Of course it had to happen. Liam and Lily both knew it was just a matter of time. Still, when the confrontation came, it was both worse and less eventful than Liam would have expected.

Lily was in the kitchen, making dinner. She had been at the hospital for most of the afternoon, and Liam and Rose had gone to the fish store to get lobsters. They'd stopped at the vegetable stand for corn, picked up a blueberry pie from a bakery in Black Hall, some fresh peach ice cream from Paradise Ice Cream. Liam enjoyed getting to know the area where Lily had grown up, and Rose seemed to love driving around and doing errands with him.

“Are there lobsters here in the Sound?” Rose asked as they walked down the rocks to fill the big pot with seawater.

“Definitely,” Liam said. “This is a perfect habitat for them, with all the rock ledges to hide in.”

“And there are lobsters up in Cape Hawk?”

“Yes. A lot of the fishing boats down in the harbor actually go out for lobsters. It's a big part of the fleet's catch.”

“Could we catch them ourselves here?” Rose asked, helping Liam hold the pot steady so the water would flow in. When they had enough, they righted it, and then picked tufts of rockweed. Liam's family had always steamed lobsters with seaweed, and Lily wanted to try it. Rose had bare feet; she navigated the rocks with no trouble. The air was chilly, so she wore a sweatshirt. The sleeves were pushed up, and the legs of her jeans were rolled up to her knees. Liam loved watching her be a kid, so carefree on a summer night.

“We could,” he said. “All we'd need is a boat and some pots.”

“Can we get a boat?” Rose asked, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

“If your mom says so.”

They gathered some mussels to cook with the lobsters. Liam couldn't help telling Rose the Latin names for everything—Homarus americanus for lobster, Mytilus edulis for blue mussels—for her future career in oceanography. They scanned the waves for Nanny, although it was still a little early for her to appear. She wasn't there, so they scrambled up the rocks to the yard.

As they rounded the corner of the house, Liam saw him. He recognized his stocky, muscular build, his intense smile, those gleaming green eyes from his brief appearance in Rhode Island.

Liam held the heavy pot, filled with water, in the crook of his arm. He wanted to grab for Rose, to pull her back, but he was not dexterous with his prosthesis, and he didn't move fast enough. She walked straight into Edward's path. Liam felt as if he saw a Mack truck bearing down on her, when it was just a man getting out of his Jaguar.

“Rose,” he said quietly.

She seemed transfixed by the man coming down the stairs to stand beside the wishing well.