I knew he was right. Caelyn had extended the invitation more than once, but I couldn’t say yes. For so many reasons—no matter how much I wanted to. “Thanks. I appreciate that. You should tell Brody, too.”

“I will. Have a good rest of your day.” He reached out as if to give my shoulder a quick squeeze and then stopped himself, turning it into some sort of wave.

It was the perfect metaphor for every pseudo-relationship I had at the moment. Awkward and unsure. If I couldn’t truly let anyone in, that would always be the case. And how sad and lonely was that?

10

Brody

The doorbell rang, abruptly cutting through the quiet of my makeshift studio. I’d always preferred to work without music, the only soundtrack to my work the noises of the city around me. I’d swapped honking and loud voices for wind, sea, and birds. It showed in my work. The images were slightly softer somehow.

I took one last look at the painting in front of me before shucking my mask and gloves and heading for the front door. I pulled it open to find Hunter and someone I hadn’t expected.

“Lara? What are you doing here?”

Hunter scowled at my petite art dealer. “She said she knew you, but I wasn’t about to let someone I didn’t know traipse all over the island.”

I swallowed a chuckle at the indignant look on Lara’s face. Not a lot of people told her no. “She’s fine, but I appreciate you keeping an eye out.” Everything on Harbor was unlocked for the most part. I hadn’t considered how anyone with a boat could simply come ashore. I needed to think about a security system.

“Brody. Is this really how you greet your closest friend?”

My gaze snapped back to Lara, and I bent to give her a kiss on each cheek. “You know Carson’s my closest friend.”

She huffed as she pushed inside. “He’s barely human, so he doesn’t count.”

I chuckled and gave Hunter a wave as I closed the door. “What the hell are you doing here, Lara? It’s not like this is a day trip from the City.”

Lara clasped her hands in front of her as she surveyed the downstairs of my house. “Did you really think you could tell me that you’re not sure you’ll ever show again and I wouldn’t have something to say on the matter?”