“And then?”
I shrug. “Try a new tactic. I don’t know if she’ll believe you don’t have a girlfriend there. I think when she looks at you, all she sees is your grandpa.”
Beau grimaces. “I get it. He did her wrong.”
“And here I was, completely ignorant all these years. How didyouknow?”
“I asked my grandpa myself when I came back to Sunset Harbor a couple years ago. If I was going to be a good cop, I felt like I needed to understand things better. It took a while to get the truth out. I think he’s had long enough to convince himself he didn’t do anything wrong.” He shakes his head. “No one’s been innocent in the whole thing, though. I’m just glad it’s behind us.”
I don’t respond to that because I’m less convinced of that than he is. “Does Rose have plans to live at Seaside Oasis? Maybe we could organize a friendship between her and Grams. Then Rose could vouch for you, you know?”
Beau squeezes my thigh as we pull into the beach parking lot. “I’ll find a way into Grams’s heart on my own.” He grabs a beach mat, I take the bag of food, and we head to a spot near the surf that’s shaded by the palm fronds waving gently above.
“Admit it,” Beau says as we stare out at the shimmering waves with our burgers in hand and Xena sniffing around nearby. “The scales have started to tip.”
I look at him, my brows knit. And then it comes to me—our first outing together. I told him he was putting mere grains of sand on the scale.
“You kind of like this island now, don’t you?” He wraps his arm around my shoulders.
I make a show of taking a huge bite of my burger so I don’t have to talk, and he laughs, pulling me toward him and kissing my hair. I really overdid it on that bite, though, and it takes me almost a minute to clear my mouth. “I do like it. But I’m scared of it too.”
“Scared?”
I lift my shoulders and watch the foam recede on the sand. “Sunset Harbor hurt my family a lot. I don’t want that to happen again.”
“I’m sorry for the way my family made yours feel, Gemma.”
I smile ruefully. “Thank you. It’s not your fault, but it means a lot to hear you say.”
We finish our burgers in companionable silence, then I lie back and look up at the palm fronds, outlined by the blue of the sky above. Beau joins me, his shoulder up against mine.
“Would you ever live here again?” he asks.
My heart clenches because I know this question is importantto him. He loves this island and wants to stay here always. My answer could be a deal-breaker.
I want to respondyesright away, because I think that’s what I’ve been feeling for the past couple of weeks—a reluctance to leave. Grams’s house is just the physical representation of what I’m feeling more and more reluctant to give up.
“I don’t know,” I say honestly. “Some days I wish I could buy Grams’s house from her.”
“Why can’t you?”
“I’m unemployed, remember? I’d never qualify for a loan. And it’s not like this island has amazing job prospects. Just look at the local superhero cop who’s not even paid a living wage.”
He chuckles, and the sound reverberates in his chest so that I feel it in my hand.
“Howdoyou afford to live here on a part-time public servant’s salary?” I ask.
He shrugs. “The house is still my parents’.”
“Ah. Right. Silver spoon and all that.”
“Hey,” he says, nudging me with his shoulder. “I’ve got a little nest egg saved up too. I got a hefty sum from my injury, and then a little more came with the award they gave me.” His brows pull together, and he goes quiet.
“You deserved it, Beau,” I say softly.
“Thanks,” he says, grabbing my hand. He looks at me. “Things will come together the way they’re supposed to.”
I try for a smile, but his words bother me. They’re veryBeau—assuming things will happen the way they should. Does he reallywantme to stay? They sayeasy come, easy go,right? I fought against my feelings for Beau so hard that now that I’ve surrendered, I feel invested. Too invested, probably, for the relatively short amount of time it’s been. The thought of leaving him behind hurts in a way losing my job didn’t.
