hugged her things to her as if hiding them from his gaze. Fair enough, but she was making it very difficult for them to find common ground for discussion and to get to know one another. So far both family and her work were off-limits. So what did that leave them? Not a lot.
“I can respect that. Your work is sensitive, then?”
“Usually, and this is particularly so. I’m not being obstructive. It’s just the way I work. Okay?”
“Like I said, no problem. Hey, would you like to put your things away where my prying eyes can’t see them and come and join me on the patio for a nightcap?”
She hesitated. He was beginning to brace himself for a flat no, when she nodded and said she’d be right back. Galen shrugged out of his jacket and yanked the tail of his tie through his collar. Valentin had been right. This marriage thing wasn’t easy, especially when you were married to a stranger.
The other day, brushing her hair, he’d felt as though they’d reached a new level of closeness. But apparently going to work today had thrown all of that out the window and he was back to square one. He had to make this work, for Ellie. He felt a pang of guilt as he threw his things on a chair and went down the hallway toward Ellie’s bedroom.
Since her parents’ accident she’d been sleeping with a night-light and her door slightly ajar. He entered her room and settled gently on the edge of her bed. Ellie’s eyes flashed wide open in an instant.
“You’re home!” She sat bolt upright and her little arms wrapped around his neck.
His heart squeezed tight and he hugged her back. “Yeah, I’m home, so no more worrying, okay? I thought we had a deal. You’re supposed to talk to me about the things that make you feel upset.”
“I know,” she said softly as she pulled away. “It’s just hard when you’re not here.”
“I’m sorry I was gone so long today. It won’t happen again while we’re on vacation, I promise, but it will probably happen again when we’re home. But I promise you this, too. I’ll make sure you’re never alone and you can always get whoever is with you to text me at any time.”
“Even when you’re in an important meeting?”
“Even then. Nothing and no one is more important to me than you, Ellie. I’m here for you. Always.”
“Okay,” she said on a yawn.
“Now, back to sleep, young lady. Tomorrow is a new day.”
“Thanks, Galen. I love you.”
“I love you, too, kiddo.”
Galen pressed one more kiss to her forehead and then rose from the bed. She was already asleep by the time he got to the door. He looked back on her, his heart so full of love for this little girl it sometimes took his breath away. Moments like this reaffirmed he had done the right thing in marrying Peyton. Ellie had endured more upheaval than any child her age should have to bear. She deserved a family that could love and support her through life. He only hoped that Peyton’s defensiveness on Ellie’s behalf this evening showed she felt exactly the same way.
Peyton slipped back into her room, worried that she might be caught eavesdropping on the tender exchange between Galen and Ellie. She hadn’t expected it of him, and that shocked her a little.
She reached for a tissue and brushed away her tears. Theirs appeared to be a very special relationship and for some stupid reason it left her feeling as if she was very much an outsider. That had never bothered her before. She’d always been an outsider after the shame of her father’s dismissal from Horvath Corporation. Then in the new town they eventually settled in on the Oregon coast, she hadn’t fit in, either. She’d had city girl written all over her in the tight-knit community where fishing and tourism were the main industries. Even when she’d gone to Washington for college she’d been an outsider, a fact that had worked in her favor when she’d hidden her pregnancy and subsequent adoption of her baby. Being an outsider came naturally to her now. It afforded her powers of observation she wouldn’t have enjoyed otherwise. She even preferred it, she told herself as she reapplied her lipstick before returning to meet Galen for that drink.
But then why did it still have the capacity to hurt so much? Was it that her own child would be around Ellie’s age? Was it because each day she was facing all that she’d given away? Peyton slammed a lid on those thoughts before they could drive her crazy. She’d made her choice, the best one she could for her child at the time. Even in the years immediately after the adoption there was no way she could have supported a child. Things had changed now, of course. Her work had paid extremely well at times. And the payday from the exposé on Alice Horvath would be huge, too. Horvath Corporation was global, but the company itself had never been her target. Just Alice. She’d been the one to arbitrarily destroy Peyton’s father’s career and, consequently, everything about Peyton’s life that she’d held dear.
Keep focused, she told herself, sealing away her emotions behind the virtual locked door she always kept them in. She didn’t have time to dwell on the child she’d given away; she didn’t have time to dwell on the sense of living on the outside edge of everything she’d thought she’d wanted as a child. She had a job to do and she was going to do it. She straightened her shoulders and gave herself a brief nod in the mirror. She had this.
The night air out on the patio was balmy and redolent with the scent of frangipani. Peyton inhaled deeply and sighed out loud.
“Is it always this blissful here?” she asked.
“Yes. Even in the worst weather there’s a raw beauty about the place that always gets to me and soothes me deep inside. It’s my refuge when life gets too crazy.”
“I had no idea you needed one,” she commented as she lowered herself into a rattan chair and stared out at the dark purple and midnight blue sea.
“Everyone does from time to time. It’s all about having a coping mechanism.”
“Then you’re luckier than most to have this.” She flung her arm out to encapsulate the view beyond them. “I’m sorry about before,” she said, deciding to take the bull by the horns. “For implying you were derelict in your duty toward Ellie.”
“Apology accepted.”
“I was pissy because I missed you, too.”
Where the heck had that come from? Peyton swallowed hard, barely able to believe the words she’d just spoken. But she knew they were true. She hated realizing that she’d come to look forward to seeing his sunny smile. The man was addictive and she now totally understood his popularity with her sex. It didn’t mean she wanted to jump his bones, but she’d be lying to herself if she didn’t admit she found him attractive.
Okay, she was lying to herself that she didn’t want to jump his bones. If their circumstances had been different, a brief fling with Galen Horvath would have been an amusing breath of fresh air. But that wasn’t possible and she needed to keep her mind on the game.
“I’m flattered,” Galen responded with a slight duck of his head.
Was that a flush of color on his cheeks she discerned
