Shelley lowered the phone from her ear and looked out over the bay. She didn’t need to hear another diatribe about finding a suitable man or a life filled with snooty social gatherings and bragging about meaningless material luxuries. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, extremely thankful that she was here on the island and not anywhere near Greenwich. When she lifted the phone back up to her ear, she caught the tail end of her mother rambling about the Lavingtons. When her mother finally paused to inhale, Shelley cut her off.
“Thanks for your call,” she made herself say. “But I really have to go. I have a lot of planning to do.”
“Planning? You’re not taking my advice, then?”
The disappointment in her mother’s voice hurt, not only because she knew she had let her mother down, but because she couldn’t believe her mother still refused to accept her for who she was and support the things she wanted in her life.
Another call beeped through. Immensely glad for the interruption, Shelley said, “Hold on one sec. I need to answer this call.” She quickly clicked to the other call. “Hello?”
“Shelley? This is Cara. Good news. We were able to reach the bank and expedite your paperwork and credit check. The cottage on the dunes is yours as soon as you’d like to move in. We just need to agree on a date and sign the final lease.”
Shelley’s eyes filled with tears of joy. “Thank you. Your call couldn’t have come at a better time. Can I move in tomorrow?”
“That’s when they have a cleaning crew coming in. How about the following day?”
After they agreed to meet, Shelley switched back over to her mother’s call.
“Finally,” her mother said in a voice threaded with deep irritation. “I was beginning to think you had hung up on me.”
“No. I was just confirming the details of my rental cottage.”
“Rental cottage? Rochelle, truly, all of this nonsense has got to stop. When will you learn that you’re wasting your time? You’ve been this way your whole life, belligerent and bullheaded. Frankly, it’s an embarrassment to me and your father.”
Her mother’s words should have cut right through Shelley. But she refused to let anyone or anything ruin what had been one of the best days of her life. “If you can find a way to be happy for me one day, I’d love to hear from you again. But until then, I think it’s best if we say goodbye, Mother.”
Quinn’s arms came around her from behind a moment after she hung up the phone. She turned to him, and even though she was intent on staying strong, she buried her face in his chest.
“Shell, what happened?”
She hated that her mother still affected her this way. “My parents will never understand me. It doesn’t matter what I do, or how hard I try…” She knew she sounded petulant and angry, and that upset her even more.
“You don’t deserve to be discounted by them or anyone else. You know I’m all for family, but honestly, if they can’t adore you for the incredibly talented and giving person you are, then they don’t deserve the energy you expend on them. They’re fools. Fools that I wish I could lay into right now for ever hurting you.” His voice was full of empathy, but in his embrace she felt tethered anger.
She gazed up at him, blinking away tears. “You’re angry.”
“You bet I’m angry. It breaks my heart to see anyone hurt you this way. I’ve never met anyone like you, who could look at something and immediately see beyond the masks and facades that the rest of the world sees. Whether it’s a dusty old building or…” His gaze softened and the tension around his mouth eased. “Or a workaholic like me.”
He sealed his lips over hers and lifted her into his arms. Her legs naturally circled his waist, and her arms wrapped around his neck as he kissed her salty tears away.
“You’re perfect, Shell, just the way you are. Don’t change a damn thing about yourself.”
And then he carried her into the bedroom and loved away the pain and sadness until her heart was so full of him that she didn’t have room for anything else.
Chapter Twenty-one
WEDNESDAY MORNING, QUINN and Shelley had breakfast on the terrace of the resort. Shelley had been quiet most of the morning, and Quinn wondered if she was still upset about the things her mother had said to her.
Last night, when he’d found her trying to hold back tears on the front porch, his protective urges had barreled forward, urging him to pick up the phone and give her parents hell. All along he’d held out hope that her parents would relent in their pursuit to make Shelley into the woman they wanted her to be, but last night had wiped that wish clean. It broke his heart to know how much she’d struggled to be loved by the people who should love her most.