My throat caught at the idea of sitting on the swing that Harriet had put in overlooking the beach. She and I had sat in that very spot countless times to watch the sunset or have one of our heart-to-hearts. I hadn’t visited since she passed.

Crosby wrapped his arms around me and pressed his lips to my temple. “She’d want you to use it.”

I nodded against his chest. “Let’s go.”

We walked in silence. The twilight sky held the promise of a clear, starry night. When we reached the swing, I paused for a moment. Crosby gave my hand a gentle tug, pulling me down next to him. My breath stuttered as I sat, but the comfort of the worn wood and cool, sea air was a balm I hadn’t known I needed.

Crosby wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “Cold?”

“No. It’s perfect. Thank you.”

“Sometimes, we just need a gentle push.”

He was right. But I wondered what it was that Crosby needed a gentle push towards. “Harriet and I solved a lot of life’s problems from this spot.”

His fingers toyed with strands of my hair. “I don’t doubt it. When I suggested that she and I sit out here one afternoon, she wouldn’t let me. She said this was her special spot with her ‘sweet girl.’”

I chuckled, picturing Harriet rejecting Crosby. “I bet you pouted.”

“I don’t pout.”

“Don’t worry, it’s a very manly pout.”

Crosby shook his head. “Think this spot has it in its magic to solve one more of life’s problems?”

“Let’s hope it does. Janet or the Abbots?”

Crosby began twirling a strand of my hair again. “I’m wondering if the two aren’t related.”

I turned to face him. “Janet said Grant called her.”

Crosby’s expression hardened. “It seemed like convenient timing.”

Thoughts churned in my brain. “I haven’t seen her for years.” Since before I left for college. And if anyone knew the kind of injury my mother could inflict, it was Grant. I’d laid bare all the wounds she’d inflicted on me, so, of course, he’d use the knowledge to his advantage. “But what good does it really do him to bring her back?”

Crosby shrugged. “It messes with your head. It’s another warning that he can make your life miserable if he wants to.”

My spine straightened. “But he can’t. Sure, he can make trouble for me, but I refuse to let him steal my joy or my peace. He won’t stop me from fighting tooth and nail for The Gables.”

Crosby gave my hair a gentle tug and pressed a kiss to my head. “That’s my girl.”

It terrified me how much I wanted to be just that.

27

Kenna