I thought about telling him, but what in the hell was the point of that? So he could feel all sick every time he had to look at that dune too? No. Some things you just keep to yourself, and it isn’t lying so much as it is protecting. I was protecting him because I loved him. I had caused him enough pain.
As Frank led me by the hand toward the pitch-dark beach and onto the backside of that dune that nobody on earth could see unless they were at Frank’s house, I realized that I’d follow that man anywhere.
So I decided to let it go. I’d make love to Frank on this dune for the second time. And this time I wouldn’t get hurt. This time it wouldn’t be hard. This time I could look out onto this beach and smile and think about the beautiful thing that had happened here. But, just like it had all those years ago, when the best day of my life had turned into the worst one, that damn dune kept on surprising me.
CHAPTER 15
gray: girlfriend
We had done it. We had made it through our first grown-up, in-public, real live outing. And we had survived. Hell, we had thrived.
“I think it’s fair to say that I did something pretty great for you this afternoon. Right?” Andrew asked.
I smiled and kissed him lightly on the lips. “I think that’s fair to say. And I know just how to repay you.” I raised my eyebrows and pulled him in closer.
He smiled down at me. “Oh, I’m very aware of that. But I have a suggestion of my own.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Yeah? What’s that?”
“Well, we always stay at your house…”
I backed away. “Listen, babe, I adore you. But I’m not going to go stay with a bunch of twentysomething boys.”
He laughed. “Is this how little you know about me? I’mstaying at my parents’ house for the summer. It’s big and beautiful and right on the beach.”
It was a bad sign that I didn’t even know where the kid lived. I’d give him that. But that was mainly because when I was with him on my weeks without Wagner, he was basically living with me.
“Okay. Are there dishes piled in the sink? Towels piled on the floor? Dirty underwear piled in the corner?”
He laughed. “(A) no. And, (b) if it weren’t for Diana, you would have all that stuff at your house.”
He wasn’t wrong.
He kissed me. “I know the sound is beautiful, but I sure would love to spend a night with you falling asleep to the crash of the waves on the shore. We can take a midnight stroll on the beach.… The stars are beautiful, and it’s very, very isolated.…”
I laughed, finally getting the picture. “Aha. So, you don’t care about my staying at your house. You’re looking for a little on-the-beach action.”
He pulled me in suggestively. “Maybe the dunes? On the Cape?”
We both started laughing.
“It’s a bucket list item.”
I nodded. “Okay. I do owe you. But I’ll warn you, it’s not as glamorous and romantic as it might seem. There’s a lot of sand, and it gets in some pretty uncomfortable places.”
He looked at me in faux astonishment. “Why, Miss Gray, how on earth would you know that?”
I winked at him and, in my most innocent voice, said, “Oh, I don’t know. I’ve just heard.”
He kissed me again and said, “Okay. So we have a deal?”
I smiled. “We have a deal.”
He pulled away and jumped in the air, doing a little fist pump. “Yes! You are the most awesome girlfriend in the world.”
Girlfriend. It was a weird realization. It was very strange to go from being someone’s wife to being just a girlfriend again.
“Am I your girlfriend?” I asked teasingly.
