A Convenient Proposal(76)

But she wouldn’t have asked him to come just to tell him to leave her alone, right?

Lifting his hand to knock on the porch door, he hesitated. Would Igor come tearing out to rip him up? They never had managed to make friends, even after the rescue. Griff still had scars on his leg from the last bite.

“Aw, hell,” he muttered, knocking anyway. Igor would need a minute or so to chew through the screen. Griff could be up in a tree before he got out.

The woman who stepped onto the porch was a stranger. She didn’t have a dog with her.

“Hello,” she said. “Looking for someone?” Her blond hair was cut pixie short; her pale skin flushed with pink. A tall woman, she wore a bright turquoise muumuu that ended above her ankles, but not because she was heavy. Her collarbones showed plainly above the neck of the dress and her arms below the short sleeves were bone thin.

He recognized her eyes, though—the shape and set of them, the stormy green color. Arden might have inherited her dad’s dark hair and ivory skin, but she had her mother’s eyes.

“I’m Griff Campbell,” he told her. “Are you Lorraine?”

She held the door open for him to step inside the porch. “That’s right. Lorraine Burke.”

He shook the hand she offered, noticing the sharp bones. “Glad to meet you. Arden says you’re feeling better.”

Her smile was Arden’s, too. “I am, thanks. But that’s not what you want to talk about right now, is it? She’s down at the beach with the dog.”

“Thanks.”

Back at the main path, he took the turn leading to the western side of the island, where they’d met. Though the walk sloped downhill, the minutes seemed to stretch into hours. He thought he’d never get there, until a sudden turn brought him straight out onto the white sand beach.

The empty beach.

Griff groaned out loud and dropped onto his knees. She’d written, asking him to come. Now he couldn’t find her. How much longer could the universe torture him?

A distant shout, off to the right, gave him the answer. He scanned the horizon and saw a dark spot running back and forth. Igor. And maybe, just maybe, the pale shape following would not be an illusion?

He waited on his knees, watching, as the pair drew closer. Whatever Arden wanted to say, he’d be glad to beg, if that would convince her to come back.

She was throwing a stick for the dog as they approached, giving Igor ample opportunity to run. Finally, the stick landed about a hundred yards up the beach from Griff.

Igor raced to pick it up, but dropped the stick as soon as he recognized the man nearby. Then he charged.

Griff tried to scramble to his feet, but the dog was too fast. Igor’s front paws slammed into Griff’s shoulders, pushing him back into the sand. Covering his face with his arms, Griff waited for the first chomp.

But Igor seemed more likely to lick him to death. Snuffling and panting, he acted as if he’d just found his best friend in the whole world.

Arden arrived and laughed as she watched. “Absence makes the heart grow fonder,” she said finally. “I think he’s missed you.”

“Yeah, yeah, Igor. I missed you, too.” Griff pushed and tugged and played with the dog as he struggled to stand in the slippery sand. “Right. Got it. Down, there’s a good boy. Now stay.”

To his surprise, Igor did stay for a moment, before dashing off to snap at an incoming wave.

“Whew.” Griff tried to brush himself off, to restore some order to his hair and clothes. “He’s, um, energetic. A good thing,” he added, talking at random. Finally, he gave up and just stared at the woman he’d come to see. “How are you?”

“Wonderful.” And she did, indeed, look great, with cheeks rosy from the sun and eyes as bright as sunlight on the ocean. She wore loose linen shorts and a flowered shirt that reminded him of the ones he’d worn during his exile. “You came.”

“Of course.” He wasn’t going to burden her with the hell he’d lived in these last weeks. “You asked me to.” After a pause, he asked, “Why?”

“Only a fool throws away the chance to bring love and laughter into their life.”

Griff threw back his head and laughed. “That’s my life lesson you’re talking about. The one I had to learn.”

“And I decided,” Arden said, “that I don’t want to be a fool anymore.”

“That makes two of us. Thank God.” He closed his arms around her.