Page 40 of Sweet Escape at Bayside
Her lips parted as if she might say something, and then she closed her mouth and sadness rose in her eyes.
“Babe, I’m not trying to hurt you. I worry that you’re hurting yourself by going to great lengths to keep so many sides of yourself, of yourlife, from intersecting. You don’t allow yourself to take credit for the good things you do, and that doesn’t letanyonefully know or appreciate you.”
“I don’tneedto be appreciated.”
“But youdeserveto be,” he said strongly. “It feels good to be happy for someone you love. Desiree adores you, and she doesn’t even know the generous things you do. When we first met, you told me you’d worked with children for as long as you could remember. Desiree was a preschool teacher, and Rick told me she teaches art to kids during the school year. Does she have any idea that you two have that in common?”
Her eyes filled with tears and she looked away again. He reached for her and she stepped back and said, “I know what opening yourself up like that does. I did it when I was a kid, and look how far that got me.”
He gathered her in his arms, despite her initial struggle, wanting to take away the hurt and fear in her voice. “They’renotgoing to abandon you. Haven’t they proven that to you already? You’ve only shown them about a third of who you really are, and it was enough for them to love you unconditionally.”
Tears slipped from her eyes. He kissed them away and said, “Babe, imagine if they got to know all of you.”
Chapter Eleven
VIOLET’S HAND MOVED over empty sheets Saturday morning. She opened her eyes and found a daisy on Andre’s pillow. She picked it up and twirled it between her finger and thumb, thinking about yesterday. They’d walked down to Wellfleet Pier for lunch and watched the boats in the harbor. Later they’d gone for a drive and stopped at Drake’s music shop. Andre wanted to see where her other friends worked, and as they drove from place to place, she realized she’d never even been to Serena and Gavin’s new office, or the assisted living facility where Chloe worked. They drove down to Ben and Jerry’s for ice cream and then headed to the Earth House, one of her favorite stores, where they scoured music paraphernalia and hemp clothing. It was a beautiful fall day, and after tooling around several of the small towns, they’d ended up at the coffeehouse. It had been the most carefree, exhilarating day she’deverhad, full of kissing, holding hands, and doing all the sappy things she’d thought she’d never want—orhave—again, and she wantedmoreof it.
Cosmos hopped up on the bed and crawled on his belly to her. She reached out to pet him and brushed over a mop of sandy, wet hair.Ugh.Andre had gone running with the guys again, and she guessed Cosmos had, too. Cosmos licked her arm.
“Guess I’ll be washing the sheets andyou, huh?”
He licked her again. He’d been awfully needy lately, following them around and sleeping in their room. “You miss Desiree, don’t you?”
The pup tilted his head and whimpered.
“Yeah, I do, too,” she said, surprising herself. “She’ll be back after her honeymoon, and then you can spread sand onherbed.”
She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about everything Andre had said Thursday afternoon at the hospital. The thought that she could have been inadvertently hurting Desiree was killing her. She didn’t want to bother Desiree on her honeymoon, but she was anxious to hear from her. Last night, as if Violet had willed it to happen, Desiree had texted to say Rick had surprised her with the trip to Portugal. She’d sent pictures of the inn where they were staying and of a friend she’d made there, Paige Bentley, whose family owned the inn. Desiree had invited Paige to visit Summer House and had learned that she knew Daphne and Chloe from their online book club. Desiree’s openness with strangers had underscored the differences between her and Violet and had driven home Andre’s point.
Violet had never considered herself to be someone whohidfrom anything. She approached situations head-on and never hesitated to say what was on her mind. But she was starting to see herself through Andre’s eyes, and she wondered if he was right and shewasgoing to great lengths to hide certain parts of herself. Maybe she wasn’t just trying to keep her groups of friends separate because of the emotions they triggered, even if it had started out that way.
Cosmos leaped from the bed and scampered toward the sounds coming from the kitchen. Violet was glad she’d told their friends to fend for themselves this morning so she and Andre could have a quiet morning alone before heading up to Herring Cove for the volunteer appreciation day to see Rowan and Joni.
Violet pulled on one of Andre’s soft shirts, brushed her teeth, and carried the daisy into the kitchen to put it in water.
“Hey, beautiful.” Andre reached for her, looking deliciously sexy in his boxer briefs.
“Mm.” She nuzzled against his neck. “You smell good.”
He pressed his lips to hers, caressing her bare butt as he said, “You were fast asleep when I got back, so I used the outdoor shower on the patio.”
“And I missed it? I just might have to get you dirty again.”
“I like the sound of that.” He pressed several shivery kisses along her neck, causing goose bumps to rise all over her. “I was about to bring you breakfast in bed.”
She followed his gaze to a tray on the counter filled with a plate of French toast, a bowl of fruit, and a cup of coffee. When she set the daisy on the tray, it looked like a scene from a romantic postcard. She wasn’t a postcard-romance girl, but she was starting to wonder if she didn’t know herself as well as she thought she did. “Thank you. That looks amazing. Did you eat?”
“No.” He brushed his scruff over her cheek. He nipped at her jaw and said, “How could I eat without you?”
He lowered his mouth to hers, kissing her deeply. He was so good to her, so patient, and unwilling to let her mess them up, that he’d unshackled something deep inside her, allowing her to release her inner vixen and accept the softer, submissive side that existed only when she was withhim. Their kisses went on and on, and when his mouth blazed a path down her neck, she couldn’t hold on to a single thought.
“Forget breakfast in bed.” She stripped off her shirt.
LATER THAT MORNING, as they climbed off Andre’s bike at Herring Cove, the sounds of children playing and adults mingling carried in the salty sea air.
“That’s Rowan’s pickup truck, with the breast cancer magnets all over it.” Violet pointed to a truck parked a few spots away. “He’s got them all over the food truck, too.”
Andre had thought he’d known pain when Violet had left him in Ghana. But after falling even deeper in love with her, the idea of being separated not by distance, but by death, brought a whole new meaning to the word. He wasn’t sure he could survive that.
