Ex on the Beach (15 page)

Seaglass Celebrations provided onsite child-care services for some events, so tonight while the grown-ups had gone to an exclusive seaside restaurant on the mainland, she’d volunteered to relieve the regular babysitter. She’d been playing charades with these two since the others had been picked up a little over thirty minutes ago, and Andie had to admit she was not good at the game.

“I can’t believe you couldn’t get that movie,” Max said. “Everyone knows
Brave
.”

Except her, apparently.

“I really am bad at this game, aren’t I?” She’d thought putting them on a team against her would be fair. Big mistake.

The outer door opened and Andie looked up, expecting to find the kids’ parents, but instead it was Celeste Kavanaugh, Mark’s mother. She and Wayne hadn’t arrived on the island until a few hours ago, and since they were staying at the hotel, Andie hadn’t yet had a chance to say hello.

She stood and headed toward the woman with her arms outstretched. Celeste was dressed to the nines in a tea-length pale pink dress that set off her short black hair. A gorgeous diamond bracelet circled her left wrist, and a matching necklace glittered from her neck.

“Mrs. Kavanaugh,” Andie greeted her warmly, squeezing her hands. “It’s so good to see you again.”

She’d once loved being around Mark’s mother. Had enjoyed hanging out and talking with her, helping her with her charity work. She was so much more relaxed than Andie’s own mother.

“Andie,” Mrs. Kavanaugh said. “It hasn’t been so long that you don’t remember my name, surely. Please, call me Celeste.”

Celeste held Andie’s arms out at her sides, taking her in. Then without warning, she wrapped her in a warm hug. “It’s so good to see you, dear,” Celeste whispered. “I was so sad about …” she paused, then leaned back and gave Andie a sad smile, stroking a hand down her face. “About everything. I hope you’re doing well.”

Andie nodded, refusing to let herself get teary at the memories that seeing Celeste stirred up. She’d been so ready to be a part of the Kavanaughs. “I’m doing great, Celeste. And I’m so happy to see you. I was hoping you and Wayne would be able to make it down before the wedding.”

“Oh, sweetheart …” she started, letting go of Andie and glancing around to take in the two children who sat watching them. “I had to drag that man out of the office this morning. Since he’s retiring soon, he kept insisting he couldn’t take a vacation. But it’s little Rob’s wedding — we’ve known him since he was a baby. We had to be here.” She stopped and tilted her head as she looked at Andie. “Maybe you weren’t aware Wayne’s retiring? I’m going to get that trip around the world he’s always promised me.”

Andie laughed, enjoying the moment. It was good to see Celeste again, even though Andie knew Mark calling off the wedding four years ago had probably pleased the family more than Celeste would ever admit. Andie would love to know the reason Celeste had thought they shouldn’t get married. Had it been lineage, as she’d assumed, or something else? “I had heard, actually. About the retirement. Mark told me.”

An interested expression crossed Celeste’s face. “I see. So you two are … talking?”

“Yes.” Andie nodded. Talking. And not having a hot affair. “We’ve cleared the air a bit. It was good. We needed to talk.”

Celeste patted Andie on the cheek. “That’s terrific, sweetheart. I know it couldn’t have been easy. But I want you to know, I gave him a piece of my mind for the way he ended things. That was no way to treat a lady.”

“Did you?” The conversation was moving into an area Andie preferred it didn’t go. Maybe she and Mark had moved on, but it didn’t mean she enjoyed talking about it. “Well, I do appreciate that. I suspect it turned out for the best, though.”

And the funny thing was, she really was starting to believe it had. She’d been angry for so long, she hadn’t realized that maybe they hadn’t been ready to get married. She wasn’t sure when she’d started thinking that way, but it felt right. She’d been wrapped up in work, and he’d been … she couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but she felt as if calling off the wedding might have been a relief to him. He’d started as many arguments as she had in their last few months, and it made her wonder now if he’d been looking for things to pick at. Had he been hoping for an excuse to end it?

She returned to her seat and motioned for Celeste to follow, telling herself she’d chase that train of thought later. Right now she wanted to spend time with Mark’s mother. “Tell me about this trip you’ll be taking,” she said. “When will you be heading out?”

“As soon as I can drag him off.” Celeste chuckled as she spoke. She sat and they continued talking, the two of them catching up like old friends. They soon formed a team against the kids. They still lost, though Celeste was better at charades than she was.

“I guess my grandchildren keep me more in tune with what kids know these days than I realized,” Celeste said.

Andie’s heart squeezed at the thought of the Kavanaugh clan. She’d loved spending time with them. She’d first met them all at Christmas Mass the night after she and Mark had first gotten together.

Being with them at the holidays was one thing she’d truly missed over the years. They were a close family. She liked that. But she had Aunt Ginny, and Ginger and Roni, of course. Though Roni returned home for Christmas each year, she, Aunt Ginny, Ginger, and Ginger’s mother often ended up spending the holiday together. Andie no longer went home to Kentucky for holidays, though her mother and stepfather were always invited down to Aunt Ginny’s. They just never came.

“How many grandchildren do you have now, Celeste?”

Celeste’s laughter rang out with unadulterated happiness. “Five. Jonathan has three and Ryan just had his second. They’ll all be down next weekend. I can’t wait for you to see them.”

The back of Andie’s nose suddenly burned as if she were about to cry. She’d seen her life going in such a different direction at one point. But it
would
be terrific to see everyone again. They had all done their part to make her feel welcome.

The door opened again and this time, instead of the kids’ parents, Mark stood there. Andie’s breath caught. The man knew how to wear a suit. She’d seen him in one plenty of times before, of course, but he carried himself a bit differently now than he once had. More mature, assured. Sexy.

He wore no tie tonight, but a black shirt with a deep blue suit. He looked dark and dangerous. She gave thanks for the fine work of whatever tailor he used. From his broad shoulders all the way down to his black wingtips, everything fit him to a tee.

So perfect, in fact, that she wanted to take it all off of him.

“I hope you don’t intend to treat these shoes to the same behavior as the ones the other night?” His rough baritone jerked her attention away from where it had landed, on his feet, and she couldn’t help the flush that rose.

She glanced at Celeste before looking back to Mark. “Hopefully, I won’t have cause to toss this pair in the ocean.”

“Oh.” The soft sound came from Mark’s mother as she rose from the sofa. “That’s a story I do want to hear, but I’m afraid I’ll have to beg another time.”

“Please don’t leave, Celeste.” Andie, too, stood from the sofa. She wanted to reach out and stop Celeste for fear she was about to be left alone with Mark. Because Andie already felt her resolve weakening. She just might find herself naked and horizontal if he so much as looked at her the right way. “No need to run off.”

“Yeah,” piped up Max. “Don’t leave yet. You were better than Miss Andie.”

Andie shot the child a look. “Hey,” she said. “Be careful who you’re making fun of, mister. You might have to put up with me again while you’re here.”

Anna giggled and Max merely rolled his eyes. He glanced over at Mark. “Will you play? I could use another guy in the room. It’s been only me and
girls
all night long.”

The way the kid said
girls
made it sound as if he’d been forced to play dress-up and wear pink all evening.

Celeste gave Mark a light kiss on the cheek and turned back to Andie. “I do need to go — Wayne is waiting on me. We’re taking a romantic stroll along the beach. But I hope we’ll have time to catch up more while I’m here? I wanted to drop in tonight just to say hello.”

“Absolutely.” Andie nodded. “There should be plenty of time.”

The elder Kavanaugh disappeared through the doors, and Mark was left standing there, watching Andie, and she suddenly felt underdressed in her simple summer dress.

“Will you play?” Max asked again.

Before she could point out that Mark surely had more important things to do, he’d planted himself where his mother had been sitting. “Absolutely. What are we playing?”

“Charades!” Anna squealed. “We’re beating Miss Andie a lot.”

“Is that so?” His eyes were blue and calm tonight as he sat peering up at her. It made her feel not so calm. “I’m pretty good at charades,” he said. “I hope you two are ready.”

When Andie didn’t move to sit back down, Mark patted the seat beside him. “Come on, Miss Andie. We have a game to play.”

She looked at the chair perpendicular to him, but he quickly stretched out a leg and scooted it out of the way. He then patted the spot on the sofa again.

With an ungrateful attitude and an unladylike noise, she returned to her seat. She’d very much enjoyed her evening — first dinner with the kids, then Chutes and Ladders, and now charades. Somehow she didn’t think she’d enjoy it the same way with Mark there.

But she was wrong.

Forty-five minutes later, the kids’ parents showed up — the mom clearly having had a glass of wine or three and the dad wearing the kind of smile a man wears when he’s just gotten what he wants from a woman. And Andie had to admit that she’d had a really good time with Mark. Plus, he’d managed to pull them back to within a respectable point range of Max and Anna.

“I’m sorry we’re so late,” the mother hurried to say. “We … uh … took a walk on the beach when we got back. It’s such a lovely night.”

“No problem at all,” Andie assured them. “We’ve had a wonderful evening. And that’s why we offer child care for those special occasions. So the parents can make some memories of their own.”

Andie watched the dad, who looked at his wife with so much love that Andie wanted to turn to Mark and point out that he’d never looked at her like that. But when she glanced at him, she remembered the past with clarity. He
had
looked at her like that. Many times.

He’d loved her. She’d always thought so until he hadn’t shown up for their wedding.

Maybe his not coming to the church had been as difficult for him as it had been for her? Especially if he really believed she’d been using him for his name.

When he’d accused her of that other night, she’d felt the shame of it on her face. Yes, she’d been tossing around the Kavanaugh name to her potential client, but only because she’d been desperate. If she didn’t win the contract, she was out. She’d made too many mistakes before having that deal come to the table. It had been her last chance. And having learned how much power the Kavanaugh name wielded around Boston, she’d lowered her standards and used it.

She was pretty sure simply marrying Mark would have gotten her the deal. But the wedding didn’t happen, her clients didn’t meet any Kavanaughs, and her boss had had enough. She was done. After moping around Aunt Ginny’s for a couple weeks, she’d realized she was thrilled not to have to go back to Boston. She’d hated every second of that job.

Mark rose from the sofa and spoke with the father. He was one of the groomsmen in the wedding. In fact, this was the couple whose children apparently made too much noise for bridesmaid Wendy. Andie had come to the opinion that the children couldn’t have been better behaved. Just as she’d thought, Wendy was merely high maintenance and wanted to cause trouble. There was always at least one like that in the mix.

With the family of four heading out the door, Mark turned to her and she instantly looked for something to do.

“Thanks for helping entertain them,” she hurried to say. “I’ll see you later. I’ve got to clean up the kitchen.”

She shot off in the direction of the other room, knowing she was being rude, but it was either that or risk falling under his spell again. And it had taken her too long to crawl out from under it four years ago.

But instead of taking her blatant hint, he followed her into the spotless kitchen. Where there was nothing whatsoever to clean up.

When she looked at him, he merely raised his eyebrows.

“Fine.” Her shoulders sagged, as she admitted, “I was lying. I just wanted to get away from you. Does hearing that make you feel better?”

It was nearing eleven, and the room was dimly lit by only a small light burning over the stove. The outside lights were off, too, as it was bad to leave them burning after dark. It confused hatching sea turtles, potentially leading them away from the sea instead of toward it.

“Come on,” Mark said, holding out his hand.

She tucked her hands under her arms. “I need to go to my room. I have a long day tomorrow.”

Which was another lie. Kayla would be taking the entire group on a parasailing trip, leaving Andie with the day to herself.

Mark crossed the room and untwined her arms, sliding one of his hands down to one of hers. “It’s time to talk.”

“We can talk in here.”

“No. I found the perfect spot outside. Come on.” He tugged and she took one step before pulling back.

“I can’t get caught out there kissing you again, Mark. Mr. Jordan already looked down his nose at me as if I were nothing but white trash. This is my business. I have to act businesslike.” Not to mention, she could still picture him with his arm around Wendy.

That mouth that she liked so well curled up again, and the lower half of her body turned to melted butter. “I wasn’t planning on kissing you at the moment, Andie. I just want to talk.” He tugged again, and pulled her within a couple inches of him. “But I’ll be glad to kiss if that’s what you’d prefer.”

She huffed out a breath. He could kiss Wendy. “You know you were thinking about kissing. We never have been able to be near each other without kissing.”