenty-three and met her.  She forced herself to relax and accept the situation; she wanted this as much as he did.<br/><br/>Ella pulled away from Kevin and came to her.  Claire started to hold her hand out to shake the other woman's, but was instead hugged as tightly as her husband had been.  "I'm very happy to meet you, too," she responded politely to the girl's greeting as Ella looked her over.  She hoped she met the girl's approval; Kevin had told her he had sent the other couple a picture of them, but people sometimes looked different in real life.  She blushed as she had the thought;  Ella certainly looked just like she had on the webcam.  She was pretty and vivacious, and Claire found herself liking her and feeling intimidated by her at the same time.<br/><br/>Ella grabbed her hand and started running toward the beach house so that they could meet David.  Claire had no choice but to run with her; the girl's grip was surprisingly firm, and she didn't seem like she was going to let go.  Claire looked back apologetically at Kevin, who was smiling and following them, easily keeping their pace with his long stride.  Ella laughed, and Claire found the sound familiar and comforting, having heard it a few times on the webcam.  Although many of Ella and Kevin's chats had been conducted between only the two of them, there had been several conversations for which Claire had been present.<br/><br/>Ella ran up the few steps leading to the door of the beachhouse.  A man stood there, and Claire stopped in her tracks, her eyes wide as they looked him over.  Feeling suddenly bashful, she bit nervously on the edge of her bottom lip.  His presence was commanding; he seemed to completely fill the room around him.  She gave him the faintest hint of a smile, and, her hand still enclosed in Ella's, took a comforting step back towards her own husband.