“Yes. I couldn’t have brought her to a worse place. All my phobias are concentrated in this one small island.”

“You love this island. We spent every summer here when we were in college.”

“That was different. I didn’t have a child to care for. I could think about myself. I helped Kathleen in the garden, I walked up through the woods, I spent time in the kitchen with her learning to bake—”

“So, you can still do those things.” Skylar put her glass down. “You don’t have to go to the beach, Em.”

“It’s right outside the door and she keeps asking.” She took a deep breath. “And I feel like a coward.”

“You’re not a coward. You had a terrible experience. And you’ve only been back on the island for a week. Give yourself time. There’s no shortage of things to do here. We just need to get her interested in things that don’t involve the sea.” Skylar suppressed a yawn. “I haven’t been to the harbor for ages. We’ll do that tomorrow. We’ll eat ice cream and you can take me to the Ocean Club. I want to try the chocolate milk Lizzy keeps talking about. And I want to meet Ryan.”

* * *

Ryan was seated at a table by the water talking to Alec when Kirsti strolled over to them.

“She’s back. I told you she was The One. She can’t stay away from you. And she brought a hot blonde for Alec.”

Alec didn’t lift his gaze from the book he’d been reading before Ryan had joined him. “I’m allergic to hot blondes.”

Ryan glanced over to the doorway, saw Emily and Lizzy and, behind them, another woman he assumed to be Skylar.

She was tall, her almost ethereal beauty emphasized by the dress she wore. A mixture of green and blue, it floated round her slim frame as she walked.

“She looks like a mermaid,” Kirsti muttered. “Alec, you are going to want to look at this.”

“In Greek mythology mermaids summon men to their doom.”

“You read too much. You need to watch more TV and play some video games. Rot your brain a bit like normal folk.”