Page 64 of The Mistakes I've Made
Her eyes narrowed as she thought it over. I’d already begun to pull over to the small turnout that led to the beach I wanted to take her to. It was a local spot I’d been visiting since I was a kid.
“I guess so,” she answered. “Although I think I would know more if my grandparents were still around. And my mom.”
I nodded. “There are definitely parts of my family history that are spotty because my father is gone.”
Her eyes lifted to mine. I guessed it was the first time I’d mentioned him.
“How old were you?”
“Young,” I replied. “Too young to remember…”
Much.
I paused for a moment, gathering my thoughts. “But my mom has always been more than enough, and I had Dean.”
“He seems like a good guy, your brother?”
I smiled. “Yeah. Perhaps a bit nosy, but he’s all right. No brothers or sisters for you?”
She shook her head as both of us headed out of the car. “I remember asking for a little sister once when I was young, but my mom said—jokingly, of course—that they had their hands full with me. I don’t know if they just didn’t want any more or if there was some other reason, but I grew up as an only child.”
“Sounds lonely,” I said as I grabbed the cooler from the back of the truck.
We continued our tradition of walking side by side, but this time, our heels dug into the sand as we climbed the dunes toward the beach.
“It wasn’t,” she replied. “Or, at least, it wasn’t until…” Her voice faded.
“How old were you?” I asked, echoing her words from earlier.
“Fifteen,” she said.
I winced. What a terrible age to lose a mother.
Not that there was ever a good time, but at fifteen, with all those awkward hormones and emotions to navigate, it was a delicate time, to say the least.
Even I’d needed my mom’s shoulder to lean on more than once.
“My father was making the globe-trotting, mega-millionaire thing sort of work back then, coming home when he could, but after my mom died, he just gave up on anything family-related.”
“Hence the reason you mentioned the hotel staff before?”
She nodded. “Yeah, they were basically my family for those last few years of high school. Sad, huh?”
I stood straight and looked her in the eye. “No, not sad at all. You found a family when your own let you down. I’d call that pretty damn brave.”
A small smirk tugged at the corners of her lips before her attention turned to the cooler I’d dropped on the sand next to me. “So, what does Taylor Sutherland bring to the beach? Beer and chips?”
“You seriously think I’d bring you all the way out here with just a cooler full of beer and a measly bag of chips? What kind of friend do you take me for?”
Her hands found her hips, reminding me that, before we’d left Beachcombers, she’d slipped a bathing suit on under her sundress. Just remembering her breasts peeking out of that bikini top had me giddy with anticipation, wondering what was waiting for me underneath it.
Not for me, I reminded myself.Definitely not for me.
“Well, I was hoping you’d pack a little more, but I wasn’t sure. You are a bachelor. For all I know, it could be leftovers from your fridge.”
I gave her an exasperated look. “And, if it were, you’d be delightfully surprised because I am an excellent cook.”
“Really?” Her brow rose. “Well then, show me what you’ve got.”
