One Enchanted Summer

Chapter 9

CHAPTER

NINE

Quinn

I’m nervous about my date. Gertie and Doris haven’t been helping. When I first came out into the living room wearing denim shorts and a graphic tee, they looked at each other, and Doris asked, “Is that what she’s wearing?”

“Seems like it,” Gertie replied with the same tone of disapproval.

“What’s wrong with it?” I asked nervously. Unfortunately, that one question led to all of us in my room while they dissected each of my outfit choices. We finally settle on a white spaghetti strap dress. I glance at the pile of clothes on my bed and decide to deal with that later. I start pacing back and forth past the window watching for Grayson. It’s only 5:50, and he said he’d pick me up at 6:00, but I can’t seem to get myself to sit still. Gertie and Doris are whispering in the corner and I stop and look at them.

“Are you going home?” I ask Doris with a little bite to the question.

She just laughs, “No, I’m perfectly content right here.”

I sigh and turn away from them while they both cackle. After five minutes, I see a car pull in front of the house. Gertie is suddenly by my side faster than I thought she could move.

“He’s cute!” she declares loudly as Grayson walks towards the house. He’s wearing jeans, and they’re different from his normal casual wear; he looks great in them.

“Shh!” I hiss.

She stands a little taller. “Should I talk with him? Do I need to ask his intentions?”

“No,” I shake my head and block the door right as the doorbell rings. “Don’t you dare,” I glare at her. The smile on her face stretches bigger and I know I can’t trust her.

I quickly open the door and slide through the smallest crack I can. “Love you, bye!” I call.

“Don’t forget to use protection!” Gertie calls as the door closes. I close my eyes, praying that the door is somehow thick enough for Grayson not to have heard that. When I slowly open one eye to look at him, he’s staring back at me with an eyebrow raised in question.

My cheeks burn red, “I am so sorry about that,” I say.

He laughs. “Gertie?” he asks. When I nod, he leans closer to the door and says, “Don’t worry, Gertie. I’ll take good care of Q.”

I hear both Gertie and Doris erupt into a fit of hoots and laughs. Grayson turns back to me with a grin on his face.

“You have no idea what you just did,” I reply with a shake of my head.

Grayson takes me to a restaurant on the pier, and I’m amazed when I see it has a large glass room with tables inside. It’s basically a large greenhouse for us to eat in. It’s perfect because now we can see the ocean in a perfectly air-conditioned room. I’m grateful it’s not as freezing as Gertie’s house.

“This is incredible,” I say truthfully as we are shown to a table. The sky is turning a cotton candy pink as the sun starts to set.

“I told you I’m not done showing you my favorite places yet,” Grayson replies with a grin. “And after dinner, we’ll go down there to another spot,” he adds, pointing down to the beach.

“So, how is your friend doing? The one that was injured?” I ask.

A look of surprise crosses Grayson’s face. “That’s really thoughtful of you to ask. He was released from the hospital. They believe he’ll be able to walk and make a full recovery, so that’s great news. It’s going to be a long process, but he’s had a good attitude about the whole thing.”

“That must’ve been horrible to watch. I don’t know if I’d be able to keep working after that.”

“Yeah, he’s not coming back.”

“I meant you.”

Grayson looks up at me and meets my gaze. I notice the emotion behind his eyes. I watch him swallow and then he says, “How do you do that?”

“What?” I’m honestly confused.

“Be so in tune with everyone's feelings.”

I chuckle, “What do you mean?”

“You asked about Mason and how he’s doing, you got a job simply because you cared about your boss’ and grandma’s feelings, you’re here this summer taking care of your grandma and now you somehow seem to understand why I would be emotional after watching a co-worker and friend get injured on the job.”

I swallow. His words are making me emotional. I can feel it building up inside me.I take a drink to try and distract myself. Does he really view me like that? I’ve never had someone actually see me before. He makes me seem selfless but I’m constantly worried that I’m being selfish. I don’t know what to say, so instead I turn it back on him.

“Are you doing okay? I imagine anyone would be upset watching that,” I say.

He raps his knuckles on the table once and points at me. “That! Exactly that right there. Are you possibly the most selfless person on the planet?”

I laugh loudly now. “Definitely not.”

“Could’ve fooled me.” He leans back in his chair, and only when he does that do I realize just how close we were leaning into each other before. His blue eyes seem to draw me in without me even noticing.

“You look beautiful, by the way,” Grayson remarks casually as he takes another bite of food. “I don’t think I told you yet but I’ve thought it a thousand times.”

My cheeks flush with heat as I bravely look back at him and say, “Thank you.”

We finish the rest of the meal, which was absolutely phenomenal, and as we exit the restaurant Grayson slides his hand into mine. It’s so natural; Like we’ve held hands a million times, except for the current of electricity coursing between us. As promised, he leads me down to the beach. It’s mostly empty now that it’s dark. We walk quietly for a bit as we listen to the sound of the waves. His hand is warm in mine, and when I look up I catch him looking at me. He doesn’t look away. His gaze makes me blush and turn towards the waves.

He finally stops and looks up, “Yeah, this is good.”

I follow his gaze and let out a small gasp of surprise. The sky is full of beautiful stars. I hadn’t noticed when we were walking. I guess I was too distracted by him, but now I can’t tear my eyes away from the sky.

“This is beautiful,” I sigh.

We sit together in the sand, and I gently rest my head against his shoulder as we stare at where the stars meet the water.

Time seems to move exponentially quicker when I’m with Grayson. Before I know it, the sky is getting lighter and I realize we sat on the beach all night talking. I’ve never felt so connected to someone so quickly before. Maybe that’s why when he asks about my exes I drop down my barriers and allow my hidden tears to show. I’ve spent too long hiding. It’s so exhausting. Something about Grayson makes me feel safe. In a way I wasn’t sure I would ever feel again. He squeezes my hand as a tear silently falls down my face.

“You don’t need to talk about it,” he says quietly.

“I’ve never really talked about it,” I reply in explanation.

“Was it recent?”

I nod. He gently rubs the back of hand with his thumb, still watching me carefully. A moment of silence passes and then I swallow the lump in my throat. I finally say the words out loud, “He was abusive.”

Grayson’s jaw flexes as anger flashes across his face. I can tell he wants to say something but he’s biting his tongue.

“He never hit me,” I add. For so long, that was my reasoning and my excuse. He never physically hit me. But he punched the wall behind me on more than one occasion. I can still hear the car window shattering when he punched it because he saw that I was texting one of my male friends. He threw things that seemed to get closer and closer to my head each time. He screamed a lot. I’ll never forget the way his hand grabbed my arm and pulled me out of his house when he thought I was talking back to him. He might have hit me that time if his dad and brother weren’t outside. When they saw him dragging me through the yard, they stopped him and told him to take his hands off me. They stood up to him, and in that moment I think they realized why I had to end it. That was the last straw for me. When someone else witnessed it and knew it was wrong, I couldn’t lie to myself anymore. I had to go.

“He was very controlling and manipulative. He made me feel small and insecure. I never felt like I was worthy of his love, or anyone’s love. In moments of complete vulnerability, he would take the opportunity to make sure I knew he was the only one that could put up with me and my flaws, ” I remember each and every comment he would make about my body after sex. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget those words.

“He’d get what he’d want, and then he’d tear me down just enough to make me feel like no one else could think I was beautiful,” I can’t bring myself to look at Grayson while I speak. Instead I look out at the waves. Somehow, with each word that comes out of my mouth and each wave crashing on the beach, it feels like I heal a little more.

“I’m so sorry Quinn,” Grayson says softly. I realize this is the first time he’s called me by my full name since we met. His voice is so gentle and thick that I can’t help but turn to look at him. His eyes are searching my face in such a compassionate way. The way he’s looking at me breaks any composure I was still holding onto. The tears come rushing down my face now as he pulls me into a hug. I silently sob into his shoulder while he gently rubs my back, his other hand grabbing the back of my head in a strong and safe way. He holds me until I have no tears left to cry. I don’t know how much time passes, but he never stops rubbing my back and never lets go.

“Geez, I’m so sorry. This is so embarrassing,” I say, wiping my face as we finally pull apart.

“Please, don’t apologize,” he replies. “You don’t need to be embarrassed.”

“I’ve never told anyone the truth about Collin,” I say. “I’ve held it all in for so long. It made it easier to lie to myself. I think you just opened the floodgates and I couldn’t hold it in anymore.”

“I think that’s a good thing. I’m happy you opened up to me.”

I look at him with an eyebrow raised. “Really? You’re glad I snotted on your shoulder?”

Grayson barks out a laugh. “Yes, Q. I am.”

I examine his face and find no hint of sarcasm there. It almost makes me want to start crying again. How did I find myself here, on a beach in Florida, with Grayson? I feel the invisible weight being lifted off me. The sun officially breaks over the horizon, and for once it feels like the sun has risen in my soul too.