At the far edge of the beach, the forest crowded the edge of the water, and the setting sun sent a mosaic of warm light over the treetops and the sand.

Lizzy was clutching the bucket Ryan had given her, now filled with shells and other interesting objects she’d found in the pools.

As they sat down on blankets near the fire, Emily examined the contents of the bucket.

“That’s pretty.” Skylar leaned across and helped herself to a piece of turquoise sea glass, the ends of her hair sweeping the sand. “Polished up, that would be gorgeous.”

“Ryan, look!” Lizzy crawled over to him and dropped a shell in his lap.

He picked it up and duly admired it. It was impossible not to respond to Lizzy’s enthusiasm, and he caught his sister watching him curiously.

It was obvious from her expression she was wondering what he was doing.

He was wondering the same thing.

To give himself space from Lizzy’s impromptu show-and-tell, he rose to his feet and excused himself on the pretext of checking in with Anton, but Rachel reached him before he made it halfway across the beach.

“What’s going on, Ryan?”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, please—” she anchored her dark hair with her hand “—you’re carrying Lizzy on your shoulders and looking at shells. Who are you and what have you done with my brother?”

“You’re not funny.”

“No, what isn’t funny is you using a child to get access to Emily’s body!”

He ground his teeth. “Do you want to speak a little louder? I don’t think they heard you in Boston.”

“It’s not fair, Ryan.”

He swore under his breath and dragged his fingers through his hair. “That isn’t what I’m doing.”

“Then what are you doing?”

“Honestly? I don’t know.”

“But you like Emily.”

Like? Such an insipid word didn’t even begin to describe his complex feelings. “I sympathize with her situation.”

“That wasn’t sympathy I saw in your eyes when you looked at her.”

“Back off.”

“We both know you’re not interested in taking on anyone’s kids long-term, so just be careful, Ryan. I’m thinking of Lizzy. She’s young. Kids get attached.”

“Are you lecturing me?”

“Yeah, so now you know how it feels.” She punched him lightly on the arm and walked back to the group at the far side of the beach, leaving him staring after her.

She was right, of course.

He wasn’t interested in taking responsibility for a child.

He thought about Lizzy’s hands locked in his hair and the delicious sound of her giggle as he’d bounced her across the sand.

What the hell was he doing?

He’d told Rachel to back off, but he was the one who needed to back off.