Page 22 of Sea Glass Serenade

Today, however, he’d been studying his surroundings as if Rosewood Beach was some kind of opponent. He’d wanted to know what exactly was keeping Alexis there. Obviously, her family was part of the equation, but he had a feeling that it was more than that. He’d wanted to uncover what it was about Rosewood Beach that seemed so much better to his wife than L.A.

All day long, his emotions had felt as though they were on a rollercoaster. He’d felt nervous to see her, excited to see her, and worried about what was going to happen after he surprised her with his presence. Was she going to be happy to see him, or upset that he’d shown up unannounced?

He’d driven past her and Dean walking up to the bike sprint and had seen them enter the crowd. And as he’d made his way through the cheering people, his heart was in his throat, anticipation building inside him.

And then he had looked out at the race and seen her. She’d been pedaling faster than anyone else, a smile of excitement on her face. In the next moment, she’d crossed the finish line ahead of the other participants, and her name had been read off as the winner.

Something had squeezed in Grayson’s chest as he’d watched her get off her bike, laughing with joy. She’d looked happier than he’d seen her look in a long time. For a moment, he had understood more clearly what she’d been saying about feeling as though she had nothing to do in L.A.

Unable to resist the pull drawing him toward her, he had started to make his way through the crowd in her direction. He’d seen her start to move forward, probably looking for Dean, before she had turned around—and time had seemed to crash to a standstill as she had caught sight of Grayson instead.

Her face was frozen into a look of shock, and Grayson wondered if his own features held a similar expression as they stared at each other.

The woman that he’d thought he knew seemed to have disappeared. Her perfectly straightened, smooth hair was messy and windblown, and her cheeks were flushed from exercise. It struck him that there was something different about the way her face looked, and then he realized that she wasn’t wearing nearly as much makeup as she usually did. And the clothes that she was wearing were throwing him for a loop as well. Instead of the sleek designer gym clothes or trim black and white dresses that she’d worn in L.A., she was wearing jean shorts with a plaid shirt tucked into them. She was dressing like the people of Rosewood Beach, blending in perfectly with the crowd.

“Grayson,” she said, sounding breathless. She was staring at him as if he was a ghost, and some of the color had drained from her face.

His heart sank when he saw that she wasn’t happy to see him. She didn’t look upset, certainly, but it was hardly a warm welcome. Part of him had been harboring the hope that she would race up to him and give him a hug as soon as she saw him there, telling him how excited she was to see him. He swallowed as he took a few steps toward her.

“Hello, Alexis.” He smiled almost shyly at her, thinking to himself how beautiful she looked, even—or maybeespecially—because of how windblown and flushed she was from the race.

“Grayson. What… what are you doing here?”

He inhaled. He wondered for a moment if he’d been a total fool to have made the decision that he had. The look on her face was making him question everything. Should he really have quit his job and come all the way out there to try to win back her heart? What if she didn’t want to be won back? He recognized just how much was riding on this moment, and he felt his blood rush with nervousness.

“I’m here to see you.” He could hardly get the words out, and she stepped closer to him, frowning.

“What did you say?”

“I’m here to see you.” He almost had to shout for her to be able to hear him over the crowd.

She nodded, her eyes on his face. She looked almost wary, and he felt his heart beating faster in his chest. He told himself that getting there to Rosewood Beach had been the first step. Now that he was there, he needed to put in the work to show her how much he cared about her. Even if she was starting to pull away from their marriage, he needed to use his actions to try to get her to change her mind.

“I didn’t think you—I didn’t expect you to be here.” Alexis also had to talk loudly in order to be heard, and Grayson found himself feeling self-conscious. He felt as though everyone surrounding them in the crowd was hearing everything they said. He guessed that most of the people around them knew who Alexis was, since the town was so small. Even if they didn’t know her personally, they were likely to have some idea of who she was. That would make them more interested in the conversation he was having with his wife, and he didn’t want to have it out in the open like that.

“I want to talk to you,” he said. “I saw you and Dean walk into the crowd here, so I followed you. Could we go somewhere else? Somewhere quieter?”

At that moment, Dean stepped up to them. He was eyeing Grayson as if he wasn’t sure whether to hug him or give him a punch in the jaw, and Grayson swallowed.

“Hey, Dean.” He extended his hand for a handshake, and Dean took it, shaking it firmly.

“Welcome back to Rosewood Beach, Grayson.” Dean’s smile was friendly, but there was an uncertain glint in his eyes. “I didn’t know you were coming here.”

Grayson shook his head. “Alexis didn’t know either. It’s a bit of a spur of the moment decision.” He turned to look at his wife, suddenly wishing he could go off with her and hold her for a while. He felt an ache of missing her well up in his chest, worse than he’d felt when there had been thousands of miles between them. Now that there were only a few feet between them, she felt worlds away from him. “Could we go somewhere else? A coffee shop or a restaurant, maybe?”

Alexis nodded. “Yes, that would be fine. Let’s go to The Salty Spoon.” She turned to Dean. “You can come along with us, Dean.”

Grayson’s heart sank, since although he liked Dean, he wanted time to talk to Alexis alone. It could hardly be a private conversation with Dean sitting right there next to the both of them, potentially eyeing him with mistrust like he seemed to be doing now.

“That’s all right.” Dean smiled, but his smile looked a little forced. “You two go on and catch up. I’ll head home. I’m feeling pretty tired anyway.” He gave Alexis a hug and said something in her ear. Even though Grayson couldn’t hear Dean’s words over the sound of the crowd, he guessed from the shapes Dean’s lips made that he said, “Call me if you need anything.”

Dean set off through the crowd, and Alexis turned back to Grayson, looking almost nervous. “Well, The Salty Spoon is out this way.” She gestured to their left. “If you want to just follow me?”

Grayson nodded, and she turned around and started walking through the crowd. He followed her, feeling at a loss. He watched the sunlight gleam on her beautiful hair, and he noticed that her graceful stride had remained unchanged. She’d always moved a little bit like a princess, he thought. He’d been so smitten with her when they first met. She was beautiful, certainly, but she had a genuine, earnest quality about her that had captured his attention from the first moment. He felt his heart twist with fear as he wondered if he was going to lose her.

Alexis led him out of the crowd and along the sidewalk toward the waterfront. The leaves of trees lining the road rustled in the light wind overhead, and the smell of the ocean was fresh and invigorating. Grayson wished that he could simply enjoy this beautiful day with his wife, instead of feeling as though there was a rock in his chest.

A few minutes later, they reached The Salty Spoon. It was around one thirty, and the restaurant wasn’t particularly busy.They had no trouble getting a table and were seated at a booth with a window view of the sparkling ocean.

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