Instead, when he exited the van, he moved around to follow the guide, accidentally bumping into Ava as she headed the same direction.
The glare Ava gave him wasn’t really the reaction he was searching for. As much as he wanted to take her in his arms and soothe her hurt away, though, he couldn’t. He didn’t even know how to start.
Instead, he would suffer through this tour—the one he had signed up for in order to stay away from Ava—and tomorrow, he would go back to his job in Nebraska.
Maybe tomorrow will be better.
Ava hit the snooze button on the alarm, rolling over to bury her face in her pillow. As much as she was ready to leave Antigua—especially after spending several hours yesterday not speaking to Grant as they toured the island’s historic sites—she wasn’t exactly ready to go home either.
She had to figure out what to do about Grant.
It was one thing to be mad at the man she’d had a fling with.
Being angry with her brother’s very best friend was something entirely different.
Dragging herself out of bed, she took a long shower, pulled a simple sundress over her head, and then began packing her suitcase, thinking about Grant the whole time.
Why did he say he wanted to go home to Necessity with me?
She replayed their conversation.
He hadn’t actually said that, she realized. But when she confronted him with trying to decide the course of their relationship without consulting her, he didn’t deny it.
Why had that bothered her so much? What was it about him wanting them to go home to Necessity together that made her head spin?
The answer hit her so fast and hard that her knees gave out, and she landed on the bed with a thump. She said there for a long time, turning the idea over in her mind, much as she had spun Seth’s wedding ring around and around during the ceremony, looking at it from all angles.
No matter how she spun it, all the parts connected.
Grant wanted them to have a real relationship. One that involved them making a life together, either in Necessity or wherever his job took him.
When he had hinted at that, she had instantly shut him down, accusing him of trying to control her life and explaining to him why they could never have a relationship.
Why?
Because the idea of a real relationship with Grant terrified her.
I’m in love with him, and being with him means my boring, predictable life would get a lot less boring and a lot less predictable.
Grant knew that Kristin and Seth had planned to spend the next several days alone together, but they were the only ones who had the information he needed, so he hadn’t hesitated to call them that morning.
He’d spent all night tossing and turning, trying to figure out exactly what to do about Ava. Now he was at the airport, standing at the ticket counter, continuing to turn the issue around in his mind.
There had to be more to her rejection of him than just her need to take care of her grandmother. They could figure out an answer to that. They could figure out anything together. Unless, of course, she simply didn’t want him, and he refused to believe that—not after their time together in Antigua.
Everything about the last few days had been perfect. They worked well together. If only he could get her to talk to him, he was sure they could work it out.
Refusing to speak to her on the tour yesterday had been a mistake. Several times, he had started to say something to her, only to change his mind at the last minute.
I should have made her talk to me then.
He could fix that today.
In fact, he had fixed it.
He only hoped his plan didn’t backfire.
As he turned away from the ticket counter, he caught a glimpse of Ava’s brown curls, and called out her name.
The words died in his throat as she moved around several other people, pulling her suitcase behind her.
She strode up to him, watching him carefully for a reaction.
All he could do was stare.
She was wearing that minidress. The tiny one, the one she had called the Floral Floozy dress.
“Like it?” she asked.
“You look amazing,” he finally managed to choke out.
“I call it my Island Adventure dress.”
His heart stopped in his chest, and when it started again, it was pounding hard and fast. “Oh, really? Why is that?”
“It’s not even close to my usual style. So it’s the dress I am wearing to start a new adventure in my life.” The silence between them stretched out for what seemed like hours, but could only have been a few minutes. “If you still want me to come with you, that is. Or if you want to come back to Necessity with me.”
Slowly, Grant nodded. “What about your grandmother?”
“We can figure out how to help her and still be together, I think.”
A smile began spreading across his face. “We’ll have some time to figure that out.”
“We will?” Her brows drew down in confusion.