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“Well, you never took the initiative.” Grae chuckled.
Tielle laughed then, as well. “There was never any need!”
He blinked, a stricken look befalling his finely crafted face. “Was that a problem for you?” he asked in a small voice.
“No, Grae, it never was.” Her expression was soft when she looked at him. “We only had one major problem.”
“True, but it was a major problem that shined a harsh light on all the rest.”
“Do you really think we can magically work out our issues, topped off by divorce and a year apart?”
“I don’t think magic is the answer.”
Tielle shut down her tablet. “What is?” she asked.
“This place.” Grae spared a moment to study the sun-kissed expanse of gardens beyond the sunken pool area. “I can’t think of a better place to find what we lost than the place it all began.”
Tielle couldn’t deny the strength of his logic, nor the chill it sent through her despite the layers of her sweatshirt, tank top, jeans and the wool blanket atop them.
Memory took her back to a day eight years prior when Clegg Marketing, then led by Kenneth Clegg, had its first executive staff retreat. They selected Turner Estates and Gardens for the venue.
Tielle had arrived in time for a late supper with her grandmothers and was introduced to Ken’s son, Grae. Tina and Danielle had already taken an extreme liking to the young man, whom they invited to stay and enjoy supper with them and their granddaughter.
Grae knew he would’ve accepted the offer regardless. Tina and Danielle had an aura about them that would have appealed to any man. When Tielle arrived halfway through the first course, Grae had no desire to dine elsewhere for the duration of the retreat or until Tielle left the estate. He had been utterly fascinated by the curvy, dark beauty, and they’d spent the next three weekends together. By then, he had tumbled headfirst into love with her. Two years later they were married, four years after that they were divorced.
Grae shook his head on the memory, grateful for the interruption of Tielle’s ringing phone. He listened in as she greeted and chatted with Laura Cooper. Laura’s contribution to the discussion must not have been good, for Tielle rolled her eyes a few moments into the conversation.
“We’ve been summoned,” she announced to Grae once the call ended. “Back for the therapy session.” She pushed off the lounge she’d occupied, collected her things, then headed toward the pool house to return the blanket she’d found there.
“Therapy session.” Grae shuddered as he followed her. “Why’s that necessary?”
“Hey, you’re the one who wanted me to agree to this thing.”
“Punch me the next time I come to you with such a great idea.”
She laughed and threw Grae a wink over her shoulder. “Do I get to choose where?”
“Depends.”
“On?”
“On whether you’ll make it feel better once you bruise it.”
“Why’d I ask…?”
* * *
Grae watched as she put away the blanket, smiling as she stepped onto one of the blackwood ladder-back chairs. Then she was able to reach the cabinet space in the back of the small sitting room area of the cottage.
Thoroughly, he surveyed the area. The stirring bronzed pools of his eyes narrowed.
Tielle was closing the cabinet when she noticed the direction he was heading. Having avoided spending much time in the house in an effort to quell the reminders it evoked, Tielle decided to leave Grae to enjoy his tour alone. She got no farther than the chair she’d used to reach the cabinet when he hooked an arm about her waist.
“New bed?” he asked.
“It is.” She masked a feeling of sudden displacement by clearing her throat. “The old one was on its last legs—literally.”
“It’s nice,” Grae said against her temple.
“My guests think so.” Tielle took steadying breaths—ones she hoped might settle the rampant beat of her heart. “The summer folks usually like a nap after a swim in the pool or the lake.”
“And what about the winter guests?” Grae asked while gently nudging Tielle into the cozy room.
