“You’ve been talking to Kirsti.”

“Rachel. And I have eyes. Don’t make that mistake of thinking age means I don’t see.”

“You wear glasses.”

“Which make my vision near perfect. That girl is longing for a family and a home.”

“Maybe those glasses of yours need changing because she’s been running from both those things most of her life.”

“Sometimes you run from the things you want most, because those are the things that scare you.” His grandmother looked at him pointedly, but Ryan chose not to engage in that particular conversation.

He wasn’t scared. He just didn’t want that.

After that first session in the pool, he’d made a point of not touching her, choosing instead to stay close enough to help if she found herself in trouble, but far enough away to ensure they focused on her swimming and not the sexual heat that underpinned every encounter.

Having made the decision to conquer her fear of water, she refused to let anything stand in her way. Not her own nerves or even an incident when she’d slid on the side of the pool and plunged into the deep end. She’d come up spluttering, wild-eyed, but had rejected his offer of assistance and instead choked and splashed her way to the side of the pool without help.

He suspected she’d lowered the water level by swallowing half of the pool, but he respected her determination to do it by herself.

He dropped his grandmother at her book group, but instead of driving back to the Ocean Club, he parked outside Summer Scoop.

The store was closed, and Lisa answered the door with a glass of wine in her hand. “Ryan!” She opened the door to let him in. “Emily is here. We’re having a Save Summer Scoop meeting.”

He looked at the wine. “That involves wine?”

“It definitely does. Emily brought it. It’s delicious. Come and join us.”

He followed Lisa into the small kitchen, noticing the toys piled hastily into a box in the corner. Emily had papers spread all over the kitchen table and her laptop open.

This was an Emily he hadn’t seen before.

She was dressed in skinny jeans and a turquoise T-shirt that hugged her curves. Distracted by those curves, Ryan lost orientation and banged into the door frame. Pain exploded through his shoulder, and he decided life had been more comfortable when she’d worn black, voluminous tops.