Page 46 of Lovers at Seaside
“He will,” Jenna said to Grayson. “But I’ll have the key.”
“Keep dreaming, babe,” Pete said. “She’s not dating until she’s thirty.”
“Don’t worry, Jenna,” Sky said. “You can give Bea to me and Sawyer when she’s a teenager. We’ll raise her right.”
Sawyer’s dark eyes narrowed. “What makes you think I’d let her date? I’m right there with Pete. Thirty sounds about right.”
Jenna rolled her eyes. “But Sky believes in experiencing love as it comes, and we all know we women eventually get our way.” She jumped up as Jessica and Jamie came out of their cottage and headed toward them. “Hey, guys!”
Experiencing love as it comes.That was so similar to Grayson’s thoughts on their real lives being right that moment, whatever that moment might be. It must have come from their father.
“Did we miss breakfast?” Jamie carried their son, Dustin, who had been born around the same time as Sloan. Dustin had hair as black as his father’s and eyes as blue as Jessica’s.
When Dustin saw the mayhem on the deck, he thrust his hands out and bounced up and down in Jamie’s arms. “Pu, pu, pu!”
Jamie set him on his hands and knees, and he crawled over to Pepper, who slobbered his cheeks with puppy kisses.
“How can you stand it?” Parker loved babies, although she had little experience with them. “I’d spend all day making them giggle.”
Grayson lowered Bea to his lap, his eyes honing in on Parker. “I’m not sure you’d get much acting done.”
“Who cares?” Parker looked around the table at the high chairs, colorful plastic toys, wet wipes, sippy cups, and other baby paraphernalia. She was surrounded by the sounds of toddlers giggling and running along the deck and Pepper’s nails tapping out his sentinel path.
“This is what life should be about. A gaggle of kids, surrounded by friends, and—” She realized everyone had gone silent, save for Hannah and Summer, who giggled as they snuck down the deck stairs backward. Tony stood watch at the bottom of the steps. “Anyway, acting is great, but this would be nice, too.”
On that little reveal, all eyes shifted to Grayson, who was still staring at Parker like she’d just revealed she was a long-lost princess. Thankfully, the others chose that moment to begin cleaning up from breakfast, causing a flurry of activity. She and Grayson pushed from their chairs, but he was still giving her that look.
“What?” she finally asked.
“Nothing. I just figured…” He shrugged. “I didn’t expect to hear that.”
Neither did I, but it’s true.
Bea pulled his hair, breaking their connection, and Jenna lifted her from Grayson’s arms.
He waited for Jenna to leave, then guided Parker away from the others. “So, you want a gaggle of children?”
“One day. But isn’t it too soon to talk about this? We aren’t even talking about what’s real, like where we both live. Not that I want to jump into that, but…” She paused, not knowing where she was going with that thought, because part of her wanted to talk about everything, but a bigger part of her didn’t want to think about the harsh reality of their lives being on opposite ends of the country.
He searched her eyes, his own serious—and slightly annoyed? “You’re absolutely right. It’s too soon.”
A confusing wave of disappointment swamped her.
Chapter Eighteen
GRAYSON WAS WORKING at Grunter’s on the railings for Parker’s house two days later, still thinking about what she’d said Sunday morning.Isn’t it too soon to talk about this? We aren’t even talking about what’s real, like where we both live.He’d been the one to say they should take things as they came, and now he regretted ever saying it. Even though she hadn’t confessed her love for him, heknewshe loved him. Knew it with the same confidence he knew he loved her. Maybe it was time to get it all out on the table and deal with what they’d been trying to avoid.
He gripped the metal tongs and held a piece of metal over the brick forge, trying to lose himself in the sounds of the blowers, the heat thrown by the brick hearth, the scent of smoldering metal. But the things that normally calmed him weren’t even scratching the surface. His gut churned with the need to clear the air with Parker.
Hunter came into the workshop with a big grin on his face as he texted, which told Grayson he was texting Jana. The two of them texted often, or rather, sexted, which Hunter loved to gloat about.
Hunter shoved his phone in his pocket. “Hey, bro. You look about ready to explode.”
“I’m good,” Grayson lied.
“Uh-huh.” Hunter began sifting through a stack of iron rods. “How’s the railing coming along?”
“Good. Couple more weeks.” He shouldn’t take out his bad mood on his brother, but he’d done him a favor by taking on the travel for their contract with CCF, and he wished there were someone in line to do the same for him. Only he didn’t really wish he could move out to California. He just hated the idea of being away from Parker.
