They stared at each other. Without thinking, she blurted, “You were right. About Alex. I didn’t know it at the time, but I’m in love with him.”
She thought Dustin might get mad but he only nodded. “I wondered.”
She suddenly realized what she’d said and slapped her hand over her mouth. After all, Dustin and Alex worked together. In the same office. Every day! “No one knows. I mean he doesn’t. I don’t think Alex feels the same way and...” She silently screamed at herself to stop talking.
He offered her a gentle smile. “I won’t say anything. Thank you for telling me. Things make more sense now.”
She lowered her arm to her side. “I swear I had no idea. I only figured it out a little while ago. We really were friends. I mean we still are, but...” No way she was going to mention they were sleeping together. “So I guess that’s what went wrong with us,” she added.
“It wasn’t just you,” he admitted. “I was settling.”
Ryleigh involuntarily took a step back. She might not have been in love with Dustin but wow. Settling.
“Sorry,” he added quickly. “I didn’t mean it to come out like that. I meant...”
She touched his arm. “First, there’s no fixing that and second, I get it. We were lonely and we wanted to find someone special. Kim’s death hit us both hard. We were hoping we were each other’s ‘the one’ and we weren’t.”
“You’re right. That’s what it was. We wanted to have those feelings and we didn’t. I’m sorry, Ryleigh. You’re great.”
“You, too.”
“I hope it works out with—” he nodded in the direction of the sand “—you know who.”
That made her smile. “Thank you. I hope you find your one as well.”
He walked away. She got in line for the restroom, all the while thinking about what he’d said. Although it wasn’t fun to hear he’d considered being with her “settling,” at least she didn’t have to feel guilty about turning down his proposal. They’d never been right for each other, which was a relief. Sort of. She supposed she was left with the bigger question which was why she had wanted to keep going out with him if she didn’t see a future with him. Somehow she’d convinced herself there was more than there was. Probably because of how she secretly felt about Alex.
The heart was a complicated organ, she thought as she washed her hands and started back to the beach. As she got closer to where her family was, she was surprised to see Cheryl talking to Alex. Their heads were bent together and their conversation seemed intense.
She had no idea what the older woman would have to say, but as she approached, Cheryl only smiled and waved.
“Having fun?” she asked.
“We are.”
“Excellent. I need to get back to the store.”
She walked away. Ryleigh glanced between her and Alex. “What was that?”
He looked away. “Ah, nothing. She just had a quick question about something.”
She waited but he didn’t seem inclined to say anything else. Before she could push, Noah ran up and grabbed her hand.
“Dad said we could go get funnel cake. Can it be now?”
She grinned at him. “It sure can. Let’s go.”
He pulled her toward the stands. She went with him, thinking that later she would ask Alex about the mysterious conversation. She wasn’t worried so much as concerned that he was all right. Because he mattered so much more than he knew.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“Explain this to me,” Cheryl said when Jax walked into the store a few days after the Fourth. She handed over an envelope.
“I have no idea what that is,” Jax admitted, then saw the return address was for Marcus’s construction business. When she saw the familiar logo, her chest got all tight and she felt the weight of sadness.
“It’s the final bill,” Cheryl said, her tone accusing. “One of his employees dropped it off.”
“Why do you have attitude? I’m going to pay the man.”
