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“At least it’s a change of pace,” she said. “I like that the competition is on the beach today. I think you can sneak down and watch it.”
That had been his hope. He hadn’t been able to get anywhere near her during production in the studio, but today he was going to try to be close by and see if he could catch what was going on.
Grace had said everyone had their own room, but only one other person had a spouse with them. Everyone else was by themselves.
“I planned on it,” he said.
“Sorry you are just sitting here doing nothing while I’m gone,” she said. “Go out and explore.”
“I have been,” he said. But he didn’t want to use this as a vacation. What if she needed him? Or she got eliminated early on and came back looking for him and he wasn’t around.
He wasn’t sure why it bothered him when in the past he hated any woman that relied on him so heavily. Or at least since Lara did and he’d failed.
There was part of him that wasn’t sure how he’d feel knowing the Bond family put so much weight on him to be there for Grace. He didn’t want to let another person down.
But was he really letting her down or was it that his mind couldn’t separate his past teenage love from his current one?
When had he ever been so confused over something? But the fear of making the wrong decision again just weighed heavily on his shoulders.
He knew Grace felt the pressure to represent the family well and he matched that by doing his part to make sure she was in the right frame of mind.
“Just not enough,” she said. “Sorry this is so boring for you. I guess I hoped you could see what was going on too.”
“I’ll see it all when it’s aired on TV,” he said.
Grace couldn’t even tell her family the results each day. Nothing. He supposed it helped that she had him.
“You’re more patient than I am,” she said.
“I’d say you’ve got more patience than anyone gives you credit for. You did wait a few years to approach me.”
She laughed. “You’re not going to let me hear the end of that, are you?” she asked.
“Nope. Come kiss me and go kick some butt today. Do you know if two more people are being eliminated again?”
“No clue,” she said. “We’ll find out when we get there. After this morning though, if it’s a double, then half of the people are gone. My guess is, yes, two more today, then tomorrow could be a longer day to get to the final two and then Friday is the finale. The time is going by fast at least.”
“Regardless of what happens today or the outcome, I’m proud of you.”
“I’m proud of me too,” she said. “I never thought I’d enjoy something like this, but I do.”
“Then maybe you can end up doing more competitions,” he said.
“Nah,” she said. “It’s fun, but I miss my island.”
“Me too,” he said. He kissed her and sent her on her way. She’d go to the studio first, they’d be clued in on what was going on and then be driven to the beach.
He was going to make his way there after breakfast and see if he could see the setup and get as close as possible. The contestants were all encouraged to eat together and were fed at the studio when they arrived.
He was getting ready to leave when his phone rang. He didn’t recognize the number but saw it was from Massachusetts and answered, “Hello?”
“Lincoln. This is Melanie Stone.”
“Hi,” he said.
“I hope it was okay to call. I know it’s early there.”
It was almost seven and breakfast was opening up at the restaurant in the hotel. “We’ve been up for a while,” he said.
