Sunkissed (4 page)

Natalie gasped as she lurched toward him, almost ripping the photograph from his hand. “That’s them. That’s my grandma. I can’t believe it,” she said breathlessly.

Grant couldn’t believe it either. Here was evidence. Evidence that there had been a connection between their grandparents. A stronger one than he had expected.

They smiled into the camera, arms wrapped around each other
in a way that left no doubt that they had been involved.

His thumb brushed over the blonde hair in his hand. Why had he never heard of this woman? Adele. If his grandpa had saved these tokens, she had to have meant something to him.

What did this mean?

It was only by chance that Grant looked into the empty
chest and saw something flicker in a corner.

Reaching inside the box, he moved slowly as if his brain couldn’t do anything more than comprehend what he was seeing.

The metal was cool to the touch, and when he pulled the antique diamond ring into the light, it glimmered, reflecting sparks of fire onto the walls.

Natalie looked from the ring to his face and back. “Does that mean...” She stuttered, trying to pull her thoughts together. “Were they engaged?”

“I don’t know.” His voice was quiet in the still room.

“But…” Natalie waved her hands around. “She never mentioned it. How could she not have told me?”

He cursed. Raking a hand through his hair, thoughts crashed in his mind.

It should have been simple. The answer was supposed to pacify her enough to have her pack up and leave. But this opened up more questions, and left even more unanswered.

The mystery wrapped around him, binding his lungs until he couldn’t breathe.

If the ring meant what he thought it might, that his grandpa had been in love, or perhaps even engaged to Adele Cunningham, he needed to know.

Seeing the dazed look on Natalie’s face, he knew she was thinking the same thing. And they would find out together.

A thrill shot through his system.

Closed in the dark room, her body encased in shadows, he felt a craving for her roar through him, a need blazing hotter than he had experienced in a long time. Knowing he would be near her, working closely with her, his body went into overdrive.

His attraction had slammed into him the moment he had seen her, but it had been easy enough to ignore. He’d thought she would only be in his life for a short afternoon.

But looking at the ring and the photo, he knew that he’d be spending a lot more time with her.

There was no reason he couldn’t get to know her. And if it led to something more, what was the problem with that?

It didn’t bother him that his grandfather might have been involved with her grandmother. Nothing had come of it. Life had moved on.

But maybe something could come of the time he spent with Natalie.

She intrigued him. Her artsy style, paired with an agile mind, was refreshing. And he wouldn’t even get started on her sexy-as-hell glasses. But he wanted to see them on her again.

“Well, I guess this answered one thing. They definitely met during the war. Unfortunately, it opens up a ton of other questions,” he finally said.

She shook her head. “I just… never expected to find something like this. I wish she were here. There’s so much I want to ask her.”

“I know.” His voice was soft with understanding. “Listen, this is a lot to take in. Why don’t we head downstairs and get something to eat? It might help clear our minds before we figure out what we want to do next.”

Taking a deep breath, she released it in a quick puff. “All right. I think that might be best. My thoughts are on a merry-go-round right now.”

Deciding on pizza, he had her order whatever she wanted. “Speed dial two,” he said.

Although she was conflicted about what they had learned, the thought of him having the pizza place on speed dial amused her. “You are such a bachelor. It’s almost comical how stereotypical that is.”

“What can I say? If I don’t feel like cooking, something hot and steamy delivered right to my door wins.”

She snorted. “Men.”

He was going to retort but she began to speak into the phone, ordering, he thought with a cringe, Hawaiian pizza. No fruit should ever defile a pizza. It was sacrilegious.

“Should be here in twenty,” she said after hanging up.

When the pizza arrived, they opened the box with relish, both diving into the melty creation.

“How are you holding up?” he asked her before biting into his second piece.

She shrugged. “All right, I guess. I’m just so confused. My grandmother married someone else after the war. My grandfather died less than a year after they were married and my grandmother never remarried. I don’t even remember seeing her with anyone else.” She reached for her drink, taking a sip before continuing, “I always thought that she loved him too much to move on. But now I’m not so sure. She kept Edward’s picture all these years. That means something. What if she never moved on from him?”

“If that were the case, why would she have married someone else?”

“I don’t know. Maybe Edward didn’t want to marry her.”

“The ring would suggest otherwise.”

“We don’t know for sure.” He sent her a pointed glance.
“All right. It would seem that way.” They were quiet, both lost in their thoughts. “Maybe he never asked her,” she finally said.

“That would make sense why the ring was still there. But if he’d changed his mind about her, why would he have kept the picture and lock of hair? Locked away like that, they were obviously important to him.”

She shook her head in wonder. “I guess the only thing I can do at this point is go through her journals. She had to have written something about him, about their relationship or why it ended.”

“I can go through more of my grandpa’s things. Try to find his journal. There might be something there.”

“It’s weird, isn’t it?” She pushed away her plate.

“What is?”

She leaned an elbow on the table. “That they were involved somehow. That if circumstances had been different, we’d be cousins.”

Seeing her this way, sated from food, relaxed, her eyes glazed over with the past, he felt even more drawn to her. “Neither you or I would exist.”

“True.” She grinned. “Can I take that for you?” She reached for his plate and stacked it with her own before taking it to the sink.

His eyes locked onto her, he enjoyed the view of her swaying hips, the narrowness of her waist. The skinny jeans she wore were like a second skin. He wanted to touch her, taste her, if only once. The need to hold her coursed through him. Unable to deny it, he stood slowly, walking to her.

She stilled at the sink, pausing in her task of rinsing.

He couldn’t find words to describe the desire coursing through him, this feeling of inevitability.

Reaching out, he was about to turn her toward him, but he was too slow. Before he could react, she turned to face him, her arms locking around his neck, bringing her lips to his.

Electricity surged like live wire as their bodies met, the force almost knocking him over. It was more than he expected to find.

There was no gentle exploration. It was a flash of lips, tongue, teeth. Teasing, playing, devouring.

Here was heat. Here was a type of desire he could drown in.

He caged her body against the counter, a growl rising in his throat as he changed the angle of their kiss, trying to find a better fit as he plundered her mouth.

She shivered against him, her body turning pliant.

He wanted more of her.

Wrapping a firm arm around her waist, his other hand trailing to cradle the back of her head, her silky dark hair tickling his arm, he brought her flush against him. Every soft curve molded to hard planes, scorching him.

She pressed into him, the friction causing him to break off their kiss with a curse. Unwilling to let her go, he held her against him, guiding her head to his shoulder.

He gulped in air, trying to steady his breathing.

He couldn’t think straight. It was mind-blowing, the level of physical connection that they shared. The kiss had been more intense, more pleasurable than anything he had ever experienced before.

“I’m sorry. Maybe I shouldn’t have done that.” She looked up at his face before freezing.
“Oh, geez. You aren’t with someone, are you? I never would have done that had I thought you were involved with someone else.”

“What? No.” He shook his head firmly, trying to jumpstart his brain. “No. I’m not with anyone else. That was just… more than I expected.”

Stepping away, they looked warily at one another.

“Me too.”
She frowned. “Maybe it’s too much like repeating history. I mean, it’s weird, right?” Her brow arched in question.

She looked calm, but he sensed that their kiss had shaken her. Their chemistry wasn’t ordinary, and he wanted to see where it led. But to do that, he needed her to relax. He leaned against the countertop opposite her, fighting for calm. “Not really. It was only a kiss between two unattached adults. There’s nothing strange about that.”

It was the right thing to say. The muscles in her shoulders relaxed in visible relief. “You’re right.” She sent him a slow smile. “I think all of this is just overwhelming.”

“Understandably.
I feel the same way.”

The sun was bright in the kitchen as they stood together. The thread of friendship he felt in that moment was a surprise, but welcome. He realized that he liked her, not just her looks, but as a person. She intrigued him. Her brain, her personality, what made her tick. He wanted to know more. Wanted to get beneath the surface and see what was there, what had brought that guarded look into her eyes.

“I should probably get going.” She sent him a small smile of apology before retrieving her purse. “I’ll let you know if I find anything in her journals.”

“Same here,” he said, walking her out the door.

“Thank you for this. I know you didn’t want to be involved.”

“You’re right. But I’m glad I am.”

“I’ll be in touch.”

He watched her climb into her car before driving down the lane.

He knew she’d be back. If there was anything Grant felt sure of, it was that he and Natalie had begun something.

When a woman like that came along, a man would be a fool to let her go without seeing what was there.

Grinning, he went back inside. He was no fool.

Curled up on her grandmother’s couch, comfortable in a baggy shirt and stretch pants as the stereo
blared a mixture of songs from her iPod, she leaned over her tablet, completely absorbed in her latest sketch.

In the days since her meeting with Grant, she hadn’t been able to stop thinking of him.

Her wrist loose, she drew long, fluid lines, the full skirt of a gown taking shape.

She was still in the creative phase of her line, and while her current sketch didn’t fit in with the smooth, cultured styles she had already created, it didn’t matter.

Her mind was on her grandmother, on her life.

Mimicking a nurse’s hat, she quickly drew it on the figure. Off the shoulder, the collar ending in points, it was a whimsical expression of a nurse from World War II.

She had designed three other outfits with the same feel, this gown only her latest in a long line of ideas.

She had kissed Grant.

Her stylus paused.

Was it still considered a meeting when you kissed each other? Yes. A meeting, she lectured herself. The kiss had been a one-time thing.
A fluke.

Her head fell back against the couch, her eyes closing in defeat.

Oh, what a kiss it had been. Thinking of it now, days later, she still felt gentle pressure on her lips, lightning strikes surging through her body.

It had been so delicious in its intensity that it had startled her. Not so much from her body’s reaction. She wasn’t ashamed of attraction. It was the closeness that she had felt with him.
The all-consuming feeling of rightness.

Her past relationships had been pleasant, but they had always come second to her work or family. If she had learned anything from her
mother’s and grandmother’s lives, it was that a woman didn’t need a man to feel complete. Her grandmother had been a self-sufficient woman, capable of anything, while her mother had been a trainwreck, colliding with every platform she stopped at until there wasn’t a scrap of self-worth left.

A single woman could support herself. Accomplish anything that she set her mind to without a man at her side. Women could have the casual relationships that men had had with women for centuries and not be criticized for it. And that suited her just fine. She had never found a man that she had wanted to spend the rest of her life with. Thinking of doing so actually shot shivers of dread down her spine.

Her anxiety had only lasted a moment after their kiss, fading quickly with Grant’s casual comments. He hadn’t felt the same level of heat rock through him, and she was grateful. She didn’t need that kind of entanglement right now.

There was nothing wrong with enjoying each other, as long as it didn’t get serious.

It was just as he had said. They were two unattached adults who were attracted to each other. Why not indulge in a few sparks together until one of them wanted to move on?

She didn’t require promises or feelings of love. In fact, those things would have driven her away, turned her off from any type of relationship. She wanted affection, friendship, and a smoking hot physical reaction. Grant provided those things.

Setting her sketches aside, she wandered into her grandma’s bedroom. Thinking of Grant had her even more curious about her grandma’s past and her relationship with Edward Walker.

Opening a box of her grandmother’s journals, she picked one at random, knowing that they were all from around that time period.

Settling into bed, she started at the beginning. Reading about her grandma’s life, her thoughts, feelings, and wishes, Natalie felt even closer to the woman who had raised her.

As Natalie had gotten older, their relationship had changed from parent and child into a rich friendship. But no matter what, Adele had always been someone Natalie had looked up to.

After reading Adele’s journal, Natalie was beginning to see the woman her grandma had been. Her inner thoughts had been much more complex, her feelings much deeper than Natalie suspected.

It was difficult, and yet fascinating, reading about the war. Her grandma described the neighborhood boys as they left, reporting for duty. Then later on, about how they had been killed in action.

Natalie’s heart wrenched as she read about her grandma’s desire to help them. Help the soldiers that were wounded so that more might make it home to their families. There’d been no choice for Adele. She had done what she thought was necessary to save lives. What she thought was the biggest thing she could contribute. Her time.

And her compassion.

Adele may not have fought the enemy, she may not have traveled into dangerous territories, but she was a hero.

A hero who had fallen in love with a soldier.

Drifting to sleep, Natalie’s subconscious conjured images of the war, of a lost love between a nurse and a soldier.

In the morning light, the vivid dreams disoriented and unnerved her. She had been a nurse.
Grant, a soldier.

In the dream, the love and desire she had felt for him was exciting. They had made her feel complete, safe even. But awake, those unfamiliar feelings made her unsettled.

Scrubbing the sleep from her eyes, she ripped off the covers. She needed to get out. Needed a change of scene. All of this, the mystery, the questions, were getting to her.

She arrived at work at nine in the morning, around the time her employees began rolling in as well, steaming cups of coffee in their hands.

There was always a buzz of excitement here. An explosion of ideas that ramped up endorphins.

“What are you doing here, Nat? I thought you were going to take a few more days.” James looked at her with concern after she sat at her desk.

“I couldn’t stay home any longer. I needed to work.”

He leaned a hip against her desk, his creased charcoal pants bunching as he settled in. “What’s going on? Last I heard from you, you were asking me for an investigator’s number. Is everything all right?”

She didn’t know where to start, but before she knew it, words were spilling out of her mouth. The picture, the engagement ring. The kiss. She told him everything.

“And how was it?
The kiss.”

She looked up at the fluorescent lights before answering.
“Mind blowing.”

“Sounds nice.”
His brown eyes twinkled with mischief.

“It was. We have a connection.
A strong one.”

“And that scares you?” James asked, correctly reading between the lines.

“Well, yeah. I don’t want to get seriously involved with anyone. I don’t want someone to start taking over my thoughts.”

“And that hasn’t happened already?”

Shooting him a look of exasperation, he held up his hands in a gesture of peace, his grin wry.

Natalie couldn’t help but notice how good looking he was. His clothes were tailored perfectly, his thick black hair smoothed back in loose waves. He was always neatly shaved, his bone structure and strong chin striking in appearance. “You’re ridiculously handsome. You know that, right?”

His eyes softened. “Thanks. And yes, I do know. Now, stop trying to distract me and answer the question.”

She shrugged, but couldn’t quite pull off the picture she was trying to portray. “Sure. I’m attracted to him. There’s nothing wrong with that.” She casually turned back to her work. “I’m thinking of getting involved with him. So, yeah, he’s on my mind.”

“Uh huh,” he said with a skeptically raised brow, but she didn’t say anything when he went back to work.

I don’t think of Grant any more than what is normal
, she tried to convince herself as she drove home later. But even as she thought it, her words didn’t ring true.

“It
is
true,” she told herself.

Frustrated, she devoured her dinner, jumping into bed with another one of her grandmother’s journals when she didn’t want to think anymore. She looked forward to reading more, the feeling closely resembling how she felt when she had put down a novel and was finally able to pick it back up again.

She had been reading for a half hour when her eyes stumbled across the name Edward Walker.

“Holy crap!”
She struggled to untangle herself from the covers, leaning forward as she absorbed the words on the page.

May 2nd, 1943

The base has been unusually quiet lately, and the clinic even more so. With new Seabees coming in soon, it is almost certain that there will be more injuries. I can hardly bear to see these men injured, forced to work, create, and fight to protect our country. But I am so proud of them. We have only one patient now, Edward Walker, one of the instructors. He is quite young for the position. I’d guess no more than twenty-five, but he seems capable enough.

He is obviously well liked. More than one of the soldiers has come in during their free time to talk with him.

I’m not exactly sure what happened, but during one of their sessions, he broke his arm. He should recover quickly, and I suspect that there will be no future issues with his arm once it’s healed. Which is rather fortunate, because I heard his family owns an orchard in the area.

God willing, he will make it back there when the war is over. That is my prayer for each and every
one of these brave men.

Natalie leaned back, stunned. Here it was. Written in her grandmother’s own hand as if she were telling Natalie herself. That was how she had met Edward Walker. She’d been a nurse at the base’s clinic.

Continuing on, she read the story of how quickly they had fallen in love, joyously making plans for after the war. Edward had given her grandma the picture of himself in the orchards before the war so that she could imagine what their lives would be like once it was all over.

It was well after midnight when Natalie came to the end of the volume. Launching herself toward the closet, she hurried to get the next journal.

Sifting through the box, she couldn’t find it. She found the journal for 1945 but not for 1944. Opening up the book listed as 1945, Natalie could find no mention of Edward Walker there.

“What happened in 1944?”she puzzled aloud, frustrated that she didn’t know.

After tearing through the other boxes, hoping to find the journal misfiled, she finally accepted that it was gone. She still didn’t know what had happened to them.

Pressing the journal from 1943 to her chest, she sat on the bed, dazed.

Her grandmother had loved Edward Walker. The feelings she had written down were strong, more powerful than Natalie had ever heard her grandmother express about her grandfather. Something terrible must have happened. Natalie was sure of it. If her grandmother had felt this way, there was no way she would have let him go.

Dialing quickly, she waited until Grant picked up the phone.

“Hello?” he
asked, his voice scratchy with sleep.

“Oh…” she glanced at the clock, wincing when she read the time. “Sorry. I didn’t realize it was so late. This is Natalie.”

“Is everything all right?” He sounded instantly alert.

“No, no. I mean yes. Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. Geez, my brain is fried. I’m calling because I found something in my grandma’s journal. I was wondering if I could come over tomorrow. You’ll want to see this for yourself.”

“Absolutely. I can’t believe it. Did you find out where they met?”

“The base.
She was a nurse at the clinic there.”

“I knew that had to be it.”

“I’ll warn you though, my grandmother’s writing is very emotional. It might be a bit uncomfortable for you.”

“I won’t have a problem with that.”

“All right then. I’ll stop by tomorrow. Probably later in the evening. Does that work for you?”

“Yes.” He paused. “Why don’t you stop by for dinner?
Around six? We can talk about it then.”

Her heart thumped heavily.
Cool it
, she scolded herself. It was just dinner. They both had to eat. They would just be eating together. No big deal. And if they happened to kiss again, that was great too. There were no ties, no strings. He hadn’t asked her to marry him, for heaven’s sake.