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We hadn’t gone over what he should call me. Special friend sounded strange, but I just had to go with it .
“Can you say hi?” Cole prodded .
“Hi.” His voice was quiet. Adorable .
“I’m so happy to meet you.” I looked at Cole for approval .
“Bird!” Grayson’s finger pointed upward .
Cole laughed. “He’s obsessed with chasing birds on the beach. Birds and trains .”
I saw the bags in the backseat. “Can I help you with his stuff ?”
Cole placed Grayson on the ground. “I have an idea. Why don’t you two see if you can find seagulls on the beach while I take everything inside ?”
“Really?” I looked down at Grayson. He was already wobbling toward the boardwalk .
“He’s faster than he looks,” Cole joked .
“Ok.” I followed him, taking his hand and helping him up the stairs .
“Do it myself,” he stated .
I laughed. “Got it. Independent like your daddy.” I kept a close distance, not sure how fast he actually could run .
My nerves started to disappear. Running with Grayson on the beach reminded me to have fun. I needed to stop worrying and live in the moment. Live in this moment. With a child I knew I already loved .
Twenty-Two
Kaitlyn
W e had two full days to get the Dune Scape into some recognizable form of motel residency. I was ready to take this Wednesday by storm .
“You’re really going to be cutting it close with all that you’ve spent on the renovations and with the utilities you have due at the end of the month.” I had gone over the numbers several times and I was confident I hadn’t missed anything. “If the Dune Scape had just a few more rooms, you’d be able to offset your costs more easily .”
Cole was staring out of the office window toward the ocean .
I had set Grayson up at the desk with a new box of crayons. He had decided he only wanted to color with blue .
“Have you thought about raising the rates?” I asked Cole. “Ten dollars here and there could really help .”
“No, my grandfather was set on not increasing prices for the college students. He said that too many people tried to take advantage of them and he could give them a place to stay at a fair price .”
Cole had been in the office with me all morning, going over the numbers I had put together for him .
I cleared my throat. “Well, your grandfather sounds like a sweet man, but he’s not here to face the reality of the bills. These are the same rates the motel had in the nineties. People wouldn’t even flinch .”
“No, Kaitlyn. I’m not raising the rates. Would you really want to pay more to stay here? Look around.” He pointed to the rows of rooms outside the window .
“It’s not that bad.” Ever since my nights were filled with Cole, I had come to love staying at the Dune Scape, but I remembered my first impression of the motel. “Well, we could at least free up two more rooms for you .”
He turned from the window. “What do you mean ?”
I pulled up the listing on my phone. “I don’t know if you saw this, but it’s next door .”
Cole turned from the window, taking my phone. “This is right behind the Dunes .”
“Yes. I set an alert last night after you told me about Grayson. It showed up this morning. It has two bedrooms and a small office .”
