“So don’t beat yourself up. She had four hours to plan what she was going to say to you. You had ten seconds.”
Heather shuddered, releasing a long sigh. “You’re right. I didn’t think of that. I still can’t believe she drove all that way here to tell me something she could have told me on the phone. At least if she’d done that, I’d have had the pleasure of hanging up on her.”
A sigh rumbled in Bo’s chest. He met people like Natalie all the time in his line of work. Entitled, seemingly fierce. Empty shells, he thought. All their energy went to buying more things. Any creative kernel they had was buried in all that stuff. So when they saw someone like Heather—all heart and passion and vision—they felt threatened. In their hearts, the Natalies of the world knew they couldn’t compete with the Heathers of the world. They were not even in the same league. So they attacked.
He held Heather tighter. “I imagine she wanted to be sure she got her way. When your father left, she saw her opening. She figured she had to come meet you face-to-face for that.”
“Maybe,” Heather agreed, playing with the hairs on his chest. “But I hate that she could make me squirm. I thought I’d gotten past that.” Her voice wavered. “To tell you the truth, I think what hurt the most was that there was some truth in what Natalie said. After all, I am a grown woman living with my father.” She paused and her voice hushed. “It always hurts the most when it is true.”
She was consoled by his gentle squeeze. “She doesn’t want me to live with them—no, what was the phrase she used? ‘You’re not the easiest person to live with.’ That was more than insulting. It was so hurtful.”
He felt his anger surge again and made a dismissive gesture. “Forget her. She’s obviously never lived with you.”
“Thank you, honey.” Heather laughed. “But neither have you.”
“Well, as for that, I’m glad she came,” Bo said.
Heather raised her head. “What?”
“Hell, baby, I don’t want you to go back to Charlotte. You know that. It just took something like this to convince you that Charlotte isn’t where you belong anymore.”
She laid her head back against his chest. “But now I have to figure out what to do next,” she said quietly. “Where to go.”
Bo was silent. Then he turned onto his side, resting on his elbow so he could look down at her face. “Do you remember the night we first made love?” His voice was tender.
Heather’s cheeks bloomed and she averted her gaze. “Of course,” she mumbled.
“I’ll never forget it,” he said. “I told you then I’d always be there for you.”
“I remember,” she said, and reached up to draw his head down to her lips. Their kiss was soft, searching.
“Do you like it here?” he asked her when they finally broke apart.
“In bed with you?” she asked with a light laugh. “Yes. . . .”
He chuckled and shook his head. “I’m serious. I mean here. On Dewees Island.”
“I’ve only just arrived. It’s very remote. Isolated—which I like.”
“So you like it?” he prompted.
She delivered a suspicious gaze. “I’m shy with strangers and love animals. For someone like me, it’s a paradise. Why do you keep asking?”
He couldn’t contain his grin. He stroked the hair from her face, wanting to catch her reaction. “Well . . . do you think you could live here?”
Her eyes sharpened and her fine brows drew together in thought. “I . . . I don’t know. I might. Everything feels right here. The natural environment. The birds, of course. The philosophy.” She worried her bottom lip, then said, “It feels like I belong here, in a sense. As if I’ve come home.”
Her answer was more than he’d hoped for. He kissed her softly on the lips. “I hoped you’d feel that way,” he said. He took a breath and said with a resigned smile, “Because I just got offered a job here.”
Heather’s lips parted as she sucked in a surprised breath. “A job?”
Bo shifted to sit cross-legged on the mattress. “Yeah. The Dewees Island board offered me a full-time job. As head of island maintenance,” he explained, no longer able to hold back his excitement. “It’s a really solid job. I beat out a lot of other great contractors. And I’d get a house! Well, they don’t give it to me, of course, but it’s mine to live in while I’m the manager. I’d take care of the island’s property. But I’d be free to continue to do my private work when time allowed.”
“That’s—that’s amazing,” Heather stuttered, her face looking stunned. She brought herself up to a sitting position and wrapped the sheet across her breasts. Pushing back her hair from her face, she asked, “Are you sure you want to live here?”
Bo nodded with conviction. “I love it here. I always have. I just never thought I’d be able to afford to live here. It’s everything I love most about a place. Beautiful surroundings and people who are committed to caring for them.”
“Then you should take the job.”
He grinned, appreciating her support. He expected no less from her. “I intend to.”
She smiled then, and in her eyes he saw her pride in him. He felt a tightness in his stomach as he took her hands. “Move in with me.”
Her smile slipped. “Move in with you? Here?”
“Yes, here,” he said with a teasing smile. When she hesitated, he pushed on. “You aren’t going to return to Charlotte. Your lease is up soon. You don’t know where to go. It’s an answer to your problem, isn’t it? Move in with me.”
She looked down and shook her head slightly. “I don’t want to move in with you just because I don’t have anywhere else to go.”
“That’s not the only reason I asked,” he said. “You know that, I hope. I want you to move in with me because I love you. We might fight over how we squeeze the toothpaste tube, but we get along pretty well. It makes sense.”
She didn’t look convinced. “I don’t know. It all feels too easy.”
“Who says it has to be hard?”
She didn’t respond.
“Do you love me?”
She nodded. “Yes, you know I do.”
“I love you. That’s all we need to know. The rest”—he shrugged—“we’ll take day by day.”
She still didn’t say anything. He felt sucker-punched all of a sudden. “Heather, what’s the matter?”
She seemed to be weighing her words carefully. “It’s just . . . there’s a lot to consider.”
“Like what?”
“Well . . . it’s all happening so fast. I thought I was going home.”
“But you’re not.”
She looked out the window, her face clouded with indecision. “I want to talk to my father,” she said in a soft voice.
“Your father?”
“I don’t know if he’d understand my moving in with you.”
“Heather, you’re twenty-six years old. I don’t think he’d be shocked.”
“I don’t want to upset him.”
Bo was feeling frustrated now, blocked at every turn. “I didn’t ask your father to move in with me,” he said, trying to keep his voice calm. “I asked you.”
Heather made a tsk-ing noise of frustration and shook her head. “You don’t understand.”
“You’re right. I don’t. Explain it to me.” His voice was sharper than he’d intended.