Her gaze softened. “You trusted me.”
“It’s not a very common phenomenon with me. I don’t trust people.”
“Because the one person you were supposed to be able to trust let you down?”
He nodded. “Yeah. Why is it stuff that happened when we were kids seems to leave such an indelible mark?”
“I don’t know. Maybe because when we’re kids, we don’t have the experience or maturity to deal with it, and we just carry it with us to deal with later.”
“Well, it sucks.”
She reached for his hand and laughed a little. “It definitely does, but we can talk about it later. Let’s make like seals and go play in the water.”
He couldn’t resist her. With each day that passed, she seemed to let her hair down a little more. And so did he, metaphorically speaking. He peeled off his T-shirt and followed her into the water, where heavy breakers sent froth over the sand. “Be careful!” he called out.
“Don’t worry!” she shouted back, turning around. “I’ve come a long way this week, but not that far.”
So she still had some fear about the water, then. He let the waves buffet him as he waded out to where she was and took her hand. “You know how to swim, though?”
She nodded. “Yeah. I just haven’t in a really long time.”
“You could float on the waves. I’ll hold your hand.”
“And you’ll pull me up if I get swamped by a wave?”
“I promise.”
She looked up at him, her hair blowing around her face. “I trust you, Eric.”
And with those words, he felt himself fall for her. All the way.
Damn.
CHAPTER TEN
MOLLY EASED HERSELF into the water and then let her feet leave the bottom so that she was floating on the waves. They were out far enough that her body rose and fell with the swell but didn’t get caught in the breakers, and Eric held her hand—he was her lifeline. She did trust him. In fact, she was pretty sure she was falling in love with him. This afternoon had sealed it. He’d seemed too in control and competent during the whole trip, but today he’d been afraid and he’d let her see it. For the first time in her life, she felt as if she were involved with an equal. Someone who knew some of her deepest vulnerabilities and didn’t judge her for them, and who offered the same in return. They’d said they were going to take things day by day, but the trip was nearing its end. Tomorrow was back to Victoria, and then a final free day in the city to sightsee as they pleased. How could she say goodbye with a smile on her face, when her heart was sure to be hurting?
She was floating on the ocean with the sexiest, strongest man she’d ever met acting as her anchor.
As she floated, she thought back to her life in Boston, and the charity event that had brought her to this place, and wondered if she could do something in the nonprofit field. Would that be more fulfilling? For starters, she could offer some services pro bono for the opioid clinic. And then look for a position where she’d truly be of use.
A sense of peace and rightness flowed over her, and she let go of Eric’s hand and flipped over so she was bobbing in the water. His face was blank with surprise, so she grinned and did something she wouldn’t have been able to imagine even two weeks ago: she ducked under the water and swam with strong strokes out into the waves. When she surfaced, she let them carry her back in, where he caught her in his arms. Instead of letting her feet touch the ground, she wrapped her legs around his waist and put her arms around his neck.
“You amaze me,” he said, leaning back to look her square in the face.
“I’ve amazed myself. And it’s because of you, Eric. I couldn’t have done any of this without you.”
The only problem was figuring out how to say goodbye, because while she’d finally had a kernel of an idea about her professional life, she couldn’t seem to figure out a way for them to work out, and the clock was ticking down.
* * *
The city of Victoria was stunning in its own right, situated on the southern tip of Vancouver Island. The tour group was ending, with one last luncheon together before everyone went their separate ways for a self-guided twenty-four hours of sightseeing. Molly and Eric sat together as the group ate a delicious lunch with a view of the harbor, and then said heartfelt goodbyes to their travel mates and guides. She could hardly believe it was all coming to an end.
After lunch, she popped into a store and bought a cheap pay-as-you-go phone. In a few days she’d be back home, and she was hoping one of her parents could pick her up from the airport. She needed to see them. Needed to be home, in the house where she’d grown up, and get her bearings before broaching the topic of her leaving the firm. She had to make her parents understand that leaving the firm didn’t mean leaving them. They hadn’t been perfect but they’d been good parents. Losing a child had left its mark, but there was no doubt in Molly’s mind that they’d loved her and had mourned Jack terribly.
She was holding on to the idea of that love carrying them through what she was sure was going to be a disappointment.
Molly and Eric had planned a late-afternoon trip to Butchart Gardens, so in the meantime she popped up to her room to freshen up and to make a call. Her first one was to Ryan, where she left a voice mail asking him about the opioid center and if he had some contacts there she could speak with. Then she called her mom, who let out a huge sigh of relief at hearing Molly’s voice and immediately agreed to meet her at the airport after her flight.