Rush

My brows perk. “It’s a girl?”

She waves her hand in front of her. “I don’t know yet, but I feel it. I think we’re having a sweet little girl.”

“She’ll be beautiful, Bella.”

“Or he will be.” She chuckles. “Barrett is convinced it’s a boy, so who knows.”

I laugh along with her. “Either way, that baby is going to be well-loved.”

“That’s what matters the most, isn’t it?”

I stop and look in her eyes. “I think it is. I think every child needs to feel loved every single day of their lives.”

Chapter 63

Case

“You’re a fool!” my grandfather yells as he approaches. His bare feet are moving at a snail’s pace through the sand.

“Good to see you too, old man.” I adjust my surfboard under my arm. “Did you catch my form out there?”

Holding the straw hat on his head in place, he nods toward the ocean. “You’re getting there, Rush. Give it time.”

I huff out a laugh. “You’ve been saying that for years.”

“I didn’t say how much time you had to give it.” He gestures toward my house. “What say we head up and grab a beer?”

I tug on the waistband of my board shorts. “It’s not even noon.”

I’m still running on New York time even though I’ve been home a week now. I thought I’d find solace on the beach and under the California sun, but all I’ve found is emptiness.

“Is that a problem?” He takes two steps in the sand. “The first one to the fridge buys the beers.”

I follow behind him. “I already paid for them.”

With a glance over his shoulder, he winks. “That’s how it should be.”

“You’re going to explain that fool comment at some point.”

Trudging up toward the side door, he gives me a look. “What’s there to explain? You ran away from your future.”

Cadby Easton has been more than a grandfather to me. He’s been my lifeline. I confided in him when I returned from Manhattan because I was carrying a burden that I couldn’t bear.

I wept as I told him about Delaney, and before I could catch my breath, I confessed that I was in love.

He’s been telling me to go back to New York every day since.

Once he’s inside the door, he tosses the straw hat toward a chair. He misses just as he does every damn time.

With a skim of his hand over his smooth head, he goes straight to my kitchen.

I stop to lean my surfboard against the house’s siding before I follow him through the open door.

I take the beer he’s offering even though I’m not in the mood for a drink.

I’m not in the mood for anything, but Emma.

“I booked you a flight to New York,” he announces with a wink.

“Cancel it.” I march across the white tile floor to land my ass on one of the stools next to the island in the kitchen.

“I’m going with you.”

That draws my gaze up to his. “You’re what?”

“You have unfinished business there,” he points out with a tip of his beer bottle toward me. “I have things I need to say to that girl.”

I don’t need him to say her name.

Delaney has been on his mind for days. She’s been on mine too, but Emma’s been the one stealing my thoughts.

I miss her.

I fucking miss her so much that I ache inside.

I shake my head. “We’re not going.”

“You listen to me, Rush.” He leans his elbow on the marble-topped island. His green eyes focus on mine. “You will never find a woman you love as much as Emma.”

I fucking know that. I don’t need a reminder.

“Do you think Apollo would have wanted this for you?” His arm does a full sweep in the air. “If your baby brother were here, he would kick your ass all the way to Manhattan. He’d tell you to be happy. He’d want you to drop to your knees and beg Emma to forgive you.”

“He’ll never get the chance to love,” I point out. “Do you know how that makes me feel inside?”

“Guilty.” He raises a hand to punctuate the word. “You feel guilty because he died, and you didn’t.”

I drop my head. “Why did he have to die?”

“Why did I get to live?” His voice quivers. “Do you think I didn’t take on some of that guilt too?”

I look up at him with tears clouding my vision. “You weren’t there.”

“I should have been.” His hand slams the top of the island. “I should have been there to hold him when he took his last breath. Your mother looked to me to take care of you both, and I failed.”

I’m on my feet and in front of him in an instant. “Fuck no, you didn’t. You took care of us. Your daughter ran for the hills, and you took on her two boys. Don’t ever doubt what that meant to Apollo and me.”