by Jill Sanders
“The lobster and shrimp are my favorite, but the chef makes some really great pork chops.” He smiled across the table at her, and she remembered that he had looked just as excited to have a slice of cold pizza for a couple bucks at lunch.
“You surprise me,” she said, setting down her menu again. When he raised his eyebrows and just looked at her, she continued. “You give off the impression that you’re a beer-drinking, pizza-eating kind of guy, but then you take me here.” She motioned around to all the people wearing clothes that cost more than her entire wardrobe had and to the dining room that would bring in more in one night than she brought in the bar and grill in a whole week. “And yet you fit in here. More than that, you were born for this.” She heard herself say those words, and for a split second, her heart skipped.
Her mind screamed at her, wondering what she was doing messing around with someone like Luke Callaway.
He was looking at her kind of funny, and then he smiled. “You know, I’ve never really thought of this place as anything but home. Where most people can’t see beyond the pressed table cloths and high-priced food, all I see is myself as a teenager”—he nodded to a back table area—“back at that table doing my homework with my brother and eating three meals a day either in the kitchen or at an empty table because our parents were too busy to make dinner or take us home.” She watched as a sad look crossed his face.
She’d never thought about it like that. She started wondering what it would be like if she started a family. Would she be any different than his parents had been? Would her kids be forced to sit in a booth and waste their childhoods because she was too busy running her business?
Shaking her head, she tried to push those thoughts to the back of her mind. She’d never thought about having a family of her own, not until today. She wasn’t ready for a family or, at this point, ready to commit to someone for more than a few weeks at a time.
Chapter Eight
Luke wasn’t sure what had changed during dinner, but the whole atmosphere had changed from light and friendly to quiet and solemn. It didn’t help matters that, shortly after they had ordered, his father had showed up at their table. He was sure that Andre had called upstairs and notified him of their arrival.
“Luke, I heard you were down here.” He stood to shake his father’s hand. He and his father had never really been on friendly terms, especially not since Calvin’s death.
“Yes, sir. May I introduce Cassey Grayton. Cassey, this is my father, Jeffery Callaway.”
“How do you do?” His father shook Cassey’s hand. He could see a shocked and somewhat cornered look on Cassey’s face. He would have done anything to remove it and replace it with the smiles she’d given him all day.
“How do you do. You have a lovely place here,” Cassey said stiffly.
“Thank you. I won’t keep you from your meal.” His father turned towards him. “Luke, can I have a word with you?”
Luke looked towards Cassey, who nodded quickly.
He followed his father into the back office area and felt the full force of his father’s anger after he shut the door.
“What are you doing?” His father was just an inch shorter than him, but the man still had the power to make him feel like he was only three feet tall.
“I’m enjoying a dinner date. You did say you wanted me to try any means possible.” He crossed his arms and held his breath.
“I didn’t expect you to bring that woman here.” His father started pacing. Jeffery Callaway never did anything idle; the fact that he was pacing didn’t escape Luke’s attention.
“Really?” He leaned slightly against the closed door. “When you give me a job to do, you should trust me enough to complete the task on my own terms. However, since handing me this task, you have done nothing but interfere.” He stood up when his father stopped pacing right in front of him, and then he watched his face start to turn a dark shade of red. “If you’re finished, I have a date waiting.” Luke turned and left the room without another word.
As he walked back to the table, he tried not to dwell on the fact that his father was an ass. He was determined to enjoy the rest of the evening, regardless of what his father thought of him or Cassey.
Cassey seemed to enjoy her meal, but instead of ordering dessert or drinks after they finished their plates, he quickly paid. Then he pulled her out the back glass doors that led past the large tropical pool. There were low lights strung around the palm trees, and soft music was playing from the hidden speakers, but he didn’t stop yet. Instead, he pulled her past the iron gates and onto the beach. Pausing so she could remove her shoes, he toed off his dress shoes and rolled up his pants. She laughed a little and helped him so the sand and water wouldn’t destroy them.
“Here, we can leave our shoes here.” He walked over to a small bush area just outside the iron gate.
She looked around questioningly.
He laughed. “I’ve been hiding my shoes here all my life, and I’ve never had a pair stolen.” She smiled and nodded and set her sexy heels next to his black shoes.
Then she took his hand as they started walking down the long strip of beach. He always loved the feel of the white sand under his feet. His resort had been raking the sands for as long as he could remember. Here, you were in no danger of being stuck by a broken shell or a wayward glass bottle.
He sighed when they made it to the water’s edge. Since it was fall, the water was cool and when it lapped at their feet, they both gasped then giggled.
“Maybe we’ll avoid the water.” She rushed from the edge, pulling him along. The walked for a while in silence, their hands lightly grasped together, swaying next to them.
“Your father seemed nice,” she said offhandedly.
A bark of laughter escaped his lips.
“What?” She pulled his hand until he stopped and looked at her.
Shaking his head, he looked down at her. “Let’s not spoil the evening by talking about my father.” He pulled her closer, noticing how her silver eyes sparkled in the moonlit. He brushed her hair out of her face when the light breeze pushed it in her eyes.
“You look lovely tonight.” He pulled her closer. “The way your hair shines in the light.” He pushed a strand of her hair out of her face again. She’d curled it tonight, leaving the long strands in little loops down its length. The strapless dress she’d worn allowed her hair to fall lightly on her bare shoulders. His fingers trailed down her hair until he felt her soft skin under his hands. Running a finger lightly over her shoulder, he watched as her breath hitched. Her chest rose and fell lightly, causing his eyes to follow the slight movements.
He was transfixed as he watched her head fall back a little. Her eyes closed slightly and she held her breath as his fingers played over her skin. He ran a finger up her neck until he couldn’t stop himself, and he dipped his head to taste the soft skin where his fingers had just been.
He felt her moan against his lips, and the sound vibrated along his hands as they ran up her back. The softness of her dress, her skin, almost undid him. It took all his will to pull away and start walking down the beach again.
They came upon a little shack along the beach that sold Italian ice and sat at the bar stools and enjoyed the cool treat. He’d been eating at the small business for as long as he could remember, yet he didn’t even know who owned the place. He knew that if the hut had been along Cassey’s boardwalk, she would know the owners and their whole life stories, as well. He wondered exactly what that said about him as a person.
“This is incredible,” Cassey said, breaking his deep thoughts. He smiled over at her. “I’ve never had Italian ice before; it’s basically ice cream, right?”
He chuckled. “It’s actually closer to sorbet. He held up a spoonful of his favorite, pina colada. “Here, try this one.”
He watched as she took his spoon into her mouth and closed her eyes. “Yum.” Her tongue darted out to lick her bottom lip. “That’s as good as the raspberry.”
&
nbsp; He smiled and nodded. “Calvin’s favorite was raspberry.”
She smiled. “My sister, Marissa, loved pina colada. My brothers always had one favorite, orange.” She chuckled. “It’s funny, they could never agree on what to have for dinner, or to drink, but always agreed on orange sorbet.”
“I’d like to meet them sometime,” he blurted out before he knew what he was doing. He didn’t know what had caused him to say it and didn’t even know if he really did want to meet them. But the more time he spent with Cassey, the more time he wanted to spend with her.
He understood their arrangement, that it was just physical. He really wasn’t looking for a long-term relationship, especially one he already knew his father wouldn’t approve of. Not that he needed his father’s approval to date a woman. Hell, if he thought about it, he wanted a woman his folks didn’t approve of. But there was already so much his father was up in arms about. Most of it was his fault, some of it wasn’t, but he was sure his father would find a way to blame him for them anyway.
He sighed and tried to focus on the now instead of the old arguments with his father.
“Where did you go?” she asked when he blinked and cleared his mind.
“Hmm?” He tried to recover by taking another nibble of his sorbet.
She leaned on the counter and gave him an I’m-not-buying-it look. He was sure he could get out of explaining himself, but then he sighed again and caved.
“I had an argument with my father earlier. I was just thinking about how he always blames me for everything.”
“I’m sure he doesn’t blame you for everything.”
He chuckled. “Do you always look at the bright side of things?”
She shook her head. “No, but you must have had some wonderful times growing up.”
“I did. My brother was the best part. Calvin shielded me from most of my parents’ wrath. He’s the one that taught me how to throw a football, encouraged me to ask Tammy Lynn out in fifth grade, bought me my first box of condoms.” He smiled. “He also taught me how to drive and passed on his love of classic cars.” He took a drink from the water bottle he’d ordered. “If I think about it, all the great moments in my life happened because of my brother.”
“I would have loved to have met him.” She’d leaned her face in her hands on the counter and was listening to him like in a daydream. “My brothers played a huge part in my great memories too.” She laughed, and sat up. “They taught me not to be gullible, to work hard for what you want, and to never back out of a fight.”
“Okay, now you’re going to have to explain all those.” He chuckled.
She smiled as she finished the last bite of her Italian ice. “Okay, but let’s take this conversation to go.” He nodded and scooped up the last of his ice and shoved the whole spoonful into his mouth as she laughed.
Cassey loved talking about her family. Not only were they her favorite people, but they were her favorite subject as well.
As they walked along the beach, the cool salt wind hitting their faces, she told him story after story about how her brothers had convinced her of such things as the existence of aliens and ghosts, and even that the tooth fairy stole all your teeth if you didn’t put your lost tooth under the pillow.
When she was small, she’d been tossed about by her brothers in the pool or when she’d gone surfing with Cole, as her brothers learned that trying new tricks was easier with a small girl. Cole usually instigated tossing her around. He practiced his surf moves with her on his shoulders until he was pleased with his moves. She would get tired of being tossed about in the waves, and he’d had to rescue her a dozen or so times when he’d pushed it past her energy limits.
Once, when she’d gotten into a fight at school with a few other girls, Marcus had taken her to his judo classes and forced her to learn some basic moves. Roman had taught her how to punch like a pro and, after a particular incident in the girls’ locker room, the girls had never picked on her again.
He laughed at all of her stories as he held her hand, sending heat traveling up her arm and into her chest. She’d never really talked about her family to a man she was seeing before. Actually, some of the men she’d dated in the past had been friends of her brothers. Two of them had been best friends with Roman, who had set her up. It was funny; Roman was always trying to set her up, but had never really dated anyone that she could remember.
His brothers had always given him grief about it, but Cassey knew why he didn’t date. He’d told her he’d already found the woman he wanted to grow old with, and he was just waiting for her to discover it was him she wanted to spend the rest of her life with.
As a young teenager, she’d sighed and imagined a beautiful woman who’d won her brother’s heart doing some heroic deed. But the girl was blinded and couldn’t see what a wonderful man she had right in front of her face. To this day, she still didn’t know who that girl was or if Roman felt the same way about her still.
“So, tell me why you fought with your father tonight,” she asked once they were back in his car, traveling back towards Surf Breeze.
He glanced over at her, looking a little surprised. “Actually, it was about you.”
It was her turn to look surprised. “Me?”
He nodded. “Yes. My father isn’t happy with the lack of progress I’m having persuading you to sell your place.”
She glanced out the window and wished she hadn’t asked. “I didn’t mean to…”
“Hey.” He took up her hand and waited until she looked back his direction. “It’s okay. If it wasn’t this tonight, it would have been something else. Honestly, I’m thinking of quitting.”
“Quitting? Can you quit your family?”
He laughed. “I don’t know, but I’m thinking of trying.” She smiled at him and chuckled a little.
“I suppose you can quit your family. I quit my first family, my father and stepmother, when I was seven. Of course I had the help of my guardian angel.”
He glanced over at her. “What?”
She smiled. “Lilly, the social worker who saved my life and brought me to the Graytons.”
“You were seven?” he asked.
“Yes,” she nodded, looking out the window, remembering that night so many years ago. “Until I was seven, I’d only left my house about three times. Each time, I had to hide in the truck so no one would see how bad of shape I was in. I spent most of my time locked in the cellar or in a closet because they kept catching me sneaking food. It wasn’t so bad until my father married again. At least I think they were married.” She closed her eyes, trying to remember, but she’d blocked a lot of her childhood memories out. “Kimberly, my stepmother, was left in charge of me a lot during the day. She liked to sit on the couch and watch television, and small children tend to make a lot of noise. So, I stayed locked in the basement from the time my father left before sunrise until he returned home after dark.”
“How terrible.” He flexed his fingers on hers.
She looked over at him. “Then I came to the Graytons and found my real family. I remember the first few months I felt guilty for being allowed all different kinds of food. Lilly had given me my first Coke that night.” she smiled. “I guess you can say the addiction started then.”
He smiled. “Well, I haven’t even met the Graytons and I like them already.”
“You would. They would like you as well. They are always looking to take in people like us.” She realized what she’d said too late.
“People like us?” he asked.
She nodded a little. “I guess so. You know…” She shrugged her shoulders and looked out the window. “My parents may have abused me physically, but from the sound of it, yours have neglected you. Neglect is a form of abuse, too.”
He thought about it. “I suppose you’re right. Funny, I think I could have handled it a lot better had they tossed me around a little. You know, my father never really yelled at me until after Calvin was gone.”
“He probably misses him a
lot. I can’t imagine what it’s like losing someone so close to you.”
“You can’t? From what you said, your sister took off at seventeen and hasn’t been back. Isn’t that a lot like losing her?”
She thought about it and then shook her head. “No. I know Marissa is out there somewhere. She chose to leave us; Calvin didn’t get a choice.”
“I suppose you’re right. But I would think it would hurt just the same. The emptiness, the place they used to fill.” He squeezed her hand a little. “Have you ever thought about looking for her?”
She shrugged her shoulders and looked out the window. It was too dark to see anything, but she’d driving this road enough to know what was out there. Trees, homes, an occasional glimpse of the shoreline. Marissa was out there somewhere, probably close enough to reach out and touch if she’d tried.
“I looked once, shortly after she left,” she whispered.
“And?”
“She doesn’t want to be found. If she did, she would have left some clues for me.”
“What kind of clues?”
She turned and looked at him. “Why are you so interested?”
He shrugged his shoulder and dropped her hand to maneuver around a sharp turn. “It’s a mystery.” He smiled at her when the road straightened out. “I like solving mysteries.”
She tilted her head a little, looking at him across the dark car. “We always talked about what we wanted to do when we grew up. I was determined from the tender age of eleven to open my own bar and grill.” She chuckled. “Marissa had other ideas. She wanted to buy old houses and fix them up. She was always helping Marcus and Roman out when they worked around the house we grew up in. The three of them made a really great team. She kept stacks of newspaper clippings in a box; she’d cut home listings out and dream about fixing the places up. After she left, I drove by every house she’d ever looked at.” The sadness still overwhelmed her sometimes. “She always talked about a place overlooking Dolphin Bay, being close to Spring Haven. I know she’s somewhere close, but until she wants to be found, she is going to stay hidden.”
