Begin Again (Home In You Book 2)

by Crystal Walton

  Except they weren’t. Not with Ti.

  She hadn’t left yet. At least, not physically. But she’d distanced herself again. Hadn’t being at the hospital shown her how much she belonged here? With him and Maddie?

  It had for him. More than ever. All the doubts and reservations he’d been wrestling since she walked into their life drained on that hospital room’s floor. And he’d do whatever it took to make her see it, too.

  Skipping the shave, Drew brushed his teeth, cinched the towel around his waist, and headed down the hall. In front of Maddie’s room, he almost bumped into Ti as she backed gingerly through the doorway.

  A gasp punctuated her flinch. “Sorry. I thought you were already at the shop.”

  “Yeah, I went in early to work on something.” He picked at a dent in the wall. “I needed a break, but I’m on my way back now. Well . . .” He motioned to his towel. “Once I get dressed.”

  Whatever momentary composure she’d gained a second ago evaporated further with each cascading glance down his body.

  He wrestled a grin when her eyes finally made the trek back to his. The connection ping-ponged her gaze against every angle of the hallway.

  “Um, clothes. Right. That’s a good thing. I should probably do the same. Go, I mean. Not get dressed. I already have clothes on. Obviously.” She bit her lip as though cutting herself off.

  Man, she was cute when she blushed. And incredibly attractive.

  As if following her skin tone’s cue, his body temperature raised enough to need a second shower.

  Ti nodded to Maddie’s bedroom. “We were just finishing up a movie. She’s asleep now.”

  Another step forward showed a glimpse inside the room. Welcoming the distraction, Drew did a double take at something on her nightstand that looked like a glowing hunk of rock extracted from an Indiana Jones movie. “What is that?”

  A streak of the resolve he missed from Ti lately rose across her shoulders. “A Himalayan salt lamp.” She raised a finger. “Don’t mock. They purify the air and promote better sleep.”

  The kaleidoscope of blues in her eyes gleamed the way they did whenever she was riled up about something. Drew almost egged her on just to keep seeing it, but she lowered her chin, her countenance falling with it.

  “I thought it’d be good for Maddie. Plus it’s pink, so at least she’ll like it.”

  The care in her soft voice drew him toward her. “She’ll love it. Almost as much as she loves you.”

  Ti lifted a hand to her neck while keeping her focus on Maddie asleep in bed. “She has a big heart.”

  Tucked beside Maddie, Jasper popped his head up, his ears raised toward the sound of their talking.

  Drew quietly shut the door before they ended up waking Maddie, too. Ti fiddled with the back of her earring. A stud. That couldn’t be good. Maybe if he distracted her . . .

  “You’ll never guess who I got a note of apology from this morning.”

  An undeniable grin fought for her lips.

  “It’d have to take someone capable of putting Marcus in his place to get him to shake his pride.” Just like she’d done for Drew. Why’d he have to be the slowest learner ever? He ran a knuckle under his chin. “You know anything about that?”

  Shielding her mouth with her hair, Ti faced the ceiling. “Nope.”

  “Of course not.”

  Her gaze met his for the slightest moment and then flitted away. Not much longer, and she’d be flitting out of reach altogether.

  One more shot. He had to break through to her before he lost the chance. He swallowed. “Can I take you somewhere today? There’s something I want to show you.”

  “I can’t.” She pointed a thumb behind her, already backing toward the stairs. “I need to finish that painting for Carter.”

  Through everything, she was still fretting over helping him save the shop. “Don’t worry about it.” He started for her again. “I sold my dad’s boat. We’re gonna be fine.”

  Her head shot up. “You what? Drew, no.”

  “It took me a while to figure it out, but it’s what he would’ve wanted.”

  She looked away. “But after this last trip to the ER, it can’t be enough.”

  “It is for now.” He angled around to face her.

  Eyes blurry, Ti equaled each of Drew’s forward strides with a backward one. “I have to go. Carter’s flying out to San Francisco tomorrow. Today’s my last chance to get him the painting.”

  “Ti—”

  “Call whoever you sold the boat to. You’re getting it back,” she said on her way down the stairs.

  “Ti, wait.” He whirled around the corner, but she’d already made it to the front door. He slumped against the banister.

  All this time she’d been fighting for them, never knowing what it was like to have someone fight for her in return. He raked his wet hair off his forehead and straightened. That was about to change.

  Starting right now.

  Drew weaved through the displays toward the back of the shop in search of Ti. “Hey, Chloe. Have you seen—?”

  “She’s outside.”

  He nodded at her behind the counter, grateful for women’s intuition, and hustled through the back door.

  Beneath a live oak’s overarching branches, Ti mixed a series of paint colors on a pallet. With her hair braided over her shoulder and a pale green summer dress flowing across her calves in the wind, she could’ve been a painting herself.

  Drew evened his steps as he approached. The hard part was getting his breathing to do the same. “You have a way of capturing what few people see.”

  Her fan brush stalled over the pallet. “Maddie has a good eye. She helped me pick out which photo to paint.”

  Her brushstrokes whispered across the canvas like music, each movement bringing the unassuming dimensions of the harbor to life. Same way she did with everything around her.

  Himself included.

  He took the paint supplies from her, set them aside, and grabbed her hand. “C’mon.”

  “The painting—”

  “Can wait.” He steered her through the shop to the front door. “We’ll be back in an hour, Chloe.”

  “Have fun,” she said with a wave.

  “Where are we . . . ?” Ti pulled her hand free and gawked at the four-wheeler parked at the curb. “What is that?”

  “A little spontaneity goes a long way, remember?” Hopefully, far enough to break through her walls. Drew mounted the ATV, pulled on a helmet, and held one out to her.

  The look on her face? Priceless. Just a little more haggling . . . “I thought you were supposed to be up for anything. Not a fan of four-wheelers?”

  Her tight lips strained to stay in place, and he knew he had her. She took the helmet with extra force and motioned for him to give her something else.

  He raised a questioning brow.

  “The key.” She gestured for it. “If I’m gonna go all redneck, I’m at least going to be in the driver’s seat.” In classic Ti-fashion, she climbed on the ATV like a pro and cranked the engine.

  Good thing the tinted helmet shield hid his grin. The bait worked better than he’d thought. Under the layers of hurts and fears, the free-spirited girl who’d resuscitated him without even realizing it still thrived. He just had to make her see that girl was who he wanted.

  He reached for the handlebars. Ti’s back fit against his chest, her arms under his. She stiffened for a moment but then relaxed into an embrace he prayed she’d know was home.

  Once they took off, she didn’t need any help driving. She mastered everything full throttle as usual.

  Drew soaked in the comfort of having her near him again—the wind welcoming them, the ocean’s fragrance blending with the essential oils lingering on her skin. He missed this connection, missed her. She had to feel it, too. Had to know he’d fallen so hard, he’d be lost if she left.

  For an agonizing span of thirty seconds, the reality that he might not be able to convince her to stay etched the
beginning of a wound that’d be irreparable. The engine’s rumble shook the lump out of his throat as he pointed to the opening for the off-road beach ramp approaching.

  Slowing down, Ti peeked over her shoulder and lifted her face shield. “You want me to drive on the beach?”

  Her smile only pulled him in deeper. “Hey, you wanted the full redneck experience, right?”

  There was that glint of intrigue and adventure rising to a challenge. He held on tighter. This was about to get wild.

  As expected, Ti punched the gas each time a dip in the sand resisted the wheels.

  He directed her closer to the shoreline, where the wet sand evened out better, and called over the roar of the ocean, “Keep going.”

  Vacationers dwindled behind them as they gained ground on the more secluded end of the island, close to where the ocean met the sound.

  Drew curved his fingers over hers on the handlebars and let off the gas. The four-wheeler slowed near the bank of rocks he’d grown up playing on. He helped Ti off, set both their helmets aside, and drank in the beauty of the expansive waves. A beauty that paled in comparison to the woman beside him.

  “Wow, it’s amazing here.”

  “It is now.”

  Her lashes dipped, and he had to burrow his flip-flops in the sand to keep from reaching for her.

  She peered across the water as he normally did. No impressions of him this time. Just pensive thoughts she kept hidden. How could he make her feel safe enough to trust him without pushing her away?

  “Before I ever owned a camera or knew how to paint, I used to dream up scenes like this. Pristine landscapes, where nothing but light and joy and safety existed.”

  Casting his reservations aside, Drew came up behind her and kissed the top of her shoulder blade.

  She clasped her elbows across her chest. “When I was in bed with those dealers, I’d watch the ceiling fan circle ’round and ’round, pretending it was creating a portal I could escape through to somewhere like this.”

  A flare of anger over what she’d gone through spread from the bottom of his feet through every cell in his body.

  She turned and brushed her fingertips through his hair. “To someone like you. Cowlick and all.”

  Her weak laugh broke his heart in ways he didn’t know were possible. “Ti—”

  “Please. Let me finish.” She lowered her arm to her side and turned toward the sandpipers scurrying along the beach. “They were dreams, Drew. Beautiful daydreams of being someone else. Of having another life.”

  He clenched the bottom of his shirt to hold in the response prodding him to interrupt. A faint flash of lightning streaked across the horizon in an echo of the storm brewing inside him.

  “Cass and I started writing songs together in middle school, and it was like this whole other world opened up. I couldn’t get enough. Music, photography, painting—anything to create something beautiful and untainted. That’s all I wanted.”

  Waves agitated in the background, tears in her eyes. “I used to pride myself in never having done drugs, thinking I was so much better than my parents.” She scoffed. “As if hiding in my make-believe worlds to escape real life was any different than getting high to do the same exact thing.”

  “You were just a kid.”

  “You can only use that excuse for so long. You know I ran the first chance I had to get the heck away from my roots?” A sad smile claimed her eyes. “My other life. Thirty-five hundred miles away in London on photo shoots I thought would color over the darkness for good.” She slipped out of her flip-flops and dragged her toes through the sand. “But all the colors in the world can’t cover up a flawed canvas. Those flaws and scars will always be there. Seen and felt by anyone who gets close enough.”

  Drew curled his fingertips under hers, needing her to know he wasn’t backing away. That he wanted her to open up to him fully and wasn’t afraid to do the same.

  A flicker of doubt snaked through his chest at the thought. Could he really give her all of himself? Even the wounded pieces? He should’ve thought about that before he kissed her the other night. If it didn’t work out, she’d feel used again, abandoned. Maybe he should be more cautious—

  Stop. Insecurities had ruled him long enough. He’d rather be broken with her than pretend to be whole alone.

  “We all carry brokenness, Ti.”

  “I know. And after spending a summer in the Catskills with Cass and Ethan, I knew running away wasn’t going to change anything. So, I finally went home. I thought if I found the courage to go back and open up an art studio, it’d be like facing my fears and proving my past didn’t own me anymore, you know? That maybe I could even give hope to other kids in our neighborhood to do the same. But then he . . .”

  A seagull cawed overhead, garnering a frayed smile from her.

  Drew moved closer. “Then what? Who?”

  Her dejected expression speared him. His pulse lurched when tragically beautiful eyes found his again. “The reason I’m leaving.”

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Breach

  Wind roared off the shoreline, light and darkness vying for the sky. Ti turned to the ATV. “We should get back.”

  The oncoming storm would have to wait. Drew jogged after her. “Ti, hold on. What reason?”

  She faced the torn skyline. Lightning flickered across her eyes, highlighting the lies holding her in bondage.

  He caught her hand. “Look, I might not know what’s going on back in Queens right now, but I know the woman standing here on the beach with me.” So full of beauty and value she couldn’t see. He secured a wayward strand of hair behind her ear and struggled to reach the woman hidden behind this haunted brokenness he felt more and more helpless to rescue her from.

  Drew tipped her chin toward him when she looked away. “Just because those guys treated you like you’re worthless, doesn’t mean you are.”

  “And just because you want to believe I’m something more, doesn’t mean I am.”

  “Then let me prove it. Let me show you every day.” He brushed his fingertips to the nape of her neck. “You said yourself you dreamed of being here.”

  Her lashes closed as she breathed in. “It was a fairy tale. That’s not the way life works.”

  “And you think settling for creeps who hurt you is? You think that’s all there is to reality?” He turned her arm over to expose the imprint Jamie had left.

  Ti covered the bruise with her hand. “It’s the way things are.”

  “It doesn’t have to be.”

  “You don’t know how much I wish you were right.” With another wrecked smile, she peered toward two pelicans forging a path across the tumultuous waves. “You know why I love sunsets so much? All the grays and shadows from the day disappear. Color and beauty take over. And for one moment, I forget all that’s marred and dark in the world.”

  As a cluster of ominous clouds shrouded the sun, she wiped at the tears collecting on her chin. “Escape only lasts a moment, Drew.” She tugged on her helmet and straddled the seat.

  He hopped on the ATV before she could take off without him. He’d relent for now, but he wasn’t done fighting for her yet.

  Raindrops splattered onto his helmet halfway down the beach. A trickle merged into a downpour, slashing them sideways in the wind. Drew steered the four-wheeler over to the lifeguard stand and helped Ti take cover under the wooden tower while frenzied vacationers scurried off to the parking lot.

  “Where’d that come from?” Ti wiped her wet arms, looking frazzled and adorable and downright sexy.

  The turmoil behind her eyes hadn’t fully left, and they definitely weren’t finished with their conversation, but the momentary interruption might actually be a good thing. Her tactics had certainly worked on tearing down his walls. Maybe they’d work on her, too.

  He sauntered closer. “Just think of it as another helping hand teaching you how to be adventurous.”

  “You love making me eat my words, don’t you?”

&n
bsp; His mouth quirked. “Relish is a better word.”

  “Then how ’bout you relish some more of this rain.” She shoved him into the storm.

  Drew danced back under the tower, wrapped his soaked shirtsleeves around her, and nudged his dripping wet head into the crook of her neck.

  Squealing louder than the downpour drumming onto the wooden planks above them, Ti squirmed to get away.

  Like that was happening. He cornered her against a beam until their playful banter gave way to the same passion that’d been sparking since day one. She felt it, too. He could sense it. If she’d just give it a chance, they could make this work.

  With their clothes melded together, they breathed against each other, neither looking away. His pulse thrummed with desires he couldn’t act on yet. Still, he wasn’t ready to let go of her. Not when she was this close—when she’d lowered her guard, just for a minute.

  Ti set a palm to his chest and froze. Panic stormed her eyes. “The painting!” Without hesitation, she pushed him back and bolted into the rain.

  “Ti, wait.”

  But she didn’t slow down. She sprinted up the beach to the road.

  Drew banged the side of his fist to the beam and jumped on the ATV. She’d only made it to Lighthouse Road before he caught up and got her to hop on. As soon as the wheels breached the shop’s gravel driveway, she dropped her helmet and bounded around back.

  He darted off the seat and chased after her. But when he rounded the corner of the shop, Ti wasn’t there. Neither was the painting. He ducked in through the back door to find her standing in front of the easel, a muddied puddle of colors accumulating beneath it.

  “I’m sorry.” Chloe propped open an umbrella in the corner. “By the time I remembered it was out there, it was too late.”

  Ti’s slender shoulders rose and fell in quick, shallow movements.

  Drew eased toward her. A step at a time, the painting came into view. Rivulets of undefined colors streaked the canvas like tears blurring the artist’s vision.