Page 65 of Lovers at Seaside
“A stupid, crazy…I promise, baby. Never again. I…Aw, man.”
“What?” Her stomach lurched.
“I might have gone behind your back one other time.”
“Come on, Grayson.” Praying he hadn’t done something else as bad, she walked up the slate steps to her front door. “What did you do? Wait. Don’t tell me yet. Tell me over Skype, so if it’s really, really bad, I can turn off Skype, which is about as good as slamming a phone down.”
He laughed at that. “It’s not really, really bad, baby. But yes, let’s Skype.”
“Promise it’s not that bad?”
“Yes.”
She froze. “Grayson, does this have to do with Bailey Bray?”
“Bailey? Leanna’s little sister? No. Why would it? I haven’t seen her in more than a year. When she came down to play at the Beachcomber last time, we all went to see her.”
Leanna’s little sister?“A year ago? I saw a picture on Perez Hilton of you two sitting together.”
He laughed. “Then those LA photogs hijacked it from last year, and just so you know, I’ve never gone out with Bailey.”
Breathing easier, and harder, she was even more anxious to see him now.
“Okay. Stay on the phone with me. I need two minutes to get inside.”
“I’m here, sweetheart. Take your time. I can’t wait to see your beautiful face.”
She unlocked the door, threw it open, and stepped inside. “Hold on. I—”
Her purse and phone dropped to the floor. Grayson stood in the center of the room with his arm draped possessively around Christmas, who looked happier than he had in days, and Grayson—beautiful, crazy, loved-too-hard Grayson—looked like he hadn’t slept in days. He sported at least three days’ scruff, with dark crescents underscoring tired, loving eyes, bringing tears to hers.
“GRAYSON.”
Christmaswoofedand went to greet Parker.
It was all Grayson could do to try to find his voice at the sight of the woman he’d thought he’d lost. His throat was already thick with emotion from their phone call, and then she said his name in that way that answered all the questions he’d spent the past two days worrying over—she loved him. She was hurt, sad, and angry, but she loved him, and she knew he loved her.
“You’re here,” she said softly.
He cleared his throat, hoping to find his voice. “I told you if we weren’t physically in the same place when you needed me, I’d be there as fast as I could.”
She wiped her tears. “You told me at the very beginning, when something comes up, not to pull away, because issues seem bigger when we’re alone. I pulled away, Grayson, and you were right. It was worse.”
He drew her into his arms, and his heart swelled. Christmas tried to nose between them, but just this once Grayson needed Parker close. He reached down and petted her boy, hoping she knew there was no way he was letting either of them go again.
“I might have been right about that, but I was wrong to do what I did. I’m so sorry, sweetheart, and if you’ll forgive me, I…” He framed her beautiful face with his hands and gazed into her eyes, recognizing how big of a gift she was giving him by taking him back.
“I’ve spent the last two days trying to figure out what I could give you or what I could say to signify that I truly understand how badly I’ve messed up. That’s why I didn’t come on the next plane out of town after you left. But no matter how many times I went over it in my head, or tried to make you something that would prove to you how sorry I am, nothing came close. I finally gave up and got on a plane, and here I am.” He took her hand in his and laid his heart out before them.
“I don’t expect you to trust me again for a long time, but please know I love you. It’s not an excuse, and what I did was wrong on many levels, but I really did do it out of love. It was stupid and overprotective in the wrong way, and I will never make that mistake again. We can call and cancel the test. You’ll never have to think about it again.”
“Thank you,” she said softly. “When you brought up having a DNA test done after we saw Sarah, I was so scared. I didn’t want to think about Miriam not being alive. I was scared for Sarah, and for myself, about what connecting those dots would mean if the test came back positive. I didn’t want to think that my mother could have been in the wrong place at the wrong time because Abe had driven her away or because her mother didn’t fight hard enough for her.”
She swallowed hard, and he tightened his hold on her hand, wanting so badly to take her in his arms, but he knew she needed to get this out—and he needed to hear everything she had to say.
“I can’t change the circumstances that brought me into this world or that took my mother away. But I had Bert, and in a sense I had Abe, even if it was only for a short time. And, Grayson, I have you. I thought that was enough. But it wasn’t enough for you. You wanted to give me everything, even if the possibilities were nearly nonexistent, just like you tried to tell me.”
“I do, sweetheart. I want to give you everything. But I’ll never make the mistake of going around you again.”
