“The whole time. I’ll be able to hear you.”

“Will Ryan be there, too?”

“For a while, but then he’ll be going home.”

“I like it when he’s here. I wish he could stay.”

I wish he could stay, too.

“He has to go home.” Emily tucked the patchwork quilt around the little girl and the bear. “And you need to go to sleep.”

“Maybe he could do a sleepover one night, like I did with Summer and Harry.”

Emily felt her tummy tighten. “We’ll talk about that another time.”

“Can Cocoa sleep on my bed tonight in case the storm comes back?”

“I’ll ask Ryan.”

“Can we swim in the sea again tomorrow?”

The questions were endless, a ruse to postpone the moment when Emily left the room.

“It depends on the weather.” She sat on the edge of the bed and stroked Lizzy’s hair. “Are you still scared? I could sit with you if you like.”

“No.” Lizzy’s eyes were drifting shut. “I’m going to think about Abbie in the storm. She was brave.”

“She was.”

“Emily?”

She paused, waiting for another question. “Yes?”

“I love you.”

Caught off guard, Emily felt her heart miss a beat and the breath jam in her throat.

It hadn’t been a question, but still a declaration like that demanded a response and how was she going to respond?

Of all the things that scared her in life, this scared her the most.

More even than walking into the sea and swimming.

She thought of what Ryan had said about fear. She thought of Abbie keeping the lamps burning in the storm.

And then she closed her eyes and took the leap. “I love you, too.”

* * *

“Is she asleep?” Ryan offered her a beer, but Emily shook her head and walked to the window, her expression dazed. “What’s wrong?”

“Everything.” She wrapped her arms around herself, staring straight ahead. “I’ve lived my whole life trying to stop this happening.”

Ryan put his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him. “What?”

“She told me she loved me.” Her voice shook slightly, and he saw emotion shimmer in those green eyes, along with something else.

“And that scared the hell out of you.”

“Yes.” She took a deep breath. “I can’t do this, Ryan. I don’t want this.”

“You don’t want her to love you? You’re scared because she’s putting all her trust in you, depending on you?”

There was a long silence, and then she lifted her face to his. “No, I’m scared because I love her back.”

“Emily—”

“She’s been with me for a matter of weeks, and I was so sure I had this under control.”

“Feelings are the hardest thing in life to control.”

She raked shaking fingers through her hair. “What am I going to do?”