Cam thought of slender, fine-boned Grace. Thought of Anna. ‘‘I hope they were nice deep dents.’’

‘‘I think we can assume the guy didn’t walk off whistling. Of course, in typical Ethan style, he doesn’t mention it, so I have to hear it from Marsha over the fresh produce at the market Friday night.’’

‘‘Was Grace hurt?’’ Anna knew all too well what it was to be trapped, to be helpless, to be faced with what a certain kind of man would do to a woman. Or a child.

‘‘No. Must have shaken her up, but she’s like Ethan there. Never mentioned it. But there were several long, silent looks between them yesterday. And after Ethan ran her home, he came back sizzling.’’ Remembering, Phillip chuckled to himself. ‘‘Which for Ethan is saying something. Got himself a couple of beers and went out in the sloop for an hour.’’

‘‘Grace and Ethan.’’ Cam considered it. ‘‘They’d fit.’’ He saw Seth come in and decided to give the topic a rest. ‘‘Where is Ethan, anyway?’’

‘‘He went outside.’’ With a grunt, Seth set the cooler down and nodded toward the cargo doors. ‘‘He said he needed some air, and I guess he did. He was standing there talking to himself.’’ Thrilled with the bounty, Seth dived into the hamper. ‘‘He was, like, carrying on a conversation with someone who wasn’t there. He looked weird.’’

The back of Cam’s neck prickled. Still, he moved casually, dumping food on a plate. ‘‘I could use some air myself. I’ll just take him a sandwich.’’

He saw Ethan standing out on the end of the pier, staring out at the water. The shore of St. Chris with all its pretty houses and yards was on either side, but Ethan looked straight out, over the light chop to the horizon.

‘‘Anna brought some food out.’’

Ethan folded up his thoughts and glanced down at the plate. ‘‘Nice of her. You hit lucky with her, Cam.’’

‘‘Don’t I know it.’’ What he was about to do made him a little nervous. But, after all, he was a man who lived for risks. ‘‘I still remember the first day I saw her. I was pissed off at the world. Dad was hardly buried, and everything I wanted seemed to be somewhere else. The kid had given me plenty of grief that morning, and it occurred to me that the next part of my life wasn’t going to be racing, it wasn’t going to be Europe. It was going to be right here.’’

‘‘You gave up the most. Coming back here.’’

‘‘It seemed like it at the time. Then Anna Spinelli wwalked across the yard while I was fixing the back steps. She gave me my second jolt of the day.’’