Ryan didn’t think Skylar seemed that sort at all, but he kept that thought to himself. “So, are you going to do it?”

“You do know you have a major problem, don’t you?”

“You’re talking about my choice of friends?”

“I’m talking about the fact that in order to get the girl, you’re going to have to deal with the child.” Alec lifted his beer to his lips. “For you, that’s like walking through a ring of fire.”

“All I had in mind was a drink and conversation. You’ve gone straight from a single look to divorce in sixty seconds.”

“Every divorce begins with a single look. Never forget that.”

“No chance while I’m hanging around with you. When is this cynicism going to die?”

“Never. It’s keeping me safe.”

“It’s keeping you single.”

“Same thing.”

Ryan shook his head. “I thought you came here to heal.”

“I came here to work.”

But Ryan knew that wasn’t the whole story. For plenty of people, Puffin Island was a sanctuary. It was the reason Lisa had chosen to uproot two small children in an attempt to build a new life. It was the reason Brittany had offered her cottage to Emily.

It was a place where wounds could heal, bathed by the beauty of nature.

Some wounds, he thought. Not all.

He saw Emily tighten her grip on Lizzy’s hand and linger at the edge of the beach as if she were about to step into a pit of alligators. Her anxiety was almost painful to witness. He wanted to stride across the sand, fold her into his arms and stand between her and the sea. It was as if she were frozen.

Another panic attack?

Remembering how she’d been that day Lizzy had wandered onto the beach, Ryan cursed under his breath.

“Damsel in distress,” Alec said flatly, “the most dangerous kind of all. They wait for you to show your soft side, and then they go in for the kill.”

Ryan didn’t think there was a single part of himself that could be classed as “soft” right at that moment. And he knew that nothing his friend had said applied to Emily. “That isn’t what’s happening here.”

The water was her phobia.

The fact that she was here, facing up to the thing she feared most, simply increased his respect for her.

Shit.

“It’s my job to greet guests, so I’m going over there—”

“Of course you are. Since that was always going to be the outcome, you should have done it five minutes ago.”

Ryan ground his teeth. “Next time we’re out in the boat, I hope the beam cracks your skull.”

“I’m not the one who needs a smack round the head.”

“You can stay here growling if you like, but I’m going to be sociable.”