“Good plan. As long as you’re prepared to be outclassed.” Mel scooped her hair up into a ponytail. “I was always way better than you. And hardly surprising. Your dad taught me, and he was the best.”

Joanna smiled. “He was such a great swimmer.”

“He really was. The best of all of us. But I’m second best—” Mel jumped to her feet and raced to the water, ponytail swinging as it had when she was a child.

Joanna followed and they plunged into the ocean as they had as children, swimming out beyond the rocks and letting the waves draw them back to the sand. Then they lay, wet and cold from the water, panting for breath.

Joanna stared up at the sky and then laughed. “Thank you.”

Mel grabbed a towel and wrapped it around herself. “For what? Swimming was your idea.”

“For being you.” Joanna sat up. “For coming out here to see me that first day—”

“Any time you want to be yelled at for no reason, I’m your woman.”

Joanna squeezed water out of her hair. “You thought you had a reason to yell.”

“Turned out I should have been yelling at Nate. I did that, too, by the way.”

“You did? How did he take it?”

“Like Nate. Calmly. Although he did admit he messed up, so I took that as a win. My perfect brother isn’t so perfect, which obviously means I can be smug and superior for a while, which is always fun.” Mel sat up and scrubbed salt water from her face. “So you don’t think I should kill Nate?”

“I do not think you should kill Nate.”

“You want to do it yourself?” Mel opened the cooler and helped herself to a drink.

“Me? No.” Joanna reached for a drink, too. “I have other plans.”

“Plans?”

“I’m going to cook him dinner.”

Mel choked on her drink. “So you are going to kill him.”

“No.” Joanna was laughing, too. “I’m going to enjoy an evening with him with no pressure. Thanks to Ashley, I have new skills.”

“What kind of skills?”

“Inside that cooler you’ll find cookies.”

“What’s that got to do with your skills?” Mel helped herself to a cookie. She bit into it, and caught it in her palm as it crumbled. “Oh, wow. This is delicious. I don’t recognize the flavor. Not one of Nate’s?”

“Pistachio and Greek honey.”

“Mmm.” Mel finished the cookie and helped herself to another. “Who made them?”

“I did. With Ashley’s help. She’s teaching me to cook.”

“If I’m still alive in five minutes I’ll give you both a gold star.” Mel chewed. “These are good. So she’s like her father?”

“She’s nothing like her father. Cliff didn’t have the patience to teach anyone, least of all me. And Ashley cooks real food.”