Chapter Thirty-Eight
Thirty-Eight
GRAYSON STORMED OUTSIDE, ALL BUT running down the lodge steps.
What the hell had just happened? In the distance, he could see Levi watching the two guys on the dock.
One of the staff was grabbing their things from their rooms; the taxi was on the way.
A reality show? That was exactly what he didn’t want.
The memory of Ollie’s face, her lip wobbling with her attempt to not cry, flashed through his brain.
He hadn’t even explained things to Jilly when he texted her to get to the lodge.
In the distance, he saw Beckett and Presley arriving in one of the boats. Fury, confusion, and sadness pelted him like golf-ball-sized hail. By the time his brother and sister-in-law (it was soon enough to call her that) were close, Isaiah and Jenning were all but being frog-marched onto the boat.
“What’s going on?” Beckett asked, glaring at them without even knowing what the guys had done.
“Charlie’s ex-boyfriend showed up; he brought a dickhead friend of his. I don’t know if she knows him as well, but he recorded everyone’s breakfast conversation and, oh, guess what? Charlie is Bryce Colter’s daughter.”
Everything swirled together in his brain. He was shaking.
“The musician?” Presley asked.
“Yup. And she’s doing a fucking reality show.” He bent in half, hands on his knees. This is what falling did; it tossed a person clear off a cliff with no parachute.
Beckett walked closer to Grayson. “Hey. Breathe. It’s okay, man.”
Gray stood up, shook his head.
Levi came up the walkway. “What the hell was that, man? That was intense. Is Ollie okay?”
Beckett went still. “Did he hurt Ollie? Anyone? Is Charlie okay?”
“Everyone is fine. Ollie is with Jilly. She was taking her for a walk when I came out here.” He’d passed her but barely acknowledged her. He’d needed air. Levi went up the stairs, clapping Gray on the shoulder. “I’ll check on them. Take a breath.”
“Grayson, I’m not sure I really understand what has happened, but we’re here.” Presley approached cautiously, but then curled right around him to give him a hug.
He returned it because Presley didn’t know how to not offer comfort and support. She stepped away, next to Beckett, while Levi went back into the lodge.
“What can we do?” Beckett asked quietly.
His brain spun. It felt like that game Ollie liked to make him play where he had to stack blocks on top of each other on a moving platform.
The taller the tower got, the harder it was to hold steady, until everything tumbled.
That’s how his heart and brain felt right now.
Like it’d reached just a little too high and toppled over, falling into the unknown empty space below.
“Nothing. Focus on your wedding. The crew from the other lodge will be here tomorrow morning. It’s a fairly quiet day here today, even with all the shit that just went down.”
“Gray. Talk to me,” Beckett said, putting a hand on Grayson’s shoulder, forcing him to meet his gaze.
“Nothing to say. Charlie is the daughter of a famous musician and an actress. She’s here hiding because something she did or said went viral online. Those clowns were here because she was going to do a reality show.”
Which meant that she could have opened up to him about the truth, and she’d purposely done the opposite. This was more than not telling him everything. She’d basically told him nothing, and now he didn’t know what to think or how to feel.
“Things are always more complicated than they seem on the surface, Gray. You know that,” Presley said.
He gave a defeated laugh. “This one is pretty cut-and-dry. Charlie is famous, has grown up in her father’s spotlight with a famous mother. She’s here temporarily to see Bernie and that’s all this ever was. A pit stop. A hideout. A fucking commercial break.”
“That seems like an incredibly narrow-minded and unfair viewpoint, Grayson,” Bernie said from behind him.
Presley and Beckett slipped away, probably to head into the lodge.
Grayson turned to look at Bernie, who had an arm around Charlie.
She had her head down, and his heart ached at the sight of her.
He knew she wasn’t telling him everything and he’d been okay with it, so what was he so goddamn mad about?
That he’d trusted her and fallen in love with her and in doing so, he’d opened himself, his business, and his family up to heartache, pain, and, if things had gotten any worse in that dining room, physical danger.
“Before you make any declarations, you should know the whole story,” Bernie said.
Even though he was mad at her, and everything else in this moment, Grayson felt a strange sense of peace knowing that Bernie was looking out for her unconditionally.
“I should know the whole story. In fact, I should have known it quite a while ago. Seems a couple of people didn’t bother to fill me in.” He stared accusingly at them both.
Bernie only straightened his shoulders. “Just like you didn’t mean to be the one to share Jillian’s pregnancy news, it wasn’t my place to tell you Charlie’s business.”
Charlie’s eyes were filled with unshed tears and Gray’s heart took another hit.
“I get not telling me right away. But instead of telling me yesterday, instead of staying and telling me the truth, you ran. You took off. And I was too blinded by my own goddamn feelings when you came back.”
“I was scared. Telling people hasn’t always worked out so well for me. But I was going to tell you a big part of it today.” The hurt in her voice gutted him.
“Oh, yeah? Which part, Charlie? The part about your mom and dad, right? But not about the reality show because you knew how much I’d hate that.” His voice was cold; he couldn’t help it. He needed to build his walls back up; he never should have let this happen.
“That part wasn’t true, Grayson. If you believe nothing else, please, please believe that.
” She stepped toward him and stopped when she met his gaze.
He couldn’t imagine what she read in it.
“I was a coward. That’s why I ran yesterday.
It’s why I’m here in the first place. Telling people who my family is has always been difficult for me.
This time, there were layers of complexity on top of that.
But I never wanted a reality show. The whole reason I’m here is because I didn’t want one so badly, I overreacted to my mother telling me she wanted to sign us up for one.
And that got recorded and went viral. It’s an awful video.
But now that I’m standing here, looking at you, seeing the pain I’ve caused you, I’d rather watch it a thousand times than see that look in your eyes.
I’m sorry, Grayson. I’m so sorry.” She looked at Bernie. “I have to go.”
“What?” Bernie and Grayson said at the same time.
Charlie started walking away, backward, much like Ollie had that day. “I need to go. It was a mistake to come here, to get close to all of you. I brought my problems and drama to your doorstep. I have to go.”
“Now, dear, don’t be rash.”
A few of the tears slipped over and Gray wanted to reach out, hold her close and promise her they’d figure it all out. Even with the anger simmering inside of him, the hurt and the confusion, the thought of her leaving sucked the air out of his lungs.
“I’m not. I’m being logical. I’m doing the right thing.
I was never meant to be here. You can’t run away from who you are.
” She looked at Grayson, and his body shook with the need to close the distance between them.
“And you deserve more than the person I am. The person you see right now. The one who let you down and lied. I’m sorry.
” She walked away, hurrying toward the cabin.
Grayson wanted to follow her, but what would he say? He didn’t even recognize the feelings tumbling around inside of him like clothes in a dryer.
“She’s a good girl. A good woman, Grayson. You know that in your heart, or you never would have opened it to her.”
Gray said nothing.
“She’s been through a lot, and like any of us, she shouldn’t be judged for her weakest moments or her responses to the most difficult ones.”
“You could have given me a heads-up. Told me to keep my distance.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. Would it have mattered? He was sunk the minute she’d told that front-desk clerk to work on his hospitality. She’d charmed him with her perfect posture, polished clothes, and quick wit.
“Why would I have done that, son? Charlie brought out a smile in you I’ve never seen before.
That’s who just went into my cabin. Regardless of who her parents are, or some nonsense viral video that, by the by, was edited by horrible humans to make her appear worse.
She’s the Charlie who speaks her mind, helps out in a pinch, gets people to open up, and looked at you like you could make the moon and the stars dance just for her.
Don’t be distracted by the roadblocks, Grayson.
Go around them or bust your way through them. But don’t let them stop you.”
Bernie held his stare another moment and then followed after his niece. And Grayson stood, staring at the water surrounding the land he owned. He stood the way he should have stayed: alone.