Page 12 of Just One Summer with the Grumpy

Afonso looked thoughtful. “I prefer this way. Those Americanized parts of Hawaii feel too fake. I do not think beauty can be crafted. I think it must be natural, and this is as natural as you can find.” He gave her a winning smile. “Just like you are naturally beautiful.”

Eyes wide, the bride-to-be stared at the man. “Marcus has never once called me naturally beautiful. He likes everything perfect.”

“Then he is a fool, because you are perfection as you are.”

With each word, I could feel Ty slipping away. My turn to try. “Looks like everyone’s preparing to leave, Kamia. Are you ready to head back now?”

“I suppose.” She gave Afonso a shy smile. “I’m a little tired though. Would you mind being my kayak partner on the way back? Give my arms a break?”

“I would be pleased to accompany you. Shall we?” He held out his arm, which she took, and they headed for the kayaks tied to the dock.

Chase appeared at my side. By the worry in his expression, he’d heard their conversation too. “This wedding has to happen.”

“I know.”

“The welfare of the company depends on it.”

That I didn’t know. “Does it?”

He ignored my question, instead staring after the couple. “Yes,” he said softly.

Uh oh. That didn’t sound good. “Is the company in trouble?”

He clenched his sharp jaw. “This summer is our last chance. The two biggest weddings make up forty percent of our revenue this year—Kamia’s and Veronica Loyal’s wedding next week, to whatever poor sot she talked into marrying her.”

Triple crap. The entire company’s survival depended on a bride who clearly didn’t love her fiancé and my ex-boyfriend’s wedding? If I meant to break up one, I had to make sure the other went through. I couldn’t tank Chase’s company and then walk away.

“You aren’t a Veronica Loyal fan then?” I asked carefully.

“Let’s just say we know each other well. Well enough that I’m surprised she still chose my company to plan her wedding.” He seemed to shake himself back to reality and snapped into character once again, his earlier vulnerability fading. “I guess we’re kayak partners now. Better get going. I don’t want to leave those two alone on the ocean.”

Then something strange happened. His arm lifted, his elbow extended, as if he was offering it to me just as Afonso had offered his to Kamia. And he waited.

I imagined striding toward the kayaks with my arm looped in his and felt an odd plummeting sensation in my stomach. I knew that touching Chase would only make that sensation worse, and I couldn’t say why. So I did the only thing I could think of.

I pretended not to see and headed for the kayak.

A moment later, I heard him follow. He said nothing, which I appreciated.

I felt guilty for rejecting his polite gesture, but I’d read about more than his childhood in that article. There were photos of women, dates he only took out a few times before dumping them. Relationships that only lasted a few weeks. Stories of rejection and pain whenever people tried to get too close. I’d already had my heart broken once in the past year.

I didn’t need a guy like Chase to finish the job.

SIX

I swungmy duffel bag over my shoulder and strode toward the back door of my family’s farmhouse. As a nineteen-year-old freshman at the local community college, I’d spent most of the past year studying or sitting in class. With my last final submitted and summer officially here, I could celebrate with Bridget.

Freedom.It felt so good.

I had my hand on the doorknob when I heard a pained grunt coming from the direction of the hallway. Stopping to listen only yielded a few whispers.

Odd. My parents didn’t need to whisper. I was the only child, and we were alone in the house.

I tiptoed toward my parents’ bedroom and found Mom standing in the doorway, pulling the door closed. I caught sight of Dad on the bed, grimacing.

“Another bad day?” I asked. He’d been recovering from an infection for a few weeks now. Mom, ever the protector, hadn’t allowed me in to see him so I wouldn’t introduce new germs. She kept insisting he would be fine with rest, but I’d been concerned about the paleness of his face under the baseball cap he wore almost constantly.

“Oh, it isn’t that,” Mom said. Her eyes were pinched at the corners, and her usual smile was missing. “He had a little procedure done today. I just gave him some painkillers, so he should be fine soon.”

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