Anna had a quick flash of a dark road, the bite of gravel against her back as she was shoved to the ground. ‘‘It’s a mistake to blame yourself.’’

‘‘Oh, I don’t—not that way. I didn’t deserve what he tried to do. I didn’t encourage him. The fact is, I made it clear I wasn’t interested in him or his hotel bed. But I should have locked up after Steve left. I wasn’t thinking, and that was careless.’’

‘‘I’m glad you weren’t hurt.’’

‘‘I could have been. I can’t afford to be careless.’’ She glanced to the doorway where the bright music and Aubrey’s brighter laughter came through. ‘‘I’ve got too much at stake.’’

‘‘Single parenting’s hard. I see the problems that can come out of it all the time. You’re brilliant at it.’’

Now it wasn’t surprise, but shock. No one had ever called her brilliant at anything. ‘‘I just . . . do.’’

‘‘Yes.’’ Anna smiled. ‘‘My mother died when I was eleven, but before that she was a single parent. When I look back and remember, I see that she was brilliant at it too. She just did. I hope I’m half as good at ‘just doing’ as both of you when I have a child.’’

‘‘Are you and Cam planning on it?’’

‘‘I’m good at planning,’’ Anna said with a laugh. ‘‘I want to give just being married a little time, but yes, I want children.’’ She looked out the window to where the flowers she’d planted were blooming. ‘‘This is a wonderful place to raise kids. You knew Ray and Stella Quinn?’’

‘‘Oh, yes. They were wonderful people. I still miss them.’’

‘‘I wish I’d known them.’’

‘‘They’d have liked you.’’

‘‘Do you think?’’

‘‘They’d have liked you for yourself,’’ Grace told her. ‘‘And they’d have loved what you’ve done for the family. You helped bring them back together. I think they got a little lost for a while—after Dr. Quinn died. Maybe they all had to go their own way, just like they had to come back.’’

‘‘Ethan stayed.’’

‘‘He’s rooted here—in the water, like eelgrass. But he drifted, too. And spent too much time alone. His house is around the bend that the river takes away from the water-front.’’

‘‘I’ve never seen it.’’

‘‘It’s tucked away,’’ Grace murmured. ‘‘He likes his privacy. Sometimes on a quiet night if I went walking, when I was carrying Aubrey, I could hear him play his music. Just catch the notes on the air if the wind was right. It sounded lonely. Lovely and lonely.’’

Eyes that were dazzled by love saw some things with perfect clarity. ‘‘How long have you been in love with him?’’

‘‘Seems like all my life,’’ Grace murmured, then caught herself. ‘‘I didn’t mean to say that.’’

‘‘Too late. You haven’t told him?’’