Madeleine would not blush. Hæra couldn’t possibly know about her dream, and it was going to stay that way. “I’m still adjusting to the time change. But I slept well enough. Thanks. You?”

She could have kicked herself for the question. What next? Asking, Did you dream about having sex with me, too?

“I rested,” Hæra said. She darted a quick glance at Jonathan, and when she spoke to Madeleine again, her words sounded a little rehearsed: “Thank you for asking. And you, Jonathan? Did you sleep well?”

Jonathan rubbed a hand over his forehead and chuckled ruefully. “Aye. We’re a rested group. Well done.”

“Yes.” Hæra gave Madeleine a pleased smile. “You see? I’ve learned etiquette. No need to fear my rudeness again.”

At least someone could laugh about it now. The return of Hæra’s rudeness would almost be welcome, as long as it slowed the racing of Madeleine’s heart. “Um, yes. Your father’s a good cook. Do you cook too?”

A pause. Hæra and Jonathan looked at each other, and something seemed to pass between them.

“I was raised by another,” Hæra said eventually. “He was my real father. I think of Jonathan as my friend.”

That sounded like part of a much bigger story. Hæra must have quite a tale to tell—if that was why Madeleine was here, which it obviously wasn’t. “Ah. That makes sense.”

“Yes indeed,” Jonathan agreed. “You could say our biological connection’s irrelevant.”

He’d said they should all be honest with each other. There were things Madeleine couldn’t say—not yet—but if they were putting cards on the table, why not ask this? “Hæra, to tell the truth, Harry Duggan at the Merryweather told me you were Jonathan’s daughter before I even met you.”

Jonathan groaned but did not interrupt.

“He said you made Jonathan turn his life around. But I can’t help wondering if that night on the beach didn’t do it as well.” She turned to Jonathan, who was rubbing his forehead again. “It certainly changed me.”

The question was: had it been for the better?

“There’s no question but it did,” Jonathan said. “You could say if not for that night, I wouldn’t have taken the lass in at all.”

Hæra nodded, looking unsurprised. They must have talked about this many times.

“Why did it affect you so much?” Madeleine pressed. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad it did. It looks like you’ve done something amazing with your life. But from where I’m standing, that night, you just helped me off the beach while I babbled after hitting my head. You didn’t see what I did—and you’d be perfectly within your rights not to believe I saw anything at all.”

Jonathan exhaled heavily and nodded. “I would be.”