“I wonder why.”
She smiles and nudges my shoulder a little. Last night we climbed to the top of the lighthouse again and talked about nothing. Stupid stuff. How Eva’s never been on a horse. My uncharacteristic love for Anne of Green Gables. Eva’s addiction to eating peanut butter right out of the jar. My irrational fear of water beasts.
“Water beasts?” she’d asked, barely holding back a laugh.
“Sharks. Giant alligators in tiny ponds. Piranhas traveling in packs. Dolphins.”
“Dolphins? Who’s scared of dolphins?”
“They have teeth. They’re freakishly smart. They wig me out, okay?”
She tossed her head back and laughed, and it was a little embarrassing how much I loved the sound.
We talked about all this nothing for a good two hours, steering clear of anything to do with mothers or future plans or girls or first kisses. Yes, we stayed far, far away from that. But it was so easy. Up there, I didn’t belong to a messed-up mother. She wasn’t the grieving daughter. We were just Grace and Eva.
“Secrets don’t make friends, ladies,” Luca says while he puts a fresh filter into the coffeemaker.
“Good thing I don’t care too much about making more friends,” I say.
“You’re so charming, Gray.”
I flip my hair dramatically. “You love me.”
His eyes soften on me. They flick to Eva once, who watches us with an even softer smile, before settling on me again. “I do.”
His sudden seriousness makes my throat tighten. There aren’t many things I’m sure of in life, but Luca’s undying loyalty is one of them. Honestly, I don’t think I’d be alive or half as functional as I am without him. I should tell him this more often. Should tell him I love him more than once every five years.
Instead I sock him in the stomach.
I mean, I do it gently, but I still punch him.
He releases a laughed Oof and pulls me into a headlock. Emmy blasts out the kitchen door just as he’s starting up his legendary noogie.
“Luca!”
He releases me, frantically trying to pick up some rolled silverware that clattered to the floor in our scuffle. Emmy just glares at him.
“I never know if you two are madly in love or hate each other’s guts,” she says.
I feel Eva’s eyes on me while Luca pretends to consider this. “I’m thinking somewhere in between.”
Emmy shakes her head at us. “Well, please keep that in between out of the dining room and show Grace how to work the POS.”
I frown. “Piece of shit?”
Eva chokes a laugh.
“Point of sale,” Emmy says, gesturing to the register, but she’s biting back her own smile.
“I’ll show her,” Eva says as she swipes another card. “I’m here anyway.”
“Thank you,” Emmy says before resting her hand on Eva’s shoulder. “Everything okay today?”
Eva immediately stiffens. It’s subtle, but I definitely notice her rolling that shoulder back a little, dislodging Emmy’s hand. “Yeah, fine.”
“Good.” Emmy’s hand drops, her mouth smashing into a straight line. She watches Eva stack up her receipts for a few seconds before shifting her gaze to me. “Grace, before you learn the POS, can you come to the kitchen and get this tray of muffins for me?”
“Yeah, sure.” I throw Luca a glance as he rounds the counter to attend to a new three-top. He just tousles my hair as he passes me.
