In Too Deep (Grayton Series Book 4) (2 page)

Half of her clients left instructions for her to deliver and put away their groceries, which she did without a qualm. But Mrs. Mette was a whole other breed. Even though she should have been her next stop, Missy waited until after she’d delivered the other two deliveries before heading back towards the older woman’s house.

Here, on the farthest and most secluded tip of the island, there wasn’t a paved road; instead, the sand had been cleared for carts and cars to get through. Most of the homes along this part of the path were accessible by water only. Yet her cart easily made the trek since she’d replaced the smaller tires just last year with larger ones that had high-traction treads. It was a bumpy ride that she couldn’t make in bad weather, but she enjoyed it. It was like going four-wheeling or riding in a sand buggy. She loved seeing the white sand kick up behind her as she flew towards the largest house on the island.

Mrs. Mette was in her late sixties and looked like she was at least twenty years older, probably due to the amount of time the woman spent in a bathing suit sitting out by the huge swimming pool in the back of her house.

Her home was far away from anyone else and Missy had it on good authority that Mrs. Mette didn’t always bathe with a suit on. She cringed at the thought and took a deep breath, silently praying that today would be one of the woman’s more sane days.

She pulled the handcart off the back and piled on the two large boxes of Mrs. Mette’s items. When she finally made it through the sand to the small boardwalk and up the stairs, Mrs. Mette was already holding the door open for her.

“I was beginning to wonder if you’d forgotten about me.” The older woman smiled at her. Missy noted that she was wearing a long silk cover over her suit today. She was thankful that it appeared to be one of her better days.

“No, just a very busy delivery day.” She smiled and stopped the cart in front of the door.

“Oh, good. Well, come on in.” She held the door open.

It still got to Missy, seeing the amount of wealth this lone woman had. Even though she’d chosen to seclude herself on an island in the Gulf of Mexico and had no car or other means of transportation that Missy knew of, the woman was wealthy beyond belief.

The furniture alone must have cost more than Missy’s little cottage home, which she was so very proud of. Italian tile, marble, stone, and some of the richest, warmest woods she’d ever seen filled the more than six-thousand-square-foot place that was this woman’s entire world.

The outside of the home looked nothing like the inside. Outside, the place was plain, boring. It was a fairly square home with a large deck and pool off the back. The metal roof was a bright gold, matching the yellowish tint of the walls. There were lots of windows, and each one had storm shutters in case of high winds.

But inside, the house could have come straight off the pages of
Better Homes and Gardens, Millionaire Edition
. Large stone columns separated the two largest rooms, and high ceilings made the rooms look even bigger. The front room was decorated in all white. Large white sofas with pale blue fluffed pillows sat facing one another on the marbled floors. Thick accent rugs cushioned their footsteps as they walked past the perfect room towards the kitchen area.

There was a large marble dining table, which could easily sit six people, immediately in front of a large island. To say that Mrs. Mette’s kitchen was what dreams were made of would have been an understatement.

The first time Missy had seen it, she’d dreamed about it for the rest of that month.

Large, warm wood planks ran along the high ceiling as soon as you passed through the stone archways into the kitchen area. Two large chandeliers hung high over the dining table. Missy just knew that they each cost more than her car.

The kitchen itself was completely white, like the rest of the downstairs. Its high cabinets and stone counter-tops always gleamed. Actually, Missy had never seen anything out of place in the house. Mrs. Mette seemed to not belong in the gleaming cleanliness.

She stopped her cart in front of the bar area and quickly got to work putting each item in its designated spot, noting when she found the woman was low on other items on the checklist she’d created almost six years ago.

“You’re running low on wild rice,” she said absentmindedly as she continued to put the items away.

“Yes, I had a few guests over the other night.” The woman sighed and leaned against the counter, watching Missy’s every move.

“Oh?” She smiled at the woman and jotted down to deliver two more boxes the next trip.

“Yes, well.” The woman shook her head and glanced out the window, something Missy had never seen her do before. Mrs. Mette had always kept a very keen eye on her movements when she was there, almost like she didn’t trust her to not steal anything or, worse, drop something and make a mess.

“Is everything all right?” she asked, turning to the older woman when she noticed a sad look cross her eyes.

The woman glanced back at her and then blinked a few times. “Yes, of course it is.” She straightened her shoulders and Missy saw that she was back to her old self. She turned back to the task at hand.

“Are you married?” Mrs. Mette asked out of the blue.

For the six and a half years that Missy had been delivering this woman’s groceries, she’d never asked her a personal question. Until now.

“No.” She frowned as she put away the last can of tomato soup. Then she turned towards Mrs. Mette.

“Have you ever been?” The older woman had her arms crossed over her chest and was leaning back on the marble counter-tops.

Missy shook her head, unsure of what had brought on the line of questioning. Sure, she was friendly with most of the customers she delivered for. Most of them knew her life story and she knew theirs. It wasn’t as if she’d been hiding anything from anyone. A deep feeling in her gut made its way to her heart and she felt it skip a beat. Okay, maybe just a few things.

“Why?” She set the empty box back onto her cart and glanced at the older woman again. The woman sighed and glanced out of the window once more.

“It’s hard.” Her eyes moved towards Missy’s. “Living alone. Being alone all the time.” She shook her head and Missy thought she saw a tear pool in the corner of her eye before she turned her head to look back out towards the water. “We’re not meant for it.”

“Mrs. Met—”

“Ruth.” The woman turned towards her. “You’ve been delivering my groceries for how many years?”

Missy blinked. “A little over six.”

“And in all that time, you have never once been unkind to me or shown me anything but respect. You should be able to call me by my first name. Ruth.”

Missy nodded and smiled. “Ruth, are you sure everything is all right?”

Ruth smiled and nodded. “Your first name is Missy, correct?” Missy nodded. “Missy, do me a favor…”

Missy’s heart sank as she thought about making another trip back to the mainland to grab an item Ruth had forgotten.

“Don’t let life pass you by without letting someone into your life. Someone who’ll love you.” She turned her head and looked out the window again. “Someone to be there in the silence of the night and hold you tight.”

When Ruth’s eyes moved back to hers, Missy nodded. There was a knot deep in her throat, which she tried to swallow the entire trip back to Dog’s Landing.

When she walked through the door of the store almost an hour later, she heard Jenny laughing in the back room. Walking towards the sound, she stopped cold when she saw the back of a man’s head, leaning over her employee.

“Oh!” she exclaimed and started to turn away. She’d never seen Jenny involved with anyone before, even though she knew the girl had in the past had a few boyfriends.

“Wait.” Jenny rushed after her. “It’s not like it looked.” She giggled. “Roman was just…”

Nothing else Jenny said could get past the loud ringing she heard in her ears.

Roman.

Roman.

She’d just been thinking about her Roman, thanks to the conversation with Ruth.

She blinked a few times when Jenny’s fingers dug into her shoulders. Then her hearing returned.

“Are you okay?” Jenny was frowning at her as they stood in the small hallway just outside of the break room.

The knot that had built in her throat from her talk with Ruth had traveled farther south and now sat directly over her heart. Missy’s fingers shook. She felt a slight sheen instantly coat her skin as she moved her eyes slowly towards the man who was standing just inside the doorway.

He’d changed. A lot, she thought, just as everything faded to white.

Chapter Two

R
oman carried the lax body in his arms and laid her on the small sofa in the break room. Jenny was almost hyperventilating and he had to make her sit down before she passed out from worry.

“It’s okay, she’s just in shock,” he said, rushing over to the sink and grabbing a towel, then splashing cold water on it and making his way back to the petite blonde who had passed out at the sight of him.

Not that he hadn’t thought of doing the same, but there was something more than surprise that had crossed his mind.

Looking down at her, he noticed all the changes. Her hair was shorter, cut just above her shoulders. It was still the rich honey blonde that he remembered. Since her eyes were closed, he couldn’t see if they were still their warm caramel color.

When he laid the cool cloth over her face, she jumped up and pushed it aside, her eyes going huge as her sexy mouth hung open.

He’d always loved her mouth. Even when he shouldn’t have noticed how appealing it was.

“What are you doing here?” she blurted out.

He chuckled. “I work here.”

She blinked a few times and he was pleased to see her mouth move silently as she tried to talk. Finally, she swallowed and he watched her control return a bit. “You what?”

He smiled and stood up from his crouched spot in front of her. “I work here. As of a few minutes ago.” He glanced over at Jenny, the pretty blonde that had hired him less than ten minutes before.

“No you don’t.” Marissa stood up, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at him. “I don’t want you…”

He took her shoulders and shook her lightly. “Do you really want to do this? Here? Now?” His eyes bore into hers and he felt her stiffen under his hands.

Finally, after she’d glanced towards Jenny and then back at him, she sighed and he felt her shoulders relax.

“Why?” The word was a whisper as he dropped his hands. After all this time, he still couldn’t trust himself to touch her.

“Why am I here?” His eyes moved over to Jenny, who was making a slow retreat out the door. Smart girl, he thought, and then he looked back to Marissa, who shook her head slowly.

“Why do you want to work here?”

His smile was quick as he took a step closer to her. “I have a few questions for you as well.”

He watched her breath hitch as she swayed a little. His hands went back up and took her shoulders once more. “Easy,” he murmured.

“I…” She blinked a few times as she looked up at him. Her hand went to the side of her head. “I can’t…” Her eyes moved to the empty doorway and her face got even whiter than it had when she’d seen him standing there. “I have to go.” She jerked her shoulders from his hold and rushed from the room quickly.

It took him a few moments to convince himself that she wasn’t bolting for good again. He wanted nothing more than to rush after her. Instead, he sat back down and took several deep breaths to calm his anger and his desires.

“Is everything okay?” Jenny’s sweet voice sounded from the doorway. He’d liked the young girl immediately upon meeting her.

“Yeah.” He looked up at her and frowned. “Sorry.” He shook his head as she walked over and sat down in front of him.

“Are you going to tell me what that was all about?”

He sighed and rested his hands on the table between them. Then he shrugged his shoulders. Where should he begin? Was it his place? Looking over, he frowned and shook his head.

“I think that’s best for Marissa to tell.”

Jenny’s eyebrows shot up when he used her full name. He sighed and shook his head, remembering that she’d called her Missy instead. A nick-name he’d always used for her.

“I know everything there is to know about Marissa.” She said the name slowly. “I’ve known her for almost seven years. She’s never once in all that time mentioned you.” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him.

He rolled his shoulders and stood up as he glanced out the large window and watched a boat full of teenagers, along with two older men, dock. “Looks like that’s my first job.” He nodded towards the window and the loud noises coming from the crowd of people on the docks, hoping the girl would take the change in discussion.

“Roman.” Jenny stood and reached for his arm before he could leave. “I stand behind my decision to hire you, but if I think for one minute that you’re bad for Missy, I won’t hesitate to fire you on the spot.”

He smiled quickly and nodded. “Gotcha.” He liked her even more for saying so.