Page 29 of Seaside Cowboy's Fairy Tale

“Understandable. I wonder if the bullet-casing analysis led anywhere.” Then she squealed. “I saw a seagull catch a fish! I just saw it!”

“Speaking of lunch. I’ve got a picnic basket tucked in the galley, and you’re welcome to it. I don’t have any raw fish in it, though.”

She chuckled, the sound warming him, her body now facing him fully. “Not hungry yet, but I do appreciate the offer. And I think the seagulls will forgive you.”

His hand moved toward hers, his heart rate spiking, but he stopped himself again. As much as he longed to take her hand, to touch the smooth skin of her face, he stayed still. He didn’t dare push her boundaries or make her think he took advantage since they were in the middle of the ocean. Okay, not in the middle, but far enough from the shore. While she was far from a damsel in distress, she was guarded and cautious, and he sensed she didn’t let anyone close easily.

He could be assertive if needed, but he could sense that wasn’t the way to go with her. He raked his fingers through his hair, a proverbial fish out of water now. He glanced at the ocean. No offense to any fish swimming in these waters.

Being near her and unable to touch her was a sweet torture, but if he pressed too much, she’d take off like a seagull to the sky, if not physically yet, then internally.

This attraction wasn’t just physical, though there was that, as his fast heartbeat proved. He respected and admired her spunk, her determination, and her courage. And he could relate to trying to overcome a difficult past and growing up with an abusive parent. Even now, his chest swelled that she’d trusted him with such information. That she’d trusted him with her pain. He’d never use it for his own purposes, like Madison had done with him.

His reflection stared back at him from her sunglasses, and his fingers twitched to reach over and remove them so he could see her eyes instead. Then his gaze slipped to her lips covered in lip gloss with a faint scent of lavender, and her plush little mouth sparkled in the generous sunlight like the ocean beyond.

His breathing going shallow, he eased toward her before he realized, the desire to kiss her nearly irresistible. Then he made himself scoot back. “I’m sorry for the way you grew up. It’s unfair, and you’re a remarkable woman for not letting it drag you down.” He meant every word as his protective instincts flared. He couldn’t protect her from all those hurts, but would he need to protect himself when she hurt his heart in the end? His stomach clenched.

“Thank you.” She took off her sunglasses—at last! Her large luminous hazel eyes softened. Then she looked at the ocean lapping against the boat as if deciphering what could be dragged down into its depth. Or maybe deciding how much more about herself she could reveal. “When my stepfamily moved in, my stepmom gave my step sisters my bedroom and moved my bed and all my things to the attic. But living up there wasn’t as horrible as it sounds. I was grateful to have my own space, away from them. Well,mostlymy own. At that time, the mice squeaking around weren’t the pet kind.”

His eyes widened. “Um, did you get a cat?”

“No.” She shook her head. Wind tousled strands of her honey-hued hair free from her mouse-gray cap.

Those wisps dancing as if reveling in their freedom urged him to take off that imprisoning cap, free her gorgeous hair, let it fall on her shoulders, and run his fingers through it. Instead, he had to wrap his fingers around the railing, the metal smooth and warm.

“It’s going to sound weird, but I felt some kind of camaraderie with them. That they were just as helpless as I was then.” She stretched out her T-shirt, fully displaying the mischievous cartoon mouse absconding with his treasure. “It’s like I could relate. Could be worse.” She chuckled, her lips twisting into a grimace. “I could’ve had to make friends with roaches.”

Heat surged through him as he leaned toward her. “Couldn’t someone help you? Parents of friends? Teachers? Counselors at school?”

How could this happen without an adult stepping up to help a lonely, mistreated child? While his childhood wasn’t ideal, he had his mother and his brothers, and they’d stood up for each other. She’d had nobody besides rodents. He gnashed his teeth, then stared at the ocean to calm down. A deep breath of salty air tinted with a whiff of lavender calmed him, or maybe the soothing lavender was his imagination.

The endless waters had often had that serene effect, and his anger ebbed with the outgoing tide, though not completely. But as gorgeous and peaceful as the ocean was, he yearned to see her, so he turned to her.

She twisted onto her knees, leaning over the stern rail surrounding the benches as if it were easier that way. He joined her, close enough, but not crowding her space. And such aching compassion squeezed his heart.

Her hazel eyes were bottomless as she stared at the gentle laps striking the waterline. “You see, my stepsisters were popular girls, so they made sure I didn’t have any friends, either at school or in the neighborhood. As for school staff, my stepsisters spread lies about me—I was a troublemaker, I was a liar. Everyone already knew I wasn’t a good student, but nobody in school guessed it was because I had no time for homework due to the nonstop chores I was given to do. My grades were abysmal.

“So if my stepsisters pushed me to the limit and I lashed out, I was the one who got caught, and they were always innocent. I was the one to get punished.” Her voice sharpened, and her eyes narrowed. “It’s not that difficult to tarnish someone’s reputation.” She paused, seeming to think about something. Then her voice shook. “Other students would also lie to please my stepsisters and blame me for whatever they wanted. It was understandable. Nobody wanted to get bullied like I was.”

“I’m so sorry. That was unbelievably cruel.” This was even worse than he’d thought. He’d never given much thought to the Cinderella fairy tale before, but with how much she’d gone through, she’d more than earned her happily ever after.

How he longed to give her that happiness, that healing! Yes, because he loved being near her but also because she more than deserved to be loved and treasured.

Though wasn’t it too early even to consider a happily ever after with a woman whose name he didn’t know? That reasoning voice was fast drowning in sweet compassion and attraction.

Then he couldn’t stop himself. His heart aching, he shifted toward her and took her in his embrace as if trying to protect her from the past in the small circle of his arms, even if only for a few minutes. He half expected her to pull away, and she did stiffen, making him freeze in turn. But then she relaxed, and his heart swelled.

Neither one of them said a word, and only his heart was beating louder and louder in his chest as if knocking on the door he’d locked a long time ago. He hadn’t prayed in many years, except a few times for his mother and brothers, because it hadn’t seemed right to pray for material success. But he prayed now for Cinderella’s healing.

The ocean rumbled, and the waves splashed against the boat as it floated. Those sounds blended with the seagulls’ cries, and all fast became mere accents to the soundtrack of this moment, a moment heartbreakingly beautiful in its sadness and heartbreakingly sad in its beauty.

Too soon, she eased out of his embrace. “Anyway, now you know my sappy story. Nobody in my life now knows it. I need to maintain a strong front to survive. I need to be a tiger.Rrrrr.” She imitated a roar and curled her fingers to look like a paw with claws. “Not a mouse.” She tugged on her T-shirt. “Never again a mouse.”

“Frankly, I’ll never disrespect a mouse from now on.” He gripped her shoulders and looked into her gorgeous haunted eyes. “Is that why you do what you do? Protect people who can’t protect themselves?”

Her gaze didn’t waver away from his, and the strength and vulnerability there he’d never seen anywhere before tugged at his heart. The only place he’d ever felt the same combo was within himself, and that might’ve been one of the many reasons he was so attracted to her. They couldn’t be more different, and yet on some level, he sensed a fellow spirit in her.

“I don’t always get those kinds of assignments, but yes.” Her lips moved up. “Being skilled enough to defend not only myself but others too gives me an awesome satisfaction now.”

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