Free An Innocent in Paradise by Kate Carlisle Page B

eight?”
    â€œWell, I wasn’t alone. I lived with the head of the Science Department and his wife.”
    â€œBut your own parents sent you away?” Dee said.
    â€œOh, they were happy to do it,” Grace said lightly. “I belonged in college. And it worked out well for them because the university paid them for me to go to school.”
    Dee stopped in midpour. “Your parents got money for you?”
    â€œThey didn’t have a lot of money,” Grace explained, “so I was glad to help them get by.”
    â€œBut it sort of sounds like they sold you.”
    â€œOh, no.” Grace laughed. “I wanted to go.”
    â€œGotta say, Gracie…I think somebody needs to go back in time and give your folks a swift kick or two.”
    â€œNo, no,” Grace said, pleased that her new friend would defend her, but knowing her parents had done the best they could. Maybe she hadn’t quite understood it at the time, but now she knew that her mom and dad were nice, simple, hardworking people who had never understood her at all. “I appreciate it, but everything worked out.”
    â€œWow,” Dee said, taking an experimental sip, then another. “When I was eight, my big excitement was cutting all the hair off of my Barbie dolls. Guess we come from two different worlds.”
    â€œBut we can still be friends,” Grace said, hating to sound so tentative.
    â€œMost indubitably,” Dee said, giggling as she held her glass out in a toast. “We are friends, Gracie. Never doubt it. To my friend, Gracie.”
    â€œTo my friend, Dee.” Grace wiped away a happy tear as they clinked their glasses together.
    Â 
    Grace wasn’t sleepy at all. So after leaving Dee dozing in her room, she walked out to the terrace and down to the beach. She couldn’t get over how beautiful it was here, even at night. The moon was as big and clear in the sky as Grace had ever seen. The water was as smooth and shiny as the heavy-gauge stainless steel table in the lab’s radiation room.
    â€œYou’re hopeless,” she muttered, shaking her head atthat comparison. Would her head always be stuck in the laboratory? She hoped not. She wanted to think carefree thoughts, dream frivolous dreams, like drinking champagne and kissing a handsome man under the Caribbean moon.
    Had she always harbored a secret wish to be so frivolous? No, she was absolutely sure this was something new for her. But it felt good.
    She hadn’t drunk any champagne yet, but she’d had plenty of mini-margaritas. And as far as kissing a handsome man? Well, she’d done that, too, except for the moonlight part.
    â€œAnd the part where you went scurrying away like a mouse,” she reminded herself. Other than that, the kiss had been pretty darn dreamy.
    The mild breeze whispered across her shoulders, ruffling her hair. Nudging her sandals off, she walked in bare feet through the cool sand. Oh, yes, she’d definitely had one too many mini-drinks, but she felt wonderful. At the water’s edge she stopped, then had the strongest urge to keep on going. Touching the water with her toes, she discovered it was tepid. Not too cold, not too warm. Just right. And wouldn’t it be delightful to swim in the moonlight?
    â€œIt’s not safe to swim alone at night.”
    She whirled around. Logan stood behind her. “Oh, hello. I didn’t hear you coming.”
    Logan came closer. “The sand swallows the sound of footsteps.”
    She smiled at his poetic words. “Are you taking a walk in the moonlight?”
    â€œIt appears I am.”
    â€œIsn’t it beautiful?” she said, and spun around to take it all in.
    Logan grabbed her before she stumbled straight into the shallow water.
    â€œOops,” she said, and giggled.
    â€œHave you had a few drinks tonight, Grace?” he asked as he pulled her closer to him. She wished he would smile again. He had such a nice