She continued on into the house, patting Anne’s shoulder in passing.
“Get your brother a cup of coffee, would you?”
Anne felt her cheeks color, and she gave Noah an exasperated glance.
“Once a Kalama kid, always a Kalama kid,” he said lightly.
“Right.” She cleared her throat. “Doyou want a cup of coffee?”
“I’m good.” He held her gaze for a long moment. There was still a slight grin playing across his face, but his dark brown eyes were serious. “I don’t think of you as a sister, you know. I never did.”
Anne’s cheeks colored again as scenes from their last summer together flashed through her head. Noah knew exactly where her mind was; his grin took on a wicked edge.
“Well, no,” she said primly. “No, I should hope not.”
Noah laughed and gave her a knowing look.
“Do you need a hand with the roof?” she asked pointedly.
“No,” he said, relaxed. “I can manage.”
Anne opened her mouth to say something, then found that the English language had fled her brain altogether. She didn’t have anything to say; she just wanted to stand there with him a moment longer.
Which was exactly the sort of nonsense that shedid nothave time for.
“Right. Well. I guess I’ll go ask Dawn if she has any kitten formula lying around.”
“And soymilk.”
“Right.” She rolled her eyes skyward.
“You call GrandmaDawn?” Claire said through the window, making her jump.
“Sometimes.” So many other kids had used ‘Dawn’ and ‘Mom’ interchangeably throughout her childhood that she’d grown up doing the same. Her mother never seemed to notice one way or another.
“Does that mean I can call you Anne?” Claire asked.
“Absolutely not.” She turned and pushed open the kitchen door.
The low, easy sound of Noah’s laughter followed her into the house.
16
Oakley
“Under!” Hayden shouted as a wall of white water sped towards them.
She and her sister ducked under the wave hand in hand. Oakley watched breathlessly as the wave rolled over them and into her.
Hayden and Harper surfaced, laughing and wiping salt water from their eyes, and Oakley took a breath in. She watched as Hayden towed her little sister out farther, past the breaking waves, to a spot where they could swim over them instead.
“Over!” they shouted together.
Oakley held a hand up to shield her eyes from the sun, watching them carefully as they treaded water.
“Let them be,” scolded a familiar voice.
“What?” She turned to look at Anne, who had come to stand next to her. Waves rolled past their legs, and their feet sank deeper into the damp sand.
