Chapter Text
Claire has always prided herself in being independent. From a very small age she liked to do things herself. Never wanting to hold her mother’s hand when crossing the road, never wanting help with her homework, even playing by herself while her sister and cousins ran around the house causing chaos.
Things didn’t really change through high school either. If anything, Claire was determined to prove to herself and the people around her that she was capable of achieving everything, solely alone. She chose to never rely on her peers and put all her focus into her school work. She had friends yes, but they were more out of convenience then genuine affection. She even tried dating a few times, a mixture of hormones and social obligation led Claire turning up at diners on Friday nights and movie theatres meeting an eclectic mix of teenage boys. But it never went past two or three dates. The boys never really understanding Claire’s desire to put her learning before a weekend house party. Usually ending with Claire being called a hot nerd or lonely freak. So, Claire went through high school with limited friends and no boyfriends to speak of but she was always the top of her grade.
The hard work and lonely nights paid off as she secured a place at her dream college, Harvard to study business. Her parents of course were over the moon with their youngest daughter. They were constantly expressing their pride in her drive and determination much to her sister, Karen’s displeasure. Who dropped out of college at twenty, after falling pregnant during her second year. Deciding that the best move would be to marry her college sweetheart and father of her unborn son, Scott, her parents who happened to be deeply religious Catholics arranged an abrupt wedding for their eldest to avoid suspicious looks in their community. But even though Claire and Karen were cut from different cloths it didn’t stop them from being close during their upbringing.
Claire was the first-person Karen called when she took the pregnancy test, alone sitting in her dorm room. Claire remembered the difficulty of hearing her strong eldest sister who never even cried over a scraped knee, sobbing down the phone and begging her baby sister not to tell her parents. Claire had taken the first train to Boston at the age of fourteen to try and comfort her sister. Advising her to inform their parents, so they could talk through the options Karen had.
She had always been independent.
So how has she ended up here? Falling for a man who wanted anything but independence for her. Constantly making her feel second place to him. Slowly finding herself relying on him for everything. Josh. Joshua Fields.
She met Josh in her first year out of college. She was a budding new business graduate with the world at her feet. Having recently moved to New York on an internship with a big shot management company, Claire finally felt at home with people who understood her. They were all driven, anti-social, workaholics which played straight into Claire’s wheelhouse. But then she met Josh and that independence she had slowly built up over the course of her life, started to drift away. And the tough, focused Claire Dearing was a distant memory.
This led her here. Summer vacation in Greece. She booked it last minute one late Wednesday evening after a bottle of merlot and a tub of mint choc-chip ice-cream. She had a moment of strength and rebellion against the Claire Dearing she had become. Or it may have been the bottle of merlot. However, she was in definite agreement. She needed a break from the mess her life had taken the form of.
Claire peered over her book she was currently reading, propped up against a tree in a small secluded cove on one of Greece’s magical islands. She gazed at the dazzling ripples of the Greek water, dancing along the sand, the warm sea breeze blowing through her auburn hair. This was what she needed, time to clear her mind and try to figure out how best to move forward. Sea, sun and space. Wasn’t that a famous saying?
She had only landed yesterday from JFK airport, taking the evening to relax and order room service, then catch up on some much-needed sleep. Claire glanced down at her watch, one thirty. Soon it would be time for her to wander up to the hotel for a light lunch, before her boat trip at three. There weren’t that many other people on the beach besides her. Claire looked around at the other inhabitants enjoying the mid-day Greek sun. An elderly couple lay under an umbrella while the women rubbed sunscreen onto her husband's back. There were two teenage couples playing a rustic game of volley ball at the other end of the cove, with their towels and shoes playing the part of the boxes. Two women laying on bright pink beach towels while chatting in what Claire could understand as French. Catching the odd word here and there.
And lastly her eyes fell on a young girl and her father playing catch with a large orange inflatable ball a few feet away.
Claire focussed her attention on the father daughter duo. The little girl had long dirty blonde hair that fell in pretty waves along her back. Properly around five years old with a little purple hat and matching purple swimsuit. The girl was giggling hysterically at something her father had said in between passing the ball for her to catch. Claire had to admit she was utterly adorable as she charged towards her dad and throwing the ball in the opposite direction.
She found herself feeling nostalgic as she remembers being that age, and vacationing with her family in the Outer Banks, every summer for two weeks. She used to look forward to those beach vacations, running up and down the white stretches of sand with her father pretending to chase her. With Claire’s mother sitting reading book after book on a long sun lounger. And Karen always braiding her hair into complex braids before bed every night. She smiles thinking about those nostalgic memories she has of her family. Some of the best.
Claire then slowly turned her attention to the father currently playing catch. He is around six foot two, built incredibly strong with thick thighs and ridiculously sculpted arms. Claire couldn’t help but let her eyes linger on his arms from the safety of her sunglasses. Imagining what those arms would feel like wrapped around her. She felt disappointment swell inside her due to the man wearing a t-shirt along with his navy swim shorts. What she wouldn’t give to see if his sculptured arms matched a chiselled torso.
She gently shook her head at herself, pull yourself together Dearing! You've clearly been alone for too long. She chuckled at the path her thoughts had taken and decided it was time to start moving up towards the hotel, not wanting to miss her Greek water tour. Just as she was about to put her book away safely into her bag and wrap her towel up, something hit Claire in the side of the face with considerable force. She was so shocked she didn’t move for about five seconds, just blinking to check her left eye still functioned.
She vaguely heard what sounded like an “Oh my god” before turning to find the father and daughter who had been playing with a ball which now lay near the end of her towel, running towards her.
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry ma’am”
Claire had to shield her eyes from the sun to see the man whose arms she had been admiring not minutes before now standing above her.
“My daughter here hasn’t quite worked out her aim” he chuckled, tapping the top of his daughter’s purple hat. The first thing Claire noticed about the duo was how similar they were. Down to the colour of their dirty blonde hair to their smiles and matching dimples. She was also pleasantly surprised to hear that they not only spoke English but they were also fellow Americans, like herself.
The little girl suddenly looked up at her dad
“But I didn’t throw it daddy, you did!” she said pointing at her dad.
Claire then turned her gaze to the man in question and raised an eyebrow at him.
“Ha kids these days...” he raised his hand and scratched the back of his neck in a bashful gesture. “I really am sorry miss.”
“It’s ok really” Claire replied with a small smile. “I was finished reading anyway, didn’t need my left eye anymore.”
The man let out a sharp laugh, which bared a perfect set of white teeth and two cute dimples. Claire couldn’t help but notice how attractive he was, up close and far away. No scratch that that, he wasn’t just attractive he was what her sister would call ‘hot’ and ‘fit’ and her personal favourite ‘a whole snack’. While Claire considered how best to describe this man’s level of attractiveness, he had knelt down to be closer to her eyeline and stuck out of his hand.
“Owen Grady” his voice sounded gruff but still silky smooth at the same time. How was that even possible?
“And this is my beautiful baby girl Amé, say hi pumpkin.” Owen ushered his daughter forward but Amé had suddenly decided she wasn’t quite confident enough to talk to Claire solo. So, tried to hide behind her father’s back, just peering over his shoulder to look at Claire while offering her a quiet “hello.”
“Hello, it’s lovely to meet you both, I’m Claire.” she shook the hand Owen was still proffering and lingered at the feel of his rough skin on her softer fingers. She looked into his face getting struck by his bright green eyes. Never had she ever seen eyes quite as bright as his. No stop it Claire! You have come here to take a break from romance, not start another one.
He was smiling at her while glancing down at their hands, which were still joined. Completely unaware of the inner conversation Claire was having with herself. She looked down and quickly retracted her hand, before blushing and putting her hands back into her lap.
“Well it was lovely to meet you both but I’ve got a boat tour to get to by three and I still haven't had lunch.” she hurriedly tried to avoid another potentially bad decision where she could get hurt.
“Ah of course, sorry for disturbing you Claire.” the use of her name on his tongue gave her chills.
“Honestly it was no bother, it was nice to actually have a conversation with someone who actually understands English.” she was all finished with her belongings which were now stowed safely in her beach bag. She stood in front of the Grady’s with her towel under her arm wearing nothing but a red bikini and her heavy bag over her shoulder. She saw Owen give her a not so subtle once over heating her up under his gaze.
“So, you’re here alone then?” Owen said nonchalantly, pretending to pick at something on his shirt. Claire couldn’t help but smirk at his obviousness.
“Yep just me, myself and I” she smiled at him while putting her sunglasses back onto her nose. Glancing down at Amé she noticed the child had lost interest in the adult's conversation and was now rolling her orange ball around in the sand.
“Well look, I still feel awful about what happened-” before Claire could argue he quickly added “so why don’t I help you with your bag, it looks pretty heavy” he added while taking a step closer to examine her indeed heavy bag.
Claire froze at his sudden proximity completely amazed by those tender green eyes once again, gazing at her.
“Don’t be silly I don’t want to interrupt your day; besides I think you have more than enough stuff to carry back to the hotel” glancing over at Owen and Amé’s base camp they had constructed about ten feet away. There were mountains of toys, buckets, snorkels, towels and inflatables. Owen looked down at his daughter who was now sitting on the floor looking at the seashells.
“Nah we can leave our stuff here over lunch, it will be fine. Besides this one over her usually wants a nap after she’s eaten” he shoots his thumb at his daughter in hushed tones. Claire nodded. “We need some food anyway, don’t we Amee baby?”
“huh” the little girl looked up at her dad, clearly not having listened to a word Claire and Owen had been saying. Claire smiled softly at the girl.
“Aren’t you hungry?” Owen repeated
“Yes Daddy, I’m starving” to reiterate her point she lay on her back on the sand, pretending to be dead. The adults both giggling at her antics.
“See” Owen said waving his hand in his daughters' direction. “We need refuelling, us Grady's love to eat” Claire laughed and shrugged her shoulders
“Well you are more than welcome to walk with me but I can carry my own bag” she looked at him pointedly. Owen threw his hands up in surrender.
“hey that’s cool with me, I can already tell you’re an independent lady.”
Claire froze at those words. No one had said that to her in such a long time. Since way before Josh maybe no one had ever called her independent. She’d definitely had ‘nerd’ and ‘loner’ but hearing someone firming what she was striving to be, it was liberating. Meanwhile Owen had reached down and scooped his daughter into his arms, depositing her onto his hip.
“Lead the way ma lady” he said while gently bowing in front of her. Claire shook her head at him but smiled nonetheless. The trio slowly made their way up the sandy beach towards the wooden steps, when Owen suddenly stopped and bent down to put Amé on her feet.
“Sorry girls I’m just gonna grab my phone, think I left it on the towel. Amé baby wait with Claire ok?”
“Ok Daddy” Amé said while sitting down on one of the wooden steps. Owen quickly turned around and started jogging back down the beach. Claire quickly let her eyes drop to his butt, which looked to die for in his swim shorts. Claire not for the first time that day, started blushing at the unholy thoughts swimming round her head. She suddenly felt two little greens eyes staring at her.
Claire sat down next to the little girl and saw that Amé was looking at her in wonder. For one horrifying minute Claire thought that the child had read her mind or saw where her eyes were focused. But then Amé said
“I love your hair” she whispered to Claire like it was the biggest secret. “It’s just like Ariel’s, she’s my favourite princess in the whole world.”
“Woah, thank you that’s so sweet. I’ve never been compared to a princess before.” Claire admitted. “But I think yours is super pretty.” At this Amé shuffled a bit closer to her.
“Really? You don’t think it’s a boring colour?” she said looking down at her long hair
“You kidding? It’s so gorgeous and long, I always wanted to have hair as long as yours” Claire said while gently reaching out to feel the ends of Amé’s hair.
“Thanks, daddy says that it’s getting too long for him to handle” she giggled. “But I love it long, because all princesses have long hair”. Claire smiled warmly at her just as Owen came jogging up to where they were sitting. When Amé saw him, she jumped up and sprinted towards Owen’s direction.
“Daddy daddy, Claire said my hair is gorgeous. But I think hers is prettier because it looks like Ariel’s. Doesn’t it Daddy?” Owen lifted her back into his arms and chuckled at her over excited nature.
“Yes baby, Claire’s hair is as beautiful as Princess Ariel’s” He finished the comment by looking Claire dead in the eyes with a small smile gracing his lips.
Claire couldn’t cope with the intensity of his gaze so she quickly looked away and stood up before shifting her bag to her other shoulder. They started the trek up towards the hotel, with Amé telling Claire every detail about their holiday so far, from the safety of Owen’s arms.
“..And I saw ten whole fish, they were so tiny but there was loads of them. I saw a yellow seahorse with swirly little black dots too but it swam away when I tried to touch it.” Amé was talking so fast Claire couldn’t work out when she had time to breath. “It was my first-time snorkelling because last year I was too little, wasn’t I daddy? But now I’m big, so daddy said we could go. It was the best thing ever!”
Both adults started laughing at how fast the child was talking now clearly out of breath. Claire noted how the little girl’s energy was infectious and found herself smiling even when she wasn’t speaking. She was clearly Owen’s daughter, with her confidence and kind spirit Claire couldn’t help but fall in love with her.
They were nearing the hotel entrance, by walking up the marble ramps. There was a soft breeze blowing up from the beach and it kept gently nudging Owen’s curls to Claire’s pleasure. Each time she looked over at him she would catch him sneaking glances at her. She couldn’t contain the small smile that broke out across her face every time their eyes met.
When the last time she felt like this? A genuine attraction to someone she had only just met. Not even with Josh had she felt such strong feeling so quickly. It was the kind of attraction where she wanted to know everything about Owen. All the small things he does. His likes and dislikes, where he was born, does he come from a large family? But the biggest thing she wants to uncover, is the location of Amé’s mother. Was she somewhere else on the resort? No, Owen had been blatantly flirting with her, hadn’t he? She was so out of practice in the flirting department maybe he was just being friendly. She felt her stomach sink at that thought. You only just met the guy Claire. Maybe her mother is back in America working, making it impossible for her to join her daughter and husband on vacation. God, she hoped she was wrong.
When they reached the restaurant at the back of the hotel, Amé was still animatedly talking to both adults about her love of the sea.
“So, Claire, seeing as we are all here, would you like to join us for lunch? Unless you have someone meeting you here.” There was a nervousness she hadn’t detected earlier in his voice. Maybe he was just as out of practice as she was.
“Are you sure? I don’t want to intrude” she said while fiddling with her hands.
“Of course, you can, we would love the company wouldn’t we Amee?” Owen said putting his daughter down.
“Yes, please come sit with us Claire please. You can sit next to me!” Amé looked up at her with puppy dog eyes and grabbed Claire’s hands, slowly tugging her towards the restaurant. Claire laughed while her heart melted.
“Ok I would love to have lunch with you guys, I mean I guess it’s the least you could do after nearly blinding me” she teasingly said looking straight at Owen.
“I’m never living that down huh? I’m sorry ok, I guess something must have distracted me” he said while once again looking into Claire’s eyes with that same intensity. Her cheeks heated up and gave him a shy smile, still letting Amé pull her by her hands into the canteen and lead them to a table near the window.
Lunch was delightful. Their table was filled with laughs and giggles, from Owen’s jokes and Claire’s stories. Amé told Claire about herself and what her favourite things were to do. Claire discovered that Amé was four and five months, she loved to swim, her best friend was called Abbie and her favourite colour is Purple.
“My favourite colour was purple when I was your age” Claire announced after Amé showed Claire her purple nails she had painted herself.
“No way! Is it still purple?” The little girl was sitting on the edge of her seat trying to get closer to Claire.
“I mean I still like it, but I think my favourite colour is properly green now. I have a lot of green clothes back home.” She emphasis this by showing the four-year-old her emerald green sweater she had in her bag, in case she got cold on the beach. Claire gave Owen a quick glance noticing his silence and was surprised to find an endearing look plastered across his face. He was looking between his daughter and Claire while taking sips of his beer.
“I like green too.” Amé said while tapping Claire’s hand, trying to grab her attention again. She succeeded as Claire’s eyes flickered back to the sweet girl next to her.
“I think green would suit you, especially with your long hair” Claire reached out to tuck the child’s long hair behind her ears. Amé’s eyes lit up at Claire's comment as she went back to eating her fries.
“So, Claire” Owen finally spoke. “Tell us about yourself. You’re clearly American but what brings you all the way to Greece? Just here for the sun and squid?” he smiled.
Claire took a deep breath giving her time to think about an appropriate answer to Owen’s question. She didn’t want to reveal all her recent demons she had been battling with by stating she was having some space from a controlling ex. She decided to talk about her upbringing, a safe subject.
“Well, I’m originally from Wisconsin, about five miles outside of Madison. My parents moved there from Michigan just before I was born, my sister was six. And I stayed there until I went to college at eighteen. It was a pretty decent place to spend a childhood.” Claire finished while pouring herself some more water.
“Woah Wisconsin huh? You must be used to damn cold weather.” he chuckled
“Yeah you have no idea. I remember once my sister and I were holding hands when we were little going for a walk in the snow, and I swear are hands got frozen together” she laughed at the memory of her sister complaining about having to be attached to her younger sister all day.
“Wouldn't know anything about the cold I’m afraid, grew up in Hawaii.” Owen revealed while running a hand through his curls.
“Hawaii oh my god I’ve always wanted to go there, it looks so peaceful. Must have been an incredible place to spend your childhood.”
“Yeah, I mean we moved around a bit, but the majority of it was spent in Hawaii. And it was pretty awesome. Spent my weekends and evenings either on the beach or surfing” he smiled slightly at the memories.
“I wish I could surf, but I don’t think I’m athletic enough for that” Claire chuckled to herself knowing full well what happened when she tried to surd at summer camp when she was seventeen.
“Well I could always teach you sometime? If you wanted. I’m known to be an excellent teacher.” Owen stated with a wink.
Claire raised an eyebrow at him
“Oh really? And who it is that insists you’re an excellent teacher?”
Owen took a moment then leaned across the table to her
“She’s sitting next to you” he whispered
Claire looked at the four-year-old who was currently playing a game on Owen’s phone and snorted.
“You must be the best teacher in the whole damn world then, if you taught her how to play catch”
“Huh?”
“Because your four-year-old manages not to hit a woman in the face with a ball, when her teacher succeeds with great ease” she laughed at the way his face drops.
“You are a mean lady” Owen pouted and sat back in his chair, crossing his arms. “It was the wind ok”
The rest of lunch flew by as the canteen started to empty, with families moving back to the pool or the beach for the remainder of the afternoon. The Grady’s had moved onto dessert, in which they both got ice cream with Owen pilling his bowl full of different flavours. When he sat back down at their table Claire couldn’t stop a giggle from leaving her mouth at the sheer amount of ice-cream in Owen’s bowl. Owen looked up at her with a puzzled look.
“What’s so funny red?” He said around a spoonful of chocolate. Claire wasn’t sure how to feel about that nickname, but decided to let it slide.
“Nothing. It’s just, do you usually have that much ice-cream?” hiding a smile behind her hand
Owen shrugged
“Depends, but I like my ice cream. It’s a Grady thing, Amé and I can get through a pint in one sitting”
“I love ice cream” the little girl sang loudly making Owen shush her with a laugh.
“That doesn’t add up. How are you still so in shape then?’ Claire blurted out, without realising how it sounded. She instantly went bright red and tried to distract herself with stirring her coffee.
Owen’s eyes had shot up from his bowl to look at Claire. He smirked when he found her avoiding his eyes
“You think I’m in shape?” he prodded
Claire coughed to try and cover up her nerves
“That came out wrong”
“Oh, so you think I’m out of shape?” Owens’s eyes glistening with mischief. He was not letting her off that easily. And Claire was certainly not going to give him the satisfaction of admitting how attractive she found him.
“Look can we just forget I said anything” looking at him pleadingly.
“You may be able to Darlin’ but I’m gonna have a hard time forgetting that!” the same smirk was still on his lips as he silently went back to eating his mountain of ice cream. Claire couldn't deny the butterflies that erupted in her stomach when he called her that endearing nickname. She liked the way he said it. So much that she wanted him to say it again. And again.
When they had all finished lunch, they left the canteen and headed to the elevators. Claire had to go back to her room to change before her boat trip and Amé needed a nap, having exhausted herself playing on the beach. The three of them stepped on to the elevator with Claire pressing floor five and Owen floor seven.
“Thank you for inviting me to lunch” Claire said as they started to ascend the first floors. “It was nice to have some company.”
“It was our pleasure, right baby?” Owen looked down at his sleepy daughter
“Yes, I want Claire to have lunch with us every day Daddy” she said while rubbing her eyes. “Can she?” finishing with a yawn.
Owen looked at Claire quickly, not wanting to overstep.
“Maybe we could arrange something for later in the week Sweetheart, I bet Claire is a busy lady” at that the doors opened at Claire’s floor.
“Well thanks again guys, hopefully see you around” she said stepping of the elevator not really too thrilled about having to leave their presence. Noticing that she’d laughed more today than she had in the last few months.
“Yeah, please feel free to come find us anytime, I think this one here is in love” Owen chuckled down at his daughter who was nearly asleep against his leg
“Will do, bye bye Amé” she waved
“Bye Claire” she mumbled sleepily. The last thing Claire saw was Owen bending down to pick up his daughter.
And with that the doors closed
Leaving Claire alone in the corridor.