bombs detonating in the waters I was desperately trying to keep calm. It felt too familiar, the ease with which he tossed his money around. “Just because you’re fortunate, doesn’t mean you should be frivolous.”
“Kenna, what’s going on? This is more than your usual shade of prickly.”
“Nothing’s going on.” I started walking. “Are we going to do this or what?” I carried my board to the edge of the water, placing it carefully on the wet sand. The paddle was taller than I was.
Crosby thankfully ignored my outburst and began walking me through the basics. I’d been on a board a handful of times, but it had been years, and the refresher was more than needed. Before long, I was pushing out into the little cove just north of The Gables.
Crosby’s smooth strokes cut through the water as he kept an eye on my progress. “You’re doing great.”
“You sound surprised.”
“You’ve done this before, haven’t you?”
“A few times, but it’s been a decade at least.” I had to admit, Crosby was onto something with his obsession with the activity. It was so quiet out here. Only the wind and the birds and the water. I could get used to it.
“You ready to tell me what put a burr up your butt?”
“Excuse me?” I should’ve known Crosby wouldn’t let anything go that easily. He was too much of a nosy bastard.
“Stop pretending to be so offended at every little thing and tell me what’s really going on.”
My mouth pressed into a thin line. He always saw too much. Understood my coping mechanisms, sometimes even before I did. The mask of propriety and perfection were nothing but a shield, but it was one I desperately needed. I couldn’t give Crosby my scars, my secrets. It would give him all the power. I straightened and dipped my paddle into the water. “Have you heard from the Abbots at all?”
Crosby’s movements stilled, his paddleboard drifting as his eyes stayed focused on me. “No, have you?”
I swallowed, my throat sticking on the movement, Grant’s rage flashing in my memory. “Grant stopped by Cornerstone.”
“When?” There was a bite to the single word, ferocity. It was easy to forget that under Crosby’s easygoing surface was a beast. I’d seen it when he took down Bell’s kidnapper.
I cleared my throat, focusing on the water ahead. “Tuesday. When I finished up, he was waiting for me by my car.”
“Wait, Grant? Not Clark?”
I gave my head a little shake. “We have…” God, what was the right word to encompass what lay between Grant and me? “History.”
Crosby studied my face carefully. “What kind of history?”
A hellish one. One that barely let me out alive. “We dated when we were growing up.”
“They never said anything.”
I chuckled, but it was tinged with bitterness. “I’m sure they didn’t. The Abbots weren’t exactly happy that I was dating their son.”
Crosby dug his paddle into the smooth water, bringing his board closer to mine. “What about Harriet?”
Just the sound of her name was a painful squeeze of the heart. “She thought I was too good for him.”
“She was right.”
I looked out to the horizon, the sun hanging low in the sky. God, I missed her. Her unshakable belief in me, in my worthiness. The comfort of her presence. The Gables had been my home for so long, but it was Harriet’s presence that had made the estate so special. “They don’t want me to have The Gables.”
“It doesn’t matter what they want.”
“They’re going to fight me on it. And they always fight dirty.” I could only imagine what they would’ve put my beautiful baby girl through if she had been born. It would’ve been ugly and cruel if their actions during my pregnancy were anything to go by.
Crosby’s board bumped mine, my gaze jumping to his. “They’re not going to get The Gables. They might try to make this ugly, but they won’t win. I promise.”
I gave him a smile. But it was a sad one. He didn’t know the true ugliness of the Abbot family. I did. “So,” I said, searching for a change of topic, anything to steer us away from the ghosts of my past. “What’s on your agenda this weekend? Flinging yourself off a cliff? Running with the bulls?”
Crosby chuckled. “Actually, I have a date.”
I froze. I didn’t want to admit that the heat coursing through my belly might be jealousy. “Do you, now?”
“I do, indeed. Want to join us?”
I reared back, almost losing my balance on the paddleboard.