Ryan thought about the meeting he had scheduled with the multimillionaire yacht owner who wanted to negotiate the fee for using the Ocean Club facilities. He’d been looking forward to the cut and thrust of a negotiation that would end in him taking a generous chunk of the guy’s money, but the anticipation was clouded by the thought of what might happen if Emily had a panic attack while Doug was in the middle of the bay. “Doug crams as many people on the boat as he can to make money. Sometimes the kids can’t even see properly. You’d be more comfortable with me.”

“There isn’t—”

“I want to go with Ryan! Please?” Lizzy was visibly excited at the proposed change of plan, and Ryan drew Emily aside. He breathed in the scent of blossoms and lemons and wondered why he was doing this to himself.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?”

“A boat trip? Yes. I promised.”

And she would never break a promise, he knew that.

“Then let me take you.”

“No, but thank you for offering.”

“Are you refusing because of what happened in the pool?”

Her gaze skidded to his and away again. “I’m refusing because this is a child-centered day, and you have better things to do with your time.”

He certainly had other things to do with his time. Whether they were better or not, he wasn’t sure. “I can manage one boat trip, Emily. I’ll make sure you’re both safe, and you can wear life jackets the whole time. You’ll be happier, I promise.” He saw her gaze flicker to the tourist boat where Doug was taking money from people as they boarded. The boat was filling up, and he knew that it was going to be at full capacity. “With me, if you discover you hate it, or if she hates it, we can turn around any time and come back to the harbor. You can’t do that with Doug.”

“I thought you sailed a flashy racing boat.”

“I do, but I’ll borrow Alec’s sloop. It’s a traditional wooden boat. You’ll love it.”

Her expression told him she didn’t think there was anything to love about boats. “Lizzy isn’t too young for that type of boat?”

“I took Rachel sailing for the first time when she was four. Spent a whole summer teaching her knots. Bowlines, hitches, figure of eights. By the time she was eight she was sailing a Sunfish by herself.”

“I don’t even know what that is.”

“It’s a dinghy. It has a habit of capsizing.” Remembering made him smile and then he saw she’d turned green. “Alec’s boat is stable.”

“It doesn’t need a crew to sail it?”