Total pages in book: 151
Estimated words: 142976 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 715(@200wpm)___ 572(@250wpm)___ 477(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142976 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 715(@200wpm)___ 572(@250wpm)___ 477(@300wpm)
She peered out and sure enough, the gloom had abated enough for her to appreciate the truly magnificent view. Pristine white beach, azure water, the powder blue sky—still retaining some of its milkiness thanks to the lifting mist—added an ethereal watercolor quality to the vista.
“How beautiful,” she whispered quite unable to keep the reverence out of her voice.
“It’s still quite cool outside but you’re going to need sunscreen and a hat,” Cade said, his brooding gaze sweeping over her face. “You’ll burn in a nanosecond with that skin.”
True, the sun had never been her friend and Fern had had way too many broiled lobster incidents in the past to venture outside without slathering herself with SPF100 sunscreen from top to bottom.
“I’ll be ready in ten minutes,” she told him and he gave her his usual curt nod, before swiveling on his heel and striding from the room.
He was still wearing a suit and Fern idly wondered if he’d walk on the beach in that three-piece suit with his shiny cap toe black Oxfords. She smothered a laugh at that ludicrous image and pushed herself up from the chair, fighting back a wave of dizziness at the sudden movement. She’d do well to remember not to get up too fast right now. Cade was right, of course, she had to make an appointment somewhere first thing on Monday. Even if it seemed pointless to find an OBGYN in Cape Town when they’d be living in London. Still, seeing someone immediately, considering the dizziness, was the wisest course of action.
She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to keep the swell of weary panic at bay as she considered the magnitude of what lay ahead of her. Pregnancy, motherhood, the looming specter of Granger and the damage he could still conceivably do in her life.
And then marriage… to a perfect stranger. A man with whom she’d share a home and a name for the next three years.
It was all so terrifying.
“God, Fern, what have you got yourself into?”
The sheer amount of steep stone steps leading down to street level from Cade’s apartment building was daunting. Thanks to the view she’d known they were quite high up on the side of the mountain. But she hadn’t realized exactly how high until faced with these steps.
“You okay?” he asked when she paused at the top of the walkway. She glanced at him and then quickly diverted her gaze back down the steps.
No suit after all.
Instead, Cade looked gut-wrenchingly gorgeous in an open necked white and blue pinstripe shirt with the cuffs rolled up to his elbows, navy blue board shorts, and well-worn pair of gray canvas sneakers. Fern felt even more shy than usual around him and found it hard to look at him without staring. It was safer to cast covert glances his way.
“Yes… it’s just a lot more stairs than I was expecting.”
“You sure you’re up for this?”
“Definitely,” she said gamely and he tilted his head, eyes shrewd.
“These go down to street level,” he told her. “After which there are more steps leading to the beach. Going down is fine, but coming back up is a bitch.”
“Have you walked here often?”
“Not really. I’ve never been down to the beach.”
“But you live right here,” she said, unable to wrap her head around the notion of living at the beach and never going to the water. “Why’d you get an apartment here if not for the beach access?”
“The view, the location, it’s a sound investment because it’s sought after…,” he itemized with a careless shrug. “But I’m not here often and when I do stay it’s because I’m in town on business or visiting family. No time for the beach then.”
Fern thought that was a terrible shame to have the freedom to come and go as you please but not take the time to enjoy the beauty around you. Such a waste.
She kept her own counsel though, refraining from saying as much to him. It wasn’t her place to judge the way he lived his life, but now that she had these simple freedoms and pleasures, she would take full advantage of them. Starting right now.
“I don’t mind the steps,” she told him, adding the strength of her convictions and determination to her voice. “I want to see the beach.”
“Let’s go then.”
She was winded, Cade could tell. Despite her determined smile, traversing these endless fucking steps was taking a toll on her. They were halfway down the second set which led down to the beach, when he made her stop and wait while he refastened his laces for no other purpose than to give her a reason to take a breather.
Cade was beginning to fathom that the woman he’d married was stubborn as hell, so he’d been finding excuses for them to slow down, or stop just so that she would take a fucking break.