How to Keep a Secret

Scott parked and turned to look at her. “You’re quiet. Is everything okay?”

“Everything is good.” Except that she was tired of being sad. And anxious. Sad and anxious. It was a toxic combination.

Still watching her, Scott reached out and stroked Captain’s head. “You’ve been busy lately. I’ve barely seen you. How’s the business?”

“Good.” She tried not to look at those fingers. She tried not to think about that night in the kitchen of the Sail Loft. “We have more work than we can handle right now, including a client who wants us to take a look at her apartment in Manhattan. It’s all very exciting.” Manhattan. She’d visit for the weekend. Mack was perfectly safe with Nancy, so she could probably visit for longer if necessary.

For some reason she didn’t understand, the idea didn’t thrill her.

Mack frowned. “Does Coastal Chic even work in Manhattan? I mean seashells and Central Park? I don’t think so.”

Lauren smiled. “I think we can broaden our look if we need to. Maybe Coastal Chic could become City Chic for a while.”

Scott kept his hand on Captain’s head. “So you’re moving to New York? It’s what you wanted when you were a teenager.”

“Move?” Mack looked horrified. “Mom?”

“We wouldn’t move anywhere,” Lauren said. “If we take the business in New York then I’d find a way to tra

vel and do it. No way are we moving. We’re here now and we’re staying.” And she loved it. The island. The people. The sea. How could she have lived so long without it?

“Good.” Mack opened the car door. “Because right now I am done with change. I want to stay here, have tea with Grams, eat too many of Aunt Jenna’s cookies, update your website, program a robot, see my friends, sail with Scott.” She whistled to Captain and jumped out of the car.

Lauren was about to follow when Scott caught her hand in a tight grip.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I’m looking forward to our sail. Where are we going?”

He gave her a long, searching look and let go of her hand. “You’ll find out.”

Refusing to say more than that, he loaded the cooler onto the boat and they all clambered aboard, including the dog.

Mack moved around the boat with confidence, following Scott’s instructions.

It was obvious from the way they worked together that they’d done this plenty of times.

“Hey, Mom, did you know you can sail right round Martha’s Vineyard?” Mack secured the rope. “It’s 54.7 nautical miles. Scott says we can do it next summer.”

“That’s great.”

So he planned to be here next summer. But what about the long winter in between?

She tried not to think about it. Right now her daughter seemed happy and that was good.

Good for her, and good for Scott. He needed this. It would be good for him to feel a sense of responsibility for someone. It wasn’t something he’d had before in his life.

Sailing round the island gave them views of cliffs, headlands, open water, lighthouses and beach houses, some the size of hotels. Normally Lauren would have loved it, but today her mind was busy with other things.

Scott guided the boat into an inlet and Lauren immediately recognized the beach.

Eyes wide, she glanced at him.

Scott smiled. “Remember this place?”

Of course she remembered this place. It was their beach.

The beach they’d treated as their own.