Harmony saw Heidi’s hand linger on Zach’s arm. He then looked up, catching Harmony’s eyes with an unreadable expression. Something sharp zipped through the air.
Cass leaned close to Harmony. “He’s playing with you. He wants a reaction.”
Harmony looked down at her notebook. “Zach doesn’t need a reaction from me. There’s nothing between us.”
Cass laughed, clearly amused. “If you say so.”
Zach still hadn’t removed his hand from Heidi’s waist. All eyes were on them, waiting to see what would happen next—all eyes except for Harmony’s. She watched the water instead.
“Torie would push this woman off the boat,” Joe said with a chuckle. Heidi didn’t hear.
“Why is that?” Harmony asked the captain.
“She doesn’t like competition,” Joe said.
“She isn’t flirting with Tosh,” Harmony pointed out.
“She might be flirting with Zach to get Tosh’s attention. At least that’s what Torie would assume.”
Harmony nodded. Not an invalid point.
“First fish,” Joe called, grinning at Heidi. “You’re officially one of us now.”
“Poor fish,” she said, breathless, staring at it. “I feel kind of terrible. And also oddly proud.”
“That’s how this island works,” Mary said quietly. “Terrible and proud.”
Zach was staying close to Heidi’s side. She didn’t seem to mind one little bit.
Harmony noticed. Candy appeared irritated. Mary rubbed her fingers along the edge of her blade.
“This is fun,” Heidi said, tilting her face toward Zach. “I don’t remember the last time I did something that felt this uncomplicated.”
“Give it time,” Cass murmured under her breath.
“I understand now why people come here,” Heidi said as she ran her finger along Zach’s arm. He grinned at her, leaning a bit closer. Heidi threw her arms around him. Over her head, Zach looked straight into Harmony’s eyes . . . She didn’t allow the gaze to linger. She gazed out at the calm water instead.
“What else is on your island bucket list?” Zach asked.
Heidi’s eyes lit. “Everything. I want to see the buffalo up close. I want to listen to the waves from up on the cliffs. I want to watch the stars somewhere without streetlights. I want—” She stopped herself, suddenly shy. “I don’t know. I want to feel like I’m actually living before I go back to twelve-hour shifts and fluorescent lights.”
Zach’s gaze lingered on her a moment too long. Harmony watched it happen—the moment something in him shifted from casual to intentional.
“I might know a place for that last one,” he said.
Heidi smiled, slow and genuine. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
Joe rolled his eyes theatrically. “Oh great. Now he’s going to steal my tourist.”
“Maybe she doesn’t want to be stolen,” Candy said, voice light but eyes sharp.
Heidi looked between them, then back at Zach. “I can make my own choices.”
“Good answer,” Tosh said. “Dangerous, but good.”
Harmony let her pen hover over the page, absorbing the configuration. Heidi in the center of the circle. The three menorbiting—Joe, loud and obvious. Tosh, smug and daring. Zach, quiet and magnetic. Jealousies flickering at the edges like heat igniting. Cass amused. Candy calculating. Mary listening.
