Sunset Sail

by Shannyn Leah

  Izzy set the tray holding her drink down on the table so she could bounce around with her fists in the air, pretending she was in a boxing rink. The people lounging in the cabanas around them didn’t bother Izzy or deter her from continuing to make a fool of herself. Izzy didn’t know the definition of embarrassment.

  “Grayson to the left, and then to the right.” Izzy threw a couple punches. “But no, the silver fox takes the lead. Bam!” She shouted, slamming a fist in her palm. “Bitch goes down.”

  Emma groaned again. “Stop it. You’re being a jerk.”

  Izzy wasn’t finished. She stood taller and held her fists in the air. “Silver fox takes the trophy and Cohen Jr. is dragged away by the instigator herself. But the question is...did he score in his cabin?”

  Emma grabbed the pillow under her head and threw it at her sister.

  Izzy caught it and smiled. “Is that a yes? Touchdown!” Izzy slammed the pillow on the ground at her feet and did a little twirl dance.

  “The only thing worse than this display of madness would be Cohen Jr. walking in on it.”

  The women all jumped, startled at the sound of Grayson’s voice.

  Emma rolled onto her stomach and using her hands, reached up to peer over the lounger.

  All six foot plus, shirtless muscle gorgeousness of Grayson stood behind her, looking amused by the entertainment.

  Izzy didn’t even flinch. “Nope, worse would be if the silver fox walked over, and even then I think he would appreciate the display.”

  “Izzy!” Abby yanked her to her lounger and they both fell back into the seat.

  “Cohen Jr. isn’t bad either,” Izzy said.

  Grayson was smiling at Emma.

  “I’m sorry,” Emma said.

  “Don’t apologize on my behalf,” Izzy said. “Grayson, you need to pick up your game next time you battle it out with your dad. Any chance of this occurring again?”

  “Not likely,” Grayson said.

  “So did you score last night?” Izzy asked. “Melissa said Emma didn’t come back to the cabin again last night.”

  Emma stood up. “Alright. Enough of this conversation.” She grabbed her towel, whipping the edge off Izzy’s leg, while walking out of the cabana and grabbing Grayson’s arm, taking him away from the madness.

  Izzy’s voice followed. “You have a week left to score.”

  Grayson chuckled. “She’s a lot of talk, but when it comes down to it, she was ready to skin me alive for breaking you.”

  Emma hated that Izzy had used that word with Grayson. Now he saw her as weak as she really was.

  “Her words, not mine,” Grayson said. “And she almost did skin Micah alive. I literally had to remove her from him.”

  Emma could envision Izzy losing it. It wouldn’t be the first time her excitement or anger got the best of her.

  “Explain this ‘silver fox’ to me,” Grayson said.

  Emma shook her head, a prohibited smile creeping onto her lips. “No.”

  “A gray-haired man I assume,” Grayson pushed.

  “Yes, that’s it. A man with gray hair.”

  “Would Izzy call him a silver fox?”

  Emma followed Grayson’s nod at a man standing by the pool. He was a little older than Grayson’s dad and a hundred pounds heavier with a protruding belly.

  Emma stifled a laugh. “Not exactly.”

  “Him?”

  Another man around the same age, but this time he was super skinny.

  She shook her head and caught his smirk.

  “But I’m guessing you already know that,” she guessed, realizing he was playing her.

  “Yes.”

  Joking, teasing and laughing with him was so easy, it was the rest that scared her.

  “Do you want a drink?” he asked, as they passed one of the bars.

  “No thanks. You?”

  He shook his head. “No. I would really like to talk to you when you’re ready.”

  “You looking to score,” she joked, not ready to talk. What could he possibly say that would ease the hurt of his distrust?

  He didn’t find her jab humorous and gripped her arm gently, but sternly, and guided her to a shaded area of privacy against the boat.

  “Scoring has nothing to do with it.”

  Emma stopped walking. “You were sleeping this morning, and I didn’t want to wake you.” She felt like she needed to give him an explanation. She reached up and touched his chin. “This looks better. Less swollen.”

  Grayson caught her hand. “Emma, I care about you. How do I fix this? I don’t know what to do here, with you, with us.”

  “What do you want to do?”

  “I want to fix us.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I thought I lost you and it felt like my whole world had ended.”

  Emma didn’t know if he was looking for the friendship they had or the more he was too scared to admit. “I need the truth, Grayson. Whether we are friends or the more you are hiding from, you have to be honest with me. You have to talk to me. I doubt overnight you are prepared to do either, and whether you’re ready to admit it or not, we’ve become more than friends. Even if nothing ever blossoms into more, the only way I can trust you is if you give me the truth. You have to be ready to open up to me. I can’t do secrets, I’m sorry. There are too many secrets in my family already and I don’t want any more.”

  Grayson squeezed her hand, rubbing his thumb against her palm. “It’s not that easy for me.”

  Emma understood. He was used to hiding behind a disguise of perfection.

  “This is my stop,” she said. “There’s a talent show I wanted to sign Izzy up for. She thinks she is quite the entertainer, so I thought I would put her to the test. I will always be your friend, whenever you’re ready,” Emma said.

  She squeezed his hand a final time and walked into the theater.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  THE THUNDERING HEADACHE from this morning still lingered. Grayson couldn’t figure out what the hell was going on in his head. He needed to talk to someone. Grayson knocked on his aunt’s cabin door.

  When she answered, she squinted her eyes, folded her arms and glared up at him. “I don’t even know where to begin,” she said, pinching her eyebrows and pursing her lips with disapproval at him. “But a bar of soap might be a start.”

  “Can I come in?”

  She narrowed her eyes. “If you weren’t so darn cute, and my only nephew, I would send you packing.”

  She turned on her heel and walked back inside the cabin. Grayson followed.

  “I’m a mess,” Grayson said, and collapsed onto the couch, propping his elbows on his knees. “I’m not thinking straight.”

  Linda sat on the chair across from him, her eyes suddenly more aware of his state, but said nothing. This would be the first time Grayson had ever come to her with a problem about his personal life. Even with Brock and Samantha, Grayson had kept it all inside.

  “Dad and Samantha messed me up. Seriously messed me up. Any chance of a relationship with another woman is out the window. I didn’t even want one until...” he paused, but couldn’t say her name. “I tried not to notice her, you know. Or the feelings her presence brought up whenever I was around her, or when I see her from across the room.”

  “Emma?”

  He nodded.

  “Do you like her?”

  What had he been telling her? “Yes.”

  “Do you always bring your ex-wife on dinner dates with prospective women?”

  Grayson closed his eyes and inhaled his frustration.

  When he opened his eyes Linda sat patiently waiting for his explanation. She wasn’t as easy to sidetrack as the rest of the family.

  “Emma and I had a falling out before dinner a couple nights ago. She told me she was falling in love with me and I told her to go find someone who would say it back.”

  Grayson expected Linda’s hand to slap him across the head but when she remained seated, waiting, and lis
tening, he continued. “She says she sees a compassionate man when she looks at me. That’s not me. That’s not who I am, but she sees that man and I can’t help wonder, can I be him? I didn’t even know I wanted a picket fence, marriage, kids, but I can see them with her. There’s a part of me that knows it will all come crashing down. Knows a man like me can’t be that happy.”

  “Grayson,” Linda finally interrupted. “Don’t let your past dictate your future. Can I ask how Samantha fits into this? And last night?”

  Grayson explained everything from stepping into that bar, to Emma’s confession, to the pictures...everything.

  “But it took a disaster dinner like last night for me to discover the truth. I didn’t even give Emma the benefit of the doubt. I didn’t trust her. How would you feel about a guy who assumed you slept with his dad after you confessed your feelings to him?”

  “It didn’t go well when you talked to her?”

  “No, it didn’t go well. I was drunk. She is really hurt and I’m an ass.” He raked his hands across his face. “After everything I’ve done, when I selfishly asked her to stay and offered her nothing, she cleaned my cut, and held the ice on until I fell asleep. She stayed. I’ve put her through hell and she stayed. Then today all she asked for was the truth and still, I offered her nothing.”

  Linda moved over beside Grayson and touched his leg. “You’re scared. I understand, more than you know, but stop being afraid of what others will do to you. Look at Emma, listen to what your heart tells you about her.”

  “I did the marriage thing with Samantha.”

  She shook her head. “You got drunk and married her in Vegas after, what? Three days of knowing each other? Samantha played you to her advantage. We both know that. Emma’s not playing you. She’s not after your money, your status, your−”

  “Dad?”

  “Leave it to a Cohen conversation to get so beyond the limits of what is proper.” Linda smiled at him. “Tell Emma the truth about what happened with Samantha. That’s what she needs to hear from you to understand why her and Brock together was your first assumption. Tell her you’re scared. Your mom would want you to talk to Emma. Your dad wasn’t always the closed off man he’s become. When your mom was alive, he didn’t hold back his feelings. But her death hurt him.”

  “You want me to feel sorry for him?”

  “I know you’re still hurt by your father’s betrayal. It hurt a lot of people, but he wasn’t thinking straight.”

  “There is no excuse for what he did.”

  “You’re right. He shouldn’t have ever been anywhere near a woman who belonged to you, but aren’t you glad he did? Would you want Samantha in your life playing those games behind your back?”

  No, but he didn’t find this face reassuring.

  “You can never hate your father as much as I know he hates himself for what he did to you. He’s watched you fall into his footsteps, never letting a woman past your exterior, and it breaks his heart. He had love with your mother. She was the love of his life. In no way will anyone ever live up to the love they shared. But to watch you throw away your chance at real love, scares him.”

  Grayson watched his aunt closely. “Dad’s been talking to you.” It wasn’t a question.

  “We’ve known each other a long time Grayson. We’ve talked. I’ve yelled. He’s walked away. It’s complicated, but it always comes back to you.”

  It’s complicated?

  “What does that mean?” Grayson asked.

  “It means he wants you to be happy.”

  Grayson shook his head, that wasn’t what he meant. “No, no, no. You and Dad?”

  She didn’t answer, which gave him his answer.

  Grayson stood up to put some distance between them, hearing her say his name with concern.

  “I’m not mad,” he said.

  He wasn’t mad at her, but his dad. Having feelings for Linda was going to do nothing but confuse her.

  He headed toward the door.

  “Grayson?”

  He turned to her. “You don’t trust him. I saw it. The look of worry, because you don’t trust him.”

  “I said it was complicated.”

  “I won’t do that to Emma. I won’t make her live a life where she’s always wondering if I will cheat on her or accuse her of cheating on me.”

  “You don’t have to live that life.”

  “It can’t be avoided. Not with my past, not with my family. If I tell her everything and start a life with her, no matter how good it is, there will always be that broken trust in the back of my head. I would be dragging her into my suspicious life, my worries, and my anger. Or worse than that, there will always be that suspicion in the back of her head. The one you’ve just shown me will never cease to exist with men like us. I won’t do that to her and Dad shouldn’t be doing it to you.”

  “Don’t you think that is my decision to make and Emma’s?”

  Grayson shook his head. “No.”

  “Son?”

  Grayson rolled his eyes at the sound of his dad’s voice and look to see him exiting the bathroom. He looked worse than Grayson. Tired, worn out. But then, he’d likely been up all night with his aunt.

  “What are you doing?” Grayson demanded. “How long has this been going on?”

  Brock found Linda’s eyes. “That’s our business, Son.”

  Grayson shook his head. He wondered briefly if it had been going on since his mother’s death, recalling his aunt mentioning she’d been dealing with other things when she wished she’d been there for him. Was Brock the other things?

  “Honesty is a great trait in this family,” Grayson said. “And, honestly, I’m sick and tired of how fake we are.”

  “Grayson,” Linda hissed.

  “You’re done hurting people,” Grayson said. “If you hurt her−”

  “Do you think I haven’t already?” Brock bellowed.

  Linda moved over to Brock’s side and took his hand.

  “I’ve hurt her like I’ve hurt you. I’m a selfish son of a bitch. Was,” he corrected. “Was selfish. I messed up with you, Son and I’m sorry. With you and Linda. But we’re are working it out.”

  He looked at Linda, squeezed her hand, and Grayson watched emotions he’d never seen from his dad move between them.

  “It’s not going to be easy, but it’s the only chance we have. If you don’t want to forgive me, that’s fine. It’s your choice, but I’m sorry.” The fight fell from his father’s face. “I’m sorry. Don’t let my mistake chase away a good woman. Don’t let Emma go because I have traumatized you. I promise, finding her and keeping her will be worth it.”

  “I might not have been thinking straight last night, but I’m not going to apologize. Throwing a punch at you was a long time coming.”

  “It’s not your fault that the first thing that would pop into your head is me sleeping with her. That’s my fault. That’s on me. But fathers aren’t supposed to be like that. Neither are the wives of other men, but unfortunately, for you, you got both.”

  Grayson shook his head. “Old man, I am not doing this.”

  Grayson turned to leave and Brock grabbed his forearm, stopping him dead in his tracks. “Grayson, we should talk about it. It’s been six years.”

  Grayson met his stare at eye level. “Ask me in six more.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  “YOU HAVE GOT to be kidding,” Izzy said, making the most appalled face Emma had ever seen. She couldn’t help but mentally pat herself on the back for a job well done. Best idea ever. “You’re kidding, right?”

  Standing in the lineup back stage, all Emma had to do was glance at the couple tuning their voices with low to high octaves, or the six-year-old girl tap dancing for her mom and dad. Emma was dead serious.

  Melissa chuckled. “Best moment of this trip right here,” she said.

  Emma’s insides were laughing hysterically but she remained calm and serious. “Oh Melissa, I signed you up too.”

  Melissa’s f
ace dropped and an ice-cold stare fell on Emma.

  Abby snorted.

  “What are you laughing about?” Izzy demanded. “This is a talent show. A talent show.” She said it with so much disgust, a few nearby adults glared at her.

  Best moment...ever.

  Abby laughed harder. “It wouldn’t be your first.”

  “High school talent shows do not count. Those are serious contests to see who is better than whom and since I am who I am, obviously I was the best.”

  “We should sing,” Abby said. “I mean my brother is a worldwide superstar. If we start off with that the people will have to love us. Just like high school.”

  “You’re actually considering this?” Izzy asked.

  Abby shrugged. “I’m not a snoot like you. I know how to have fun.”

  “I hate to interrupt,” Melissa said.

  “I’m sure you don’t,” Izzy said.

  “I’m not considering it and it would be my first time making a complete fool of myself in front of a crowd,” Melissa said.

  Izzy rolled her eyes. “Well, let’s agree to disagree because that night at the bar was rather embarrassing on your behalf.”

  Melissa sucked in a deep breath. “I’m not even interested in watching whether you two decide to actually perform or not.” Melissa glanced around and stopped at a couple dressed in white and black checkered pants with faces full of diamond matching makeup. “They should not advertise this in the brochure. I’m not even sure what we’re doing here. It’s like a pool of germs.”

  “Now you’re just being mean,” Abby said. “I mean, you were sitting in a pool of vomit that didn’t belong to you two nights ago.”

  Melissa snarled at her. “That’s disgusting.”

  “That’s what I thought,” Abby agreed. “We tried to stand you up but arguing with Drunk Melissa is like arguing with Sober Melissa, there’s no winning, just a lot more ‘I love you’ and whining.”