Chapter 2
“ Y ou’re kidding, right?”
“Why would I joke about something like this?”
Her mouth dropped open and then quickly shut.
“I didn’t think I’d see you. I didn’t think you’d come to the reunion.”
“I never thought I’d see you again.”
“Well, the way things ended—”
“There was an end? You stopped writing. Well, except for that one letter.”
“You stopped calling. That is, when you called at all. I got a call once a month.”
“You called off our wedding! ”
“Let’s not go there.”
“Why not? We didn’t go there when it mattered.”
“I can’t…”
Her voice trailed off, and her eyes widened when she saw the place that had paralyzed him. He knew immediately where she’d gone.
Breathless, she said, “It was a long time ago. I don’t have time to talk. I…I have to go.”
As she breezed by him, he caught a whiff of her perfume. No, not perfume. She never liked to spray perfume on herself, at least not thirty years ago. Most likely, it was her favorite lotion. She loved lotions, and he’d like rubbing it on her body.
He hadn’t thought about that in years, and there it was popping into his brain in a collection of other memories now flooding his mind.
“Really? Already?”
He actually had the nerve to look upset. Meredith didn’t want Griffin to look upset. She was upset. She had feared this very moment for so long. It was her turn to be upset.
“I’m working, Griffin, not on vacation.”
“Meredith.”
She turned on her heels to look at him again. Big mistake. Once was enough to rattle her to the core.
Damn him. He was as handsome and slender as he was at twenty before he’d left for boot camp. His broad shoulders had filled in considerably. They had during those first years of Air Force training. His button-down shirt stretched against chest muscles that were still as inviting as they were when she ran her hand over his skin. Meredith didn’t have to touch them to know how they felt. She could feel it now against her fingers. Her body remembered.
“You have some nerve to come here and be so handsome after all this time.”
And then he smiled that smile that used to melt her heart, and she realized she’d spoken her thoughts aloud. He was the one man she truly felt comfortable doing that with. But suddenly, she felt as if the heels of her shoes were melting into the concrete beneath her, and her cheeks flamed. Her head was swimming, and her body was so off-kilter that the weight of the tablecloths had her bending forward as she fought to keep herself upright.
“You still think I’m handsome, huh?”
“You wish.”
“You just said it.”
“Oh, never mind!”
If she had a shred of dignity left, she’d abandon it and run, tossing the tablecloths aside on the flowers lining the path. But she held tight.
“Where are you going?”
“Laundry.”
His low chuckle at her back sent a fingernail of irritation up her spine. She was fully aware that her reaction to seeing Griffin again had irritated her, not that in a matter of thirty seconds he’d been able to make her heart race and her body sweat just by looking at him.
It was official. She hated Edward. And she was going to tell him so.
With a smile still on his face, Griffin couldn’t keep his eyes off Meredith until she disappeared into a side door. Only then did he turn back to the path and walk in the opposite direction toward the elevators Darcy mentioned.
“That went better than I expected,” he said to himself. Lucas would be proud.
Griffin had showered, shaved, and changed into a comfortable pair of jeans and his favorite T-shirt an hour later. A quick call to a local car rental company ended in disappointment since he couldn’t get a Jeep until the following day. That meant he was stuck at the hotel for dinner or any place that was within walking distance unless he took a cab. He didn’t relish the idea of dealing with a cab to and from wherever he ended up, so he decided to take a walk.
Once down in the lobby, now filled with people dressed to the nines, most likely for the event with the purple tablecloths Meredith mentioned, he made his way through the crowd to the registration desk and asked about some local eateries. Some of his classmates coming in for the reunion were already in town and staying at the Hawthorne House. He wasn’t ready to venture into small talk when the reunion festivities hadn’t formally begun.
And who was he kidding? Running into Meredith again would be a major plus if he stuck nearby, which surprised even him.
“Still here?” he said to Darcy who was looking a bit more tired than she was earlier. But she still pasted a smile on her face.
“Leaving in about ten minutes,” she said. “How can I help you? ”
“What’s the best place on the beach to get a burger?”
“Our hotel restaurant has good food. You should try it.”
“I was thinking of taking a walk. I’m guessing a lot of the places I used to go when I was last here are no longer in business.”
“Tanks is still on the main strip along the beach. They must have burgers. My parents said they used to go there when we first moved here.”
It dawned on him that Darcy may very well be the daughter of someone he’d gone to school with. “When was that?”
“I was three. I don’t ever remember living anywhere else, but I guess we used to live in Georgia.”
“Your parents like Tanks?”
“Every Friday night.”
“Well, that’s saying something."
"They're old. They're in their forties."
His eyes widened and her expression collapsed. "Is that so? Thank you for the recommendation.”
He didn’t remember Tanks from when he was last here. It was probably named something else when he was in high school.
He stepped outside, and the late afternoon heat slapped him in the face. It had been a long time since the humidity of Florida hit him so hard. The trade winds off the water around Oahu were much more pleasing than summer in Florida, and he wasn’t used to it anymore. But as soon as he walked past the hotel, the cool breeze coming off the Atlantic Ocean bathed him, making him forget the discomfort.
Ever since this afternoon, Griffin couldn’t shake the jumbled emotions distracting him. He knew coming home wasn’t going to be easy. He’d expected the first time he laid eyes on Meredith again; his anger would surface. He’d been so upset when he’d gotten her letter breaking off the wedding. And then years later…even the thought of confronting Meredith then had made his blood boil. His career in the military had been a good excuse not to process why a love like theirs was suddenly over. They’d promised to have a life together. They never needed a marriage certificate to be committed. Or so he thought. He’d counted on their love. Then it was gone.
He shook his head as he walked down the main strip along the beach. For all he knew, he’d passed half a dozen of his former classmates, and he didn’t even recognize them. He wasn’t looking at any of the people. The crowd around him was just blank faces, much like the empty shell he suddenly felt growing around him.
Griffin knew Meredith’s face. He knew the quick hitch of her breath when she was excited. She’d tried to dismiss him earlier when he’d surprised her on the path at the hotel. But her reaction to him said it all.
He approached a small shack that smelled amazing. The fried food on the dishes of people walking away from the window and settling on the picnic tables out front made his mouth water. Griffin never minded eating alone. He’d had many stiff dinner meetings dressed in his uniform and uncomfortable lunches with administrators that upset his stomach. He wasn’t a stranger to confrontation. But he didn’t relish hashing things out with Meredith. And he would before he left Crystal Cove. He had to.
But not tonight. Tonight, he needed to get rid of this crazy, unsettled feeling he had to kiss Meredith again. Somehow, he’d convinced himself that she wouldn’t rattle him, that he wouldn’t long to touch her after just a few moments together.
Damn, he was a fool.
There was always something about the color of her deep-blue eyes that reminded him of the ocean. They were still as blue as ever. He recalled how her cheeks were always slightly burned from being in the sun, no matter how much she tanned or put on sunscreen. That hadn’t changed. She used to laugh and say her skin would be leather by the time she was fifty. But in those few seconds on the path, he’d longed to brush his fingers over her sun-kissed cheek.
What shocked him the most was that his anger toward her for so many years had vanished instantly. It was still there, buried deep inside him somewhere, and it would rear its ugly head in time. It was easy to remember the rage while he walked along the strip with a container of burgers and fries, but not when she’d been standing right in front of him.
He drank his cold soda on the way back to the hotel. If he got hungry later, he’d eat the food. With any luck, he wouldn’t run into Meredith again tonight even though he lied to himself about wanting to. He just didn’t have enough energy for confrontations tonight.
“One guest, Edward. I shouldn’t be held hostage the entire week for one guest. There are no more events until Sunday, and Maureen has that one covered. It’s easy.”
Edward sat at his desk and folded his hands on some paperwork. “How did the purple wedding go?”
“Perfect. Everything went off without a hitch.”
“Exactly the reason I need you here.”
Exasperated, she threw out her arms and let them fall to her side. Exhaustion was beating her down physically and emotionally. She didn’t want to be standing there anymore. The rest of the day staff were heading home soon, and she wanted to be going with them, not ducking corners trying to stay invisible.
“I’m going home, Edward. There’s nothing for me to do here for the rest of the week. Maureen has my number if she has any questions about the event on Sunday.”
“That’s not true. I could use your help with these financial reports. ”
“I’m not admin. I’m events. I already submitted my reports.”
“I thought you were a team player.”
“I am. With my team. I’m not going to step in and do your job, Edward. I’m going home.”
“Meredith?”
“I’m leaving! I’ll be back in the morning to check on things, but I am not staying the whole day.”
She barely heard his voice as she walked out of his office and headed down the hall to the lobby so she could slip out the door.
She was just about to make her escape through the revolving door when she heard, “Meredith?”
It wasn’t Edward, but she needed a quick getaway before she ran into Griffin.
“Darcy, I’m not supposed to be here.”
She turned and found Darcy with her hand perpendicular to her face, hiding her other hand pointing to the lobby chairs .
“The Colonel’s been waiting a while,” she whispered. “He’s cute.”
“No, he’s not,” she lied.
Darcy’s shoulders darted up as she giggled. “You’re such a liar.”
Dragging in a quick breath, she made her way over to Griffin, who was stretched out in the sofa chair as if about to fall asleep.
“I’m working, Griffin. I’m sorry. I don’t have time to visit.”
He snapped his gaze to her and then stood up. “I thought maybe we could have dinner?”
“No.”
His shoulders sagged only slightly, but she heard the defeat in his voice. “Meredith, we really need to talk. Don’t you think?”
“No. Look, I’m happy you’re doing well. I’m doing well. We’re good. We don’t have to talk about anything. We were a long time ago. There’s nothing to talk about.”
As she walked away, she sidestepped a luggage rack full of bags and a guest pushing the cart. But Griffin got caught waiting for the luggage rack and the party who owned it to pass.
She made the mistake of turning around long enough to let Griffin catch up to her. “Why aren’t you at the reunion? Isn’t that the reason you came to Crystal Cove?”
“Well, that’s not the only reason. The reunion doesn’t officially start until tomorrow. There’s a cocktail party tomorrow night if you want to go.”
“Why would I want to do that? It’s not my graduating class. It’s yours.”
“But you know just about everyone in that class. We all did. Crystal Cove High School wasn’t huge.”
“It’s not a good idea.”
“Why not?”
She searched for words that wouldn’t make her sound petty but came up empty.
“We have too much history, Griffin.”
“All the more reason we should catch up.”
“It’s not a good idea. ”
“Why not?”
She sighed and looked away for a moment. “I think you should go to the cocktail party yourself. Besides, my boss is ready to chain me to my desk to keep me here. I was supposed to be on vacation right now, but he pulled my request at the last second.”
“What for?”
“Apparently, you.”
His brow furrowed.
“It doesn’t matter,” she said. “Edward will chain me to my desk if I don’t leave here now. Have a good night, Griffin.”
“Did you ever love me?”
The air sucked out of her lungs in an instant.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“I can’t do this now. Maybe, being a Colonel, you can extract whatever information you want from people, but not from me. Don’t talk to me.”
Griffin watched Meredith stomp out of the hotel through the revolving doors. He’d been out of line. Yes, he’d need to ask. It was only one of many questions he needed to talk to her about. But not in the lobby of a hotel with tourists milling about.
The cell phone in his pocket vibrated. He could only hear the soft ring when he pulled it out and held it in his hand. Glancing down at the caller ID, he hit the green button.
“That didn’t take long, Lucas. I thought you were going to wait to call me on Friday.”
“Did you talk to her?”
“Meredith is working. It’s been hard to make the time.”
“She can’t work twenty-four-seven. But you saw her, right?”
“I did.”
“And?”
He headed down to the center of the lobby. “There is no and other than saying hello and small talk for a few minutes. We haven’t had time to talk. ”
“You’ve lost your mojo, Griff.”
Griffin laughed. “I may have a few years on me, but my mojo is still intact. I still have moves.”
“I’ve heard your knees crack when you walk. You can barely run these days. I’m surprised you aren’t using a walker yet. I wouldn’t rely so heavily on your moves, old man,” Lucas said, laughing.
“Are you challenging me to another race?”
“I’m not going to take advantage of the elderly.”
Griffin scoffed. “You just wait until I get back to Hawaii.”
“Ooo, I’m scared.”
He laughed. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”
He hung up the phone feeling significantly better than he did when he watched Meredith walk out of the building. Lucas was not going to hold out forever.