Page 20 of The Magic of Sea Glass
“She wanted me to let you know that she won’t need you until two o’clock, so you can extend your lunch break.”
“Did she say why?”
“She’ll be at the inn, but having coffee with my mom.” His broad shoulder brushed hers, the feel of it giving her arm a tingle, and she tensed in response. But she forced her muscles to relax before he noticed.
It occurred to her that Mary should be the one relaxing on the beach at her age, yet Lauren supposed she couldn’t if there was no one to do her work… “Doesn’t she need me to run the inn so she can spend time with your mother?”
He frowned, shaking his head. “It’s slow, midday. She usually takes her break at this time anyway.”
“Well, I’m here if anyone needs me.”
A warm gust of wind whipped past them and she palmed the blanket to keep the edges from kicking sand onto her belongings.
“What time do you wake up in the mornings?” The silver flecks in his blue eyes rivaled the shimmering sea. He was certainly attractive, but what struck her was that over the last year, she hadn’t noticed if anyone she’d met was attractive or not, so why was she noticing now?
“Around five o’clock, why?”
“Mary suggested that I help you get a feel for the area to be better informed for the guests, since she can’t get around as well as she used to. I was supposed to take a family out on the boat for fishing at six, but they cancelled. So I wondered if you’d like to go before work tomorrow.”
“You do a lot for Mary,” she said, not answering him until she knew his motives.
He hiked his knees up and gazed out at the rushing waves. “She’s done a lot forme.”
“She has?”
“Yeah.” He squinted as the sun came out from behind a white, puffy cloud. “She saved my life.”
Lauren looked over at him. “Really?”
“Mm-hm.” He ran his strong fingers through the sand, grabbing a handful and releasing the grains like the trickle of an hourglass. “When I was five, I fell into our family pool while she was visiting my mother. Mom had just gone inside to get a round of iced tea when I fell in. I was terrified of the water and refused to get lessons, so when I fell into the deep end, I went right under. Mary dove in and saved me.”
“Wow,” she said.
“She saved my life and gave me more glorious days to enjoy this earth. So I help her any way I can. And it seems that she wants you to understand this area better. It doesn’t hurt my business, either, if you know firsthand about my fishing charter.”
Lauren shielded her eyes from the sun once more, the turquoise glass in her bracelet glimmering against the harsh rays. “I don’t like to fish,” she said, her old wounds raw. The truth was that she loved to fish; she found it soothing after a long day. But she hadn’t been since Mason had passed. And she couldn’t say yes to Brody after saying no to Mason on that fateful day.
He leaned into her personal space, his proximity overwhelming. “Mary asked me to show you around, make you feel comfortable and teach you a little bit about the Outer Banks. But apart from that, something tells me that youneedit.”
“What?” His assessment shouldn’t have taken the breath from her lungs, but it had.
“You refuse to talk about yourself, but it’s clear that there is never a break in thought in that head of yours; you’re always running off to be alone. I’m not completely ignorant.”
She gazed into his eyes, drowning in vulnerability. “I came here to escape my problems, which is why I don’t want to talk about them,” she reiterated, “and if I told you, it wouldn’t change anything.”
“Yes, it would,” he said.
“How so?”
“Because it would help me to understand, so I don’t accidently offend you. I’m always around, assisting Mary, and we’re going to be working together a lot. It would be nice to know a little bit about what topics are off limits.”
She set her salad down beside her and faced him, fighting off tears. “You can’t fix this.”
“Maybe not. But we’re not meant to handle life all on our own. We’re meant to be with friends and people who will help us out.”
“It’s nothing anyone can help mehandle,” she said, turning back to the sea.
“That’s fine. But it might be good to let someone understand you whileyouhandle it.”
