Ryan smiled. “That’s the one that got him one hundred thousand female followers on Twitter. Or was that the one when you kayaked a section of the Amazon with your shirt off?”

Alec didn’t smile, but fortunately Kirsti chose that moment to arrive, clearing plates and offering dessert menus, with a recommendation of warm blueberry pie.

“Did you say blueberry pie?” Skylar sighed wistfully. “Kathleen made the best blueberry pie.”

“In that case, you should order it, because it’s her recipe.” Kirsti caught a napkin before it could blow away in the breeze, and the same breeze picked up a strand of Skylar’s hair and blew it into Alec’s face.

It wrapped itself around him like a golden tentacle, and he jerked away as if he’d been stung.

“Oops, sorry.” Skylar scooped her hair over the opposite shoulder and gave Alec a conciliatory smile. “Breezy here. Let me buy you dessert to make up for that moment of unsolicited hair bondage.”

The two of them stared at each other, cynic and beauty, violet blue locked with smoldering black.

Feeling as if he were trespassing on an intimate moment, Ryan was about to speak when Alec stood up abruptly.

“Not for me. I have work to do. I’m off to London at the end of the week.” He nodded to Emily. “Good to meet you.”

To Skylar he said nothing, and Ryan watched as his friend walked out through the restaurant without a backward glance.

Skylar handed the menu back to Kirsti. “I guess he hates dessert.” Her voice was calm, but Ryan could see she was upset.

“He hates a lot of things right now. He’s going through a rough time. Bad divorce.”

“We understand. It’s not a problem.” It was Emily who spoke, but Ryan noticed that she reached across and squeezed her friend’s hand, the bond between the two girls visible to the naked eye.

Skylar gave a quick smile intended to indicate she was fine, and then stared out to sea.

As Kirsti disappeared to the kitchen on a mission to find blueberry pie, Ryan tried to resurrect the conversation.

“So, what are your plans for the afternoon?”

It was Lizzy who answered. “We’re going to make jewelry.”

For the first time Ryan noticed the pasta necklace around Lizzy’s neck. Each piece was painted a different shade of purple and pink and sprinkled with glitter.

“Sounds like fun.”

“Can we go on a boat trip?” The innocent question sent a ripple of tension around the table that Ryan detected but didn’t understand.

In the end it was Skylar who spoke. “You’ll be too busy making jewelry for me to wear next time I visit.”

Lizzy wasn’t so easily deterred. “I’d like to go on a boat and see the puffins.”