Chapter 5
T he one thing Meredith missed when she moved to Ohio was the beach. Not just any beach. She craved the white sands of the Florida’s Atlantic Coast. In truth, she hadn’t been to any other ocean beach. Most of the vacations she had were inland. She’d gone to Paris alone after her divorce from Rafe was finalized. She’d walked around thinking she had a big neon sign hovering over her head that said DIVORCED. She’d been on a skiing trip to Vale with a group of friends from her first corporate job. She still kept in touch with them and met them for dinner from time to time. But they had families and commitments she didn’t have so it was hard to plan for those getaways and weekly dinners.
She suddenly realized she’d been spending way too much time alone. Today with Griffin had been the most fun she’d had in a long time, and they were visiting a memorial to a dead classmate! How had her life come to this?
The beach was her friend these days. Many days after work, she’d walk home by way of the beach and leave her car at the hotel. She lived close enough to work to walk. She always kept clothes in her office at the hotel so she wouldn’t be sweaty and gross after a long walk. After the day they’d had, leaving Griffin was the right thing, but it still left her empty.
So, she walked to the beach. She loved the feel of digging her bare feet deep in the warm sand until they sank into the cooler sand below as she walked. She loved the feel of her feet after the sand smoothed any rough spots on her skin, making it so soft. To any passersby, her walk along the beach probably looked ridiculous and would have been shamed by Mrs. Hughes, her dance teacher in her middle years. Of course, it hadn’t taken much for Mrs. Hughes to shame her. She wasn’t that great a dancer even after five years of trying. And she did.
But Meredith’s lack of grace hadn’t stopped her from dancing any more than it stopped her from walking in the sand in that awkward way of digging her toes in the sand and enjoying every step. With a gust of wind, the tendrils of hair that had become loose from her ponytail whipped around her face. She paused only to lift her face to the sun with her eyes closed to drink in the warmth. It was hot, not warm, this time of the year. But she’d long since reacclimated herself to the warmer weather since moving back to Crystal Cove after her divorce.
As she breathed in the ocean air, the stench of garbage floated around her, causing her to turn in the direction of the wind to find its source. Bingo. An overflowing garbage pail near the parking lot looked to be the source. She was glad it hadn’t come from there as she approached the Ocean Vista. But the garbage can would be off-putting to guests who came to the beach.
Shoving her hand in her pocket, Meredith pulled out her cell phone. She tapped the number for the front desk of the Ocean Vista in her favorite contact list.
When the call connected, she said, “It’s Meredith, Darcy.”
“Hi. I thought you already left for the day.”
“I did. I’m not working. I just went for a walk on the beach, but I’ll be back to get my car.”
“Can I do anything for you?”
Darcy was sweet, young, and eager to make something of herself. She wasn’t going to last long at the Ocean Vista. She’d get a year or two of experience, enough to put on her resume and make it look good, and one of the other hotels down the coast would snatch her up with a higher-paying position. She’d go far if she kept at it.
“Please get one of the maintenance crews to come down to the beach parking lot to empty a few of the trash cans along the beach. Tell them it needs to be done right away.”
“Isn’t the town responsible for emptying those trash cans?”
“Yes, but it looks like no one emptied them last night, and now they stink to high heaven. It’ll only get worse as it gets hotter. No one will want to be on the beach with this stink. The smell is going to head right toward the hotel.”
“Right on it. I think David is still here.”
“Great. Thank you.”
“Oh, and Meredith?”
“Yes?”
“That hunky Colonel came down to the front desk looking for you.”
“Griffin Cole?”
“Yes.”
“What’d you tell him?”
“That I thought you’d gone home. ”
“Oh. Did he say what he wanted?”
“No.”
“Okay.” She sighed. “Make sure David gets right on it.”
Meredith hung up the phone and hated herself for feeling so giddy that Griffin was looking for her. Damn. They’d spent the whole morning and early afternoon together, and he was still looking for her.
She actually wanted him to look for her and hated herself for it.
“You stupid girl.”
Woman . She hadn’t been a girl in a long time. She’d changed so much. So had Griffin. Despite the ease of them being together today, she could see it.
And yet the rapid beating of her heart and the smile she couldn’t wipe off her face even if she deliberately put her hand to her mouth belied her. She was fifty years old, for God’s sake! She had a failed marriage in her past. But it started long before that. Soon after things ended with Griffin, she’d made a decision that had haunted her for years and would probably haunt her to her grave. Despite throwing herself into college, graduating with honors and then achieving success in a big company she originally thought she’d work at throughout her life and retire in, life threw her curves.
She’d married and moved to Ohio. She’d found success in her career even though her marriage failed. She’d waited too long to come back to Crystal Cove. But when she finally made the move, she didn’t want all that success anymore. It didn’t matter. Three years after changing her career, she still couldn’t quite remember the push for her to change and become an event planner, a job that paid a fraction of what she’d earned for years. But she knew it had something to do with happy people. She hadn’t been happy for a long time. It was nice to be around people who looked forward to life. Who wanted to have fun, live, and plan for their future.
It made it possible for Meredith to live, too, if only through their excitement and happiness. It had been a considerable pay cut, but she’d done well over the years with investments and then with the inheritance she got after her parents passed away. She didn’t need to work at all at this point. But the thought of not having something to go to every day while having nothing to come home to was too much to handle.
No, she didn’t need the money. There was only so much money a person needed in life. She couldn’t take it with her. At fifty-one years old, she had more than she needed, even if she decided to give up her Ocean Vista job and open a little micro-bakery.
She laughed as the thought popped into her mind. She rarely baked anymore. If she baked as much as she did when she was married, when the idea of a micro-bakery first came to her, she’d be double her size.
She stopped at a boulder on the edge of the parking lot and sat down. The rock was hotter than she’d expected and a little more jagged than her leg was happy about. She had to be careful not to tear her jeans. She had a clear view of the Ocean Vista’s entrance. If Griffin emerged from there, he’d see her. But the likelihood of him being there was small. The events of the class reunion had started. She’d read the chatter on social media earlier from people from Griffin’s class who had already arrived in town for the reunion. A few of her high school friends from the Class of 1989 had reached out to her to see if she would be around. Some she hadn’t seen since high school. Some of them were people who’d been invited to Griffin and Meredith’s wedding, but that never happened.
The garbage can was truly becoming offensive. But now it was mixing in with the smell of the steak house at the corner of the strip, which was now in full swing for the dinner crowd. She turned to the sound of shoes pounding on the pavement, getting louder as the person running came closer. She turned to find a tall and lanky young man running up to her with two large black garbage bags.
She sighed.
“David, what are you going to do with those?” Meredith asked.
“Darcy said you needed me to pick up trash.”
David didn’t even have the decency to be out of breath after that run. She chuckled and shook her head. He was young but eager to work and would do well. And God help her, she had a sweet spot for him because he was such a nice young man.
“I had expected you to get one of the garbage bins on wheels, but I guess that will do.”
He looked around. “Doesn’t the town take care of the beach?”
She lifted an eyebrow. She wasn’t his boss, but she did feel a sense of authority over the younger workers and felt responsible for them because she knew someone else—Edward—wouldn’t teach them. He’d just yell at them. She’d seen it happen before. More than a few good workers quit after a lack of nurturing made them feel like failures.
“I’ll get right on it,” David said, his shoulders slightly sagging and his curly brown hair whipping around his head with the sudden gust of wind that pushed the stench of the garbage away from her nostrils.
“Thank you. It’s a bad look for the hotel if the beach stinks. I’ll have Edward call the town hall, so you won’t have to do it again.”
He waved at her as he ran toward the first garbage pail. David wasn’t like some of the young ones who’d worked at the Ocean Vista for the summer. Some stayed a few months and then left. It wasn’t sexy enough or fun for them. They weren’t ready to do real work. But David was a good worker, and she didn’t want to see him leave for the wrong reason. He’d been raised by a single mom who worked a lot, and it was clear from his dedication that her example had rubbed off on him. Meredith would make sure Edward knew of David’s extra effort.
Her shirt was soaked from the sweat of walking and sitting in the hot sun. She ran her tongue over her lips to help relieve the dryness, but her mouth was cotton-dry.
Holding a full trash bag he’d just filled, David paused about thirty feet from her as he returned to the hotel. “I can get you a bottle of water, Ms. Prichard. You don’t look so good.”
“Is that right?”
She forced herself not to be offended, especially since she wasn’t sure exactly what he meant by not looking so good. But it was sweet that he offered.
“Thank you, David. I think I’ll just go there myself and get something from the hotel store. Great job today. I’m sure Edward will appreciate it.”
Being careful not to rip her jeans, Meredith eased off the rock and brushed her behind with his hand to remove any sand. She took one step toward the hotel and felt what David meant by her not looking good. She definitely needed to hydrate.
As she walked through the revolving doors, her face was immediately bathed with the cooler air, relieving the lightheadedness she’d felt on the walk back to the hotel. She had some sodas in the mini fridge in her office. But she decided to go to the hotel’s little store to grab a bottle of juice. She was just finishing the bottle when Griffin appeared in the lobby.
“You’re here!” he said. “I thought I was going to have to bribe Raymond to give me your address.”
“It would have cost you. Raymond isn’t easy to win over about such things.”
He smiled. “You know, this would be a whole lot easier for me if you just gave me your cell number.”
“I wasn’t aware that I was supposed to make things easy for you.”
“You still like to play hard to get.”
“As I recall, it wasn’t all that hard. I practically fell at your feet during my freshman year’s first football game. ”
“Ah, that’s right. You did that. I thought you were just clumsy.”
Shaking her head, she said, “Is that right?”
“Don’t worry. I didn’t think that for very long. I’m still hoping to convince you to come to the Karaoke night. I really don’t want to go alone. Or we can skip it all together and just spend the night—”
“It’s not a good idea,” she said, cutting him off. “I thought we agreed.”
“We did. But I don’t care if people talk. They’re going to talk one way or another. You know that.”
She did.
“Come on. We might as well have some fun with it. I say we give the entire Class of 1989 something to chew hay on. Create a scandal. Then sit back and watch them tell stories.”
She chuckled. “You’re so mean. They’re your friends.”
“Yours, too. You knew a lot of them. You have to admit it could be fun.”
“If not humiliating. ”
“Well, that’s the fun. Say you’ll come with me? Please?”
She drew in a deep breath and couldn’t wipe the smile she knew was on her face. “When you say it like that, how can I resist?”
“Great!”
“There’s just one problem.”
“What’s that?”
“Look at me. I’m gross. I’m sweaty from walking on the beach and being out in the sun. And I can’t exactly go to an event like this when you…” She gestured to his clothes. Unlike this afternoon, Griffin was dressed in what she guessed would be considered business casual: a button-down long-sleeved shirt with tie and no jacket. His pants were much more formal than the blue jeans he’d worn earlier but fit snugly against his hips and behind. She liked the laid-back version of him better. But he’d look amazing wearing anything.
“I’ll wait. We can go back to your place so you can shower and change and then go to the Hawthorne House from there.”
“Meredith?”
At the sound of Edward’s voice, Meredith grabbed Griffin’s hand. “No time. We have to run.”
“What?”
“That’s my boss calling me. I’m not supposed to be here. If I don’t leave here now and he finds me, I’ll never get out of here tonight. Run with me.”
As she headed to the revolving doors, she tugged on his arm until they were both snug inside the same capsule as the door moved. He pulled her close against him, and then, in a woosh, they were outside, and he let go.
It was so sudden, and her body reacted so strongly to the close proximity that it left her dazed.
Griffin looked at her quizzically and said, “I didn’t want you to get caught in the door.”
“Oh. My office is over in the next building. ”
“Your office? I can drive you to your place to get dressed.”
She took him by the hand and tugged him until he followed her behind a cluster of bushes against the building. “I keep a change of clothes in my office. I can shower in the pool area. All I need is fifteen minutes. I can get myself together and then meet you in the parking lot by the Jeep, so Edward won’t find me.”
“Edward?”
“My boss. Trust me. It’s quicker this way.”
Meredith slipped into her office and shut the door quietly, hoping and praying Edward wouldn’t wander around looking for her since she hadn’t acknowledged him earlier. Her desk phone rang, and she cringed. Glancing at the caller ID, she saw that it was Darcy.
“What do you need, Darcy?” she whispered into the phone after answering it.
“Is something wrong? ”
“You called me.”
“Edward has been screaming about where you are. He heard your voice and knew you were still here. You’re not answering your cell phone.”
“With reason.”
“Edward is headed to your office. Should I tell him—”
“No! No, do not tell him I am here. I am just getting a few things straightened out on my desk, and then I’m leaving. I have plans tonight.”
“With the hottie Colonel?” she whispered.
She couldn’t argue with that. “Yes, the hottie Colonel. Don’t tell Edward you talked with me. Don’t tell him you saw me. If you see Colonel Cole walking around in the next ten minutes, tell him to meet me outside by the hammocks instead of by the Jeep. With my luck, Edward will be waiting in the parking lot for me. Darcy, say it quietly so no one hears. Can you do that?”
“Sure thing.”
“Make sure you don’t tell Edward. ”
“Do you want me to distract him, so he doesn’t find you in your office?”
“I’d love you if you can do that.”
She giggled. “I’ll take care of it.”
Thank you, Darcy!
Opening the coat closet, she pushed a few outfits aside and inspected them. Keeping a cocktail dress or two in her office in case there was an emergency and she was needed out in public during a hotel event was a must and had saved her a time or two. It was more professional than wearing blue jeans or office attire if she needed to mill around the guests during an event. After several seconds of inspection, she decided on a black dress that might work with a pair of shoes she had previously chosen for another outfit. They’d still work. The pumps were three inches high. She hadn’t worn pumps this high at work in years. It would do for a night out, though.
Draping the dress over her arm and hooking the sling-back shoes on her fingers, she bent down and rummaged through her drawer for something she could use to hold her wallet. She’d left the house with just her wallet shoved in her pocket. Her keys were clipped to the wallet. Biting her lip, she thought for a second. She didn’t have time to stop at the hotel store and get something appropriate to use as a handbag. She doubted they even had something that would fit the bill, and she still ran the risk of Edward finding her.
She’d make do with her wallet and keys no matter how ridiculous it looked with the dress. She doubted anyone would pay any mind.
After cracking her office door, she eased into the hallway to ensure she didn’t hear Edward walking around. She could hear his voice booming as he spoke to someone in the banquet room.
Meredith took a chance and raced across the courtyard barefoot, holding her clothes in her hand. It was her chance to get across the courtyard to the pool room so she could shower and get dressed without Edward seeing her wandering the halls. As she passed by the front desk, she leaned over the counter and spoke softly to Darcy. “I’m going to be five minutes. Ten minutes tops in the shower room. Can you pick up my clothes from there? I don’t want to come back around this way.”
“Sure thing, Meredith.”
“Great. Leave everything in my office, and I’ll deal with it later.”
“Okay. Have a good time with the hottie Colonel.” Darcy giggled.
“I owe you.”
Twenty minutes later, Meredith walked toward the hammocks where she’d first seen Griffin just days before. Her heartbeat hammered in her ear as her blood flowed through her veins. Only this man had ever been able to make her feel as if she were having a full-blown heart attack just standing near him. Moving too quickly in the three-inch pumps, her foot hit a dip in the walkway, and her ankle began to twist sideways, but she managed to right herself just as Griffin turned around and saw her coming his way. His lips curled into a smile that made her catch her breath.
“Are you okay?” he asked, coming toward her.
“You saw that, huh?”
“The tail end of it.”
“I’m fine. I must do that at least once a day on this walkway. It’s nothing.”
And it was a lie.
Griffin didn’t say the words, but she could see it in his expression and the slight intake of breath as his gaze swept over her. She was beautiful despite nearly falling on her face.
“Do you have any idea how much I want to kiss you right now?”
She was playing with fire, and she knew by the end of his weekend, she’d get burned. Bad. But Meredith didn’t care.
Reaching up and wrapping her arms around his broad shoulders, she said, “I’ve been regretting stopping you this afternoon ever since you left me. I figured if you didn’t try again, I’d have to make the next move myself.”
His lips curled into a grin. His voice was low and smooth, like a caress over her skin. “I like the sound of that.”
Her breath hitched as his head came down to meet hers. He gently cupped her cheek with the tips of his fingers and brushed his lips over hers. At first, it was gentle. He was waiting for her to respond. She knew him so well even now. And then she could feel him grow hungry for more and it matched the building passion she felt deep in her soul.
Reaching up, she placed her hand behind his neck and pulled him closer to her even though their lips were locked in a kiss. As a soft groan made its way up her throat, he pressed his tongue against her lips to open her mouth, and then he claimed her with his tongue, moving it intimately with hers and building her excitement until she wanted him more. Needed him. And she remembered what it was like to be in his arms and be lost in him and him in her. God help her, she wanted to make love with him. It was hard to stop at a single kiss when she knew what the whole deal felt like.
When they parted and he looked down into her eyes, she felt as if he were looking into her soul, seeing the secrets she’d fought so hard not to reveal and claiming her as his. It was as if the last thirty years had never happened.