“Dammit, Eden. You think that’s help? He is going to sue me for full ownership. You let that vicious asshole under my roof. He’s going to be hanging around every day, digging into our business. I said it before. He’s after more than just the Palm. Now he’ll get to see you every day.”
“Not that again.” I stood and walked to the deck door. The sun was still high, and the gleam off the water was bright. “I was trying to figure out a way to convince him the Palm needs to be left alone. I don’t want him to tear it down, and I don’t want him to sue you. I am not interested in Mason and that had nothing to do with my invitation.”
“He is after you, Eden. Open your damn eyes,” he growled.
I faced Grey. “Do you need anything else?”
“What?”
“Pills? Water? Extra pillows?” I planted my hands on my hips.
“No, why?”
I turned the handle on the door. “Because I’m going out for a walk on the beach. I’ll be back later.” I slammed the door behind me, intentionally loud. I wasn’t going to stand there and listen to that jealous crap another second. Mason? Me? Grey was the one who had lost his damn mind.
I walked and walked until I wasn’t sure how long I had been gone. I liked this end of the island. The wildlife park was quiet and isolated. Only the locals knew about how great this part was.
I sat near the dunes and watched the seagulls fight over a school of minnows. Survival of the fittest, I thought. The minnows might get away if the gulls got too wrapped up in their territory war to notice their prey was swimming away.
I wasn’t sure how Grey and I were going to get through this storm we were being tossed around in. First Mason, then the accident, then Mason again. I buried my head in my hands. We were still supposed to be in the honeymoon phase. I thought the hardest part about living together would be figuring out where to put our toothbrushes or arguing over who stole the most covers. This was nothing like the dream I had concocted. I wanted the romance and the dancing in Mexico. I wanted Grey the way I fell in love with him—one quickstep at a time.
I couldn’t ignore the silent drift between us was bringing out insecurities I thought I had dealt with. When Grey asked me to live with him, I knew I wasn’t the first girl he had shared an address with. That had been Laura. I knew we were different. I was completely different from her, but I wondered if she felt any of the same things I did. Did they unravel like this? Did his moodiness drive a wedge between them?
It wasn’t as if I didn’t know Grey had a sullen side. I knew that the instant I met him. I wasn’t na?ve enough to assume living together would smooth out all his rough edges. I loved the edges, I did. Only, I didn’t want them to be the reason we were at odds. There was enough crap going on in our lives to take care of that.
My skin started to turn slightly pink from the afternoon sun. I hopped up and sanded off the back of my shorts before walking toward home. Enough beach for the afternoon. I couldn’t leave Grey stranded, even if he needed a few minutes alone to formulate an apology.
I trailed the surf, dodging the waves on my sneakers. When I reached our beach access, I turned and cut across the sun’s path. Right smack into Mason.
“Whoa, Eden. Watch where you’re going.” He laughed as he jogged backward a few paces.
“I—I’m sorry. I wasn’t watching where I was going,” I stammered. Mason was shirtless, sweaty, and out of breath.
“No problem, sweetheart.” He shoved his shades on top of his head, making his eyes glisten. I noticed they were trailing my legs.
“Enjoy your run.” I scooted past him on a mission to reach our beach stairs before he pulled me into a conversation, or I saw his eyes creep up any further.
He rested a hand on the railing next to my hip. “Want to join me? I’m going to check out that end of the island.” He pointed to the open space of the park. “I still need a tour guide. Trying to get my bearings around here.”
“The beach is beautiful down there. You’ll like it.” The truth was I had no idea what kinds of things Mason liked. So far, he hadn’t shown much interest in maintaining the integrity of Padre. Why would a natural park appeal to him?
“You sure? I promise not to run too fast. I bet you can keep up.”
I shook my head. He had placed a foot on the bottom step and was inching closer. “No, thanks. You have fun.” I turned from him and took two more steps.
“Will do,” he shouted as he continued to run.
I trudged ahead. I hoped Grey hadn’t made another rogue attempt to get out of bed. All I needed was for him to see me chatting with his shirtless uncle to stir up the tornado that was about to spin out of this storm.
I looked up. He was standing at our bedroom door, propped with a crutch. Shit.
I took the steps faster, but before I made it to the door, he was gone.