I met her gaze, no longer a scared little girl she could push around. “Can I help you?”
Pink tinged Annabelle’s cheeks. “We are about to do the burial. That is family only. You need to leave.”
Caelyn sucked in a sharp breath, and Bell muttered a curse. I didn’t look away from the woman in front of me. The one with evil in her eyes. “You must have an incredibly sad life.”
“Excuse me?” The pink in Annabelle’s cheeks turned to red and spread down her neck.
“Mother, why don’t you go see if the minister needs anything.” Grant steered Annabelle towards Pastor Andrews before turning back to me. “My family is in mourning. The last thing my mother needs is you being cruel.”
Bell let out a scoff. “Please, that woman has ice running through her veins.”
Grant’s jaw worked back and forth. “I can see the company you keep hasn’t improved.”
I wasn’t going to give him the pleasure of a scene. I refused. Every word I gave him, every hint of emotion, was just one more piece he’d have of me. And Grant didn’t deserve a single one. I turned to my friends. “Ladies, how about some ice cream cake? Two scoops cookies and cream on the beach?”
Bell grinned. “That sounds like the perfect way to celebrate Harriet. She hated all this stuffy formal event crud anyway.”
I chuckled, and it felt so damn good. “Let’s go.”
Grant’s mouth opened and closed like a fish’s, so unused to being dismissed. I turned on my heel and started across the cemetery towards the parking lot, where the rest of our crew waited.
Bell and Caelyn hurried to catch up, Caelyn slipping her arm through mine. “I really want to castrate him with a rusty spork.”
We all dissolved into laughter, the kind that had tears streaming down our faces and our bellies aching. The type that would make Harriet smile if she could see us, even if it was at the expense of her grandson’s balls.
11
Crosby
“Has Bell seen much of Kenna lately?” I did my best to throw the question out casually, but from the look Ford gave me, I wasn’t very successful. I might never be an Oscar-winning actor, but it didn’t matter at the end of the day. I was worried.
After the funeral, we’d gone to The Gables, to the beach that was Harriet’s favorite, and we’d had ice cream cake. The kids had changed into swimsuits and played in the waves. We’d shared our favorite stories about Harriet—the funny and the heartfelt. It was just the kind of celebration Harriet would’ve loved.
But in the two weeks that followed, Kenna had gone radio silent. I hadn’t seen her at The Catch or The General Store, where Caelyn worked most days. I hadn’t seen her in town or at her usual swimming spot.
Ford wiped down the bar top but kept one eye on me. “She’s been keeping a pretty low profile. I think she wants to avoid any potential run-ins with the Abbot clan.”
I muttered a curse. Much to my dismay, Clark, Annabelle, and Grant were still on Anchor, taking up a few suites at The Cove. They hadn’t been in touch about the will since our first meeting, but the fact that they were still here did not spell good things.
“Why do they dislike Kenna so much? You’d think they’d be grateful that someone was looking after Harriet all of these years so they didn’t have to come back.” I’d only picked up bits and pieces of the family’s history when it came to Kenna. As open as Harriet was about most things, she was mostly tight-lipped when it came to this. And God knew Kenna wasn’t sharing anything I didn’t pry out of her.
Ford’s movements stilled. “I don’t know the whole story. I just know that none of them treated her well. I think there are a lot of scars there.”
I felt a twisting sensation low in my gut. Ford was holding something back. But I wouldn’t push. The things he knew were likely courtesy of his fiancée, and I didn’t want to make him break that confidence.
“I hate that anyone’s hurt her.” The words were out before I could think better of them. Before I could consider what they might mean. There was just something about Kenna that drew me to her. It was a broken strength. Something that said she’d been through hell and had come out the other side stronger and fiercer than ever.
Ford tossed the rag he was using into a bucket on the floor. “She hasn’t had an easy life. None of those girls have. I think that’s why their bond is so tight. The people in their lives that they should’ve been able to count on were never there the way they should’ve been, so they counted on each other.”
I was glad that Kenna had Bell and Caelyn, that they had one another. Still, the anger simmering in my blood at Kenna’s mother and the Abbots wasn’t cooled by that knowledge. The pain she’d endured, whatever it was, had left a nearly impenetrable shell in its wake.
I pushed to my feet, sliding my wallet out of my back pocket and pulling out a twenty. “Thanks for the meal. Tell Bell I said hi.”
“Will do. You want to hit up some rock climbing this weekend?”
I grinned. I’d gotten Ford hooked on the sport, and we went out a few times a month now. “Just name the time.”
“Sounds good. I’ll shoot you a text.”
I gave Ford a chin jerk and headed out. The dusky twilight of early fall meant I barely needed my headlights to navigate the winding island roads. The air was still tonight. No sea wind shaking the trees. I rolled down my windows, hoping the scent of the salt air would calm the twitchiness running through my limbs.
It didn’t help the way it usually did. I gripped the wheel harder, my hands making the leather squeak. Instead of heading up the mountain toward the bluffs, I turned left in the direction of the sea and The Gables.
Paved roads turned to gravel, and I soon caught sight of the grand main house and its miniaturized counterpart. I pulled to a stop outside the guest house. Before I could think too hard about what I was doing, I hopped out of my truck.
I didn’t bother beeping the locks, just strode up the front walk and gave three quick knocks. I held my breath as I waited, straining to hear any sound within. Just as I was about to rap again, I heard soft footfalls coming from the other side of the door. The lock flipped, and the door swung open.
The light from the lanterns that hung on either side of the door hit Kenna in a way that made her look like an oil painting. Her hair was fixed in a low bun at the nape of her neck. Her skin, smooth and free of makeup, seemed to gleam in the low light. But her eyes… They told the truth. They were dull with none of their usual spark, and they were ringed in dark circles.
She gripped the door frame. “Crosby.”
There was no welcoming note in her tone. “Hey, Brown Eyes.” I hoped for a flicker of annoyance in those amber depths, but there was nothing.
She sighed. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to check on you.” The words sounded bizarre to my ears. I wasn’t her confidante. I wasn’t even sure she’d classify me as a friend. I was more of an annoying acquaintance.
“Why?” The question was devoid of emotion. Even the word sounded exhausted.
“I don’t know. Just bored, I guess.”