One Enchanted Summer

Chapter 18

CHAPTER

EIGHTEEN

Quinn

Gertie doesn’t need me here anymore, but she keeps trying to fool me by asking me to help with things I know she’s capable of doing. She told me she couldn’t stand long enough to make dinner, but I caught her standing and staring out the window for a while so she could spy on her neighbors. Yesterday, I caught her exercising in her room, so for the rest of the day, she limped dramatically and kept telling me she didn’t know if she would ever walk normally again. She doesn’t want me to leave, and that makes my heart swell. Even if she’s ridiculous and should just tell me to stay. I do enjoy watching her new ways of convincing me I’m needed.

“Tonight is poker night, are you going to be joining us?” Gertie asks. She’s sitting in a chair doing a word search because according to her, she needs to keep her brain smart since her hip will never be the same. I rolled my eyes so hard at that comment she told me she thought I was being possessed.

“Is this a formal invitation?” I ask in faux surprise. She hasn’t invited me to any of their poker nights. She kept telling me she wasn’t ready to feel guilty for stealing all my money.

“Yes. I’m formally inviting you. Now, don’t embarrass me.”

Doris peeks at me over her glasses and throws a few more chips into the middle. I try to keep a straight face. This is my first time actually playing poker, but I know better than to admit that to these two. They are vultures. I fold, and Doris nods as if she knew exactly what I was going to do.

The doorbell rings, and Gertie perks up a little. “Be a doll and go get that,” she says to me. Then she turns to Doris, “Scootch your bootch over and make room.” I chuckle as Doris slides her chair over.

I open the door and am surprised to see Grayson standing on the porch holding a pack of root beer.

“I wasn’t sure what the drinking limits were for their age,” he says with a grin.

“I heard that!” Gertie calls from behind me.

“What are you doing here?” I ask.

“I invited him! Now stop letting the AC out,” Gertie shouts.

Grayson laughs and leans in to place a small kiss on the corner of my mouth. “Is this okay? She called me earlier and invited me. She said if she didn’t surprise you, you’d never let me meet her.”

I roll my eyes. “That’s not true. She’s being dramatic. I’ve just been waiting for the right time.”

“So, is now that time?”

I grab his shirt and pull him in for a kiss. His lips move gently against mine as I wrap my arms around his neck. I want to push him against the wall and do more than just this, but I hear a cough from behind us and see Gertie watching us.

“Keep it in your pants until after the game,” she says, grabbing the rootbeer from me.

“Hey, she started it!” he calls after her.

“Mhm, likely story,” she replies without looking back.

Grayson looks at me with wide eyes, and I laugh. “She’s going to think I’m a sleazeball making out with her granddaughter in the hallway.”

“That will only make her like you more.”

I don’t know why I was nervous about Gertie and Grayson meeting. At first, I was scared of it being too real with Grayson. If he met Gertie, I was admitting just how much I liked him. But now there’s no denying that. I could hide him from everyone, but I still wouldn’t be able to deny that I’ve fallen for him. I think a part of me is worried that people will judge me for jumping back into a relationship so quickly. Or maybe they won’t trust me and think I’m making another bad choice. But just like Gertie said, both of those are really my insecurities. Truthfully, I am worried about jumping into another relationship again. I wasn’t planning to meet anyone here. I certainly didn’t think I would fall in love with anyone for a long time. Grayson snuck up on me. Some people say falling in love happens fast; some say it’s so slow you don’t even notice. Honestly, I don’t even think I had a choice. Suddenly I was looking at him and realized I was in love. I didn’t have a choice. I didn’t even have a chance to think about it. I was 100% head over heels for him. This guy that is now sitting across the table from Gertie and absolutely getting hustled.

Gertie scoops up her winnings again with a smile while Grayson shakes his head and looks at me in shock.

“Where did she come from?” he laughs.

“Oh boy, your parents didn’t have ‘the talk’ with you? Poor Quinny. You’re going to have some teaching to do,” Gertie says with a completely straight face.

Grayson’s cheeks flush pink, and he opens his mouth, but no words come out.

“I like this one. Leave him alone,” Doris says, coming to his defense. “Besides, did you see his abs?”

I choke on my drink, leading to a coughing fit. Grayson pats my back a few times as I try to control myself.

“What did you just say?” I question Doris. “When have you ever seen his abs?”

“Google. I googled him. You said he did a pirate show and talked all about the girls ogling him. So I googled the show, and there was a cast picture right there on the page,” Doris replies simply. Then she traces her eyes up and down Grayson’s body and adds, “Very nice.”

Grayson coughs now; his face is red from embarrassment.

“Oh my god, Doris!” I exclaim. I feel my own cheeks redden with heat. “I’m so sorry, Grayson.”

He laughs and waves me off. “It’s fine.” He looks at Doris, “Thank you for the extremely inappropriate compliment.”

“Any time, my dear.”

Gertie harrumphs beside me. “Well, now I’m the only one at the table that hasn’t seen them.”

“Gertie!” I admonish.

“What? It’s only fair. Flabs or abs? Let’s see ‘em,” Gertie replies.

Grayson laughs as both ladies stare at him. He glances at me, and I shake my head as I hide my face in my sweater. I have to wear a sweater with Gertie’s crazy temperature. How has this night gotten so far away from me? Maybe this is the actual reason I didn’t want him to meet her. My grandma is crazy. But in the best kind of way.

“Okay,” Grayson shrugs and stands up.

“Babe, no,” I say quickly. “He’s not a piece of meat,” I tell Gertie.

“Looked like it from what I saw,” Doris mumbles.

Grayson chuckles and pulls his shirt up. Doris’ mouth falls open, and Gertie whistles. They aren’t wrong. The sight is gorgeous. I also want to stare and whistle and definitely touch. He smiles down at me and then lowers his shirt.

He sits back in his chair and says, “Can we play cards now?”

“You lucky girl,” Gertie says with a smirk.

My bedroom is dark when I enter it. I flip on the light and I’m shocked to see Collin sitting on the edge of my bed. He looks angry and I’m instantly on edge.

“I’ve been waiting for you all night,” he says in a terse tone.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were here,” I say as my heart quickens.

“Well, you should’ve known,” his voice is tight as he stands up. “I can’t spend my whole life just waiting around for you while you’re doing god knows what.”

His face is turning red in anger. I know the signs. I know what’s coming. He throws his phone against the wall, and it shatters close to my head. I flinch.

“My grandma is going to hear you,” I say and I’m embarrassed at how weak it sounds.

“Your grandma is dead,” he replies, his voice flat.

I jolt awake, my heart pounding. I’m coated in a thin layer of sweat as I struggle to get my breathing under control. It was a dream. It was just a dream. I repeat it over and over as my heart rate slowly returns to normal. I’m shaking as I look down at the time. It’s 4:00 in the morning. I lay back down and take a few deep breaths as I try to relax. The dreams are always worse than reality, at least in this one I woke up before he hit me. But I can’t stop hearing his voice in my head saying, “Your grandma is dead.” It’s on repeat over and over again. I know I’m not going to be able to sleep, so I quietly sneak out of my room and make my way to Gertie’s bedroom. I peek through her door and see her sleeping soundly. Her breathing is instantly comforting, and I close the door and make my way to the kitchen. There’s no point in going back to bed now; I might as well go for a run.

The sky is still dark, but by the time I reach the beach, the sun is starting to rise. The sky begins to turn a beautiful orange as I run along the sandy edge. My music is pounding, and with each beat of the music and step of my run, I try to forget the dream a little more. I finally collapse onto the beach to catch my breath. My heart races as I suck in the air again. It’s similar to this morning, but this time I’m in control. This time, I smile as my heart rate slows. I watch as the sky turns even brighter and more vibrant in color. It’s beautiful. I snap a picture and send it to Grayson with a good morning message. My phone pings, and I look down surprised that Grayson would be up this early.

Instead, it’s a message from Collin. My stomach drops.

I miss you. Your mom said you left town. We need to talk. Call me.

I read it again. I haven’t heard from him since we broke up. I did it in a public place so that he couldn’t be too volatile. He still screamed at me and smashed his fist into the table, but I knew he couldn’t touch me. That was the last time I’d heard from him. He hadn’t tried to contact me again. It’s been months. Why is he reaching out now? I don’t care. I’m not letting him back in. I block the number and refocus on the sky and my new beginning.

I feel jittery and melancholy the rest of the day. I keep checking my phone even though I blocked his number. First, my dream and then the text; the timing is freaking me out. I try not to make it a big deal, but I’m distracted. Tatum seems to notice.

“Are you okay?” she asks when we have a break.

“Yeah, just in a funk today. I had a dream about my ex last night, and then he texted me this morning.”

Tatum’s eyebrows shoot up. “What kind of dream? And what did the text say?”

“Not that kind of dream,” I shoot her down. “And his text just said he wanted to talk.”

“Ominous. Did you call him?”

“No. We didn’t end on very good terms. Actually, our whole relationship wasn’t very good.”

“Hm, yeah. Leave that in the past.”

“I think I’m going to go to the pirate show tonight. Do you want to come?”

“Yes. One hundred times yes,” Tatum replies enthusiastically.

I give her a look, “That’s my boyfriend, you know.”

“Oh, I’m not just talking about your boyfriend.”

“Tatum!” I scold her.

“What? I already invited Dylan, too,” she holds up her phone as proof. “He’s going to meet us there.”

“The blue one is pretty good too, he’s probably close to Grayson,” Tatum says as she takes a bite of her salad and stares at the blue pirate.

“This really doesn’t bother you?” I ask Dylan.

He chuckles, “Tatum is my person, and she’s her own person. I love her, all of her, even her unfiltered mouth.”

“Yeah you do,” she interrupts him with a kiss.

“The fact is, I trust Tatum more than I trust anything or anyone. She jokes about these other pirates, but it doesn’t bother me because I know she loves me and only me. And I’m the one that gets to take her home,” he continues. “Besides, my body isn’t that bad, right?”

It’s definitely not bad. His large arms are practically bursting out of his sleeves, and I assume that he has his own abs hidden away under his polo. Tonight, he’s wearing black glasses, and instead of The Rock, he reminds me a little of Superman.

“He spends all day around hot teenage girls that have massive crushes on him,” Tatum says. “He can handle me looking at some pirates.”

“I wouldn’t call them hot teenagers,” Dylan argues.

“Good, 'cause you’d probably get fired if you did,” Tatum replies.

He smirks at her and kisses her softly on the cheek.

Grayson walks towards our side of the crowd, and we all erupt in cheers. The girls in the row next to us holler loudly.

“Looks like he’s got his own little fan club,” Tatum muses.

“Now I understand what she was talking about,” Dylan says with a smirk.

“Told you!” Tatum agrees.

“I don’t know if it’s because he’s been climbing ladders or swinging on ropes, but his shoulders have been looking so good,” I observe.

“She’s into shoulders,” Tatum remarks.

“That’s not a usual muscle group that women check out, is it?” Dylan asks.

“I prefer biceps or abs, but to each their own,” Tatum replies.

I hardly hear them because seeing Grayson in his element makes me forget the rest of the day. Collin who? He waves his arms and pumps up the crowd. I catch the moment he sees me. A large grin spreads across his face, and he leaps up the stairs towards us.

“I didn’t know you were coming!” he exclaims.

“I thought I’d surprise you,” I reply.

“Thanks. Hey Tatum,” he nods to her.

“This is Dylan,” she introduces him.

“Nice to meet you,” Grayson responds. He smiles at me again and leans forward, “I wish I could kiss you right now.”

My heart skips a beat, and I love that he still has that power over me. “Me too,” I say through my grin. He winks and then bounds back down the steps. I bite my lip, and Dylan whistles quietly.

“You have it bad,” he remarks.

“I know,” I admit.

“Don’t worry, Grayson does too,” Tatum says.

I take Grayson’s advice and close my eyes this time during the ladder scene.

“Let me know when it’s done,” I tell Tatum when I see them start to spin. She laughs, and Dylan looks confused.

A minute later, I hear Dylan say, “Ah, I get why you’re closing your eyes now.”

The crowd's cheering gets louder and louder, so I know it’s nearing the end. Finally, Tatum nudges my arm and says, “You can open your eyes now.”

I see Grayson safely climb down the ladder, and I let out a sigh of relief. He walks over to the center of the boat to watch the mermaid perform her aerial silk dance. It’s such a beautiful part of the show. I’m awestruck every time I’ve watched it. She gracefully twirls and spins, and I can’t even imagine being able to move like that on the ground, especially in the sky. Suddenly, a spin goes wrong, and it seems like she’s moving in slow motion as she slips, and we watch her crash to the ground. A sickening gasp rushes through the crowd. Grayson and the blue pirate rush to her side and hide her from the audience. Minutes pass slowly, and it doesn’t look like anyone is moving. Finally, Grayson stands up and picks the mermaid actress up. She waves with one arm to the crowd; we all stand and applaud her. The show is paused for a few minutes as we wait.

I’m too stunned to speak. Watching her fall from that height was terrifying. Most of the crowd is silent except for a few murmurs. I know what they do is a little risky, but watching someone get hurt puts it all into a new perspective.

After a few minutes, Grayson comes back on stage and the crowd cheers. Another woman comes out to take the place of the mermaid.

“I hope she’s okay,” I whisper to Tatum.

“That was crazy,” she replies.

The rest of the show continues, and I can’t help but wonder how they can continue so professionally after something like that. I’m honestly impressed. After the show ends, we stay and wait for Grayson. He pops out from backstage and comes to greet us, but a group of girls interrupts him first.

“Hi! That was amazing,” one of them gushes while the rest giggle.

“Thank you,” Grayson responds kindly.

“I just loved it,” she says, and the rest of the girls chorus out, “Me too.”

“Can we get a picture with you?” one of them asks.

“Of course,” Grayson says with his performance smile. I’ve started to recognize the different smiles he has. This one is what I call his performance smile. It’s professional and just a little bit charming. He uses it most when talking to the crowd before and after a show.

“I can take it for you,” I offer. Grayson’s smile grows and it isn’t his performance smile anymore. This smile is better, this one is personal.

“Oh, thanks!” she replies, handing me her phone. Grayson holds out his arms as they all circle him.

“Oh my gosh, they are real!” one of the girls exclaims as she looks closer at his abs. The rest of them giggle, and I even have to fight back a laugh.

“I took a few for you,” I say, handing her phone back.

“Thanks again!” she says.

They huddle around the phone and whisper as they look through the pictures.

“Hey you,” Grayson says as he pulls me in for a kiss.

I love kissing him post-show. I always tease him that it feels like I get to date three different versions of him. I get casual normal Grayson, pirate Grayson, and explorer Grayson. How lucky am I?

“Oh my gosh!” one of the girls squeals from behind us as Grayson and I pull apart. Her jaw is almost on the floor. I wave, and Grayson nods at them as we walk back to Tatum and Dylan.

“How’s the mermaid?” I ask.

“Oh man, that was rough. She broke her collarbone,” he answers.

“Poor girl.”

“Yeah, she handled it well, but stuff like that is never fun. She’ll be out of work for a while.”

“Do you get paid if you’re hurt on the job?”

“Yeah, they pay you a little. It’s not as much as if you were working, but it’s better than nothing. But if you get hurt when you aren’t on shift, then you’re just screwed.”

“I gotta keep you safe then,” I tease.