Now she chuckled. “Because no matter how determined you were not to like her, Neil MacKean, you’ve got a heart bigger than the sky and deeper than the ocean.” She elbowed his side and disappeared into the house.

Though the rain had dissipated by the time they reached town, damp air blustered over Sydney the moment she rose from the back seat of Lilian’s car, the gust capturing her hair and sending it fluttering around her face.

One thing she’d learned in almost two days at the farm—there was little point in fussing over style. Not with the seaside wind always at the ready.

Indi, though, didn’t seem to follow the same rule. Underneath her unbuttoned raincoat, her fashionable boho dress, a swirl of reds and purples and greens, billowed around her legs, her collection of bracelets clinking in time with the heels of her tall boots. “Hurry, ladies. If we’re late, Patti Brighton-Smythe will have our heads.”

Lilian closed her driver’s-side door, dropped her keys in her purse, voice low and apparently meant only for Sydney. “Ironic, really, Indi being the one to worry about being late.”

This was the most dressed-down Sydney had seen Lilian. Both Sunday night and Monday, Lilian had been in slacks and a blazer, but today she’d paired dark jeans with her heels and her top, visible near the open collar of her trench coat, was a soft gray sweater.

Whether either sister actually wanted her along for this outing, she couldn’t say. But it’d only made sense to accept the invitation. So far, her time at the farm hadn’t yielded any answers about her birth mother or her father. After helping Neil paint last night, she’d stayed up until after one in the morning looking through scrapbooks, willing herself to feel some spark of connection or memory.

But . . . nothing.

And other than a quick text from Wilder this morning saying he was still following up on a couple of leads, she had a feeling he wasn’t any closer to proving his theory today than he’d been last week.

So why not venture into Muir Harbor? Maybe she’d meet someone who might remember a JP.

“Come on, slowpokes.” Indi tossed her cheery order over her shoulder with a light laugh, already moving down the sidewalk.

Lilian’s eyebrows lifted. “I have absolutely no idea why she’s so enthusiastic about this meeting. It’s more of a gossip-fest than anything.”

“Excited to show off her ring, maybe?”

Lilian didn’t have a reply to that, just watched her sister hurry onward. Why did the whole family seem so doubtful about Indi’s engagement?

“So none of you have met the guy?” She fell into step beside the older sister, drinking in the sight of the small town center as they walked. An undeniable old-world charm hummed from every detail she took in—the cobblestone street, spindly black lampposts, decorative storefront facades. Brick buildings with yawning windows lined both sides of the road, and up ahead the street split into two directions, curving around a large circle lawn, still-green grass puddled with patches of fallen leaves.