“I know we do.” He calms and pats my shoulder. “Maggie didn’t grow up with you the way the others did because she was so much younger, so it makes sense that it’s not a brother she sees when she looks at you. It’s a good man you are, and any father would count himself lucky to know that you have your eyes on his daughter.”

“Thank you.” Relief brushes away the heaviness I’ve carried on my shoulders.

“She’s been hurt before,” he continues. “And I trust that history won’t repeat itself.”

“No.” I shake my head. “I’d rather die than ever hurt her. I love her.”

“Have you told her that news yet?”

I grin and shrug one shoulder. “Not yet. I don’t think she’s ready to hear it. But we’ll get there. There’s no hurry.”

“You’re a smart man,” Tom says and claps me on the back as we walk toward the kitchen. “A smart, smart man. I think you got that from me.”

“I think you’re right.”

“Da!” Keegan exclaims and hurries over to hug his father. “How did you keep this a secret?”

“We had Cameron help us,” Fiona says. “Now, that’s a lad who can keep a secret. If we’d told anyone else, it wouldn’t have been a secret at all.”

“I’m offended,” Shawn decides. “I can keep a bloody secret.”

“Right.” Lexi rolls her eyes and then laughs. “You’re a vault.”

“I am,” Shawn insists but then chuckles. “I don’t care who kept the secret. It was a damn good one. I’m so glad you’re here.”

“As are we, boy,” Tom says. “Now, is there some stew simmering? This old man needs something in his belly.”

“You ate on the plane,” Fiona reminds him.

I slink away to go put out a fire at Kane’s place. I don’t know what he’s done this time to rile Maggie up, but she sounded good and pissed on the phone.

Exactly nine minutes later, I walk into Kane’s house and through to the sunporch where we usually sit when we’re here. Kane has a killer view of the ocean.

Murphy, Kane’s yellow dog, runs over to greet me, and I scratch his ears.

But I narrow my eyes when I see the other two people in the room.

Maggie.

And Bill Miller, the private investigator that Kane hired after Joey died.

“Why is he here?”

“Wait.” Maggie rounds on me, fire shooting from her magnificent green eyes. “You know about him? You know?”

“Okay, let’s calm down,” Kane says.

“Fuck that,” Maggie says. “I told you that I was done. I don’t want to know any more about the shit that Joey pulled. It’s over. I’m moving on with my damn life, so anything that he has to say is irrelevant to me.”