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Chapter
Twelve
Bea basked inthe heat and light from the bonfire, trying to remember the last time she’d been barefoot on the beach.Not even during the few days she’d been here in Hilton Head had she gone shoeless on the beach.
She also couldn’t recall a time when she’d come to the beach at night.Sweet Water Falls had a huge New Year’s Beach Bash, but she hadn’t attended for years.Her children did each year, but Nort disliked sand and dirt of all kinds, and he didn’t understand why anyone would go party on the beach until midnight on New Year’s Eve.
On their last one together, he’d been asleep on the couch by eleven, and Bea had texted her children aHappy New Year!at midnight and gone to bed by twelve-oh-five.
This year, she’d gone to a party at Sage’s house, as Sage threw some of the best bashes in town.There had been so much talking, and so much laughter, and so much noise, that Bea had already decided to spend this New Year’s Eve at home, with herself, her new puppy, and the ball-drop on TV.
As she stood and watched the flickering flames change, morph, and reform into different shapes, each one without corporeal form, she wondered what the rest of this year would bring her.She loved fire, because it danced and cheered, the crackling like a lot of tiny hands clapping that she’d expanded her comfort zone and left the house after dark.
She dug her bare toes in the sand, a feeling of such contentment manifesting itself.She wrapped her arms around herself, though it was anything but cold.She couldn’t make sense of why she felt so…at-home here.Texas had always been her home, and she couldn’t imagine not living there.
Can’t you?she asked herself, and she looked over to where Grant tipped his head back and laughed.He’d said he liked her, and he hadn’t said he wanted her to return to Hilton Head after her trip to Austin, but it had been implied.
Or maybe she’d only interpreted what he’d said to fit her own desires.
He spoke on the phone, as changing and bright and cheery as the flames.She smiled at the sight of him, at the clear way he adored his daughter.She couldn’t imagine not seeing her younger children for almost a year, and she admired how dedicated he was about keeping in touch with Shelby.
He finished his call, but immediately lifted the phone back to his ear, his demeanor different now.He stood about fifteen feet from her, and she couldn’t hear him over the crackling fire, the conversations nearby, and the roar of the ocean, but she knew he wasn’t talking to Shelby anymore.
Grant turned toward her, and their eyes met.He rolled his in a good-natured way, and Bea guessed his sister had called.He took easy, slow steps toward her, the shape of his words finally making sound in her ears when he got closer.
“…talk to you tomorrow, okay?”He arrived at Bea’s side, the hint of frustration in his eyes enough to confirm her suspicions about the caller.“Because itisa fire, Mother.I must go.”
Bea’s eyebrows flew up.Mother?I must go?She’d never heard Grant speak like that.The man wore khaki shorts and a casual, short-sleeved button-up shirt to clean toilets and make beds, but she’d never call him stuffy.
He sighed as he lowered his phone.“I’m silencing this thing,” he grumbled.“My mother should never have been allowed a cellphone.”
Bea giggled, though she didn’t mean to make light of his irritation.“My father won’t use one,” she said.“Trying to talk to him is a special kind of torture.”
Grant looked up, all of his negative emotions disappearing.“My parents usually get on the phone together, both of them shouting questions at me before I’ve had time to answer.”
She laughed again, and while Grant usually initiated the physical contact between them, right now, Bea leaned her palms into his chest.“Well, we must get something to eat, Mister Turner.I’mstah-ving.”
He searched her face before his melted into that charismatic, sexy smile.“You’re making fun of me.”
“I’ve never heard you say things like ‘I must go, Mother.’”She smiled at him, feeling like glitter flew from her eyes as she did.“Sounded formal.”
“They live in Charleston,” he said.“My mother is from old money, so yeah, I suppose I’m quite formal with her.”
“Julie’s in Charleston too, right?”she asked as he wound his arm around her and steered her toward the buffet line.It had grown, and they had to wait now.
“No, actually.Julie’s here.”That shoulder he shrugged went up.“Sort of.”
“How are yousort ofsomewhere?”Bea asked, teasing him again.
“She’s technically in Bluffton,” he said.“It’s across the bridge, right on the other side.Not here on the island.”
“Ah, I see.”
“You drove right through it,” he said, picking up a plate and handing it to her.“Did you fly into Atlanta or Charlotte?”
“Charlotte,” she said.
“Either way, there’s only one way onto the island, and that road goes right through Bluffton.”He gave her a smile, and they went through the line.Bea had never seen such food, and while she’d eaten ribs, beef, and potatoes out of a Dutch oven plenty of times, she’d never had crawfish, crab, or roasted corn on the cob.
