Note: This is a continuation of the previous chapter. Be sure to read part 1 first!

July 28

Minett, Muskoka

A sense of calm begins to creep in as Elle slides her small hand into mine.

Tugging her gently along with me, refusing to look back, I take her into the back office, nudging her down into a chair before rifling through the cupboards for the first aid kit. Finding what I need, I kneel down in front of her.

"Oh, Greyson, ouch." She strokes my cheek with the back of her knuckles, a barely there stroke meant to comfort. "Let me get you an ice pack."

"Don't move. I can wait." I grit out between clenched teeth.

Her finger traces lightly over my lip and I jerk away from her. "Shit. Don't I at least get a kiss to make it better before you torture me?"

Her soft sigh makes my lips twitch in a smile, but I regret it when my lip splits open even further.

"Palms up, Elle, let me see."

I clench my teeth as I look down at her scraped hands. Taking one of her smaller hands in mine, I begin to pick the tiny bits of wood out with the tweezers.

"Jesus Christ. I can't believe he put his hands on you, hurt you. I should go back out there. I never should have walked away."

"It's nothing, Greyson. Just a few splinters, really." She rubs the back of her hand up and down my arm gently. "I'm glad you walked away, I was so scared you wouldn't."

As I switch focus to her other hand, I feel her rummaging around in the first aid kit on my lap, then hear the satisfying pop of an ice pack.

"I'm so relieved, and proud that you walked away." She kisses the corner of my mouth softly, then presses the ice pack onto my face without a single ounce of mercy. Fuck. "You know I can't stand the thought of you being hurt, or the thought of you seriously hurting someone else."

I don't say anything. I wish I'd hurt him more. I'd still be hurting him if Elle hadn't needed me.

A few moments later, Hunter drags a remorseful looking Dan in, who proceeds to apologize to Elle, mumbling under his breath. Hunter shoves him back out the door, rolling his eyes. Hunter will update the schedule. Just before they leave, I hear Hunter's low voice telling Dan to get his shit together, no more warnings.

"You okay, Ellie-bean?" I smile, just a little, at his nickname for her, and wince, reminding myself it's probably best not to smile or talk.

Hunter has such a soft spot for her. I think he always wanted a sister but got stuck with two older brothers. He's basically adopted Elle, anyway.

He used to come over all the time, asking if we could go and see Elle. She had all the Disney movies that Hunter's brothers were too old for and made fun of Hunter for watching.

He, Elle, Tess, and I probably watched those movies hundreds of times as kids.

I look up at her as she nods, I try to breathe deeply, focusing on the small splinters, trying to gently remove every single one from her soft skin.

"Tell me what you meant when you told Dan there wouldn't be any more warnings." My voice is muffled by the fabric and ice pack Elle is pressing against my lips, but it's clear they understand my question.

Hunter and Elle look at one another, and Elle's face flushes with stress, but Hunter only pats her knee.

"It's not the first time Dan has been inappropriate with Elle. We thought we handled it, Grey. I talked to him, so did Dad."

"What the fuck did he do?"

This time, Elle speaks, stroking the back of her free hand down my arm, trying in vain to soothe me. I grab her wrist, waiting. "Honestly, it wasn't that big of a deal. He said something a bit creepy, then he grabbed my wrist for a moment before Hunter came. I told Hunter about it the next day."

"The next day? Jesus Elle, what if he hadn't let go? What if Hunter hadn't been there? What was he going to do? What would you have done?"

"That's enough Grey, we talked about it, she knows that this should never happen in a decent workplace, which is what I'm trying to run, but if it does, she has to tell me. Immediately."

"But..."

"Take a walk, Grey. Cool off, then come back, you're not helping anyone here, not in the mood you're in. Give me the tweezers."

Rather than argue and risk saying something I'll regret, I walk outside, kicking one of the bumpers on the dock before dropping into the chair by the door. I prefer to stay close so I can keep an eye on Elle. I listen as she and Hunter go over what happened, and I listen as he reassures her that he'll adjust the schedule and tell the other managers what happened. No tolerance for that behavior, but jobs are scarce for the locals.

Fifteen minutes, and two customer interruptions later, who I'm sure will be spreading the gossip of the bloody boy pumping gas, Hunter declares Elle splinter-free, and she smiles up at him, stretching her hands out to examine carefully.

I grab her before she can walk by me, lifting her palms to my lips for two quick kisses. I frown as I leave bloody prints on her skin, and I grab a damp towel to clean it off. "All better now." I whisper against her palm. Her hand runs over my cheek before she heads back out to the docks at Hunter's urging.

"Take care of the customers, Elle, I'll take care of him."

From his tone, I can tell he has something to say. Once Elle is out of earshot, I turn to my cousin. "What?" I snap at him. I stand, tossing the ice pack and bloody rag onto the counter.

"Damn." Hunter grimaces, and I realize it must look as terrible as it feels. I walk to the mirror in the bathroom and groan. The right side of my bottom lip is completely split vertically. It seems shallow enough, but I poke at the skin a little watching the blood ooze out. Fuck.

A bruise is already blooming, spreading across my jaw.

"Sit down, Grey." He digs through the first aid kit, finding some liquid bandaid, applying it to the cut on my lip, then letting it dry. "Guess that'll have to do for now. You might need stitches."

Hunter cleans up the mess I've made, packing the first aid kit away, tossing the liquid bandaid for my own use.

"Nah, lips are just gnarly. I've had worse."

Hunter watches me silently.

"Spit it out, whatever you have to say, just say it." I practically growl at him.

He holds his hands up in a gesture of peace. "Didn't say anything. You know you can't fight people just for being an asshole, man."

I shake my head, "Yeah, I can. Plus, you heard what he said about her. That alone should be reason enough for a beating. Second, he punched me. In .The. Face. He threw the first swing, I still managed to walk away, sort of. I know you saw it. Fuck, I can't stand it when people use their size against her; against anyone for that matter. She's so small, it's easy for her choices to get taken away from her physically. She's only used to us, we stop when she says stop, it's never been any different than that. Not for her."

Hunter nods. "I spoke to Dan, he understands that he can't put his hands on Elle or any other female staff for that matter, without their explicit permission. His job depends on it. He'll be at the other shop for the next couple of weeks to start. I'll rotate one of the older, steadier guys here."

"Why didn't you tell me about it before? I never would have let her out of my sight if I'd known. I thought he was just a creep."

"Grey, I don't always get everything right, I should have reassigned Dan before this. But I stand by this decision, I'm sorry. When one of my team members brings something to me, it's not automatically your business, no matter what your relationship to her is."

"Elle is and always will be my business." Glaring at Hunter, even though I know he's right, does nothing to calm the anger coursing through me. I understood why Hunter didn't say anything, but why hadn't Elle told me? "I'm going to see how she's doing."

I walk out to check on my girl without a backward glance at Hunter.

Leaning against the wall of the marina, I watch her speak with a couple of teenagers looking to rent some water sports equipment for the week. I settle fully as I watch her slide effortlessly back into her routine.

I see a dad hand over his credit card, waving for his kids to pick a few things. I watch Elle step in to settle a few debates between the kids, helping them to decide. She nods, smiling at their dad, and heads back inside to charge the card.

Once she's finished with the family, we're nearly finished our shift.

I grab her arm, stopping her movements as we pack up the toys, "Why didn't you tell me about before, Elle?"

She shakes me off and continues to pack the toys into the bin. "I'm sorry, but I knew you'd react badly. I need to be able to figure stuff out on my own, too. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings, but I can't change it now. Let's just focus on finishing the shift, okay?"

Forty-five minutes later, but feeling like hours, I close the lid on the bin and carry the larger toys inside. I watch Elle stretch up to give Hunter a kiss on his cheek, thanking him for his help. He pulls her in for a big, swaying hug. "I'm sorry, Ellie. Trust me, I won't ever let something like this happen again, okay?"

"I know you won't, thanks. I'll see you tomorrow."

Grabbing her hand, I tug her into the boat, pulling away and accelerating, and flying across the calm, glassy water until I can see our cottages on the horizon. "Can I come back to your place tonight?"

Elle nods. "Hike around the back way later tonight. Mum and Dad have guests, so they'll be busy entertaining. I'm expected to join but will bow out as soon as I can."

She kisses my cheek, and I watch her go, hopping gracefully from the bow of my boat onto her dock, wandering up the hill, looking back, and blowing me a kiss over her shoulder. 

- - -

What do you think about how Greyson reacted? 

Hunter is obviously trying to be a good boss, but considering he's only twenty, he might be a little over his head, naive even. I think he handled the situation as well as he could, and learned something in the process, too! 

Let me know what you think by commenting, or voting on the chapter if you liked it!