One Enchanted Summer

Chapter 22

CHAPTER

TWENTY-TWO

Quinn

Somehow, August is even hotter than June and July. My life doesn’t look anywhere close to the same as it did two months ago. I’m living with Gertie and enjoying weekly poker nights with her. I’m working as a waitress with a wonderful friend that is refreshingly honest and loyal. And the most surprising of all, I’m in love. Grayson has been the most pleasant surprise. I almost can’t imagine my life before him and that’s concerning because my summer is quickly coming to an end. The plan was always to take a little summer break in Florida with Gertie and then go back to my real life. But the longer I’m here the more this feels like my real life. I’m not sure I want to go back to Colorado. I haven’t told Grayson this yet because I don’t want to scare him away. He’s been working so much we haven’t had much time to have real conversations. I don’t want him to think I’m staying only for him. If I’m being honest, he’s a part of it, but not the only reason.

“So I heard a rumor,” Tatum says as she pops around from behind me.

I jump in surprise and then slant my eyes at her, “What’s the rumor?”

“You are staying.”

My heart stutters for a moment at the shock that she could possibly know that.

“Ash told me,” she explains and understanding dawns on me. I asked Ash a few days ago if there would still be a place for me after this summer. He eagerly assured me that I could stay as long as I wanted. His enthusiasm was flattering and made me want to stay even more.

“I haven’t decided yet,” I tell Tatum.

“Well, I think you should,” she replies. I laugh. Of course, she thinks I should.

“What does Grayson think?” she asks.

I busy myself with tidying napkins and condiments. “I haven’t talked to him about it.”

“Why not?!” Tatum demands.

“I don’t want him to think it’s because of him.”

“Isn’t it?”

I give Tatum a pointed stare. “No.” She raises her eyebrows at me and I smile, “Not completely.”

“If I had a man like that, I wouldn’t leave,” she says.

I tilt my head in questioning, “You do have a man,” I point out.

“And you don’t see me moving anywhere, do you?”

I laugh. I love Tatum’s straight-shooting. She somehow says exactly how she feels in a way that always makes me laugh.

“You should talk to him,” she says.

“I have to talk to Gertie first,” I answer.

I plan on talking to Gertie as soon as I get home. I pull out my phone to text Grayson as I get off my shift to make sure I’m still seeing him tonight. I push through the doors, looking at my phone, and as I reach outside I glance up and freeze. Standing outside of the restaurant is Collin. He’s staring straight at me with his arms crossed in front of him. A strained smile tugs on his face as I swallow, still frozen in place. I can’t help but wonder if this is another bad dream. I hope it’s just a dream.

“Quinn,” he says, coming towards me. He holds his arms out and wraps me in a hug before I can react. I’m in complete shock as he holds me. Why is he here? How did he know where to find me? I finally break out of my spiral and abruptly pull away from him, realizing this is real life.

“What are you doing here?” I demand, my voice coming out shakier than I want it to.

“I wanted to see you.”

“Here?” My thoughts are swirling in total confusion.

“It’s a grand gesture,” he holds his arms out and smiles. He’s so proud of himself he doesn’t even notice my unease.

“Collin,” I say tersely. “I don’t want a grand gesture. I don’t want a small gesture. I don’t want anything from you.”

He looks shocked for a moment, and my mind reels that he could possibly be surprised by this news.

“I don’t understand where all this hostility is coming from,” he replies.

I roll my eyes and start to walk. He never listened to me when we were dating; I don’t expect him to start listening now. But this time, I don’t feel obligated to stand here trying to talk to him.

“Hey, Quinn, you don’t understand,” he says catching up with me. “I want to be with you.”

I can’t stop a garbled laugh from escaping me. “You want to be with me? Wow. What am I supposed to do with that? Did you think I would just be so overjoyed by this that I would jump into your arms?”

Confusion crosses his face again. “Well, yeah,” he replies.

I laugh again and shake my head. “You’re ridiculous. Don’t you remember why we broke up? I broke up with you. So I don’t really care if you still want to be with me.”

“That’s a bit harsh, don’t you think?”

I scoff. “No. I don’t think. I’m sorry, Collin. I’m not trying to hurt your feelings, but it seems like I need to be pretty blunt to get through to you. I broke up with you because you didn’t treat me right. You were rude, demeaning, angry, and quite honestly, you were starting to get physical with me.”

Collin chuckles. “You’re exaggerating a bit, babe.”

“I’m not. I’m sorry you came all this way, but I’m not going to change my mind,” I say. My phone buzzes, and I look down to see a call from Grayson.

Collin’s eyes slant as he looks from my phone to me. “Is that some new guy?” he asks, his voice turning cold.

I sigh. “No, it’s not. And it’s not about him anyway; it’s about you. Just go home, Collin.”

“Not yet. Not until I get what I came for,” he says. It sounds like a threat, and before I can reply, he turns and walks away. Suddenly I feel nauseated. The complete surprise of him showing up here has my stomach turning. I take a deep breath and keep walking, but I only make it a few steps before I run to a trashcan and throw up.

“That boy isn’t safe,” Gertie says as she takes another helping of food.

“I agree,” Grayson says.

He brought dinner to Gertie’s house tonight and insisted that she eat with us. I was grateful for it. It would be easy for him to say he wanted time with just me but he never does. He simply welcomes her in and actually seems to enjoy his time with her.

“It’s fine. I think he’s more bark than bite,” I reply.

“I don’t like bark or bite,” Gertie says.

“Call me next time you see him,” Grayson says.

“My strong, handsome boyfriend is going to protect me from my big, bad ex?” I tease.

“I know you don’t need my protection,” Grayson replies. “But I don’t trust him.”

“Me neither,” Gertie says.

Me neither, but I don’t say it outloud. I don’t need to add any more worries to them, but I definitely don’t trust Collin. I want to believe that he listened to me and went home, but I know better. Collin always thinks he’s right and he’ll do anything he can to prove it. If he thinks we should be together, he’s not going to care what anyone else, including myself, says about it.

Grayson and I are snuggled on my bed hours after Gertie has fallen asleep. Up until now, he has constantly refused to do anything physical under her roof. He doesn’t want to disrespect her. Even though I’m constantly telling him that she would honestly be proud, in a very disturbing way.

I flip around and push back against him as he wraps his arms around me as the big spoon. He breathes in deeply and then gently kisses my temple.

“I’m sorry about Collin,” he whispers as he kisses lower on my neck. Goosebumps erupt across my body just like they always do when his lips touch me.

“I don’t want to talk about Collin,” I say.

“What do you want to talk about then?” He kisses me again, this time near my shoulder.

“I don’t want to talk,” I reply, turning to face him and press my lips against his. I feel his whole body react to me as he pulls me in tighter.

He groans as he pulls away just slightly. “You know we can’t do this here.”

“I promise we can.”

“You’ll be the death of me, Q.”

I giggle at his admission. He makes me feel powerful.

“You can stop me any time,” I say as I trace my tongue along his beautiful jawline.

He groans again. “I don’t think I can.”

I love his utter lack of control. I love knowing I make him feel this way.

“Okay, Q, I give up. I’m all yours,” he says as he kisses me again.

I wake when the bed jostles in the morning. I slowly open my eyes to see Grayson pulling on his shirt.

“What are you doing?” I mumble.

“I’m sneaking out so Gertie doesn’t know,” he replies.

I laugh. “You’re silly.”

He leans down and presses a quick kiss to my lips. “I’ll be back in a minute,” he says. I hear him quietly slip down the hall, then the front door closes behind him.

A minute later, I go into the living room and notice Gertie’s light is still off. I smile to myself, thinking about last night. Grayson somehow can make me feel so powerful and in charge but still so cherished. I need to tell him that I want to stay in town, and I have to confess to him that he’s part of the reason. The more time I spend with him, the more cemented my decision becomes. I can’t imagine not being with him anymore.

Gertie pads out of her bedroom a few minutes later in a fluffy robe. “Morning dear,” she says. I stand up to make breakfast just as someone knocks on the front door. When I open it Grayson is standing there with coffee and pastries.

“Good morning,” he chirps. I bite my lip, but it doesn’t stop the smile from breaking out across my face.

“Good morning,” I reply.

He steps inside and hands Gertie a drink and the bag, then he looks at me and winks.

“Thank you for breakfast,” Gertie says from the table. We sit down beside her and each take a pastry from the bag. I take a big bite just as Gertie adds, “Oh, and Grayson, you don’t need to sneak out in the mornings.”

I choke on my bite as Grayson looks at Gertie with wide eyes.

“It’s really too much work,” Gertie continues.

I laugh as Grayson’s cheeks turn pink. “I’m sorry,” he says.

“Don’t apologize. Quinny is a big girl and fully capable of making her own decisions,” Gertie says.

“And I think you’re a pretty good choice,” she adds.

Warmth spreads through me with her kind words. I look over at Grayson, and he smiles at me. I think he’s a good choice too.

When I get home from work the next day Gertie is waiting for me by the door.

“Let’s go for a walk,” she suggests. We’ve been doing walks more often, and her and Doris have resumed their morning gossip walk ‘n talk. I’d been feeling tired all day, but I couldn’t turn down a walk with Gertie, so I quickly change from my uniform and we go outside.

“Is Doris coming?” I ask.

“No, just us today.” The way she says it makes me think she’s up to something. Sure enough, we don’t even make it to the end of the street before she says, “So summer is coming to an end. What are your plans?”

I chuckle. “Subtle,” I say.

She shrugs, “I’m old. I don’t have to be subtle.”

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you. I was going to talk to you yesterday, but then I saw Collin and I forgot,” I start. “But, I think I’d like to stay in Florida for a while. I know you’re going to think I’m doing this all for a boy and I won’t lie, he’s a part of it, but I also just like it here. I feel like it’s been a fresh start that I didn’t even know I needed. I’ve even grown to like this hot and humid weather! I want to continue exploring my life here. I don’t want to be in your way and I promise I’ll start looking into getting a place of my own.”

“Don’t you dare!” Gertie exclaims. “You stay with me as long as you want.”

“Are you sure?”

“Quinny dear, I absolutely love having you here. I was actually planning on asking you to stay.”

Warmth fills my chest at being so wanted and loved.

“Well, I’m staying,” I say with a grin.

She beams back at me. “Good. Stay with me as long as you want. I have loved having a roommate. Now, about the boy. You’re right, I don’t think you should make all your decisions based on a boy, but I do think you’re young! This is the time in your life to figure out exactly what you want. So if that means staying here and continuing to date the handsome stuntman, then I say do it!”

I laugh and wrap her in a hug. “I love you, Gertie.”

“I love you too, my Quinn.”

We walk for a few more minutes before I start to feel lightheaded. I take a quick drink of water from my bottle but I begin to feel dizzy. It’s a hot day and even though I just told Gertie I’ve grown to like the weather, today I might have to disagree. I sit down on a nearby curb and rest my head on my knees.

“Who’s the embarrassing one now?” I joke with Gertie.

“Hey, you said I wasn’t embarrassing,” she replies with a chuckle.

“Are you okay?” she asks.

“I think I’m just a little overheated. I’ll probably walk back. You can keep going.”

My eyes are closed but I feel her sit next to me. “I have nowhere to go. I’m in no rush.”

I breathe deeply as Gertie rubs my back. I start to feel better and I lift my head to see Gertie smiling at me.

“What?” I ask.

“It’s nice being the one taking care of you for a change,” she replies.

A moment passes, and Gertie sighs. “But I’m actually going to ruin that now,” she says.

I look at her in confusion. “I don’t feel like it’s a big deal, but I don’t want it to seem like I’m lying to you so I’ll just tell you,” Gertie continues. “Collin came by the house while you were at work.”

“What!” I exclaim. She jumps a little at my volume.

“Goodness. Sorry. Like I said, it wasn’t a big deal. He just wanted to see if I would put in a good word for him.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“I’m not sure how he got my address, but it was all rather silly. I told him plain and simple that I knew he didn’t treat you well and he didn’t deserve you.”

“What did he say?”

“Oh, he got rather huffy-puffy about it. He tried making excuses, and acted like I was misinformed, but I told him I’m not a fool, and neither are you.”

I look at my grandma sitting on a curb next to me and realize I’ve never loved her more than at this moment. She exudes the confidence everyone wants and is still the most selfless person. She is so full of life, even after the hardships of the last few months. She is exactly who I want to be when I grow up.