Page 105 of Dream Mates
“Because I’m not a heartless bitch?” She snorted.
“Yep.” I gave her a kiss.
And, well, we were bonded scent matches, so Grace had legal rights that Caroline didn’t. GracelovedEvan and he loved her right back. Also, she wasn’t looking to displace anyone and wanted nothing more than love and ice cream.
“My parents were married, but they never bonded. My beta mom didn’t want to. It wasn’t that unusual where we lived. One day, she proclaimed that she’d fallen out of love with my dad and needed to be happy–and it wasn’t with us. She picked up andleft,then sent the divorce papers.” My head bowed. “While she made it clear it wasn’t us that caused her to leave, to a kid…”
“Yeah, I understand.” She scooted closer to me. “I remember you telling me about her calling you sometimes. Did you ever see her again?”
“No.” My voice went bitter. “My grandparents begged her to try to have a relationship with us, but she wasn’t interested.I know she eventually settled elsewhere, remarried, and had a new family. I know nothing about them. She didn’t even show up when Evan and I had our mating party–and my grandparents made sure she got the invitation.”
Grace leaned her head on my shoulder. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s fine. I don’t need people like that in my life.” I sighed and took another bite of funnel cake, tossing another piece to the greedy birds edging closer, as I stared out at the waves.
We finished our snack, and I took her to the row of games.
“What do you want me to win for you?” I asked, as people called to us, trying to get us to play their game.
“One of those.” She pointed to a squishy pink rabbit in a row of toys.
“If that’s what you want, then I’ll try my best. Let’s see what our game options are.”
We continued to look at the games until I found one with the same pink rabbit that I thought I could win. I paid the guy and threw the darts, eventually popping enough balloons.
Beaming, she gave me a kiss as she held her new toy tight. An omega eyed Grace’s toy, and tugged on her alpha’s shirt, pointing to it.
“Sky swing?” I suggested as we walked past the bubble wheel, where the enclosed cars went around in a big circle. At the top you had a great view of the ocean.
“It’s the one with the swings attached vertically to a pole, right?” she asked.
“It is.” Did she still like spinny rides?
Her grin widened. “What are we waiting for?”
We rode a few rides and browsed the shops. The boardwalk grew crowded as people got off work and school. Grace shivered as a chill started to come in off the water
“Getting hungry?” I brought her to me, using my body to keep her warm.
She nodded. I took her back to the car, getting one of my hoodies out of my suitcase for her. Grace put it on, and I drove toward the fishing docks. We stopped at a little red shack and found a space in the dirt lot which was crowded with cars. I led her past the families, teenagers, and packs until I found an empty stone table with a view of the water.
“Sit here, I’ll be right back with dinner. This is one of my favorite places to eat.” I stole a kiss and went inside.
The little restaurant wasn’t much–and was half fast-food window, half-fish shop. I waited in the long line, ordered two of the dinner specials with drinks, then carried it back out on a wooden tray.
Grace looked up from her phone and grinned. “What’s for dinner?”
I put a paper boat in front of her. “For all the fine dining in the world, I have yet to find anything better than grilled lobster with butter in a paper boat eaten at a stone table by the water.”
“Ohhh.” She licked her pink lips as she took in the lobster with butter, potatoes, and corn.
“Yep.” I dug in, regaling her with stories of fishing off the docks with my grandfather, adventuring in town with my cousins, and the other things we’d done here in summer.
“That sounds like so much fun,” she sighed, polishing off her potatoes. “Because my dad owned a business, we didn’t really go on vacations. A long weekend at the lake. Driving a day or two to see something special or visit my aunt who lived in the next state. While my high school cheer squad competed, we didn’t go anywhere that far. I didn’t fly on an airplane until college. When I was getting my PhD, I was too poor to do much and never got the opportunities to travel that some of my cohort did.”
I put my hand over hers. “You’ve got a whole world to see. I mean, first Seaside, next the PIIP conference.”
She giggled. “I know. Wild right?”
