Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Saylor
G randma kept up a steady stream of conversation about the best restaurants on the island, then delved into who owned which business and everything she knew about each one of them. She was friendly with everyone and prided herself on knowing what was going on around the island.
I had a feeling Hayden and Marshall had tuned her out. I was just happy she'd dropped the subject of us being roommates.
When our meals were cleared, Marshall handed the waitress a credit card for the meal.
"I like a gentleman," Grandma said when the waitress walked away with his card.
"I pay when I'm out," Marshall said simply.
"I can treat next time," I offered.
Grandma patted my hand for the millionth time during the meal. "If a man offers to pay, you let him."
"Okay," I said with amusement tingeing my voice. I wondered if Marshall thought my grandmother was sufficiently over –the-top yet.
"Now, let's get back to the matter of the double-booking. I'm so sorry that I made a mistake. I'd forgotten that Marshall had booked the cottage for the summer when you asked if you could stay there."
I knew it was too good to be true. "You forgot?"
She waved a hand. "I can't keep track of everything."
I sighed. "You probably should have checked with the management company first."
"What's done is done." She looked at both of us. "I don't mind if you both live there, if that's acceptable to you."
"I could pay some of the rent," I offered.
Grandma waved a hand. "I'll lower the rent for Marshall. How does that sound? You have to share the space with someone you weren't expecting. That's worth something."
"I think that's fair," Marshall agreed.
"So we get to stay?" Hayden asked with more interest than I saw her show in anything other than my graphic design program.
Grandma grinned. "You can stay. But I want to see you more often. Stop by the senior center. We hang up art from local artists. Maybe your work is good enough to be on the walls too."
"How do you know about that?" Hayden asked.
"Saylor mentioned that you were interested in her graphic-design program. I assume that means you're an artist. I remember Saylor sketching when she was younger."
"Oh, well. I'm not that great," Hayden said sheepishly.
"Let us be the judge of that," Grandma said as she rose. "Now, I have to get back for bingo. You never know what's going to happen on bingo night."
On the way out to the truck, she relayed the story of Hazel picking up an engagement ring and placing it on her finger. Then her best friend, Brady, said she was his fiancée, which turned out not to be true. Now they were engaged for real, and the story lived on at the senior center.
It was probably the most interesting thing that happened on the island in a while. I didn't want to give the women more stories for their gossip. I wondered if she'd relayed the story of how I'd walked out of the shower and into Marshall's arms. Knowing her, she had.
We dropped Grandma off at the center and then headed home. I couldn't believe we'd be sharing the space for the duration of the summer. Surely, I could keep things platonic. I'd work during the day, help his daughter with her art, and take long walks on the beach.
What were the odds that we ran into each other naked in the bathroom again? If we did, Marshall better be the one without clothes.
Marshall let out a breath. "That went better than I thought it would."
"Grandma wasn't going to kick either one of us out. I think she likes us sharing a cottage."
We hadn't had any other near misses, which told me that we could do this. We could share a cottage and not give into the chemistry between us. There was no telling if he even noticed it. He was probably too preoccupied with his daughter and his family to be concerned about how I looked soaking wet.
He certainly hadn't brought it up again. He'd outgrown the silly love we'd had for each other as teenagers. We were adults now and could ignore any electricity between us.
Besides, I was just out of a relationship, and I shouldn't be thinking about starting another one. How could I ever trust a man again?
Marshall glanced over at me. "What happened between you and your ex? Your grandmother seems angry at him."
"He was a jerk."
His brow furrowed. "How? Did he cheat on you?"
When I remained silent, he did a double take. "I was kidding. Who would cheat on you?"
"My ex, apparently," I said dryly.
A muscle in his jaw ticked. "How did you find out? Did you walk in on him?"
"It took me a while to figure it out. There were these clues.
Texts from a coworker, late nights working, drinks with friends, and weekend conferences.
I thought I was going crazy. When a coworker saw him holding hands with another woman, he denied it, accused me of not trusting him. He kind of put it back on me."
"Gaslighting?"
"Now I can see that's what it was. But when I was in the thick of it, it was hard to see what he was doing. He was good at manipulating people. In the end, he got the apartment and my friends."
"That's bull—" Marshall broke off with a look in the backseat. "That's awful. I'm sorry you went through that."
"I'm glad I found out before we got any more serious. He'd talked about getting engaged, but now that I look back on it, he was leading me on while he was with someone else. I don't know how long it went on, but it gutted me knowing he was with both of us at the same time.”
"He betrayed your trust."
I sighed. "Yeah, I can't imagine how I'll ever trust someone again. So you don't have to worry about me bringing anyone home. I want nothing to do with men."
He nodded at the backseat. "I’m not looking for anything either. I have my daughter to think about."
"I'm glad we got that straightened out." I could be an adult about this situation. I felt better sharing my history with him.
"That guy didn't deserve you."
I smiled sadly. "Sure."
"Is he the reason you're here?"
"He got everything in the breakup, so I came here to reevaluate my life. You know, what do I want to do."
"I thought you enjoyed your job."
I sighed. "Yes, but I work for someone else. I have little creative freedom because we're bound by what the client wants, even if they have little to no taste."
"Mmm. Have you considered going out on your own?"
"Not really. A job feels more secure. I have a steady paycheck, health insurance."
"Opening your own business is hard. I watched my dad build our business, but what he did was create something that can sustain his family for generations.
He did the hard work, and now we reap the benefits.
I remember the years he struggled, when he thought he wouldn't make it.
He felt like he was letting Mom down at times.
But she told him to keep going. So it's not easy.
But it can be very successful. Eventually, you'll have more freedom. "
"I'll think about it." I wasn't so sure I wanted to give up the security of a guaranteed paycheck, especially after Flynn's betrayal.
Marshall parked the truck next to my vehicle. "I'm grateful your grandmother is going to let us stay here."
"We might have to take her to dinner more often and volunteer at the senior center," I said dryly as we got out.
"That's a small price to pay for the summer," Marshall said as Hayden moved passed us and used the code to go inside.
"We can do this, right?" I asked him as we stood on the porch facing each other.
The covered porch had a swing and cushioned seats. Grandma liked to watch people walk or bike on the path that meandered through the palm trees at the front of her property.
He rocked back on his heels. "You mean we can live together and be adults about it?"
"Yes." I felt good about my determination to push down any attraction for him.
"I certainly think so."
His easy denial made my heart sink. It made no sense. I shouldn't want Marshall Kingston. It wasn't the right summer for thinking about men at all. We were destined to meet at the wrong time.
That night, I had trouble sleeping, so I opened the sliding door to the second-floor deck that adjoined my room and ran the length of the house. I curled my hands over the deck railing, admiring the way the moon illuminated the water.
"Couldn't sleep?" Marshall asked, and I startled, my hand going to my heart.
"I didn't realize you were out here." I assumed he was sleeping.
He patted the cushion next to him. "I couldn't sleep either."
"Why is that?" I asked him as I sat next to him.
"I'm not used to not having a lot of things to do. I think I'm just not as tired as I normally am."
"That's tough."
"Yeah, and I'm a little worried about what my life is going to look like now. Did I make a mistake in leaving the military? Is there anything else out here for me? Or should I have stuck it out longer?"
"I think you'll feel better once you talk to your family about working for them."
"They relied on me, and I left abruptly.
I was young and had this feeling that I wasn't ready to go back to the island and work for the family business.
I wanted something else and thought the military could provide it.
I think I wanted to travel and see the world.
Then Hayden came along, and I felt conflicted.
I wanted to be with her, but I couldn't be as much as I wanted to.
It was a tough situation. Now I'm out, and she doesn't want to spend time with me.
I understand that it technically doesn't have anything to do with me, but it's hard. "
With the dark surrounding us, and the sound of the waves, it felt like we were alone in the world.
As if nothing else could penetrate this bubble we'd created.
I reached over and touched his forearm, the muscles flexing under my palm.
"You're doing the right thing. Every time you followed your intuition, you were doing what was right for you.
You were led to leave your military career and spend time with your daughter. That's not wrong."
Marshall sighed. "I hope you're right."
"You couldn't be wrong about something like this. It's hard, but I think she'll come around before the summer's over.”
"I think the problem is that everything is so uncertain right now. I don't know where I'll be living and working in September. Or even if I can make a decision. I have to wait this thing out with Hayden."
"You could talk to your family about the uncertainty."
"It's not fair to them unless I know for sure I can work there."
"Aren't they wondering what you're doing here and if you plan to work for them? Don't you think they deserve to know where your head is at?"
Marshall sighed heavily. "I need to go to family dinner. I'm just not sure if they want me there."
"Surely, things can't be that bad."
"No one has reached out to me since I've been home. Not since Ivy and Cooper's party."
"They're probably just giving you space."
"I'll see if Mom wants me at family dinner. Maybe I'll see if you can come too."
"You should go by yourself."
He grinned. "But you'd be the perfect buffer. No one can ask me about my plans with you there."
"You're just putting off the inevitable, but if you need me there, I'll go."
"Yeah?" Marshall asked, his voice low.
"Of course." I felt like this summer was a period of time where anything was possible. There were no rules. Time was suspended while we figured out our lives.
"What about you? Have you made any progress on figuring out your life?"
"You mean if I should move back home where my job is and my friends used to be? Are they still my friends? Do I still want this job?"
Marshall shifted so that his elbows rested on his knees. "Have you thought any more about going out on your own?"
"I liked the security and the health insurance that come with a job."
"It's an option. You could live here at Blaire's in the offseason. I'm sure she doesn't have it booked until maybe December."
"That's true." I could stay here longer. "But my job will want me to work in the office by the end of summer. I can't hide out here forever."
"That's too bad. I'm starting to remember why I loved living on the island. I'd forgotten that for a while. I think in college, I felt like the island was too small and there weren't any opportunities. That there was this whole world out there for me to discover."
"That sounds like a young man talking. Everything is always better on the other side."
"What if this is where it's at? Coming home to my roots is where I'm supposed to be?"
"Only you can answer that."
We fell silent, listening to the sound of the waves and the rustle of the wind in the leaves of the palm trees.
Eventually, I curled up on my side, laying my head on a pillow.
I must have fallen asleep because when I woke, I was on my side, and Marshall was laying behind me with his arm over my stomach.
I heard and felt the deep breaths, and assuming he was asleep, I carefully lifted his arm and wiggled out from under him. Once I was on my feet, I looked at his face illuminated in the light of the moon. He looked so peaceful, sleeping there as if he didn't have a care in the world.
But it wasn't true. He had more things weighing on him than I did. But I hoped he found what he was looking for. I tiptoed to the door to my room, opening it slowly and then closing it with a snick.
In the coolness of my room, I slipped under the sheets. Why did I long for the feel of his body against mine? Why did I want his arm embracing me? I couldn't let that happen again. We shouldn't be sleeping together on the porch or talking about our lives with each other.
We were roommates for the summer. Once fall came, we'd go our separate ways. I didn't have a life on the island, and his future was here.