Loving Eden

by T. A. Foster

  Grey’s eyes darted to the window. He pulled back. “Baby, we can’t do this now. It’s the middle of the day, and that asshole could come back.”

  I realized we were in the middle of fishbowl, where anyone on the outside looking in could see our every move. The supply closest was cramped enough. I planted another kiss on his lips.

  “Take me home.”

  “I’ve got to get back to the roof. We can pick this up later.” He stood, stretching his legs.

  The fire he lit in my body was screaming to rage on. I couldn’t let him waltz out of here like we didn’t need this connection. Suddenly, it felt like everything between us hinged on this moment of intimacy. “No.” I stood in front of him. “Take me home. Take me to bed. Just take me.”

  I stood on my toes and wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling his lips toward mine. I bit on his bottom lip. “I need you now. Not after work, not tonight, but right now.”

  Grey didn’t speak. He laced his fingers through mine and tugged on my arm to lead me out of the office.

  We didn’t say a single word as we climbed the stairs to our blue beach cottage, and we didn’t talk as we undressed each other in the coolness of our white bedroom. His hands lingered over my breasts and I arched forward, urging him to take me in his mouth. I moaned at the contact. I lowered myself on the bed, bringing him with me.

  The house was quiet except for the sounds coming from the beach. Our room was bathed in sunlight. Shadows cast by the ceiling fan bounced off our naked skin. If Grey was still hurt, I couldn’t feel the tension in his body or see the wounds on his face. I ran my fingers through his hair. My legs parted for him, and I bowed toward him as he pushed deep inside, slow and forcefully. As long as we could still communicate with our bodies, we would always be able to tell each other how we felt. His heart beating against my chest, his whispers in my ear, his body moving in and out of mine. It was everything I needed.

  I watched as Grey zipped his jeans and laced his boots. “Thank you.” He leaned down to kiss me on the neck.

  “Thank you?” I let the sheet fall from my chest. I wasn’t ready for him to go. I wanted to climb in his lap and spend the rest of the afternoon showing him how much I loved him, in case he still had any doubts.

  “Yeah, I needed that.” He smiled. “And I don’t mean just the sex part. I needed you too.”

  “Can’t you stay?” I nipped at his ear, distracting him with whatever tactics would keep him from putting his shirt back on.

  “Darlin’, I have to get on that roof and finish the shingles. But this was a much better ending to my morning than how it started.” He reached for the second boot. “I was an ass earlier.”

  I wasn’t going to argue with him.

  “How about we go out tonight? I don’t think I’ve taken you anywhere since you moved here.” He flashed a white smile.

  We had become regular homebodies in a short amount of time. I wasn’t complaining. I liked sunsets on the deck and dinner on the floor watching TV. It was us.

  “Sounds good. Pete’s?” I was excited to wear a dress. Grey hadn’t seen nearly enough of my cute clothes.

  “Nah, some place else. I’ll think of something and text you later.”

  “Ok.” I wrapped my arms around him a little tighter. I couldn’t let him go.

  “Baby, I have to get to work. After the roof, I have rooms at the Palm to get ready.” He peeled me away limb by limb.

  “What if I just stay here like this all day? Naked and waiting for you.” I threw the sheet on the floor.

  His laughter filled the room. “You might get cold.”

  I pouted. There was nothing cold in my body.

  “See you tonight.” He rushed out of the room before I could throw myself on him again.

  I rolled on my back and watched the fan blades spin. This is the part of life when responsibility was supposed to kick in. I got that. Grey was trying to make sure we could afford our rent. He had to keep the Palm from falling to pieces, and all I wanted to do was spend the day in bed. It wasn’t my most mature moment. I had to learn to savor the moments we did have. Like our bodies moving together in perfect unison. I sighed. He was incredible. I shook out my clothes from the pile we had made on the side of the bed.

  I needed to focus on a new snowbirds marketing campaign. Grey would be here tonight, and we would be spending it together. I giggled, hopefully naked.

  I checked my phone every ten minutes for a text from Grey. He said he would let me know about our dinner plans. It was almost five, and I still hadn’t heard from him since he ran out of the bedroom.

  I worried the enormity of the envelope Mason had dropped on him was starting to sink in. No amount of sex could cure that problem. I folded my laptop and placed it in the storage closet. I didn’t like leaving it out on the desk. I switched the AC off and locked the door behind me.

  Grey’s truck wasn’t at the house. I jogged up the stairs, and let myself in. I decided to go ahead and take a shower. It always took me three times as long to get ready. I might as well get started.

  I checked my phone again after the shower, after my makeup routine, and after I finished drying my hair. It was six o’clock now, and the alarm bells were starting to ring in my head.

  Normally, I wasn’t a worrier, but I hadn’t been able to shake this odd feeling all day. I tapped his number and waited for him to answer. The call went straight to voicemail. I was ready to hit redial repeatedly, but my phone started ringing.

  “Marin?”

  “Hey, Grey’s hurt.”

  “What?” I sat at the kitchen table. My hands started to shake.

  “He’s at the regency medical center. There was an accident when he was on the roof. Do you need me to come get you, or do you know where it is?”

  I grabbed my purse. “No, I’m on my way.” My voice cracked. “How bad is it, Marin?”

  “He’s going to be ok. I think it’s just his leg. One of my mom’s friends is a nurse there, and she called her. When they first brought him in, he was knocked out.”

  “Oh my God.” I dared the tears to form in my eyes. I had to see to be able to drive. Crying was not an option.

  “Are you sure you can drive? I can come pick you up.”

  “No, no.” I shook my head, and I cranked the ignition on my car. “I’m headed there right now. Thanks for letting me know.”

  “I’ll check on you two later. Call me if you need anything.”

  “I will.” I pulled onto the highway and pressed the accelerator fiercely. Grey was hurt and I had to get there.

  “Miss, are you next of kin?” The nurse behind the station kept repeating herself, but I wasn’t looking at her. I searched the curtains behind her for some sign of Grey. “Miss?”

  I nodded. I would lie and promise my firstborn, too, at this point.

  She typed something into the computer and double-checked her findings on a clipboard. “He’s in curtain five.” She pointed around the corner.

  I didn’t wait for the play-by-play cues. I took off in the direction of the next set of curtains.

  There was a crack in curtain five, and I peered through the slit before slipping inside the makeshift emergency room. Grey was asleep. His foot was wrapped and his leg was suspended in the air.

  I wiped a tear that had snuck its way onto my cheek. The curtained cubicle was small, but there was one chair. I pulled it as close to the side of the bed as I could and sat.

  Two hours later, Grey’s eyes fluttered open. I smiled and clutched his hand.

  “Grey?”

  They closed with zero recognition. I sighed and returned to my strained posture. There was an IV dripping something into his arm. Whatever it was, it must have been strong enough to keep him asleep for a while.

  My eyes began to burn, but I didn’t dare venture out for coffee.

  One of the nurses pulled the curtain to the side. Her name tag said Darlene.

  “How’s he doin’, honey?” She retracted a clipboard from th
e plastic bin over Grey’s head.

  “Should he be asleep this long? He hasn’t been awake since I got here.” I looked at the clock. That was now four hours.

  “It’s the morphine.” She chuckled. “He’s probably happy to be sleeping through this.” She pointed to the contraption rigged around his leg. “We just got the green light to move him to a room.”

  “He has to stay the night?” I didn’t know what was going to happen, but a full hospital stay wasn’t on my radar.

  “He needs a day with this leg, and then I think he’ll get discharged tomorrow. Don’t take my word on that.” She returned the clipboard. “Just a guess.”

  “Can I stay with him?” I didn’t want him to wake up alone, if he did wake up tonight.

  “There’s a recliner in his regular room that folds out to a small bed. It’s not comfortable, sugar, but you can stay if you want to.”

  I watched as she started unhooking cords and wrapping the IV tubes around the cart.

  “Thank you.” I didn’t know what else to say.

  A team of two other nurses appeared. They loosened the breaks on the wheels, folded the sides of the bed, and took off with Grey. I grabbed my purse and followed them.

  The hospital was a maze. I would need all the exit signs to find my way back out.

  A few minutes later, Grey was stationery again, and his bed on lockdown and plugged into all the appropriate wall sockets.

  Darlene opened the cupboard at the end of the bed and handed me a set of blankets and a pillow. “Here you go. These are for you. Don’t feel bad if you feel like you need to go home. You wouldn’t be the first to be defeated by the chair.” She smiled warmly before closing the door behind her.

  It wasn’t much, but it would make the recliner bearable. I kicked off my sandals, extended the chair, and nestled in for the night. I wasn’t going to leave Grey’s side.

  If I thought sleeping on the hard living room floor was rough, it was nothing compared to wrestling sleeping positions in a hospital recliner. I opened my eyes, remembering where I had spent the night.

  “Good morning,” Grey whispered.

  “You’re awake.” I hopped out of the chair faster than I should have. My shoulder and leg had both fallen asleep.

  “I’ve been watching you sleep. What are you doing here?”

  “I couldn’t leave you here all night by yourself. Are you ok? What happened?” I still had no idea what led to Grey being admitted.

  He motioned for the water cup on the rolling cart. I picked it up and handed it to him.

  A few seconds later, he cleared his throat. “I was coming down off the roof, and my foot slipped. I got hung up in the ladder. It twisted my knee before I finally landed on the ground. That’s the last thing I remember.”

  He examined his leg.

  “The good news is that you didn’t sustain a concussion.” Darlene had told me that much.

  “Yeah, good thing.” He reached for my hand. “Thank you for staying.”

  I moved closer to the bed. A metal side rail separated us. “I would do anything for you, Grey. What can I do now? How can I help?”

  The door opened and a doctor hurried into the room. “Good morning, Mr. Lachlan.” He didn’t look up from his charts. “How’s the pain level? We’ve cut back your pain meds.”

  Grey grimaced. “It’s bearable.”

  I could tell from the sweat on his forehead he didn’t mean a word he said.

  “Good. That’s impressive progress considering it’s been less than twenty-four hours since your accident.” The doctor scribbled something on the chart. “You’re going to have to stay off that leg for at least a week. I’ll have the nurse schedule an appointment with Brownsville Orthopedic in seven days. They’ll check you out and let you know about your rehab schedule.”

  “Rehab?” The word was out before I knew I was butting in.

  He turned to me, shoving a pen in the top pocket of his white coat. “Yes, there was a pretty severe sprain to the knee and ankle. The x-rays came back negative for a break, but the sprains are both serious enough that it may take physical therapy to get things back to normal.” He faced Grey. “I’ll sign your discharge paperwork, get a set of crutches assigned to you, and you’ll be on your way. No walking for a week though.” He wagged his finger.

  Grey nodded. I couldn’t believe he wasn’t challenging the doctor or asking for a second opinion. A week with no walking was going to kill him.

  “Easy, guys. Easy.” I held my breath as Pick and Connor maneuvered Grey through the kitchen door of the beach cottage. They had managed to carry him all the way up the stairs without so much as banging his little toe on the railing. I was impressed.

  They looked around the bare living room.

  “He’ll have to go on the bed.” I pointed to the hallway that led to our bedroom.

  A couch would have been nice, but we still hadn’t had time to look for anything. I knew that was now postponed at least another week. I couldn’t imagine dragging Grey and his crutches to a furniture store.

  Grey hadn’t said much since he had been discharged from the medical center. I thought it was partly the exhaustion of the entire experience combined with the pain meds’ side effects.

  “Call if you need anything else, you two.” Pick slung an arm around my shoulder.

  “We will. Thank you, both.” I smiled at Pick and Connor.

  “Marin said she’s bringing over some kind of casserole or something, so you don’t have to make dinner.”

  “Aww, that’s sweet of her.” It was almost time for lunch. Dinner wasn’t on my radar.

  “Holler at us, girl.” Connor walked past me and shuffled down the deck stairs.

  I walked into the bedroom where Grey was propped on a pile of pillows. His eyes half-open.

  “Can I get you anything?”

  He smiled weakly. “I think I’m just going to take a nap.”

  “Ok. I’ll let you rest.” I turned off the light and closed the door.

  Once, in college, Brett had the flu. I had dropped off chicken soup and some Nyquil. Other than that, I had zero nursing experience. I didn’t know if I was really the warm, nurturing type, but for Grey, I was going to try.

  With Grey asleep, I decided to head over to the Palm for a few hours. I crept into the room and placed his phone next to him on the bed. That way, if he woke, he could give me a call. I left a note letting him know I’d be back soon.

  I turned on the window unit and retrieved my computer from the storage closet. I wasn’t in the mood to work, but what else was there at this point? Grey was out of commission, and I needed to get some reservations booked.

  I almost jumped out of my seat when I saw a reply email from the senior living catalog. This is the break we needed. I scanned the response. It would cost five hundred dollars, but I could place an ad in a senior vacation magazine that would be distributed nationally. It was one of those publications you see at the grocery store in the stacks by the sliding doors. Five hundred was more than I had budgeted for advertising, but success didn’t come without taking risks, right?

  I picked up my phone to schedule the ad when Mason walked through the door. He had a way of sneaking in when I least expected him.

  “Good afternoon, Eden.” Today he had on a starched white shirt that brought out his tan.

  “Oh, hey.” Maybe if I ignored him he’d leave. I scribbled down the information for the ad reservation.

  “Catch you at a bad time?” He sat in front of me.

  “Actually, yes. Today’s not a good day.”

  “Something going on?” His eyes wandered to the desk.

  I debated whether to tell him about Grey’s accident. This time, I kept the cards to myself. “Look, Mason, I’m working. I have a business to run and I don’t have time for your Kardashian family drama today.”

  He chuckled. I was amazed at how calm he always seemed even when everyone around him was obviously irritated with him. “So I take it you looked
inside the envelope.”

  “I don’t want to discuss it with you. It’s not my business. You and Grey have to work that out.” I opened up a blank email and pretended to type.

  “I stopped by hoping to catch him. Where is he?”

  “Not here,” I snapped a little too quickly.

  “Come on, Eden. I’m not that bad. You can’t seriously blame me for wanting the inheritance that’s rightfully mine. This was my father’s motel.”

  “The motel you want to demolish. You really think that’s what he wanted? I’m guessing that’s why you didn’t inherit it.” I closed my eyes. “I shouldn’t have said that. I’m sorry.” I had no idea why Pops willed the Palm Palace to Grey and not Mason. I should have kept my opinions to myself.

  Mason lost the easy look in his eyes. “Did you know him? Did you know my dad?” His voice quieted.

  I shook my head. “I’ve only heard Grey’s stories. He sounded like a wonderful man. Pops died before we met.”

  “If you didn’t even know him, why are you so hell-bent on defending this place? The siding is chipping. The pool needs to be repainted. The boardwalk has cracks. There is only one ice machine. It’s a joke.” He looked at me. “It’s not worth fighting for.”

  I looked at the empty parking lot behind us. The place was a ghost town, but I had an opportunity to show Mason all the things that made me fall in love with the Palm. Grey might shoot me later when he could walk, but this could be my only chance to mend a fence before the two of them chopped it with chainsaws.