“Not maybe. She used her body because she had a pathological need for attention and didn’t know any other way to get it. You’re nothing like her.”

“Sometimes when I look in the mirror, I see similarities.”

“Change your mirror. I am going to take a pair of scissors to your clothes. It’s time you stopped hiding. You deserve a grand passion, and your breasts deserve to have a life outside the rigid confines of corsetry.”

Emily stared wistfully into her wineglass. “I’ve never had a grand passion. I’ve never felt that strongly about anyone. I’m not sure I want to.”

“That’s because you associate passion with the sleazy encounters your mother had. But that wasn’t passion. That was opportunistic sex.”

Emily thought about the constant parade of men when she was growing up. The cramped apartment had been busier than Times Square in July. The walls had been paper thin, the lack of air-conditioning adding to the oppressive atmosphere of the place. She was fairly sure her mother hadn’t been a passion addict, just an attention addict. “Lana inherited some of her traits. She had that same desperate need to be the focus of attention.”

She’d worked hard to be the opposite, but in doing so she’d put a label on passion as something to avoid, which had proven to be easy enough until now.

She thought about Ryan and the way he made her feel. Of the sexual awareness simmering beneath the surface of every interaction. “Do you see a future with Richard?”

Skylar lay back on the sofa. “He has many qualities that I admire. He knows what he wants and he’s determined to do what he has to do to get there.”

“And he wants you.” She didn’t voice her uneasy suspicion that Richard saw Skylar as an acquisition, a tool to enhance his political appeal.

“Yes, but there’s no escaping the fact that we’re different. He has a five-year plan. I have a five-minute plan.”

“I love that about you.”

Sky finished her wine and put her glass down. “How is it going with Lizzy?”

“It’s tough. I feel like I want to tie her to me so that nothing bad can happen.” Emily toyed with her glass. “I don’t trust my ability to keep her safe. I don’t have the skills for this.”

“Yes, you do, but you’re scared.” Sky took her hand. “It’s understandable after what happened. You’re an intelligent woman, you should understand that.”

“What I know intellectually doesn’t change how I feel emotionally.” She stared down at Skylar’s slender fingers, relieved to be able to talk about it. “When I got that phone call, I thought Puffin Island was the perfect place to bring Lizzy. Secluded, miles away from her home, but I didn’t think about the other things.”

“You mean the sea?”