Page 35 of Marrying Chrissy

Chapter Thirteen

By the time they finished with the scavenger hunt, ate lunch, and Chrissy went to her room to change, she was exhausted. Before she knew it, she’d fallen asleep on the bed. An hour later, she woke up feeling refreshed but shocked to see how much time had passed.

Chrissy got to her feet and glanced at the time again. She and Wyatt hadn’t agreed to meet anywhere at any particular time, but she was pretty sure taking an hour to change clothes was longer than he’d had in mind. Hopefully he hadn’t been downstairs waiting on her.

Of course he hadn’t. He was here with all of the extended family members he only saw once a year. Chances were, he’d had plenty of people to talk to and things to do.

It was silly to think he was sitting down there counting the minutes until her return.

Rolling her eyes at herself, Chrissy quickly changed into a one-piece bathing suit. She chose her favorite sundress—pastel green with yellow sunflowers all over it—and slipped it on over her suit. Next, she added a towel and a book to her bag where the sunscreen and sunhat were already tucked away.

Spending some time at the beach this afternoon sounded heavenly. She had no intention of actually going swimming in the ocean, so the sundress would be perfect. But having the swimsuit on underneath meant she was prepared for anything.

Satisfied that she was ready, she made her way downstairs. There was no sign of Wyatt anywhere in the hallway, and she was just wondering if she’d missed him when she spotted him near the large windows at the back of the main room. He was talking to Gran, who waved Chrissy over.

“My dear, I’m so glad you decided to come.” Gran gave Chrissy a gentle hug. “I hope you’ve been enjoying yourself. The only thing that might make this resort better would be to have an open buffet available all day long.” She winked.

A buffet would be awesome, but Chrissy could understand why the resort might not to have that available for the family when it was a much smaller number of people than they would normally entertain. She imagined a lot of food would go to waste. “It’s lovely here, thank you. I hope I didn’t keep you waiting, Wyatt. I somehow managed to fall asleep.”

Gran patted her hand. “Good for you, honey. The sooner you realize a good nap is your friend, the better off you’ll be. Besides, you’re on vacation. Squeezing in a nap or two should be part of the deal.”

She took in Gran’s loose pants, flowery blouse, and tennis shoes. “I hear you enjoy playing a game of poker or two while you’re here.”

Gran laughed and put a hand to her chest. “Oh, my. Yes, I dare say I do. In fact, I should probably get back in there.” She shifted her attention to Wyatt. “Your Uncle Charlie is determined to win his money back.” She chuckled again and patted her gray hair to make sure it was still in place. “You take your girl down to the beach and enjoy. I’ll see you both tonight.” She blew them a kiss and made her departure.

Chrissy waved. So Gran played poker for money. Suddenly the image of her sitting around a table playing cards and talking about food and quilting disappeared. In its place, she imagined Gran betting hundreds of dollars, cracking walnuts, and possessing the best poker face she’d ever seen. The thought had Chrissy smiling when she turned back to find Wyatt watching her.

There was a flash of appreciation in his eyes. “You look beautiful, Chrissy.”

She smoothed the skirt and willed the warmth to stay out of her cheeks. “Oh! Thank you.” She took in his navy swimsuit trunks and light blue shirt. She was pretty sure the guy could look handsome in absolutely anything.

He cleared his throat, and she shifted her gaze from him to the small worn spots on the toes of her sandals.

“Are you ready to head down to the beach?”

Grateful for something else to focus on, Chrissy nodded. Only then did she notice he had a small cooler slung over one shoulder and something else in a long bag over the other. They grabbed another oversized beach blanket on their way across the deck and followed the path down to the sand.

Once on the beach, they spread the blanket out, and then Wyatt unzipped the bag he’d been carrying. Within minutes, he had a canopy set up that resembled a giant umbrella. He put stakes in at each corner to keep the breeze from blowing it over.

“That is genius.” Chrissy set her bag in one of the corners. “I’ve never seen something like this before.”

“I figured a little shade would be nice after being out in the sun all morning.” He put the cooler on the other side of the blanket to help hold it down. “I’ve got water and lemonade in here, too, if we get thirsty.”

“What time is dinner again?”

Wyatt glanced at his watch. “At six. Why is that?”

“I have every intention of staying out here for as long as possible. If I’m late to dinner, you’ll know where to find me.” She closed her eyes and took in the sound of the waves crashing against the sand, the laughter of children as they splashed in the water, and the ever-present calls of the sea gulls.

Yes, she could easily picture herself with a beach house where she went to vacation and maybe even lived during the off-seasons when there weren’t so many tourists. The only thing that would make this better was if Mom and Emma could be there to experience it with her.

One day, they’d take a trip down here together. They might not stay at a fancy resort like this, but then where they slept wasn’t all that important. It was all about the ocean and the experience.

“Penny for your thoughts.”

Wyatt’s voice brought Chrissy back to the present. “I was thinking about my family.”

“Do you regret coming?”

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