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“Oh.”Blake looked like he’d been hit with a two-by-four.“I didn’t know you were dating someone.”
“Neither did I,” Oliver said.“Must’ve been pretty new.”
“Yeah,” Grant said.“It was.”He didn’t want to talk about this, not with these three.Maybe Harrison, who he’d grown up with here on the island.If not these three, then who?Grant asked himself, because heknewthese guys.They all lived here full-time and had for years.Without them to talk to, that only left Julie.
His twin sister had called him every day this week, and Grant had managed to put her off through text messages.She knew something was wrong.If she hadn’t before, the fact that he wouldn’t answer when she called had alerted her to it.
In fact, his phone rang in that moment, and Julie’s name sat there.“I’ll be right back,” he said, standing up.“I want something with frozen yogurt in it.But more tart fruit.Not the berries.”He swiped on the call and walked away, saying, “Hey, Jules.”
“You broke up with Bea?”she asked instead of saying hello.
His heart beat out cold blood.“No,” he said.“How did you find out?”He exited the smoothie shop, and Harrison was right—it was too dang hot out here.
“I texted her,” Julie hissed.“She gave me her number when you two were here for dinner a few weeks ago.A heads-up would’ve been nice, then I wouldn’t have embarrassed myself.”
Grant gave a wicked-long sigh, not sure what to say to Julie.
“Oh, so she’s why you haven’t answered my calls.”
“Yes,” Grant said, seeing no point in denying it.“You talked to her?How did she sound?”
Julie didn’t answer, and Grant realized how hopeful and desperate his voice had just come out.He cleared his throat, but he didn’t know what to say next.
“I just texted her,” Julie said.“She told me you two weren’t seeing each other anymore.”
“Right,” Grant said.“Her father fell and broke his hip.Had to have a big surgery, and her parents need her help in Texas.”
“Oh, honey, I’m sorry,” Julie said.“Maybe she’ll come back after he heals up?”
“It didn’t sound like it,” Grant said.He walked to the end of the sidewalk and watched the traffic go by on the busy street in front of him.“I don’t think I’ll see her again.”
“You don’t sound good.Come to dinner tonight.”
“No,” Grant said, shaking his head.Not everything could be fixed with food.“I have a class I’m taking tonight to help me know how to train Vanessa.Sorry.”He hadn’t lied; he did have a management class that evening, as Vanessa was willing to learn and fix the things she did wrong.Grant simply didn’t know how to train someone as well as he should, and while he considered himself savvy and smart, he needed help with this.
Maybe you need some help with Bea too, he thought.
“Maybe you should, I don’t know, go to Texas,” Julie said.“Just to see her.Let her know that you’re willing to fly there and talk online or via video or whatever it is that couples do long-distance these days.Sometimes she can come to Hilton Head for a weekend or something.”Julie paused, and Grant didn’t immediately dismiss the idea.“Then, when things in her life settle down, you two can talk about something more close-distance.”
Grant almost didn’t dare to ask the question in the front of his mind now.“Do you think we could?”he asked anyway.“I mean, do you think I could go there, and she’d take me back?”
“Honey, I don’t know,” Julie said, plenty of sympathy in her voice.“I only met her the one time, but I’d say she was pretty smitten with you.”
“I started to fall in love with her.”
“Then go,” Julie said.“What will fall apart if you leave for a few days?”
Grant couldn’t even think of his calendar right now.He’d been living one hour at a time.“I don’t know.”
“Nothing,” Julie practically barked.“That’s what.So Grant, get online and book yourself a ticket.Go to Texas.Go see if there’s something worth saving between you and Bea.”
The bell on the smoothie shop door rang, and Grant turned around to see Harrison and Blake exiting.Harrison carried a second cup in his hand, and Grant went to take it from him.A light pink smoothie rested thickly in the cup, and Grant said, “Okay, Jules.I have to go.”
“Keep me updated,” his sister yelled as he lowered the phone from his ear.He tapped to end the call, and then he took a drink of his new smoothie.Tart mango, strawberry, and orange met his tongue, along with plenty of creamy, deep, rich, cold vanilla.
“This is fantastic,” he said.“What’s it called?”
Harrison moved toward his truck, and Grant followed.“The Sun Will Come Out,” Harrison said.
And Grant smiled a real smile for the first time since Bea had called to say she wasn’t coming back.Yes, the sun did come out every single day.Grant just needed to find one where he could show up in Sweet Water Falls, Texas, and talk to Bea.
