Page 30 of Twilight Tides
I gasped.
Large slabs of pink and white onyx covered the floor and walls. If Murray hadn’t informed me otherwise, I’d have thought it was marble. There was a toilet, a sink, and a huge walk-in shower. Brass faucets and fixtures gleamed against the onyx. It was the height of luxury, and it might have been chosen by Kelly when she was a preteen, but it would please any pink-loving adult.
Including me.
“It’s stunning.”
“She did good. You’d think it would be garish, but it’s not.”
“She’s a lucky girl,” I murmured.
Murray’s expression tightened. “Doesn’t feel that way right now.”
Even though he’d been giving offDon’t touchvibes since the moment I arrived, I couldn’t help but reach out to squeeze his strong forearm. “You’ll get her back.”
He didn’t say anything, so I stepped out of the bathroom and gestured to her beautiful space. “Soon she’ll be back in this gorgeous bedroom, safe and sound, right where she belongs.”
Behind me, Murray murmured darkly, “Let’s hope so.”
The next stop on the tour was the TV room off the entrance hall. Murray called it the snug. I thought the “snug” was in desperate need of some cozy décor. It was literally a sectional sofa in a room facing a large-screen TV. There were blinds at the window but no curtains to soften it.
As we stepped back into the entrance hall, he cleared his throat and gestured to the door closest to the patio doors. “That’s my bedroom.”
He did not offer to show me inside. Instead, he pointed to the door down from it, near the front entrance and opposite the staircase. “This is a main guest room with en suite. But there are three more bedrooms upstairs, one of which has an en suite. So, it’s up to you if you want to stay in one of those or … in here.” He pushed open the door, and I tentatively followed him inside.
I already knew what my answer would be. I didn’t want to sleep on the other side of the wall to Murray. That was just masochistic.
My mind raced with an excuse for staying upstairs. “I get pretty thirsty at night so it might be nice to be on the same level as the kitchen.”
Was it just my imagination or did Murray look relieved by my response? “Okay, good, I’ll show you upstairs.” He was already brushing past me to grab my suitcases.
“I can take one.”
“Nonsense.” Murray promptly carried both suitcases up the stairs at a speed that was both impressive and alarming.
My new husband couldn’t make it more obvious that he wanted me living as far from him as possible.
This was starting off so well.
11.Murray
Iknew as soon as I stepped onto the harbor the next day that Leth Sholas was abuzz with news of my and London’s marriage.
London had told Cammie to tell people so we didn’t have to because we decided it was better to get the news over with. I’d dressed for labor, in my bib and brace trousers, waterproof boots, and jacket. It wasn’t quite blowin’ a hoolie, but the drizzle mixed with a fair wind was making conditions unpleasant for unloading. The only catch we unloaded at the harbor was shellfish and whitefish, including cod, haddock, and whiting. Some of it was delivered straight to Shona’s fishmonger and smokery. The rest was put on boats pulled into harbor for transfer.
Salmon was my biggest income maker, and for that reason it was stored in my refrigeration facility until it was ready for shipment. This morning, one of the trawling crews was bringing in whitefish to be loaded onto another boat for delivery.
And I needed the sea air on my face and to ignore the constant ringing and buzzing of my phone. That element of running a business was mentally draining.
However, I was also escaping my family.
First my mum had insisted I come see her before I went into the office. To say she was unhappy I’d married a woman she’d only met in passing was an understatement.
“You better know what you’re doing, Murray Shaw. For Kelly’s sake, as well as your own.” Mum had been grim. “I know very little about this American, and you’ve just invited her into our lives.”
I’d tried to assure Mum that where London was concerned, she had nothing to worry about, but Mum seemed already set against her and I didn’t want that for any of us. Or London. This lie was hard on us enough without my mum being at odds with us about it.
My cousin, Fraser, head of charter and distribution, was next to agitate me. He’d shown up at the office full of questions and gleeful as fuck that Jill was immediately cut off from the company’s earnings.
