It was nice.
Nice? Come on, Suze. It was everything.
She’d forgotten what it felt like to be cared for. Not managed, not pitied, not needed — just quietly seen. Seen in a way that soothed something in her she hadn’t even realized was starved.
And then he’d shared pieces of his life he didn’t owe her. Pieces that weren’t polished or pretty. It moved her, slipping straight past her defenses, making him … relatable. Human. More than a handsome face with a captivating smile and hypnotic voice.
But it also tugged loose memories of the things she carried … the things that weighed her down.
Her marriage to Braam had been about his needs. The constant appointments, the strict diets, the nights she lay awake listening to the sound of his pain. Living with someone whose body betrayed him day after day had taken its toll. And whencancer finally claimed what Crohn’s had already weakened beyond repair, she’d been too numb to grieve properly.
The months after had been worse. Chaos layered on top of grief. Bills mounting. Insurance delays. That bastard who had stolen what was left because she had been weak, too caught up in her feelings.
And that one terrible week when the cupboards were empty and she had done what was needed to put food on the table.
Then Miem had found them.
Stubborn, practical Miem with her endless capacity to fix broken things. She’d hauled them here and given her a job, a place to live.
Suzette had rebuilt her life, one day at a time.
It wasn’t glamorous. It wasn’t grand. But it was hers.
And now here was Justin sitting beside her like it was the most natural thing in the world, sharing his heart. His grief.
Making her long for things that were out of reach.
She turned her face toward him, sunlight glancing off his hair, catching the strands of grey woven into the brown. “I like you, Justin. Really like you.”
His eyes narrowed slightly, waiting. “I hear a but…”
She exhaled, the sound halfway between a sigh and a laugh. “This.” She gestured loosely — to the ocean stretching beyond the dunes, and to the graceful sprawl of the hotel behind them “This is my life. And I love it. It’s … easy. There are chaotic times, like today, but still. I’ve lived here for two decades. It’s home. I can’t imagine being anywhere else. I don’twantto be anywhere else.”
She paused, fingers tightening around her mug, fixing her eyes on the liquid so she wouldn’t look at him and set aside her resolve. “So whatever you think is between us, whatever you’dliketo happen between us … it’s not going further than this.”
The words hung between them, carried off by the wind and the distant crash of waves. And even as she said them, she wasn’t sure if she meant them. Or if she was just reminding herself of all the reasons she should.
Silence stretched between them.
One beat. Then two, three.
She risked a glance.
His eyes were squarely on her.
Heat rose up her neck as she squirmed under that steady, unflinching gaze.
“Maybe this,” he said quietly. “Maybe this is exactly what I want. Maybe this is what I’ve been looking for all my life.”
She gave a short, scoffing laugh. “Seriously?”
“MiesSuzette,jammer,” a voice said from a few meters away. Grateful to escape Justin’s hypnotizing gaze — the man almost had her believing in fairytales — she turned to the approaching man. It was Moses, her maintenance man, his gaze moving apologetically between the two of them. “Ons het jou nodig.” He jerked his head to the side. “In die boma.”
She was needed in the boma where tonight’s wedding was to be held.
Back to reality.
She stood, looking down at Justin. “Thank you for sharing my break. But duty calls.”
