Page 32 of The Seascape Between Us (The Men of Saltwater Cove #4)

Chapter Twenty-Four

Daniel

“ Y ou better get a move on,” I called from the kitchen, pouring coffee into the two travel mugs I’d set on the counter. I left Grey’s coffee black and added a splash of cream to mine before snapping the lids on. “We’re going to be late.”

“I am, I am,” Grey muttered, hurrying from the bathroom to the bedroom. “Not all of us can just throw on jeans and a t-shirt and say we’re ready.”

I grinned. Grey had a video conference scheduled for his own business immediately following the hotel’s staff meeting.

With the Grand Re-opening just days away, there wasn't time for Grey to commute back and forth to Portland to manage his company. Instead, he was relying on video conferencing and Finn to stay on top of his work. I worried that the hotel and I were interfering with Grey’s real life, but he assured me he was exactly where he wanted to be.

The hotel was half his and deserved his attention.

Besides, once the Grand Re-opening was behind us, he’d focus on his other business, and I’d be running the day-to-day at the hotel just like before.

My chest tightened at the thought of him leaving, returning to his life while I went back to mine, but I pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind so I could go on avoiding them for just a little while longer.

Since we’d come back from our weekend at Grey’s place, we’d both been buried under a mountain of last-minute details getting ready to reopen the hotel, and while neither of us had been willing to say anything out loud, something had definitely shifted between us.

I’d never felt closer to Grey, or anyone else for that matter.

Our time together felt more open and intimate than before.

During the day, Grey and I worked tirelessly preparing to reopen the hotel.

In the evenings, back at the house, we couldn’t keep our hands off each other.

While the sex was hot, I liked the quiet time we spent together, too.

In the evenings, we curled up on the sofa together or lay quietly in bed.

We talked about everything and nothing. I’d forgotten how much I liked that about him, how he could make me laugh, and how much I liked the way his brain worked.

Even just stretched out on the sofa with my head resting in his lap while his fingertips traced lines through my hair while we watched TV felt warm, safe—like home.

Maybe because I was done fighting my feelings for him, pretending he was just a guy I was having sex with. Let’s face it, it had been a losing battle from the start. Hell, I don't think I'd ever stopped loving him, even all those years ago.

When Grey returned to his own life and I remained in The Square, resuming right where I’d left off when he’d reentered my life, it would wreck me. But it was always going to, and there was no stopping that at this point. I was resigned.

“Five minutes,” I called, lifting both cups and carrying them into the living room before setting Grey’s on the coffee table while I waited, half-heartedly watching the news on the television.

“I know,” Grey called back. “I’m almost ready. If we’re late, it’ll be your fault.”

“How do you figure? You pulled me into the shower with you, knowing you’d scheduled this meeting for first thing today.” We’d wanted to go over the plans for the big day with everyone and make sure they all knew what their roles would be once we reopened.

“Something I wouldn’t have done if you hadn’t looked so fuckable this morning,” he grumbled.

I grinned. “Tick-tock. They’ll give us endless shit if we’re late to our own meeting…”

My words trailed off, and my grin slipped away. My attention fixed on a huge green blob sweeping across the radar image of the coast, while my stomach dropped in one icy swoop.

Heavy rain. Hurricane-like winds. A rare storm for this time of year. The forecaster’s words fed the dread unfurling in my gut like a monster waking from hibernation. And yet, part of me wasn’t even surprised. A part of me had been expecting something like this—not a storm, but something .

Since coming back from Grey’s after our date, and with the days ticking down to our Grand Re-opening, I’d been waiting for something to go wrong, waiting for the proverbial other shoe to drop. And here it was, a storm swooping in from the sea.

Storms bringing the predicted winds, rain, and potential flooding were almost unheard of here, especially at this time of year. But with just days until we reopened. Of course, the storm of the century was headed directly for Saltwater Cove.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I muttered, staring out the front window. Outside, the sky was a bright, cloudless blue. The early morning sun cast a warm glow over the emerald lawn and mass of purple and pink flowers spilling over the edge of the gardens.

It was a gorgeous summer day, making it almost impossible to imagine that, in forty-eight hours, we'd be facing catastrophic winds, rain, and flooding.

“What’s wrong?” Grey asked.

I looked away from the window and met his concerned gaze, then gestured at the TV. “They’re calling for a storm. A big one.”

Grey moved to stand next to me, his shoulder brushing mine. “When?”

“Thursday, but possibly as early as tomorrow. There’s still a chance it might miss us,” I said.

“It might just keep going up the coast.” But even as the words left my mouth, I didn’t believe it.

That storm would hit because everything had been going too well.

I should have known better than to let my guard down, better than to trust that any of this could ever really last.

“This is going to ruin the opening,” I told him bluntly, as if he hadn’t already realized the same thing.

Grey turned away from the TV, and his gaze met mine, dark and earnest. “We don’t know that. They’re not even sure that it will hit us at this point.” Despite his words, I could hear the uncertainty in his voice. He knew I was right. “Still, we should be prepared, just in case.”

“Yeah,” I said, reaching up and dragging my fingers through my hair. Two days didn’t give us much time to prepare, especially if the storm was going to be as bad as forecasters predicted.

During the short drive to the hotel, I couldn’t shake the unease settling over me like a cold, damp blanket. Knots twisted my insides as I parked my truck beside the hotel, feeling Grey’s gaze on me.

I shut off the engine, but before I could climb out, he reached over and gripped my hand, squeezing lightly. I looked up and met his eyes.

“It’s going to be okay,” he said.

I swallowed hard. “We’ve put in so much work.”

“And we’ll do everything we can to make sure the hotel is protected. We got this.”

Despite the anxiety swirling inside me, warmth filled my chest. It felt good not having to face all this alone, to be part of an us instead of everything falling on me.

The staff meeting went well. Though we were late, no one noticed.

With some staff seeing the renovations for the first time and talk of the impending storm, everyone was too distracted to notice any shift between Grey and me.

The simmering hostility between us was gone.

Instead, we presented a united front. Gathering everyone into the restaurant, together, Grey and I explained everyone’s roles, what we needed from them and how we hoped the weekend would go.

Between the changes and the hotel being booked to capacity, the whole group buzzed with excitement, and I felt grateful for the people who'd stuck with me over the years, who loved the hotel as much as I did and were thrilled to see some life breathed into it again.

“What about the storm?” June asked, casting an uneasy glance at the tall windows and the ocean, dark blue under the cloudless sky outside.

Grey slid his hands into his pants pockets and rocked back on his heels. “For now, weather forecasters are just calling for a storm watch. It could go right past us.”

He sounded reasonable and confident, but his words did little to loosen the tension gripping me from head to toe.

Still, I strived to give off the same reassuring air.

“Grey’s right, but in the meantime, we’ll storm-proof the hotel, and you should all do the same for your homes, just in case.

Better to be overly cautious than caught off guard. ”

The meeting wrapped up, and Grey hurried to my office for his video conference while I checked the weather app on my phone. The storm had gone from a watch to a warning. We were going to get hit.

“Shit,” I murmured under my breath. I’d wanted to believe the best, that the storm would pass us by, but I’d known better.

I thought about all the people I delivered to who weren’t able to get what they needed to prepare for the storm on their own.

I would make a run into town, pick up cases of water and essentials in case we lost power, then I’d start to work on the hotel.

I shot Grey a quick text, letting him know what I would be doing without interrupting his meeting before heading out to my truck, but I stopped when I found Alistair standing outside the front doors, talking to his friend and former roommate, Grier.

I hadn’t seen much of Grier since he’d finished school and moved out of Oliver Mackenzie’s house. I’d heard through the grapevine that he and his boyfriend had taken on Harry Walter’s store in The Square and moved into the apartment above.

“Is everything okay?” I asked Alistair as I drew closer.

He nodded, but his expression looked serious. “The storm’s been upgraded to a warning.”

I sighed. “I know. I’m going to make a quick trip to the store for the people I deliver to, make sure they had enough food, water, candles, flashlights, and batteries in case we lose power. You should pick those things up for yourself.”

Alistair nodded. “I will, and maybe you can help me convince Grier that it would be safer for him and Sawyer to ride out the storm with me and Finn than staying at their place so close to the ocean.”

He made a good point. I should probably ask Brody if he and Jett wanted to stay with us. They also had an apartment over the bar, but being so close to the water could be dangerous if there was flooding. I’d check with Grey first since it was his house, but I didn’t think he’d mind.

Grier glanced at me and rolled his eyes. “We’ll be fine. Our apartment is on the second floor. Even if there’s flooding, I doubt the water would rise that high.”

“Alistair’s right,” I said. “You’d be safer up the hill, away from the coast. If there’s any kind of emergency, it’ll be hard for first responders to reach you if water levels rise.”

“See,” Alistair looked smug. “I told you.”

“I don’t know,” Grier hedged, glancing back at his building. “I just got a ton of new inventory. If something does go wrong, I won’t be there to protect it. Books don’t exactly handle water well.”

“Box up as much of your inventory as you can,” I told him. “Use plastic bins if you have them, and store it all in your apartment so if there is flooding, it’s better protected. If you don’t have plastic containers, use tarps to cover everything just in case.”

Grier nodded slowly. “Yeah, that could work.”

“Good, it’s decided,” Alistair said. “Where’s Sawyer?”

“Work,” Grier said. “He’ll be writing about the storm and updating the newspaper’s website.”

“Text him and let him know. Then pack for him, and he can head straight to our place when he’s finished.” Alistair glanced up the street to The Dunes. “I should talk to Jett.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I told him. He and Finn lived in a small blue house just down the street from Grey’s father’s house.

It was cute and cozy, but it would be tight with Finn, Alistair, Finn’s six-year-old son, Will, their cat, Spider, Will’s new dog, Milo the Fourth and Grier and Sawyer.

“Brody and Jett can stay with Grey and me.” As soon as the words left my mouth, I wished I could call them back.

If I thought Alistair looked smug when I’d told Grier Alistair was right, that was nothing compared to the wide, knowing grin stretched across his face now. “You and Grey? Like you and Grey together ?”

I shook my head and wished my face didn’t feel so hot all of a sudden. “Give it a rest. We don’t have time for this,” I snapped.

“I think you guys are good together,” Alistair said.

I sighed and turned my attention to Grier. He shrugged. “I don’t know Grey, so I don’t have an opinion. I like seeing you happy, though. You deserved it.”

My face burned hotter. “Come on. I’ll help you pack up your inventory.”

Anything to end this conversation. Yes, Grey and I were together—for now. When the hotel was open and Grey went back to Portland, whatever we were doing would come to an end. I hated to think about it, never mind discussing it with the guy who waited tables in my hotel’s restaurant and his friend.

We hurried across the street and followed the sidewalk to Grier’s shop.

The Square bustled, but not with its usual tourist traffic wandering in and out of the stores lining both sides of the street.

Instead, locals worked outside their buildings, boarding up windows and strategically placing sandbags in front of their entrances.

I should have been doing the same at the hotel—and I would, as soon as I helped Grier and Alistair and made sure anyone who couldn’t get out had everything they needed to make it through.

I still had time, after all. I glanced back at the hotel, my gaze narrowing on the dark clouds gathering at the horizon's edge.