“And you’ve known all this time?” Sawyer’s voice had risen an octave. Which was not a good look. He paused and cleared his throat. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Why would I? What business is it of yours?”

“She doesn’t know how to swim!”

“That’s pretty obvious.” Jake chuckled like this whole thing was funny. “I think she’s trying to teach herself.”

Law set a fresh pint in front of Sawyer. He wore a bemused expression Sawyer couldn’t decode.

“What?” Sawyer asked.

“Nothing.”

“What?” When he didn’t get an answer—Law turned and grabbed his keys—Sawyer turned back to Jake. “Can you call me next time you see her there?”

“Why would I want to get involved in your little soap opera?”

“My little what?” Though he did realize how dramatic he probably sounded asking Jake to call him. Jake did not have a cell phone and basically never used the landline at the cottage.

Jake smirked and shook his head. “Forget it. Yeah. I’ll call you.”

“Can you guys watch the bar for a bit?” Law asked. “I’m going to go jump Eve.” He cracked up, and Jake chuckled, too. “Assuming that’s okay with you, Sawyer.”

Dammit. This was the downside to the bromance. These assholes could read him like a book.

When someone knocked on the door of the inn, Eve looked up from her spreadsheet. The Mermaid was closed—she’d posted a sign on the front door saying as much. And it wasn’t Maya. Maya’s knock was a lot more exuberant than this one. She smiled to think that she’d gotten to the point where she recognized Maya’s knock.

But if the door knocker ignoring the sign wasn’t Maya, Eve was wary. She had spent the week since the parade trying to get organized for the renovation. She’d gotten the line of credit, but she was going to try to do as much as she could herself.

She swung the door open. “Clara?”

“Hi, Eve. Am I interrupting anything?”

“No, no. Come on in. How are you?” She had worried about Clara after last week’s incident with her father.

“Oh, fine.” Clara must have heard the concern behind Eve’s question, though, because she added, “Really. Sawyer and I had a big chat and cleared up a lot of things.”

Eve was dying to know more, but since none of the “things” Clara referenced would have anything to do with her, it wasn’t her business. “You want some lemonade?”

“From Legg’s?”

“Yep.”

“Heck yes!”

Legg’s Lemonade had been on the beach since the 1920s, serving burgers and fries and its famous lemonade. Both Clara and Eve had been mad for it back in the day. It had been a rare treat back then, but since she’d been back, Eve had gotten in the habit of buying a jug every couple of days.