“Right, so.” Eve got the sense that this argument might go on for a while, so she interrupted them. She needed to get her stuff into the inn—and herself off the hook for this weird sleepover thing. Not to mention away from Sawyer. She eyed him. He was looking at her with a weird, intense expression. “I have some news.”

That got their attention, which, even though it had been her aim, suddenly felt a little disconcerting. As at the grocery store, it had been hard to say the words. Every time she said them, she made it a little more real. And this time Sawyer was present to hear them.

She took a deep breath. They were going to be so surprised. “I’ve decided to stay in town for a year. I’m going to renovate the Mermaid.”

“We know, dear,” the woman said. “That’s why we’re here. If you’re staying, you’ll be here for the Auntie Festival.”

“Wait. What?” How could they know?

Sawyer chuckled. “News travels fast here.”

Soon they were all talking a mile a minute at her about the renovations. Where would they be in a month? Could she pause them for the festival? Was she going to have guests in during the reno or close entirely?

“The thing is…” Eve said, trying to get their attention. It didn’t work.

She had Sawyer’s attention, though. He hadn’t stopped looking at her the whole time, in fact. “Let the lady speak,” he barked, peevishly enough that it shut everybody up.

“Right, so.” She shifted in place, feeling like she was back in school, giving a presentation to a not-very-friendly audience. “I have no idea what state the inn will be in by the first weekend of October.” As if that were her only objection to the idea of throwing open the doors of the Mermaid and literally inviting the entire town to spend the night. That still made no sense. “So I don’t think I can commit to this.”

There was a brief moment of silence, but she could feel them regrouping.

“Sawyer.”

The greeting came from someone else, someone farther away, and it wasn’t very loud. But it was enough to make Sawyer whip his head in its direction.

Just as on that terrible day, her instinctive reaction as Charles Collins approached was to shrink back. Sawyer noticed and moved to stand between her and him. Which, if she thought about it with her rational mind, made no sense. Charles wouldn’t actually harm her. She hadn’t even really thought he would that day ten years ago. No, he had reserved that treatment for Sawyer.