Meet Me in Myrtle Beach (Hunt Family Book 1) (5 page)

For some reason, that struck me as funny, and I busted out laughing. I was still giggling at the thought when we made our way back to the staircase that led to the back deck.

"These are fine here," Cody said, stashing the shovels and pails off near the foot of the stairs. "We could have probably just left them out on the beach, to tell you the truth. Nobody bothers us over here." He glanced at me. "But thanks for helping me bring them up."

Chapter 6

I went upstairs to shower as soon as we got back to the house. I had brought some of my own toiletries, but the bathroom was stocked with professional products that were much nicer than the ones I had with me.

I stared at myself in the mirror as I combed my wet hair. It hung past my shoulders and seemed longer when it was wet. The medium brown color appeared darker than usual, and my loose waves hung straight from the weight of the water.

My eyes were a deep shade of brown, and as I stared at them, I wondered if they were as dark as Cody's and Ryan's.

I smiled at myself in the mirror and shook my head a little to erase any thoughts I was having about Mrs. Hunt's grandkids. I had already resolved to be myself, and there I was worrying about it again. I took a deep breath and put away my comb before heading to the couch I had claimed.

My plan was to read a little bit so I could give the family a chance to catch up without having a stranger around. I was about halfway done with the love story I had started a few days before, so I nestled into the corner of the couch with the Kindle my dad got me for Christmas last year.

I absentmindedly brought a handful of damp hair to my nose as I read, loving the smell of Mrs. Hunt's shampoo. I read a few paragraphs before glancing out of the windows that lined the back wall. Then I read a few more paragraphs before it dawned on me that I was being silly for sitting inside when I had access to a beautiful balcony overlooking the ocean.

I toted my Kindle out there and settled into one of the comfortable chairs. When my little brother was young, he went through a stage where he made this one certain sound all the time. It was that "Ahhhh," breathing sound you make after you take a sip of something really refreshing. Anyway, when Seth was little, he would make that sound for anything he liked—anything that made him feel refreshed, and he'd do it three or four times in a row if he was especially fond of something. It started with him taking a sip of a drink he enjoyed but grew into a habit that he repeated for anything that made him feel good. Dad said he'd sit in a comfortable chair and go, "Ahhh, ahhh, ahhh," as he propped his feet up and crossed his arms behind his head. Or he'd get into the bathtub and go, "Ahhh, ahhh, ahhh, ahhh," as the warm water hit his body. In other words, the sound wasn't reserved for taking a sip of a refreshing beverage, Seth made it all the time. My dad thought it was really cute and funny, and ever since then, it's been sort of a family joke to make that sound if anything feels really good to us.

All this to say, I made the sound about four or five times as I sat in that chair on the balcony even though neither dad nor Seth was there to laugh and appreciate the sentiment with me.

I sat and read a few chapters of my story. The main characters were high-school sweethearts who had been torn apart right after graduation only to reconnect five years later when they'd both finished college. I was in the middle of reading a particularly sweet kissing scene that had the butterflies in my belly on high alert when I heard the sound of the sliding glass door opening from behind me.

I couldn’t turn the Kindle off fast enough. I closed the cover of the case as if I were reading some diabolical plan to wipe out all of Myrtle Beach.

"What are you doing?" Ryan asked, coming to stand by my chair and blinking up at me with her beautiful brown eyes.

"I was reading," I said smiling. I got to the edge of my chair, but didn't stand up. She was so precious staring at me that I reached out and ran my hand through her hair.

"You like my hair?" she asked.

"I love your hair," I said. "I was just thinking about different ways I could style it."

"Like for a fashion show?"

"Yep."

"You can do that if you want to."

"Can I braid it for you?"

She nodded and began crawling into my lap, but I stopped her, and stood up instead. "Let me go put my Kindle away and grab a comb and a ponytail holder."

We took a step toward the glass door, but Cody opened it before we got there. "Is she bothering you out here?" he asked.

"Not at all," I said. My senses were still on overdrive from the scene I'd just read, and the sight of Cody standing there, leaning against the doorframe had me feeling breathless. "I, uh, she's, I was, uh, gonna braid her hair if it's okay with you."

"You don't have to do that if you were busy. I was gonna bring her downstairs to help set the table. Dinner will be ready in a few minutes."

Set the table? Were there really people in the world who set a table?
I worked in a restaurant, but all we did there was wrap a fork, knife, and spoon in a cloth napkin and put one in front of each chair. My gut clinched at the thought of eating a proper meal with a proper family. I knew you were supposed to use certain utensils for certain things, but I had no idea what to use and when.

"Are you okay?" he asked, obviously noticing my dismay.

"Me?" I asked plastering on a fake smile. "Fine. I was just wondering what I should wear down there for dinner."

"What you have on is fine," Cody said gesturing to me with an expression that said he wasn't sure why I was worried about it. "It's just us, and we're having tacos."

"Why do you need to set a table for tacos?" I asked nervously.
And obviously, I was just planning on blurting out all of my fears, which was great.

He smiled, and I immediately started to backpedal. "I mean, I guess I just got a little nervous about distinguishing my salad fork from my dinner fork. I don't really come from a
salad fork
type of family. We usually just use one fork for the whole meal."

He let out a good-natured laugh. "I think there's only one fork per person down there. Dee-dee just likes to have the placemats and cloth napkins set out. She's old-school like that. To answer your question, though, we do eat tacos with our hands." He smiled. "You can sit next to me if you're nervous about it. I'm a taco professional."

"I love tacos, too!" Ryan said.

I smiled at him. I shouldn't have read that kissing scene, because now I was staring at his mouth and wondering whether or not he was a good kisser like the guy in the book. I shifted my attention to his shirt. "Do I have time to braid her hair, or do you need her help getting the table ready?"

"I think I can make it without her," he said. "I was just trying to give you some space if you needed it."

"I'm the one who asked if I could braid her hair," I said. "We'll do our girl stuff and meet you down there in a few minutes."

"Sounds fancy," he said, smiling as he turned to head downstairs.

"The fanciest," I called.

I loved nothing more than having my hands in someone's hair, and Ryan was a willing and eager customer. Her beach-blown curls went easily into a perfect double braid that looked adorable when we were finished. Being the hair enthusiast that I was, I had brought along some accessories, and Ryan had a ball choosing a few flower clips, which I attached strategically to her braids. She looked like a fairy princess when we were done.

"I'll do yours now," she said after looking at herself in the mirror and hugging me tightly. The earnest look on her face told me she meant business.

I hadn't expected her to want to return the favor. "Really? What were you planning on doing?"

"You'll see," she said.

She brushed, pinned, and gathered my hair for the next five minutes, wearing a serious expression as if she was working on a real masterpiece. I had to bite my lip to keep from smiling at her. Her eyebrows were furrowed, and she was being a very conscientious worker. She went to my bag and got a bright pink silk hibiscus flower clip to attach to the top of her creation, and then stood back and looked me over with an apprising stare.

"This looks
exactly
like a fairy princess," she said, repeating what I had told her.

"I'll bet it does," I said, standing to make my way to the mirror. "Can I look at it?"

"Uh-huh, you're gonna
love
it."

"I bet I will."

I swallowed hard as I stared wide-eyed at my reflection. On the outside, I was smiling, but on the inside, I was wondering how in the world I had agreed to let a three-year-old fix my hair for dinner with placemats and cloth napkins.

The top half of it was gathered into the messiest bun slash ponytail I'd ever seen. It was sitting right on top of my head, and the bright pink flower was attached to the top of that. I looked like a bird's nest ice cream Sunday with a big cherry on top.

"I love it!" I said, continuing to smile. I gingerly brought my hand up to it, hoping I could make some slight adjustments without her noticing. There was one lock of hair that was particularly offensive. It seemed like it belonged down and toward the right, but instead it was shooting up and to the left. I took it in my fingertips and started to smooth it down.

"Oh no, what are you doing?" she asked, watching me intently.

"I'm just making sure it's gonna stay."

"It is; don't worry." she said. She grabbed my hand and began pulling me out of the bathroom.

"Are you sure it's good?" I asked.

"Yep. We both look like a fairy princess."

She was so excited about it that I didn't have the heart to tell her I looked like something out of an 80's Hawaiian horror movie.

Apparently, I was going downstairs to greet the rest of the family in my current condition, so instead of worrying about it, I decided to make the most of it. If anything, this would help me unimpress the Hunt brothers so I could quit daydreaming about them.

Everyone accept Christy Hunt (who was in the attached kitchen cooking) was sitting in the main family room when Ryan and I rounded the corner and came into plain sight. Ryan ran into the middle of the floor and began twirling around hoping they'd notice her new hairdo.

"Oh, my goodness, your hair looks so beautiful!" Diane said as soon as she noticed. "Hold still and let me see the back."

Ryan stopped twirling long enough for everyone to take a look at the braidwork I'd done.

"That's amazing, did you do th—" Diane stopped in mid-sentence the second she noticed me. She put her hand over her mouth, but I could tell she was smiling.

"Yes, I did, and Ms. Ryan did mine. Do you like it?" I smiled as I did a twirl so everyone could inspect her handiwork, and then I bowed at the end.

Diane clapped, which made a few others clap or let out sounds of approval. I didn't see who said what, but there were at least a couple of whistles. Ryan was so excited that she ran over to me and threw herself into my arms.

"You two look amazing," Diane said.

"Come here and let Memaw see your beautiful hair, Ry" Christy called from the kitchen.

Ryan wiggled just enough that I let her go so she could run to show her grandma. I got a few lighthearted comments from everyone sitting around the living room, but I was mostly too nervous to take in any of it.

Before I knew it, we were sitting around the table enjoying dinner together, and I had forgotten all about the tangled mess that was resting on top of my head. Diane was on one side of me, and Cody was on the other. I didn't plan it that way; it just sort of happened that I sat next to him.

Evan was directly across from me, and I couldn't help compare the two brothers. Evan's hair was lighter than Cody's, but I thought it was maybe only because it was longer and had more time to get bleached out by the sun. All of them had brown eyes. Mia's were the lightest—maybe a dark hazel-ish color while the boys' were so dark that I could hardly distinguish the pupil from the iris.

The whole family was extremely easy to get to know. We sat around the table, laughing and telling stories. They asked about my dad and brother, and about what I planned on doing with my degree. I told them I'd most likely be a financial manager somewhere, but I went ahead and told them I kind of wished I'd just gone to hair school instead of college. They all said that judging by Ryan's braids, I would have been great at it.

Evan told us a story about a close call with some temperamental whalers down near Antarctica, but said he'd save the rest of his tales for later in the vacation when the others got there.

Chapter 7

Most of us went to the beach after dinner. The moon was nearly full, and it shone beautifully on the ocean's surface. Evan played tag with Ryan a little ways down the shore while the rest of us just stood out there and enjoyed the beautiful evening.

I responded when spoken to, but was mostly content to just stand there and take in the moon and it's reflection. Cody had stayed behind to talk to his dad, but I noticed Dan was now standing out there with us. I glanced around to see if I could find Cody, but didn't have any luck. Everyone was accounted for besides him, and I wondered what he was up to. As soon as the thought hit me, I reminded myself that it was none of my business.

Ryan was preoccupied with playing tag, and I figured she wouldn’t even notice if I took my hair down, so I took out the flower clip, and attached it to my shirt before letting my hair down and running a hand through it. There was a strong breeze, and I loved the feel of my hair blowing in it. I continued combing through it with my fingers while it flew in the air behind me.

"Thanks for letting her fix your hair," Christy said, noticing me take it down.

I had been closing my eyes, so I hadn't even seen her standing right next to me. I shifted to look at her when she spoke. I assumed she was in her late forties or fifties, but she looked great. She wore her dark hair in a shoulder length bob with long bangs that, at the moment, were flying back in the wind.

"I was glad to do it," I said. "She let me fix hers, too."

She shot me a knowing smile. "She's our little angel," she said.

"I don't see why," I said, with a deadpan expression. "She's not charming, or cute, or funny at all."

Christy appreciated my sarcasm and let out a laugh.

"Who's got the other great-grandchild?" I asked.

"I thought Ms. Diane said she had two."

"David's son, Andy, and his wife have a little girl. She's one. They'll be here tomorrow."

"David's the oldest, right?" I asked, trying to get everything straight.

"Yes. He and Kathy have one son who's married with a baby."

"They're not the ones who live in California, are they?"

"That's Denise. She's David and Dan's sister. She's a Ritchie now. She and Robert have two kids, Logan and Charlotte."

She looked at Diane to make sure she wasn't listening, and then turned back to me when she whispered, "They'll be here tomorrow, too."

"Oh, Ms. Diane said she wasn't sure if they'd make it," I whispered.

Christy nodded and gave me a little smirk. "They've known they were coming. Denise just likes to give her mom a hard time by keeping her guessing. They've had to miss a few of these trips, but they usually make it out."

"David and Kathy have Andy," I said, recounting the family tree as if I was taking an oral exam.

She nodded.

"You and Mr. Dan have Cody, Evan, and Mia."

She nodded again.

"And Denise went out to California where she married Robert and had Logan and…" I hesitated. "Shelley?"

"Close," she said. "Charlotte. They named her after their hometown."

"Ahh, that'll be easy to remember, now," I said.

"And, she met Robert before they went out there, but that detail doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. You have enough to keep straight."

I nodded. "What'd you say their last name was?"

"Ritchie."

"Oh, like Logan Ritchie," I said. "I guess that's pretty weird having the exact same name as a movie star. I played soccer with a boy named Michael Jackson when I was a little girl. Everyone always sang Michael Jackson songs to him, poor guy. My last name's Spears. It's bad enough having the same last name as someone famous. I can't imagine what it'd be like if my first name was Britney."

"Yeah, but Denise's Logan is the Logan Ritchie you're thinking about."

I let out a nervous giggle, not knowing exactly what she meant by that. "That must be so weird having his same exact name," I repeated, since I was totally lost.

She smiled at me and looked me right in the eye when she said, "Denise's son
is
the Logan Ritchie you're thinking about. They live out in California because of him and his career. He's been doing it since he was little."

I felt light-headed.

There is absolutely no way I was hearing her correctly. Logan Ritchie was the star of my favorite Disney channel sitcom when I was younger, and he had gone on to have an extremely successful movie career. He had been in at least five different blockbuster movies in recent years. He was an A-list celebrity. There was no way Christy Hunt was telling me that I was about to spend the next week with the same Logan Ritchie I knew—the same Logan Ritchie whose posters were all over my walls during middle school.

I stared at the moon's reflection in complete denial that I could possibly be understanding her correctly.

"Your nephew is the Logan Ritchie from
Taylor and Tig
?" I asked, reverting back to my Disney Channel days.

She laughed. "Cody, Evan, and Mia got to be extras on that a couple of times when we were out there visiting."

I was speechless. I had to clear my throat to buy some time. "He's got a new movie coming out," I said.

"I know, Denise told Dan he'll have to head back a day or two early for some press on his new premier. I think the rest of them will stay the whole week, though."

Just then, Ryan ran up to us with Evan on her tail. Giggling like crazy, she ducked behind her grandma's legs.

"You can run but you can't hide!" Evan bellowed, making Ryan squeal and run behind me.

"Excuse me," Evan said, standing right in front of me and rubbing his chin in the official manner a detective might use. "Have you seen a little girl around here? She's about yay tall with braids in her hair."

"Nope, nope, no sir, I sure haven't," I said, wiggling around to keep her hidden behind me. She continued to squirm and giggle as she peered up at her uncle.

"Hmmm," he said. "That's funny, because I could have sworn she ran behind you a few seconds ago."

"Nope. No girl here," I said. "There's definitely no girl with braids behind me right now."

"Well then you won't mind if I take a look," he said.

"I can see behind her, and there's absolutely no beautiful princess with braids and flowers in her hair," Cody said, coming to stand beside me as if we might make a wall together. He paused and bent over to glance at the space behind me where Ryan was standing. "No, there's just a bunch of blank space back here. No little girl at all."

"Uhhhh!" Evan said dramatically. He threw his hands in the air and began to stomp away as if utterly defeated. "Now I'm
never
gonna build a sandcastle!"

"Here I ammmm!" Ryan yelled, giggling as she ran toward him.

Evan scooped her up and began spinning her in the air as she shrieked with delight.

"Not too fast, Uncle Evan, she just ate," Christy called.

"And you only have time for a little sandcastle," Cody added. "She's got to go in and get her bath."

Christy crossed the few feet to the area where everyone else was standing, leaving Cody and I alone.

"Nice moon, huh?" he said.

"So pretty," I answered, not taking my eyes off it. "I can't believe how quickly it moves, either." I pointed. "It was down there when we first came out here."

"I've always loved looking at that reflection. When I was a kid I used to imagine it was a road I could walk on."

"That would be really cool," I said. "I bet there'd be a pot of gold down there."

"At least a pot of gold," he said. "Maybe a whole city of gold."

I stood there for a few long seconds, imagining what a city of gold would look like. I glanced at Cody one time, and he was staring out at the ocean. I stared at the lines to this face and the way the moonlight played off of them. Despite the fact that his lips were more full, Cody's face was more masculine than his brother's, but I thought maybe it was because he was a few years older. He was clean-shaven where Evan had a fair amount of stubble. I figured they must have been the most popular guys in high school. Everything made sense now that I knew their first cousin was
Logan Ritchie
. They had good genes, and that's all there was to it.

"There's nothing like the sound of waves crashing," he said. "Sometimes I put Ryan to bed with my mom and dad so I can come out here and sleep just to listen to it."

"You sleep all night outside?" I asked.

He turned and pointed toward the house. "We have a few hammocks below the deck. I love the white noise."

"I love white noise too, except I've never experienced the natural kind. I have an app on my phone with all sorts of options. I make this mix of ocean, thunderstorm, and box fan."

"You should try the real ocean some time."

"No way. I'd be up all night, thinking Jaws might walk right out of the ocean on his back fin and attack me on land."

He let out a laugh at the thought. "You gotta get over this Jaws thing," he said.

"I know. I never should have watched that movie."

"I'll sleep with you if it makes you feel better," he said. Our eyes met when he said it, and I could tell by his expression that he hadn't meant anything by it. "I mean, not like—what I mean is that there are three hammocks out there, and it might make you feel better if other people are with you. Me or whoever. Not necessarily me, but someone could sleep out there with you if you want to have a campout."

I smiled at him, and he smiled back. His eyes roamed over my face, and mine roamed over his. I tried to tell myself that the love of my sixth-grade life, Logan Ritchie, would be there the very next day. I also tried to tell myself that there was an available, daughter-less version of Cody down the shoreline making a sandcastle at that very moment. Neither of those things mattered. In that moment, all I could see was Cody. I looked at his broad stonemason's chest imagining myself cuddled up in a hammock next to him as we listened to the ocean.

"I should go," I said a little too breathlessly.

"Like up to the house?" he asked, not knowing what I meant exactly.

"Yeah, I have a few phone calls to make, and I should give you guys the chance to catch up."

"I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable when I said we could sleep together. I really didn't mean it like that."

I laughed. It was just the opposite. The idea of sleeping next to him gave me the deepest sense of comfort.

"No, it didn't. You didn't. I just remembered that I'd check in with my family, and I left my phone charging upstairs."

"You want me to walk you up in case Jaws is waiting for you by the stairs?" he asked.

I giggled and pushed at his shoulder. He wasn't expecting me to do it, and it sort of threw him off balance. He reached out instinctively to grab onto me, and for a second, we sort of awkwardly held onto each other while we regained our footing. I remembered holding his hand in the ocean, but it was brief and I was preoccupied with being terrified. This time it was different. His big, strong hands, wrapped around my forearms for the briefest of seconds before he let me go, but it was long enough to take my breath away.

"You're seriously gonna have to walk me up there after saying that," I said, narrowing my eyes at him.

"About Jaws waiting at the stairs?" he asked, regarding me as if I must be kidding.

I nodded.

"You're honestly scared that jaws is on land, and he's waiting for you if you go alone?" he asked, looking slightly amused.

I nodded. "Standing on his back fin," I said.

He let out another laugh, but I just put my hands on my hips and narrowed my eyes at him defiantly. "I happen to have a very good imagination, thank you very much."

"I guess so," he said, still chuckling.

"And you didn't help matters by saying he was waiting up there for me."

He stifled his smile as best he could. "I'm sorry," he said, trying to sound genuinely remorseful. He turned and tossed his head in the direction of the house. "Come on, I'll walk you up."

"You going to the house?" Mia asked, overhearing him say that.

"Yeah," I said.

"I'll go with you."

"I'll head up as well, Diane said.

"I might as well go, too, if the rest of the girls are going," Christy added. She looked at Cody. "Do you want me to bring Ryan with us so she can go ahead and get her bath?"

He thought about it for a few seconds while he stared down the shore at Ryan and Evan. "I'll give her a little while longer and bring her up with me," Cody said. He looked directly at me. "I guess I'll stay here if the girls are headed up with you," he said. He spoke in hushed tones, and I could tell he would have come with me if I had asked him to.

"Of course," I said, smiling and trying my best not to seem disappointed. "Just so I'm not alone."