Chapter 14
Clayton
"Should we head back?" Vaughn asks after spending a blissful Saturday afternoon at the beach.
"Yeah, I suppose so."
We collect our stuff and start packing up. I shake out our towels, and once he and Mabel are clear from under the cabana, begin disassembling it. The wind has picked up, rattling the palms and causing us to kick up sand as we move.
"Sharks and spiders I'm fine with," Vaughn says, helping me stuff the shade structure back into its carry bag. "But sand…" He shudders.
"Anyone ever tell you you're a freak?"
"Usually only after they've slept with me."
I let out a laugh. "Good one."
He turns to face me. "Who says I'm kidding?"
He's smirking, but it's hard to tell if he's being serious or not.
"I'm pretty vanilla," I admit.
"Says the guy who was in a triad."
"True. But that's as wild as I've ever gotten."
"Hmm." He folds the towels and places them neatly into the canvas bag. "I guess I'm pretty vanilla, too… With a few sprinkles."
"I'm intrigued."
He nudges me with his shoulder before returning to Mabel. "So you should be."
The gleam in his eye incapacitates me, rendering me unable to respond. We gather the rest of our stuff in silence.
I really enjoyed myself today. I didn't open up to Vaughn, telling him about my family, as some sort of quid pro quo. I'll tell you about my fucked-up shit if you tell me about yours. I just wanted to be honest with him, plain and simple.
I genuinely believe so much hurt in life could be avoided if people were just upfront with one another and didn't lie or hide the truth.
Maybe if Melinda and River had been open about why they were really breaking up with me instead of giving vague word soup reasons, it might have taken less of an emotional toll.
I might not be stuck in this inert state where I know I need to move forward, but I can't because I have so many unanswered questions blocking the path.
We're about ready to set off when Vaughn lifts Mabel, her small feet kicking against his chest. "You want to take her?"
I’m thrown. "Are you sure?"
He and Mabel are joined at the hip, well, his chest, usually. It makes sense that Vaughn is overprotective of his daughter given everything that's happened. Even though he's fine with me playing with her whenever the three of us are together, he's never suggested I carry her.
"Of course," he says, handing me the carry sling. "Mabel would love it."
His eyes meet mine, and an unspoken current leads me to believe it's not just Mabel he's thinking of, that he knows how much it would mean to me, too.
"Thank you," I say, our fingers brushing as I take the sling from him and hook it over my shoulder. I carefully take his precious princess off his hands and make sure she's secured firmly before we set off.
I wait until we're back at the marina before asking, "Who does Mabel take after, you or Evie?"
Vaughn slows down, visibly tensing. "Evie. She's all Evie," he replies in his customary way of answering without evading…or elaborating.
That's okay. I get it. My brothers and I are the same, careful before letting anyone into our inner circle. We have a private detective on retainer for crying out loud. Vaughn letting me carry Mabel is a giant step in the right direction. If he needs some more time to truly trust me, that's fine.
I've got all the time in the world.