From This Moment On: Heartwarming Contemporary Romance (Windswept Bay Book 1) by Debra Clopton Read Free Book Online

repeat. I came strictly to show you the island so you can be inspired. Just like you requested.”
    He put a fork into the melon in his bowl and berated himself for being so insensitive. “I apologize for pushing. I wasn’t thinking. I take it your divorce was a rough one?”
    She didn’t say anything for a moment and he wanted to kick himself for his thoughtlessness.
    “It’s none of your business, but yes. It was rough.” She pulled a grape from the bowl and placed it in her mouth. She chewed slowly while she studied the waterfall, lost in thought.
    “Have you ever been married?” she asked at last.
    “No. I’m thirty-two and have never even been tempted to marry. I’m not sure if that says something bad about me.”
    “I think being able to wait until you find the right person is great. But in reality, who actually knows, until the deed is done, if it’s going to work out.”
    “That’s pretty cynical.” He shouldn’t have been surprised after what she’d obviously been through.
    “Absolutely. And I really hate it, but that’s all I can feel right now and it goes against my normal nature. Being lost inside yourself is a bad thing,” she finished softly.
    He knew this was something she didn’t share with many people. He could tell by the way she said it. He reached across and laid his hand over hers. “You just need time.”
    She released a ragged breath and didn’t make a move to pull away. “Maybe. If I focus on the resort, it helps me step outside my problems and it’s better. I came home because I needed to have some new direction to my life. This resort means the world to me in so many ways.”
    He could look at her all day. Get lost in the emotions of her eyes and the silken sound of her voice. But mostly he could get lost in helping her find her way back to the woman he knew she so desperately was searching for. Her confession helped him see that but then he felt it too. Maybe it was because he could relate. He hadn’t been the same since the crash and didn’t think he ever would be. A part of him wanted to be the man he’d once been—but then, a part of him couldn’t cross that line. Couldn’t let go of what had happened. Of what had been lost.
    But this wasn’t about him. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze; he’d give her what he could give. “Not the same thing, but I don’t know if you know that I recently lived through a plane crash?”
    “I did know that. And I wanted to tell you that I was sorry for the loss of your friends. I just didn’t want to bring it up because I know it has to be hard for you. What a horrible tragedy it was. And awful to live through.”
    “Thank you. They were good men who didn’t deserve to die. Their loss and the crash…changed me. I can’t imagine that I’ll ever get back to the person I was before, but, like you, I’m trying to find my footing in the new reality. It’s not easy. Coming here is my first step toward moving on.” Reluctantly, he released his hold on her. “You’re going to come out of this stronger and even more dynamic than the woman I’ve already come to know. You inspire me.”
    “Thank you, but…” She halted, as if to pull herself back. A curtain seemed to fall over her gaze. “I brought you here so you’d be inspired by the falls.”
    He forced himself not to cup her cheek because it was so obvious that she was fighting to stay distant. “Believe me, I’ve been inspired more than you realize.”
    “Fine, but I need a painting and the last thing I want is a painting of me.”
    He laughed hard at the sternness of her tone. “Relax, you’ll get your paintings.”
    The laughter felt good.
     
    Cali plopped another grape into her mouth and chewed; it was the best way she could hide the smile that she wanted to allow herself. It was a defensive move. Grant had gotten to her and she couldn’t let him know how much. He seemed to understand her in ways that she was not going to analyze right now. “So, tell me