Chapter 42
Summer had swung back around. Gray, washing glasses behind the bar, gave the beach a long look at the resort and was disappointed to see that it was only half-full. The staff had dwindled down to bare bones, far too small to accommodate many guests, and the news of the bankruptcy had spread. The guests who did had reservations now really had them, and in a panic, they canceled, afraid they would show up only to find themselves bilked of their money and left with nowhere to stay.
On the contrary, the other resorts lining the sand were in full swing. It appeared that thousands of people occupied the white sands and crowded into the water. Reggae music blared from the pier, and a feeling of fun and festivity filled the air.
Gray had agreed to continue tending the bar at the resort, at least until he could find something else. Even with a bum arm, he was needed, and he, in turn, needed the tips, even if Jon was paying him jack shit. He kept that job and two others, one as a part-time manager for a small condo-tel. He didn’t mind the hectic pace or the long hours, as they kept him from thinking too much; as far as he was concerned, the diversion was a good thing, because left unoccupied, his mind always wandered to Riley and what could have been had things been different.
“I’d like a drink.”
The words resounded through his head, the voice familiar, one he knew as well as he knew his own. His heart began to thunder in his chest as he lifted his eyes away from the glasses and saw Riley standing there, her face pointed at his. “Sure. What’re you having?” he asked nonchalantly.
She looked amazing in a jade-green bikini, the bottom only slightly peeking out from beneath the sarong carelessly knotted around her hips. Her blonde hair, gathered in a loose knot low on her neck, gleamed in the striking sunlight.
Gray was pretty sure he’d gone crazy from the heat. Maybe I died from a heat stroke, had a few too many secret shots. He was sure she was a mirage, a figment of his many imaginations over the time they’d been apart, but even still, his hand shook slightly as he poured her a glass of red wine, her favorite, and slid it down the bar to greet those luscious lips of hers.
Riley regarded it solemnly. “No fruity, rum-laden thing?”
He finally found air and drew it into his lungs. “You don’t do hard liquor and can barely hold beer. You love red wine, not sweet but very warm, properly decanted of course.”
She chuckled. “God, do I really sound like that?”
He grabbed the bar rag and wiped it across the counter. “Sometimes.” He paused. “You look great.”
She hooked a finger onto her sunglasses and slid them down. They stood there, just watching each other. The year had changed them both. Gray was even leaner and more muscular, and all that work, worry, and missing her had caused him to lose whatever had been left of the stupid immaturity that had clung to him. For Riley’s part, her face wore an expression of such seriousness that it broke his heart. Even when things had been at their most dire, even when they had been struggling to pay the rent and nearly starving, she had not looked like that.
Riley sighed and looked down. “I need to talk to you.”
“Oh?”
She reached out and caught his hand that was still in the process of wiping up the bar with the rag. Her touch sent tingles flying up and down his spine, and his dick instantly stiffened, letting him know that the old magic was still there.
“I was really mad at you for a long time.”
“Yeah, I bet. I woulda been if I was you.”
“Why did you go?”
It was a tricky question with an even trickier answer. He wondered how badly the truth would hurt her, and he wasn’t sure it was the right time to confess it. He sighed and offered, “Riley, we just weren’t cut out for each other. You know that. I can’t handle your life.”
“You mean you can’t handle me having money.”
“Exactly. I’m a man, damn it, and I shouldn’t have to depend on a woman. I don’t and won’t. I wanted to give you everything, but… Well, you already have that and then some.”
“Not everything.”
He blinked. “What?”
“I don’t have everything.” Her voice was even, but her eyes flashed at him, a sign that she was angry.
“What are you missing?”
“You,” she said, falling into a slump on the stool. “Damn it, Gray, you were all I really wanted. Being stuck in that shitty apartment and working that shitty waitressing job made me realize how much I really have in life, how lucky I am. I tried to explain that to you. I didn’t blame you for our being there, but I knew we could have had so much more if you would have just given in a little, set your pride aside and let me help us.”
His throat ached. “It wouldn’t have been help if you had to do it all, Riley. I won’t be a charity case, one of your lost causes.”
“I get that.” She gave him a long, considering look. “What would you have me do, Gray? I mean, if I gave all my money away, could we have a chance at being happy?”
“It wouldn’t make you any happier,” he blurted, the very words he’d wanted to say to her for so long. “I watched you work your ass off, watched you go without, and it made me feel like less of a man. I didn’t know how to handle that. It wasn’t any easier to watch you flit around a cabin that’s really a mansion, something I will never be able to give you. I had no idea how to be the man you need, Riley. I as..clueless.” He paused, but when she said nothing, he continued, “I also didn’t know how to deal with a family who thinks nothing of offering bribes to rid their lives of someone they don’t like. It was obvious we’d never fit into one another’s lives. I was fine for fun, for a summer fling, but beyond that... Well, you deserve way more than what we had down in the Republic. I didn’t know how to handle not being able to do better by you. The playing field just isn’t exactly level.”
Her fingers rested on the bar, so very near his. “No, it wasn’t. We couldn’t be just two young people setting out an adventure. It was hard as hell. I didn’t realize how spoiled and selfish I was till just a few months ago, Gray.”
“Spoiled and selfish? Riley, I shouldn’t have said that. I mean—”
“No, you should have said it, because it was true. I was all that and even worse and didn’t see it. I didn’t understand that if I had been born as anyone else, I would have thought nothing of those hours, the low pay, or the struggle to pay rent, all that stuff regular people deal with every day. That was me being…well, rich and spoiled and inexperienced in how real, ordinary people live, and it made me unbearably unhappy while we were there. I couldn’t be content or grateful because it was so much less than what I was used to, what I always took for granted.”
He sighed. “It was the same for me too. Tahoe could have been an adventure all its own, but I was too worried that you’d get sick of me and resent me for not having any money.”
Her lips tilted upward. “It was quite the adventure anyway, Gray. With you, everything was.”
A slow grin lifted his lips, and hope began to rise in his heart. “Yeah, well, there was that thing with the shark.”
She chuckled. “Yeah, I coulda done without that.”
“Me too, but what can I say? The ocean is their house. We’re just trespassers who like to swim in it.”
Riley drew a fiery breath, one that lifted her chest. His eyes went to her breasts, but he managed to yank them upward again. He found himself grateful for the bar between them, as his erection was suddenly straining against his shorts, and all the feelings he had managed to tamp down but had never vanquished completely floated to the surface.
Gray still loved her, he really did, but he had no idea why she was there. Maybe she’s seeking that closure the psycho-babble types are always going on about, so she can move on, he reasoned. Maybe she’s here to throw me into the friend zone. Whatever the reason for her visit, he hoped it would help them both heal from all the hurt they had heaped upon each other, as unintentional as it was. Still, he had to know, so he asked casually, “So, what brings you down here?”
She pressed her lips together, then released them as her eyes held his, one of the things he had always admired about her; Riley Teeters was a brave girl who always looked everyone and everything straight in the eye, no matter how hard it was for her. “I bought a resort. Figured I oughtta come check it out.”
His eyes widened, and he turned around to look at the building behind him. “Wait. You? You’re the new owner who bought the place out of the bankruptcy courts?”
“The one and only,” she said, twisting her fingers together.
“But I thought we—”
She held her hand up to shush him. “I know now why the idea of that upset you so much when I suggested it back then. I also know how much you love this place. Your heart and soul are here and… Well, so are mine.”
More hope blossomed, unfolding like the petals of a rose. “I don’t… Riley, I… Did you buy it just because of me?”
Tears glittered in her eyes. “Of course I did. I want you to have this, and you don’t even have to take me on as part of a package deal. The resort is registered under an LLC. The one in Destin has been sold already, as it wasn’t worth the trouble. That project would have drained you dry, just like it drained your, um…”
“Jon,” he said, with no rancor left in his voice. “You sold it, the Destin place?”
“Yep, right after I acquired it. The price was lower than expected, of course, since the work that had been done was shoddy and collapsing. It needs to be torn down, entirely renovated from the ground up. Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that the LLC, this resort, is yours now. You can do whatever you want with it.”
Just like that, his hope crashed and faded. “But not you?”
Her lips quivered. “I don’t want you to feel obligated to be with me, hence why I registered the LLC in your name. All you have to do is sign the paperwork.”
Gray looked at her in awe. She had worked out a way to give his home back to him, a way for him to make a good living in a place he loved. She had made his dream come true, and was handing his own resort over to him. Unfortunately, right behind the bewildered delight of that was a strong tide of pride. The first thing that came to his mind was to refuse, to tell her yet again that he could not and would not accept her pity or charity, that he would never take her money. Before he could voice that, though, she spoke again.
“Of course, the LLC is carrying a loan.”
Relief filled him, and his heart opened yet again, thumping painfully. “You really do get me, don’t you?”
“I hope so,” she said, three little words that held a weight of different meanings, but the naked truth was dancing in her gorgeous eyes.
“Riley, do you still love me at all, even just a little? Can you forgive me for…all of it?”
“Yes, way more than just a little, and I imagine I did a few things you have to forgive me for too.”
He stepped out from behind the bar and took a long breath of the salty sea air. “Hmm. In that case, are you willing to go on one more adventure with me?”
Riley’s smile was as wide and bright as the sun above them as she moved into his arms, that comfortable place she’d missed for so long. Her entire body shook, and her face was a mingle of tears and laughter. “Yes, Gray. Absolutely.”
“I’m sure the new owner would appreciate a tour of the place,” Gray suggested, beaming from ear to ear as he held her in his arms again, the stuff of so many of his dreams.
“I would, as long as you don’t mind closing down the bar for a bit.”
Gray whooped with laughter. “Oh shit! That’s right! I’m the boss now,” he said, utterly bemused by that. Happiness soared through him as he took her hand. “I can get someone here in two seconds to take over. Just hold on, okay?”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“Good to know,” Gray said, then rushed off to fetch the poolside server.