“No.” Clomp, clomp, clomp as he descended. “Gramps!” The stair door banged again, followed by the door to the porch.

“I emptied the top two drawers.” Sophie pointed at the dresser. “Towels are in the closet downstairs, across from the bathroom. There’s a second toilet and sink in the shop. What else might you need?” She glanced around.

“Mom!” Clomp, clomp. Biyen stopped halfway up the stairs. “Gramps says buy more beer tomorrow because he’s taking the six pack from our fridge.”

“Roger that.”

Clomp, clomp, slam.

“Sometimes I envy people who do all of their communicating over text,” she said with a bemused smile. It was as close as she would come to apologizing for the chaos. If Logan didn’t like it, he could leave.

“Reid texts me so often, I want to slit my throat with my own smartphone. The grass is always greener.”

She had to give that one a small smirk.

Usually, on the rare occasions when Biyen and Art were both out, she reveled in the bliss of having the house to herself. Today, she was really, really aware that she was alone in the house with Logan. That she was heading into the shower where she would stand naked while he…

“I guess I’ll meet you over there? Er… I mean, unpack first if you want to.” She waved at the dresser again. “I’ll give you a key, not that we ever lock up. Gramps is always here and…” She shrugged. It was Raven’s Cove. If a local walked into your house, they needed what they came for and left a note telling you what they had borrowed. By the time strangers showed up in the summer, she was leaving all her windows open anyway, trying to catch a breeze.

Also, Gramps and Biyen were the only things Sophie truly valued. So long as they were safe, she didn’t care who stole her refurbished laptop or took the company four-by-four for a joyride.

“Thanks.” Logan moved his duffel to the bed and opened it. “I’ll get the beer tomorrow when I pick up my groceries.”

That made her feel churlish, especially when she was being invited to eat with his family today.

“There’s no sense cooking two meals,” she grumbled. “The dishes alone will become a nuisance. We don’t have a dishwasher. Buy whatever you plan to make and we’ll take turns.”

“If that works for you, sure.”

“It does.” God, this was going to be awful. She could tell. “I’ll see you over there.”

“Copy that.”

She thumped down the stairs and hit the shower. A cold one.

*

Sophie left her hair down to dry and smeared on sunscreen that Emma had given her. It doubled as a moisturizer, was reef safe, and didn’t feel like a coat of paint, which was the reason she had always resisted wearing sunscreen in the past—and wound up lobster red beneath her freckles as a result.

She pulled on her best pair of shorts and a ribbed tank top, then tied a flannel around her waist, anticipating the temperature would drop with the sun.

As she came out to the kitchen, she found Logan rinsing the draining tray after putting away the dishes.

“What are you doing?”

“Crew not cargo, baby.”

“Heh. That comes straight out of your dad’s Handbook for Evaluating Humans,” she said with a wistful chuckle.

She missed Wilf Fraser. A lot. He had been a very flawed man, one who had never made a politically correct joke in his life. In his view, if he had hired a woman, he couldn’t possibly be sexist. One of his son’s mothers was Indigenous, so how could he be racist?

Wilf had dreamed bigger than he could accomplish with his limited education and complete disregard for the reality of his finances. He had started more jobs than any one person could finish in a lifetime, and he had never, ever cleaned up after himself. Back when the boys were young, he would say, That’s why I had three sons.

Boy oh boy, had that brag come home to roost.

Working for him had been a challenge on many fronts, especially after Tiffany moved in with him, but Wilf had earned Sophie’s undying loyalty after he had hired her with only one year of apprentice training under her belt. She hadn’t even had to ask him for a job. He’d offered it. That had allowed her to leave Nolan and get on her feet as a single parent.

Wilf had also said, “You’re a smart girl, Soph. I never understood how you wound up rowing around cargo like that piece of shit.” Wilf had paid for the rest of her certification and, after Gramps had retired, left the running of the marina largely in her hands. Every time she asked for a raise, he gave her one without any quibbling.

“Ready?” Logan folded the tea towel over the rail at the end of the counter.

“Yeah.” She kicked into her flip-flops and closed the door without locking it.

They started up the path that crossed in front of the garden. This track through the long grass had been worn into the hill back when Glenda and Janine had been running back and forth to borrow sugar and exchange gossip. Nowadays, it was well trampled by Sophie and Emma.

Sophie’s agreement with Logan to not speak about anything personal, and to only speak about work at work, left a gaping silence between them as they walked.

Trystan had become Sophie’s go-to for the inside scoop if Emma wasn’t being forthcoming, but he had left on his first tour in the Storm Ridge.

“Emma didn’t say much about what’s going on with Storm’s aunt,” Sophie said when she couldn’t stand the silence, or her concerned curiosity, any longer. “I don’t want to pry, but should I be worried? Are you?”

“When has worrying ever solved anything?” Logan asked dryly.

“Okay, I’m worried. I can’t help it. Emma is Storm’s mom. Can you reassure me that she won’t lose her?”

His profile hardened. “I’d like to.”

“But?” She stopped. Her breath rushed out as his aggrieved expression seemed to plunge a knife into her belly. “How could they even think of giving her to Tiffany’s sister? She’s a criminal or something, isn’t she?”

“That was our initial impression. We were told she was in police custody, but she’s actually in protective custody. Once she finishes testifying, she could potentially ask to be Storm’s guardian. At that point, it would be a matter of who can provide the best care. Right now, that’s weighted to Reid and Emma, especially with Trystan and me here to support them. Plus, this is Storm’s home. Those are all things, we’re told, that make a difference in our favor. But nothing’s guaranteed,” he added with aggravation.

“Poor Emma.” Sophie’s heart went out to her so hard it was a physical sensation of being stretched and pulled. “I’ve worried about a lot of things as a mom, but never whether someone would take my kid.”

“Yeah, this blows.” Logan was worried.

As he should be, but it was a small shock for Sophie to see how affected he was. All he’d done since he’d arrived was give off vibes about how inconvenienced he was by his little sister. He had learned to be a decent caregiver, capable of changing a diaper and being a quick-draw on a bottle of formula, but when Reid and Emma had married, he’d been chipper as hell, starting to talk about heading back to Florida and his life there.

“Biyen’s dad never fought you for custody?” he asked with curiosity.

“Not really.”

“What does that mean?” He sent her a side-eye of puzzlement.

She hesitated, conflicted about revealing anything to him, especially something so personal.

“I didn’t really intend to leave him,” she admitted. “I came to visit Gramps. It was supposed to be for a week. You know, check on him, put a few casseroles in the freezer. When I saw your dad, he asked me when I was going to come back and work for him. The guy who had replaced Gramps after he retired was ready to retire himself. I had dropped out of my apprenticeship once I had Biyen and was serving in a pub. The money was okay, but I wasn’t getting ahead.” She had been supporting her son and her son’s father and had been deeply unhappy, but she hadn’t seen a way out until Wilf made her that offer.

“There was a spot available in the daycare so I said I would try it for a week,” she continued. “Your dad kept offering me more money to stay another week. Biyen liked it here and Gramps wanted us to stay so, after a couple of months, Nolan called to ask when I was coming home. I said I wasn’t.”