Marrying Chrissy (Brides of Clearwater Book 3) Read online

  “I can’t speak for Wyatt, but I don’t mind in the least.”

  “Awesome! I appreciate that.” She nodded toward the volleyball court. “I don’t want Gunner to get sunburned or overheated, but we had to come down for a while and catch some of the action.”

  They watched the volleyball game in silence until Wyatt’s team scored another point and cheered, giving each other high fives or fist bumps. Wyatt glanced her way, and their gazes tangled for a moment before a teammate spoke to him and pulled him back into the game.

  Chrissy’s heart lodged itself in her throat. She cleared it and turned back to Bonnie. “Would you normally be out there playing volleyball, too?”

  “Absolutely. Usually Wyatt and I are on the same team.”

  “The team captain picked him first. Apparently he’s in high demand, and I can see why. He plays well out there.” Wyatt made another block, and Chrissy clapped with the rest of the crowd.

  “If you think he’s good at volleyball, you should see him on a baseball field.” Bonnie tickled Gunner under the chin, eliciting an infectious belly laugh from the baby.

  “I take it he was quite the jock in high school.”

  “You could say that.” Bonnie flashed her another smile. “Good at sports, good at school, popular.”

  “Was it hard being several years behind him?”

  “Nah. He kinda paved the way for me.”

  Chrissy suddenly wondered if Wyatt had met Ashley back then. Were they high school sweethearts? Or had they met later in college? The question was on the tip of her tongue before she swallowed it. Their relationship was certainly not Chrissy’s concern regardless of how curious she was.

  The crowd erupted in another round of applause. Chrissy glanced up quick enough to see that Wyatt’s team had scored yet another point. The defeated look on the faces of the other team told her that they likely weren’t going to be able to come back from behind. Wyatt’s bright smile settled on her again, and Chrissy returned it without thinking twice.

  Only then did she realize Bonnie was watching them with a crooked grin on her face.

  “It’s good to see my brother happy like this. It’s been a while.”

  Chrissy had no idea what to say. Instead, when Gunner snatched one of her sandals off the blanket, Chrissy took advantage of the change in subject and helped Bonnie get it out of the boy’s grasp. “Wow, he’s got some seriously strong fingers,” she said with a chuckle.

  “No kidding. I’m constantly having to keep him from putting everything in his mouth.” Bonnie pulled his lower lip down just enough to show two white buds on his gums. “He cut these last week, and I think he has two more coming in on top.”

  Chrissy watched the two interact for several moments before Gunner started to fuss.

  Bonnie handed over the umbrella and stood with the baby in her arms. “That’s my cue. Looks like it’s time to walk around for a while before I go put this guy down for a nap. It was good to visit with you, Chrissy. By the way, nice ink.”

  Chrissy automatically put a hand on her tattoo. “Thank you.”

  “I hope we see you again later.”

  “Me, too.” Chrissy waved and watched them disappear behind some other people. She stretched her legs out in front of her and continued to watch the game.

  A half hour later, the other team admitted defeat, and Wyatt’s was declared the winner. After some celebratory pats on the back, Wyatt got a drink out of a large cooler nearby and jogged back to the beach blanket. He collapsed with a groan. “Whew! That was harder than it was last year. I’m getting out of shape.” He took a long drink of his Gatorade then swiped at his forehead with his arm.

  Chrissy kept her gaze on the crowd so she wasn’t caught staring at his bare chest. She seriously doubted the guy had ever been out of shape. Thankfully, he pulled his t-shirt back on. “Looks like you all had fun out there.”

  “It was a blast. I’m glad you and Bonnie had time to chat. I think you two would get along well.”

  “I think so, too. She’s great with Gunner.”

  Wyatt nodded and downed the rest of his drink. “Being a nanny is her dream job. I missed having her on the team, though.” He glanced around before lowering his voice. “I’m sure our parents weren’t happy that she brought Gunner with her.”

  “Oh? Why’s that?”

  “Because they think being a nanny is beneath her.” There was no missing the sarcasm in his voice.

  She hesitated, uncertain what to say. “I can’t imagine why. Their daughter is lucky enough to have her dream job, and she’s good at it. You’d think they’d be thrilled.”

  “Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way in our family.” Wyatt frowned as he twisted the lid on and off the empty Gatorade bottle. His gaze shifted to Chrissy, and the troubled look on his face faded.

  Chrissy searched for something to say that would change the subject. “I keep expecting to see your grandmother here somewhere.”

  That brought a smile to his face. “It’s hard for her to get out to the beach, although she will come down for the bonfire tonight. She’s probably playing poker back at the resort.”

  Poker? Chrissy realized she was staring in surprise when he chuckled.

  “Gran not only likes to play poker, but she and several of my great-uncles and an aunt hold quite the tournament every year. Trust me, we’ll hear about who won later.”

  She found the image of Gran playing—and winning—at a poker game amusing. “When I’m that age, I hope to be just like her.”

  “We all do.” Wyatt squinted at the sun that was climbing higher in the sky. “What do you say we go back to the resort, find something cold to drink, and cool off a little before the scavenger hunt?”

  A trickle of sweat ran down Chrissy’s back. Relaxing in the air conditioning sounded like a great idea. She nodded her agreement.

  They gathered everything together and headed toward the resort.

  Chrissy glanced at Wyatt, who kept his eyes on their destination. When he said it didn’t work that way in his family, was he only talking about Bonnie? Or was he also referring to something more personal? Did his parents disapprove of Wyatt, too?

  It seemed like the more she spent time with Wyatt, the more questions she had about him and his life.

  ~*~

  “Okay, Brody. Put the seashell in Miss Chrissy’s bag.”

  Wyatt watched as his young nephew carefully placed the shell with the other items they’d found so far. They’d gathered everything from a bottle cap to a flower, from the shell to a popsicle stick. Actually, there were four popsicle sticks in the bag: one for each of his nieces and nephew. They’d swung by and gotten some to eat while running around outside.

  It seemed like a good idea at the time. Now all of them had colorful tracks from their wrists to their elbows.

  Chrissy must have noticed the same thing. “I tried to clean them up but didn’t have a lot of success.”

  She’d jumped right in and helped him when he’d volunteered to take all four kids—aged three to seven—on the scavenger hunt. Violet was happy to not have to go running around in the heat after her twin girls, Abby and Lily, and Brody. Lucy, ever busy taking photos, appreciated his offer to take young Ruby.

  “Don’t worry about it. Lucy will see it as a great photo opportunity.” He lowered his voice and leaned closer. “And Violet doesn’t care as long as she’s not the one out here.”

  Chrissy frowned. “That’s sad.”

  “Yeah, it is.” Abby and Brody each took one of his hands, while Lily talked constantly about the seashell she’d found and why she thought they should include it in the bag as well. The poor kids ate up the attention at family functions because they didn’t get nearly enough of it at home. Violet left them with babysitters whenever possible, and her husband worked two jobs to keep their financial troubles at bay.

  Wyatt had a lot of issues with how they managed their family. But right now, he’d focus on giving them the attention they crav
ed. Thankfully, Chrissy was keeping Ruby occupied by letting her mark off the items on their scavenger hunt list. Ruby, while only five, acted more mature than her older twin cousins.

  “What are we looking for now?” Lily asked, eager to start the hunt for the next item.

  “How about some seaweed?” Chrissy tucked the clipboard under one arm and relinquished their bag of goodies to Ruby’s care.

  Brody gave a whoop as he raced for the waves. Wyatt broke into a jog to keep up with him and make sure the boy didn’t run right into the ocean. “Hold up, buddy. We all need to look for it together.”

  That didn’t stop Brody from scouring the sand at his feet. They found some kelp five minutes later, and Brody was the first to pick it up.

  Everyone took turns touching it except for Abby, who backed away from it with a disgusted look on her face.

  Chrissy knelt on the sand in front of her. “You know what? I’ve never seen seaweed up close before. It’s pretty weird looking, isn’t it?” Abby nodded. “But it doesn’t feel as weird as it looks. You can touch it with the tip of your finger just like this.” She demonstrated the movement and soon had Abby repeating it.

  Even though the disgusted look never did completely fade from his niece’s face, Wyatt was proud of her for facing her fears.

  His attention shifted to Chrissy. She was amazing with the kids. Not only did she seem to know exactly what to say to them, but they liked her, too. Especially Ruby, who didn’t move far from Chrissy’s side.

  Wyatt used to imagine having a family. Ever since the mess with Ashley, he’d been content to spend time with his nieces and nephew. He was a devoted uncle, and usually it was enough. Except for moments like this. He wondered what it would be like to go on this scavenger hunt with his family. To hear his own children laugh, watch his wife and daughter ponder over the list, and then later clean the popsicle sticky off their hands and tuck them into bed for the night.

  What about Chrissy? Did she hope for a family someday? He had a hard time believing that someone who took such delight in these kids wouldn’t want her own. Suddenly, an image of a little girl with Chrissy’s pretty hair and his eyes came to mind.

  The shock of it made him almost trip when Abby stopped right in front of him. He shoved the image away and nodded toward the clipboard. “What else do we need to collect?”

  Ruby carefully put a checkmark next to seaweed and grinned with satisfaction. “That’s the last one. We’re done!”

  The kids cheered and began to race back toward the resort, leaving Chrissy with the clipboard and bag of treasures.

  Wyatt reached for the bag as they followed the kids at a brisk pace. “Here, let me carry that.”

  His fingers went through the loops of the bag and settled next to Chrissy’s. Hers were cold from holding the seaweed earlier, and he longed to take her hand in his and warm it up. Wyatt felt her fingers shift slightly. Her steps faltered as she relinquished her hold on the bag. “Thank you.”

  Chrissy’s words were so quiet, he nearly missed them. He watched as Ruby slowed down and grabbed Chrissy’s hand again, a look of adoration in her eyes.

  He couldn’t fault the girl. The more time he spent with Chrissy Laughlin, the more he wished she wasn’t just his fake girlfriend.

  Chapter Thirteen

  By the time they finished with the scavenger hunt, ate lunch, and Chrissy went to her room to change, she was exhausted. Before she knew it, she’d fallen asleep on the bed. An hour later, she woke up feeling refreshed but shocked to see how much time had passed.

  Chrissy got to her feet and glanced at the time again. She and Wyatt hadn’t agreed to meet anywhere at any particular time, but she was pretty sure taking an hour to change clothes was longer than he’d had in mind. Hopefully he hadn’t been downstairs waiting on her.

  Of course he hadn’t. He was here with all of the extended family members he only saw once a year. Chances were, he’d had plenty of people to talk to and things to do.

  It was silly to think he was sitting down there counting the minutes until her return.

  Rolling her eyes at herself, Chrissy quickly changed into a one-piece bathing suit. She chose her favorite sundress—pastel green with yellow sunflowers all over it—and slipped it on over her suit. Next, she added a towel and a book to her bag where the sunscreen and sunhat were already tucked away.

  Spending some time at the beach this afternoon sounded heavenly. She had no intention of actually going swimming in the ocean, so the sundress would be perfect. But having the swimsuit on underneath meant she was prepared for anything.

  Satisfied that she was ready, she made her way downstairs. There was no sign of Wyatt anywhere in the hallway, and she was just wondering if she’d missed him when she spotted him near the large windows at the back of the main room. He was talking to Gran, who waved Chrissy over.

  “My dear, I’m so glad you decided to come.” Gran gave Chrissy a gentle hug. “I hope you’ve been enjoying yourself. The only thing that might make this resort better would be to have an open buffet available all day long.” She winked.

  A buffet would be awesome, but Chrissy could understand why the resort might not to have that available for the family when it was a much smaller number of people than they would normally entertain. She imagined a lot of food would go to waste. “It’s lovely here, thank you. I hope I didn’t keep you waiting, Wyatt. I somehow managed to fall asleep.”

  Gran patted her hand. “Good for you, honey. The sooner you realize a good nap is your friend, the better off you’ll be. Besides, you’re on vacation. Squeezing in a nap or two should be part of the deal.”

  She took in Gran’s loose pants, flowery blouse, and tennis shoes. “I hear you enjoy playing a game of poker or two while you’re here.”

  Gran laughed and put a hand to her chest. “Oh, my. Yes, I dare say I do. In fact, I should probably get back in there.” She shifted her attention to Wyatt. “Your Uncle Charlie is determined to win his money back.” She chuckled again and patted her gray hair to make sure it was still in place. “You take your girl down to the beach and enjoy. I’ll see you both tonight.” She blew them a kiss and made her departure.

  Chrissy waved. So Gran played poker for money. Suddenly the image of her sitting around a table playing cards and talking about food and quilting disappeared. In its place, she imagined Gran betting hundreds of dollars, cracking walnuts, and possessing the best poker face she’d ever seen. The thought had Chrissy smiling when she turned back to find Wyatt watching her.

  There was a flash of appreciation in his eyes. “You look beautiful, Chrissy.”

  She smoothed the skirt and willed the warmth to stay out of her cheeks. “Oh! Thank you.” She took in his navy swimsuit trunks and light blue shirt. She was pretty sure the guy could look handsome in absolutely anything.

  He cleared his throat, and she shifted her gaze from him to the small worn spots on the toes of her sandals.

  “Are you ready to head down to the beach?”

  Grateful for something else to focus on, Chrissy nodded. Only then did she notice he had a small cooler slung over one shoulder and something else in a long bag over the other. They grabbed another oversized beach blanket on their way across the deck and followed the path down to the sand.

  Once on the beach, they spread the blanket out, and then Wyatt unzipped the bag he’d been carrying. Within minutes, he had a canopy set up that resembled a giant umbrella. He put stakes in at each corner to keep the breeze from blowing it over.

  “That is genius.” Chrissy set her bag in one of the corners. “I’ve never seen something like this before.”

  “I figured a little shade would be nice after being out in the sun all morning.” He put the cooler on the other side of the blanket to help hold it down. “I’ve got water and lemonade in here, too, if we get thirsty.”

  “What time is dinner again?”

  Wyatt glanced at his watch. “At six. Why is that?”

  “I have every inten
tion of staying out here for as long as possible. If I’m late to dinner, you’ll know where to find me.” She closed her eyes and took in the sound of the waves crashing against the sand, the laughter of children as they splashed in the water, and the ever-present calls of the sea gulls.

  Yes, she could easily picture herself with a beach house where she went to vacation and maybe even lived during the off-seasons when there weren’t so many tourists. The only thing that would make this better was if Mom and Emma could be there to experience it with her.

  One day, they’d take a trip down here together. They might not stay at a fancy resort like this, but then where they slept wasn’t all that important. It was all about the ocean and the experience.

  “Penny for your thoughts.”

  Wyatt’s voice brought Chrissy back to the present. “I was thinking about my family.”

  “Do you regret coming?”

  “No, I don’t. I was just realizing how much they’d like it here, though.” She sat cross-legged on the blanket, and Wyatt joined her. “And maybe feeling a little guilty because I haven’t worried about Emma as much as I thought I would.” She pulled her phone out of the front pocket of her bag. “Not that I haven’t checked my messages just in case.”

  He chuckled. “There’s nothing wrong with that.” He paused. “Maybe it’s because you know your mom and sister are fine looking after each other.”

  “Maybe.” Chrissy sighed. “It’s always been the three of us. Is it weird that this doesn’t feel normal?”

  “Weird? No. I think it’s amazing that you are all that close and that you’re there for each other. But I also think it’s okay for you to do something on your own. Something for you.” He looked uncertain, as though he were afraid he might have offended her.

  She nodded slowly. “I know you’re right. I guess I’m always waiting. Waiting for Emma to feel better. Waiting for her medications to work. Waiting for her surgery. She was sick a lot, even when we were kids. There were a lot of things she couldn’t do, and I didn’t want her to feel bad or left out.” A fly landed on her leg, and she shooed it away. “Now I’m waiting for her to feel better and see if she’ll adjust to losing her dream job, meanwhile hoping that this change will mean she’ll be healthier in the long run.”