Page 56 of Wedding Season
There was something humbling about the ocean. The waves had lapped upon this shore for longer than he could even imagine, and they would continue long after he was there to witness it.
In the day-to-day business of life, it was easy to get wrapped up in his own struggles like he was the center of the universe. The ocean reminded him of his insignificance in the grand scheme of things.
As he’d suspected, this part of the beach wasn’t crowded. One family, a mother and father and their two small kids, were building sandcastles in the area of hard sand on the top section of the beach.
He looked past them and saw the woman standing at the edge of the water, her back to him. Her long blond hair whipped in the wind but she didn’t seem to notice or care. She stood as still as a statue staring out at the horizon.
Alex’s heart fluttered and then settled, somehow soothed by the sight of her.
The same word that had whispered through him the first night he’d taken her in his arms filled his brain once more.
Mine.
He shook his head to dislodge that idea. She was no more his than the sand belonged to those kids forming it into stiff peaks while their parents looked on and smiled.
He could do his best to claim her while understanding that, at any moment, she could slip from his grasp and be carried out into the larger world leaving him behind.
He was always being left behind.
The crash of the waves and the whistle of the wind muffled his approach, but Mariella didn’t seem surprised when he arrived at her side. Of course she’d known he was coming. He’d texted her when he left the house.
But it felt like something more. It felt as though she’d sensed his arrival, and he liked the idea of that. He wanted to believe he wasn’t the only one who couldn’t deny their connection.
“Come here often?” he asked then silently chided himself on the inane line. What was it about Mariella that made him feel like an inexperienced schoolboy trying to impress his first crush?
She glanced up and gave him a look that—while not quite withering—clearly communicated that he was going to need to up his game.
If only he had any game where she was concerned.
“I didn’t used to,” she said, surprising him by answering his dumb question like he’d meant it seriously. “The ocean and I are working out some past issues. Recently I’ve started walking the beach several times a week. I like how the waves put everything in their place. I like the idea that in the greater scheme of things, I’m just a speck of sand and don’t really matter.”
“You matter,” he told her. “Every tiny piece of sand matters. Try getting one stuck in your shoe. It might be tiny, but one speck can make a big impact.”
She tucked a strand of hair that had blown across her face behind one ear. He could see a smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose that he hadn’t noticed before. Maybe they’d been there or perhaps her time walking in the sun had brought them out. Either way, he found them adorable.
“Did you just compare me to an irritant in your shoe?”
He chuckled. “Yes, but I meant it as a compliment.”
She returned his smile. “Then it’s a good thing you’re so darn physically perfect,” she told him. “It will help women have an easier time ignoring your gaping personality deficits.”
The words were harsh, but she said them with such affection he couldn’t even take offense. She might be tough and sometimes cantankerous, but those rough edges had found their way into his heart.
“I should probably start all my dates shirtless, huh? Get to the objectifying part of the evening right from the start.”
“Definitely.” She gestured down the beach. “Want to go for a walk?”
“Sure.” He couldn’t quite read her mood. She wasn’t spitting mad the way she’d been on Saturday. He still didn’t like how that conversation had ended.
“I wasn’t using you,” he felt compelled to tell her.
She kept looking straight ahead. “I know. That was just me lashing out because I was hurt and angry. Honestly, it would have been easier if you had been using me. I know what to do with that.”
“But you don’t know what to do with me?”
“Not at all.”
“That makes two of us. How are things with Heather? She hasn’t said much since returning to work, but she was in a good mood after the meeting today. You were there, right?”
