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Theorange-goldenglowof the fire met Grant’s eyes from the parking lot at Pirate’s Beach, which he’d been lucky to find a spot in.He and Bea hadn’t arrived on time, which meant they’d come before about half of the others who would eventually show up.
“I’m starving,” Bea said.“I haven’t worked that hard in a long time.”Her eyes reflected some of the firelight as she looked at him.
“I don’t believe that,” he said.“While we made those beds, you said you’d cleaned out every closet in your house once Curtis moved to school.”
“Yes, well.”She unbuckled her seatbelt and opened her door.Grant followed her out onto the sand, easily taking her hand in his.She squeezed, and he released her fingers and slid his along her waist, wanting to be closer to her.
“How is Curtis?You said you were talking to him yesterday.”
“Good,” she said.“He’s met a woman named Grace.”She broadcasted a worried note in her tone, but Grant didn’t comment on it.Her youngest had graduated high school last year, and he suspected she found him too young to get serious with anyone and get married.
“How old were you when you met Nort?”he asked, hoping he’d kept his voice light enough to be casual and not inquisitive.
“Only nineteen,” she murmured.She drew in a long breath.“Too young, to be honest.”
“Are you worried about Curtis?”
“Yes,” she said.“He’s staying in Waco for the summer because of Grace.He mentioned his job, but he could get one at home.”
Grant didn’t comment on how she called Texas home.He’d already put his thoughts into words about her returning to the island, and she hadn’t spoken to it specifically.
“I had Meredith when I was twenty-one,” she said.“I do love being my children’s mother, but sometimes…” She let her sentence drift on the wind, and Grant didn’t want to fill in that silence for her.So many things could follow it, and he didn’t presume to know everything about Bea yet.
They approached the bonfire before she spoke again, and when she did, she said, “You’ll have to tell me all about your ex-wife and how you met.”
“Oh, that’s a boring story,” he said, fixing his smile to his face as his buddy turned toward him.Half of Ben’s face glowed with firelight, and the whole thing beamed with warmth at Grant and Bea.
“Grant,” he said with a laugh.“You made it, brother.”He grabbed onto Grant and man-clapped him on the back, which left Bea standing a pace or two away, alone.
Grant laughed as he returned the back-slap, and they grinned at one another.“How’s business?”he asked Ben.The scent of smoked meat and crisp, apple cobbler hung in the air, and the food at this shindig wouldn’t be cheap.
Fire smoke lifted into the air, and the bonfire, which burned at least a dozen feet high, threw enough light around to be able to see everything.Of course, it wasn’t quite full dark yet, and Grant’s stomach also growled at the lateness of dinner.
“Good,” Ben said.“I just sold that house over in South Beach.”His expression held a knowing twinkle, and Grant couldn’t even imagine what his commission was on a five million dollar house.Hilton Head boasted plenty of wealth, and Grant didn’t hurt for money.He also didn’t have quite the income potential as some of his friends.
It had never bothered him, and it didn’t now.He fell back to Bea’s side and slipped his fingers between hers.“Ben, this is Bea Callahan.Bea, my friend, Benjamin Mureno.”
Ben looked from Bea to Grant and back, his surprise obvious even in the fading daylight.“Okay,” he said, springing forward as he’d fallen into a bit of a standstill.“It’s great to meet you.”
“You too,” Bea said, lifting onto her toes as Ben swept his lips across one of her cheeks and then the other.Severe jealousy coated Grant’s lungs, squeezing them tight and making breathing difficult.He kept his smile in place, and re-took Bea’s hand when she returned to his side.
“Food’s done,” Ben said, clearing his throat.“Help yourselves.They’re setting up the bar now, and we’ll break out the roasters and marshmallows in a while.”
“Good to see you,” Grant said, noticing that Ben didn’t ask him about his business.He rarely did, but Grant didn’t blame him.He’d been friends with Ben for a long time, and the relationship had always been about Ben, not Grant.
“He’s nice,” Bea said as they moved toward the top of the bonfire.A few people mingled there, nothing in their hands to keep them occupied.
“Yes,” Grant said.Several paces from the fire, the Dutch oven buffet had been set up, along with an array of tables.His shoes sank into the sand, and the urge to remove them became unbearable.
“I’m going to take off my shoes,” he said, spotting the tower where others had already put theirs.
“Good idea,” Bea said, and she joined him at a table, where they sat to remove their shoes.He took hers and put them inside his before putting them on a high shelf on the tower, and as the sand squished between his toes, he sighed.
“Ready for dinner?”he asked upon his re-arrival at Bea’s side.
“Beyond,” she said, gazing at the food.She made no move to get closer to it, pick up a plate, and start getting served by one of the three people behind the enormous Dutch ovens situated on the tables.
“Grant,” she said, meeting his eye with the maturity of a woman who wasn’t nineteen anymore.She clearly had something to say, and as more people arrived and a roar of laughter lifted up from those lingering closer to the fire, he leaned closer to hear her.He marveled at how the world could feel so far away when so many eyes stood so close.
His phone rang, the tone of his daughter, and his pulse jack-knifed through his body.If he’d been connected to a heart monitor, surely the nurses would be calling a Code Blue.“Hold that thought,” he said, his voice hoarse for a reason he couldn’t name.“This is Shelby.”
“Go.Answer it.”Bea removed her hand from his and faced the fire.She took a couple of steps in that direction, giving him some privacy.Privacy he didn’t want, but he did swipe on the call from his thirteen-year-old, wondering how he was going to tell her that he’d met an amazing woman and had started to fall in love with her in only three days.
His sister had texted earlier that day too, and Grant hadn’t answered.She’d likely interrupt his evening too, but he pushed Julie from his mind as he said, “Hey, buttercup.What’s up?”
