Page 91 of Beach Cottage Kisses
Scott won the Ernst murder-for-hire case. Professionally, he celebrated the win. Knew that the world was a better place for the precedent that had been sent. Polly Ernst had most definitely been wronged by her ex, but being hurt didn’t give someone the right to murder.
At the same time, he couldn’t get past the fact that he’d once caused the same kind of pain that had driven Polly. He’d hurt his first wife as badly. It wasn’t something he could walk away from. The only way to make it right—aside from the generous settlement he’d given his ex-wife in the divorce, allowing her the means to build a good life—was to make certain that he never let it happen again.
And the only guarantee he had of succeeding there was to never get remarried.
A week passed. And then two. He had a couple of new cases. Iris was fielding offers left and right, lucrative, career-making offers. They were both missing beach nights on a regular basis, and yet, they’d only spent a total of two nights apart.
The night he’d traveled to LA.
And another when she’d been in Sacramento for a high-profile wedding.
The beach wasn’t what it had once been to him. While he still craved his time there,he went out, he did a modified version of jogging, which was mostly just a brisk walk with a few jogs in between, he visited with some of his neighbors while Morgan did the same, but he didn’t linger for hours.
Because Sage and Leigh weren’t out as much. Instead of Sage being a single mother whose only adult companionship had been on the beach, his sister had a husband and daughter in her home to care for, with another child on the way.
Sage had everything she ever wanted. Was truly happy. And Scott was happy for her.
He was also missing the two of them a lot.
And was afraid he could be using Iris to fill the gap.
She didn’t seem to mind.
Because she was using him to fill the same hole in her life? Living right next door to Sage and Leigh, Iris had seen them more than Scott had a lot of the time.
Walking with Iris on the beach late one Friday afternoon in mid-March, watching the girls dart in and out of the incoming tide, Scott said, “Nothing stays the same.” Just out of the blue. Hands in the pockets of his shorts, head watching his flip-flops sink into the sand, he went from casual friend to baring his soul.
At least it felt that way to him.
They’d just passed Sage’s cottage on the way down the beach toward Scott’s. Having already walked past Iris’s twice, once on the way down toward Gray and Sage’s place, and then on the way back. They’d seen lights on in the cottage, but no one had been out.
“And we were so worried Sage would pick up on the fact that we’re having sex.” Iris’s response fit right into his thought process. Not for the first time.
But he’d been talking about more than just afternoon hours on the beach. Though, on the surface, that had been a big part of it.Those hours had bonded a family unit of which he’d been a major part.
And now found himself more an outsider.
“I’m thrilled for her,” he said then. “And glad for me, too, if truth be known. Ever since she adopted Leigh, I worried about her a lot. Tried to take up the slack without stepping on her toes and didn’t always get it right. And now I can let go, and just be her brother and the uncle that spoils Leigh again. Something I’m much better at.” Saying the words aloud brought their truth home to him. In a sense, not having Sage outside, waiting, was a relief.
Because she was finally truly happy. Fulfilled. Not just as a mother, but as a person. Scott could take care of day-to-day responsibilities as needed, but he’d never have been able to fill the hole Sage had carried around in her heart.
“Which fits, doesn’t it?” he said aloud. “I’m better at being on the beach with the family, then inside, being a part of them.”
“I wouldn’t say that.”
“You wouldn’t be wrong.”
Her hand brushed his arm as she sidestepped the tip of a small wave reaching farther upshore than the others. Scott almost reached for her fingers. Held on. But just in time kept his hand in his pocket. They weren’t going to lie about their physical relationship, but neither were they inviting anyone to know about it.
“Relationships take two people, Scott,” she said, when he’d expected silence to swallow up his words. “I’m guessing you were consumed by your work during your first marriage. You were a junior prosecutor building a future. Not just for you, but for your family, too.”
“I’d spend the entire night at the office and forget to call home.”
“She could have called you.”
Sage had said the same. More than once. “I didn’t like to be interrupted.”
“She could have texted. Or called anyway, and dealt with your irritation. Not every minute in a relationship, even a great one, is roses. People have bad days, get tense sometimes, don’t feel good. They get irritable. Even Leigh. We’ve both seen her in some less than precious moments. It doesn’t mean she’s a bad kid, or unworthy of our love. It’s just life.”
