Page 27 of Marrying Chrissy

She didn’t have to be told twice. The sand warmed the bottoms of her feet as it pressed itself into the spaces between her toes.

Wyatt held a hand out. “Give me your phone and then go stand just where the waves will cover your feet. I’ll take a few pictures for you.”

Chrissy grinned, pulled up her camera application, and handed the phone to him. She carefully traversed the few feet until the sand became wet and cool.

The next wave approached and swirled around her ankles. She was surprised to feel the sand shift around her feet as they sank and became covered. She looked up to find Wyatt smiling at her as he looked at her phone. She’d have to send a few of these to Mom and Emma. She grinned as she held her arms out to her side and then waved.

The water began to recede. Wyatt brought the phone down and gave her a thumbs-up. “I think I got several good ones. You’ll have to check when we get in the Jeep since it’s hard to see the screen out here in the sun.”

She met him halfway and accepted the phone, slipping it into her back pocket again. She was glad she wore capris today because it made it easy to splash in the waves. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He glanced in the direction of the sun. “Let’s go for a walk before it starts to get dark.”

Chrissy readily agreed. He led the way toward the ocean until the waves lapped at her shins, and then they began to follow the coastline. If she didn’t have her keys and phone in her pocket, she’d be tempted to chase the waves out and then race to see if she could beat them back in again. She decided she’d find time to do that before the weekend was over.

Meanwhile, she enjoyed the way the waves caressed the skin on her feet and lower legs every time they came in and out. Several times, if they’d paused to enjoy the sensation, she’d have to lift her feet out of the sand where they’d become buried.

Wyatt cleared his throat. “I need to make a point of coming out here sometime when we aren’t having the family reunion. I forgot how peaceful this can be.” He chuckled. “You’ll see what I mean tomorrow. You’ll have plenty of opportunity to go down to the beach by the resort, but there will be very little peace.”

Chrissy stopped walked and turned to face him. “What did your family do for vacations?”

“My parents preferred the mountains. We went skiing a lot. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.” He spotted something, stooped, and picked it up. He motioned for her to open her hand.

She did so, and he dropped a small shell into her palm.

“There, now you have a souvenir of your first trip to the beach.”

Chrissy studied the shell, noting the little details etched into it, and smiled. It didn’t matter what happened at the reunion itself—or even whether there really was something going on between her and Wyatt—this time at the beach made the trip entirely worth it.

She raised her gaze to his. “Thank you. For the shell and for this.” The only sound she heard was the low rush of the waves around them. “I had no idea how badly I needed to get away until now. This place is incredible. I don’t know how people live so close to the ocean and don’t just spend all their time right here.”

Chrissy could picture herself owning a beach house. She imagined waking up on a lazy Saturday, walking barefoot down the beach to the place where a pair of lounge chairs waited. She’d ease herself into one of those chairs and bask in the sound of the waves. Suddenly, Wyatt was there, too, sitting in the other chair. It was as natural to find him there as it was for him to reach for her hand and press a kiss to it.

She shook herself and blinked at the setting sun. Good grief, she had to get a grip on herself. Heat suffused her cheeks, and she hoped it just looked like the warm air was getting to her. The last thing she needed to do was start imagining herself with Wyatt in the future. Certainly not in a happily-ever-after capacity, anyway, no matter how natural it’d felt in her daydream.

She wished she knew what it all meant. Was it possible to keep an open mind about it while simultaneously maintaining a protective barrier around her own heart? What she needed to do was keep it casual, enjoy getting away for the weekend, and keep reminding herself that she and Wyatt were way too different for anything to really work out between them.

~*~

Wyatt watched as Chrissy’s face slowly transformed from relaxed and happy to something more akin to pensive. She was staring at the horizon away from the water with a small frown on her face. Her cheeks had gotten a little pink. He should’ve thought to bring a bottle of water for each of them to take on the walk. He hadn’t figured they’d stroll as far as they did. In fact, they’d better start heading back so it wouldn’t be too dark to find their shoes or his Jeep.

He reached for her hand. He’d intended to only touch it to bring her attention back to the present. But the moment their skin met, he grasped her hand in his as though he had no control over it himself.

Chrissy’s skin felt cool against his. That broke through her thoughts, and her gaze shifted to their joined hands and then up to his face.

“You okay?”

She nodded. “Yeah.” She shrugged and glanced down at her feet. It looked like she tried to shift her weight when surprise flitted across her face. “Wow, those waves buried my feet fast. I guess that’s why you don’t build sandcastles or leave anything near the water.”

Wyatt pulled his own feet out of the sand. “Just don’t let them sink too far or the hermit crabs will pinch your toes,” he said jokingly.

“What?!” Chrissy jumped into the air and then hurriedly washed the sand off her feet in the next wave that reached them.

Still holding onto her hand, Wyatt couldn’t help but chuckle. “I’m teasing you, Chrissy.”

She smacked his arm and pinned him with an accusing look. “That’s not funny.”

“It was a little.”

---