Crain's Landing (15 page)

I was startled abruptly awake to the sound of a loud motor being cranked. The sun was bright, blinding me and sending my face into the pillow case for refuge. I hadn’t gotten much sleep last night, waking up three different times only to relieve the tension my dreams had created. Grant and his cavalier attitude, smooth voice and, God help me, appealing smell had me wound tighter than a drum. Now, one of my neighbors was mowing his lawn, ending any plans I had for sleeping in or revisiting my toy collection. I walked into Peyton’s room to find her still sleeping in spite of the loud lawnmower. I trekked my way to my kitchen, desperately needing a hot cup of coffee, when I noticed movement in my backyard. I crossed the room, trying to peer out the window and not get caught, only to find none other than Grant Crain, pushing a lawnmower, cutting my grass. His hair was tucked under a gray bandana, his Gamecock tank shirt showing his muscular pecs and was cut low enough to show the sides of his ribs. His khaki shorts were covered at the hip by his shirt, the tell-tale white earphone cords draping from each ear.

This was ridiculous, it’s one thing to involve the entire town in the pursuit of landing a dinner date with me, but this was an entirely new level of evil. Sleep was a treasured commodity around here with a young child under foot. I threw the back door open and stomped out onto the back deck, waving my hands frantically in the air to get his attention. When I’d signed the lease, I’d been happy to read that lawn service was included. The gentleman who normally mowed my lawn once a week had introduced himself and said he would be here every Saturday. He had always shown up in the afternoon, which worked for me since I would see him as I returned from whatever errands I had to complete.

Grant finally looked my way and a huge smile broke out on his face. He released the handle and the loud mower shut off with a huff. “Good morning, Ms. Reid. You’re looking exceptionally delightful this morning.” His face was wet with sweat and it had started to collect in the center of his chest. The slightly darker shade of gray caught my attention and I briefly wondered if he sweated that hard when he did other things.

“Ignoring the obvious, what are you doing here?” I stood there half-awake with my hands on my hips in all my barefoot glory. There was no telling what kind of mess my hair was in at this very moment. Perhaps if I looked bad enough, he would reconsider this plan of his.

Grant pulled the bottom of his shirt up and wiped the sweat running down his face and neck. In doing so, I was given a full view of his perfectly sculpted abs, complete with happy trail that I had been thinking far too much about in the past eight hours. My mental picture of a half-naked Grant didn’t even land in the same time zone as what the reality revealed.

“Well, the gentleman who regularly cuts the grass for our family is currently on his way to Charleston with his wife who had their baby about five hours ago. She was a little early and we aren’t equipped to handle that type of situation. My dad is handling the baby and I’m making certain his work gets done.”

I couldn’t respond. I tried several times to say something, but the words simply wouldn’t come. Thankfully, I had left the back door open and I could now hear Peyton babbling from her crib so I excused myself and went to get her.

I should have kept my eyes focused on picking up my daughter and not chanced a look in the mirror, evaluating how terrible I looked. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, they did. I noticed that my sleep shirt was so thin you could see right through it and my nipples were prominently on display, standing at full attention. It was also obvious that my pajama pants were still lying in a heap at the end of my bed, since I had marched outside in my lacy bikini underwear, which were just as thin and see through as my shirt. I wanted to hide in a hole somewhere. Maybe Grant wasn’t as interested in me as he led me to believe. After all, he didn’t trip over his own tongue when he noticed me. Surely, now he would end this charade.

I waited until I heard Grant drive away before I made any moves to look outside. The last thing I needed was for him to see me looking at him, giving him any encouragement or false hope in my regard for him. However, the memory of him pulling his shirt up as he wiped at his sweat, caused me to need yet another round of self-love in the shower. I would need to add an economy-sized package of batteries to my shopping list at this rate.

“Dad, I want you to understand I have no interest in dating anyone, not only Dr. Crain.” My dad and Peggy had arrived for dinner that evening. Dad was barely inside the door when he began his interrogation as to why I was still “playing hard to get” as he termed it.

“Baby girl, you have to understand that not every man is out to hurt you.” This wasn’t the first time I had heard this story from him. I knew my father only wanted the best for me, but so did I. I was happy my father had found someone he could trust in Peggy. Hell, I liked him better now that he was with her. He was a different person than when he and my mother were together.

“There is something you should know.” I felt bold as I shared with my dad what I had overheard at the diner. He shook his head as he listened to me tell my story, how it didn't bother me for Grant to only be acting this way because of the lack of quality female population here.

“Natalie, I'll admit, we have our fair share of busy bodies in this town. So obsessed with the goings on around them, they forget what is happening in their own backyards. They crave the latest crisis in other lives, to dull the pain in their own.” He leaned in closer to me and placed his hands on both sides of my face, his touch still as comforting as it was when I was little. “Mrs. Nelson told me about that conversation the same night it happened. I’ve waited to see if it upset you before I had a talk with them.” His eyes flicked between mine, trying to see if I was telling the truth about how little it bothered me.

“Listen to me, sweetheart. Plenty of people in this town have a closet full of secrets. Grant Crain isn’t one of them. He is honest, dependable, and has been brought up with good moral character. If I thought, for even a moment, he had less than honorable intentions for you, I would have never given my consent for him to see you socially.”

I pulled my face away, my emotions brewing in a negative way. For years I have taken care of myself, never asking for anyone's help and now that I move to be closer to him, he takes it upon himself to dictate who I will allow into my life.

“Natalie, sometimes we look at people in a certain way because of the opinions of others. I know Holden has you angry at men in general. I know where you're coming from—it’s completely understandable. After your mother betrayed me, I wanted to hide away from the world, stay away from anyone who wanted to befriend me.” His eyes sparkled as he glanced at Peyton playing with Peggy.

“Then one day, Peggy came knocking at my door, letting me know I had accidently left my headlights on. She was worried I would have a dead battery. It was a few days later, when I was heading out to a meeting that I noticed her walking into the grocery store. She waved but continued on. Peggy never approached me like so many of the other women in town had. She always said hello and stopped whatever she was doing, but never in the same way others did.”

Peyton let out a laugh, causing both of us to turn our heads back to her. Peggy was teaching her to play a hand game, much like patty cake.

“You see, Natalie, Peggy gave me what I needed at the time, space and friendship.” I started to interrupt, to explain that what I needed right now was to be left alone. “I know you think that’s what you need, however, you have had years of being left alone. You need to be perused and shown the treasure of being with a good and decent man.” Dad had always been straight and upfront with me; not always telling me what I wanted to hear, but what I needed at the time.

“Early last spring, I noticed, out of the blue, that I hadn’t seen much of her. I asked my secretary if she had heard anything. Ms. Barnes took me aside and told me of the horrible accident Peggy’s husband had been in only a year prior, when he was killed instantly. I soon found myself standing on her front porch, knocking on her door. Something told me she needed a friend and when she opened the door, I felt my heart drop out of my chest and into her hands. I took her to dinner that night and we spent several hours just sharing events in our lives. I took her back home, walked her to the door, bid her goodnight, and then sat outside in my car until I saw her light go off.”

I listened to him tell this seriously sweet story and watched the expression change on his face, the look he would have as he glanced in Peggy’s direction. I could feel the love he had for this woman filling the air around us.

“The ladies in the town continued to parade their friends and daughters around me, but there was just something about Peggy I couldn’t get enough of.” This time when he glanced in her direction, she caught his gaze, returned his smile and blew him a kiss. Completely out of character for him, as my parents never shared this level of intimacy.

“Last fall I invited her to the Founders Day celebration and as we stood on the dance floor, with the music playing and the lights twinkling above our heads, I realized I didn’t want to spend anymore time being her friend. I closed my eyes and told her I loved her.” Their eye contact never broke as he shared their magic moment.

Something began to stir inside me, churning, flipping and then sizzling. I would never admit it, not even to myself, but I knew it was jealousy I was feeling. “Maybe you’re right, Dad, but for now, I’m happy with the way my life is. I just don’t have time for a man right now.”

After Peggy begged me to let her read Peyton a story, my father and I once again sat on the back patio and drank several beers. I enjoyed this time with him and thanked God for Peggy and her understanding ways.

“Natalie, I just worry that you’re going to shut yourself off to someone who’d be good, not only for you, but for little Peyton, too.” This was the second time I had to hear the same advice, first with Grant and now my dad.

“Is that why you gave him the green light to date me?”

Dad took a long pull from his beer; taking several minutes before he finally answered me.

“Listen, in my day it was expected for a young man to ask permission of a young lady’s father to date his daughter. Call it old-fashioned thinking, if you want, but Grant is a good man. The whole time I’ve known him, he’s always been a stand-up guy. He isn’t a skirt chaser like some of the other so called ‘respected’ men in town. Give him a chance, Natalie.”

I allowed my agitation to dissipate and while Dad grabbed more beer, I tried to see his side of this situation.

“Natalie, one last thing and this is all I'm going to say about this, because you are a grown woman and can make your own decisions.” I turned to find him standing against the railing, the same position, where only hours ago, I stood in my nearly naked form as Grant mowed the lawn. “Love isn’t planned and it isn’t perfect. But when its right, it the most amazing feeling in the world.”

That night as I lay in my bed, I let my father’s words roll around in my head. Clearly, I had assumed things about Grant that weren’t necessarily true. It didn’t change the fact I wasn’t ready to open my heart, to any man. Deep inside, I still believed most men were worthless. Yet, seeing my father so completely and utterly happy, allowed a slight crack in the armor I had worked so hard to build.

Sunday morning came with Kaylin knocking at my door. She had just returned from church and wanted me to sample some of the treats that would be served to the children during reading hour. My kitchen counter looked so inviting with several trays of brownies, sugar cookies and different dessert bars. I had to confess, I was a little jealous I wasn’t going to be eating a snack every week. Those ladies could really cook.

Austin called me later in the afternoon and asked if he could stop by my house to show me the cost breakdown of the yoga classes. I told him he could simply bring them in on Monday, but he said he wanted me to meet his boyfriend. Due to the fact he worked during the week, this was his only opportunity. Austin was such a sweetheart; he even brought cheesecake and a bottle of good wine. From the moment he stepped through the door, his flamboyance shined.