“He means well, Kayla,” Emma began. “The other day when you needed to be alone, well, I want you to know that I understand, and if you ever want to talk, I’ll listen.”

“I know.”

“About anything, okay?”

“Anything?”

“Yes.”

Kayla looked at Emma. “Tell me about your childhood. You grew up in Washington, D.C., right?”

“The greater D.C. area, mostly Maryland.”

“And it was pretty rough for you?”

“My dad was never in the picture and after my mom died I got shuffled around in the foster care system until I was old enough to take care of myself, get a job and work my way through college.”

“You went to college in Indiana, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Notre Dame, no wait, Purdue?”

“Gosh, no, I went to a smaller school in Indiana, Darmont Hill College. Then I moved here to California, where I met your dad.”

“You were about the same age as me when your mom died, right?”

“That’s right.”

“And she died in a fire?”

“A gas line ruptured at the restaurant where she worked. There was an explosion and a fire.”

“That’s horrible. You never told me that part before, only that she died in a fire.”

“Yeah, well.” Emma shrugged.

“Was your relationship with your mom a good one?”

Emma saw a man some twenty yards away wearing a floral shirt walking along the beach in front of them with binoculars hanging from the strap around his neck. He stopped and raised them to look at the sea. Emma thought he’d been watching her.

“Emma?” Kayla said.

The man continued walking.

“It was complicated. Things between us were unresolved because before she died we had an argument. I was running with the wrong crowd, getting into trouble.”

“Oh. I never knew.”

“Wild teen stuff.” Emma searched the horizon. “You know, if I’ve learned anything from my job and my own mistakes, it’s that you’ve got to choose your friends wisely. Latching on to bad influences can set your life on the wrong path.”

Emma looked at Kayla, who seemed to be coming to a decision to open up a little.

“Dad probably told you that Mom and I argued, too, the last time we talked. I wanted to go to a party at my friend Mallory’s house and Mom said no because older kids were going.”

“What did you do?”

“I freaked. I said, ‘You’re ruining my life,’ then I screamed at her, ‘I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!’ Then she left for work and later that day when she was heading to the cabin she…uhm…she…”

Tears rolled down Kayla’s face and Emma pulled her close and consoled her.

“But you didn’t mean those things, Kayla.”

“I was a bratty little bitch and I never got to take back what I said, to tell her I didn’t hate her, that I loved her.”