I gave him a smile. But it was a sad one. He didn’t know the true ugliness of the Abbot family. I did. “So,” I said, searching for a change of topic, anything to steer us away from the ghosts of my past. “What’s on your agenda this weekend? Flinging yourself off a cliff? Running with the bulls?”
Crosby chuckled. “Actually, I have a date.”
I froze. I didn’t want to admit that the heat coursing through my belly might be jealousy. “Do you, now?”
“I do, indeed. Want to join us?”
I reared back, almost losing my balance on the paddleboard.
Crosby dissolved into laughter, trying his best to stay upright. “Oh, God. The look on your face is priceless.”
“You’re an ass, you know that?” I started paddling away from him.
“Wait, don’t be mad. I really do want you to come to the aquarium with me.”
I glanced over my shoulder. “You and who else?”
“Zoe. She’s nine and would love to meet you.”
My paddle stuttered in the water. “You’re friends with a nine-year-old?”
Crosby rubbed at the back of his neck. “I volunteer at Shelter Island Child Alliance. Zoe’s my buddy right now.”
It was one of those moments where your world tilts on its axis. It was just a slight movement but one that allowed me to see things from a completely different viewpoint. “How long have you been doing that?” The Alliance was an amazing organization. They’d helped Caelyn get custody of her siblings and had given all of them the support they so desperately needed in those early days.
Crosby began paddling again, and I followed suit. It was as if he didn’t want me to study him too carefully while we covered this topic. “I started not long after I moved to Anchor, so…almost four years.”
“You never talk about it.” I’d never once heard him mention the Alliance or volunteering. Bell and Ford hadn’t brought it up, so I doubted he’d told them either.
“It just never came up.”
The sudden twisting sensation low in my belly felt a whole lot like guilt. Volunteering for an organization that worked with foster children and families going through custody disputes didn’t exactly fit the picture I’d created of Crosby. An image I was coming to realize may have been a little too tinged by my past experiences with Grant. I knew that Crosby came from a blue blood family back east with oodles of money. Everyone on the island did. I hated to admit that the simple knowledge of his wealth might have blinded me to the truth of who he really was. “That’s really great, Crosby.”
He shrugged, continuing to paddle towards the sun. “So, you want to come with us to the aquarium?”
“I’d love it.” I needed to see this new Crosby in action, the one he hid away from everyone.
“Turn your board.”
“Huh?”
Crosby swiftly navigated his paddleboard so that he was facing the shore. “Turn around. Go slow, though. I don’t want you cursing me if you take a header into the water.”
I glared at him and carefully navigated my paddle through the water, slowly spinning my board toward the shore. When I got myself in position and steady, I looked up. My heart seized. The Gables. Crosby was right; I’d never seen the estate from this angle before. The manor house, the guest house, I could even catch sight of the house the Abbots had occupied for so many years, the one Harriet had sold while I was away at college—too many bad memories for us both.
But the rest of the property? It held nothing but good. I wouldn’t let the shadow of old memories infect it. I wouldn’t let the Abbots take it from me, from Harriet. I was going to do what she’d asked of me and make it into a true home, one full of life and the people I loved. The sun and its late-day amber color seemed to cast a glow over the buildings, the gardens, the beach. It was magical.
“Thank you.” My voice was hoarse as I whispered the two words to Crosby.
“Anytime.”
18
Crosby
Kenna twisted in her seat as we drove off the ferry and onto Shelter Island.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. She’d been fidgety the entire ride over, and quieter than normal. Not even my usual teasing and poking at her temper got a rise out of her.
“Nothing.” Kenna rubbed her hands along her jeans, smoothing invisible wrinkles.
“Stop lying to me, Brown Eyes.”
She let out a little growl. “Am I dressed all right?”
I quickly glanced at Kenna before I pulled into traffic. The woman looked effortlessly gorgeous, wearing jeans that hugged her curves just right, and a tunic-type top in a deep maroon that brought out the amber of her eyes. Shit, I needed my head examined if I was noticing that kind of thing. I cleared my throat. “You look great. This is a casual thing.”
Kenna pressed her lips together and nodded, clearly not believing a word I said. “Is there anything I need to know about Zoe?”
I navigated my truck away from town and headed towards the rolling hills. “She’s nine. Loves soccer. Doesn’t seem to be into dolls.”
Kenna laughed lightly. “All the most important things to know.”
“Her mom’s in jail for drugs. It’s a second offense, so she’ll likely be there for a while.”
Kenna sucked in a sharp breath. “There’s no other family who can take her?”
“They declined to take custody.”
Kenna muttered a curse under her breath. “How long has she been in foster care?”
“A few weeks now.” I looked over at Kenna for a brief moment before returning my eyes to the road. The lines on her brow and the set of her eyes communicated a mixture of anger and pain. “Were you ever in foster care?” I hadn’t even considered what memories this might bring up for Kenna given her history.
She stared out the window towards the ocean as we drove. “One week. It was more than I’d wish on anyone.”
My hands tightened on the wheel. “Bad foster parents?”
“Not bad. Just…exhausted. Too many kids in one home. And I was terrified of what was going to happen to me.”
“But Harriet got you.”
A small smile tipped her lips. “She did. I’d live through that week a hundred more times if it meant I ended up with her.”
“You two were good for each other.”
Her smile widened, it was that unguarded one I so rarely got but craved with every part of me. “We were, weren’t we?”
I pulled into the driveway of a house that looked a little worse for wear but not too bad. Zoe was sitting on the front step with her new backpack, Mrs. Calhoun in a rocking chair behind her with a baby on her lap.
Kenna’s hand reached out and grabbed my thigh as I put my truck in park. “That’s Zoe?”
“Yup. She’s gonna love you.”
Kenna blew out a breath. “Let’s make today really fun for her.”
A grin spread across my face. “That we can do.”
Kenna had absolutely no reason to worry, she and Zoe became instant friends in all of about two minutes. By the time we made it to the aquarium, I was simply a tagalong on their adventure. They talked nonstop. When we wrapped up our morning’s excursion and headed for lunch, I felt as if I’d learned more about the two of them in those few hours than in the entirety of the time I’d known them.