“Because it’s the third night in a row I saw you walking back to the village with him.”

There was nothing inappropriate about what we were doing. There was some gray area about me staying in his cabin, but nothing had happened. At all. But I felt some twinges of shame as previous accusations from Keith flared up in me.

I never did anything wrong back then either, but it never mattered. Keith always found some excuse to accuse me of something.

I waited a second before answering. Finishing the bin, I put it on the tray and loaded it into the machine, then turned to face Grant. He was in the doorway between me and the rest of the kitchen. Owen and Hadley were waiting behind him, both looking uncomfortable.

“What are you accusing me of?”

“Are you sleeping with him?”

Sophia had just entered the cafeteria, but she paused coming through the tables. There’s no way she could’ve heard Grant, but she must have sensed the awkwardness in the atmosphere. Her gaze was searching. She found Grant first and then me, looking right at her.

Her eyes narrowed as she approached. “Grant?”

He looked, but turned back to me. “I asked you a question, Charlie. Are you sleeping with him?”

“Grant!” She sounded horrified.

I wasn’t sleeping with him in the way he was asking, but saying no felt like I was hiding something. I didn’t want to hide. It felt wrong.

“Charlie!” A second hiss from him.

“No, okay?”

His head tilted to the side. “Why’d you take so long to answer?”

I opened my mouth.

Hadley beat me to it, pushing past him. “Because maybe she wants to sleep with him. How about that? And she can if she wants.”

Uh—what?

Little Hadley was all in his face, her two French braids bouncing from her energy.

“She’s not a full-time staff member, and none of us are kids now. I have three little ones of my own. And really, who could blame her?”

“It’s Reese Forster,” Owen added. “I mean, if I swung that way, I’d want to as well.”

That said a lot coming from Owen.

He adjusted his shoulder, rolling it back.

“You saw her walking with him back to the village. That’s the same path she takes to her cabin. So what? She’s allowed to talk to him.” Sophia with another defense.

Guilt bloomed in me.

All three of them had spoken up for me. Gah. I had to come clean. I liked them all too much.

“Okay! Fine. You all can stop defending me because I…kinda, but not really lied just now.” I squared my shoulders and shoved all the shame out of me, because I did not deserve it. “I’m not sleeping with him, but I am sleeping in his cabin.”

Hadley wheeled to me, her mouth open.

“Damn,” Owen breathed.

Sophia just blinked, looking shocked.