He had come here for a quieter life. For Tyler. For a chance to breathe after years of noise and loss and city pace. But Tyler had seen something more clearly than he had in this small seaside town: community.
Not just charm. Not just good weather and front porches and people who knew each other’s names. Real community. The kind that showed up at a fire. The kind that carried casseroles and information and worry and love in equal measure.
He rested a hand on Tyler’s shoulder. “That’s true.”
Tyler nodded once. “Still. Don’t do the trapped-in-a-fire thing again.”
“I’ll do my best.” Rad smiled.
“That’s not as comforting as you think it is.” Tyler’s eyes widened. “Try something like, from now on I’ll leave running into burning buildings to the people trained to do it while wearing the right gear.”
Rad huffed a laugh. “Go brush your teeth.”
Tyler headed toward the bathroom, then turned back halfway down the hall. “Dad?”
“Yeah?” Rad turned and looked at him.
“I’m really glad you’re okay.” Tyler gave him a tight smile.
“Me too, bud.” Rad nodded.
He went to his own room, showered, brushed his teeth, and then went to check on Tyler again. His son was settled in bed, and Rad stood for a moment in the doorway of his room, watching him in the dim light. Tyler was already fast asleep, one arm flung over his face, the other tangled in the blanket in a way that reminded Rad painfully of himself at that age.
Tyler had never had any trouble falling asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. His eyes fell on the bedside lamp that was still on. When they were in New York, Tyler couldn’t sleep without it. He would have terrible nightmares that made him scream himself awake if the room was in complete darkness. That’s why the bulb in the lamp was as dim as they could get it. But since they had been here, his son didn’t mind Rad coming in to turn it off once he was asleep.
Rad quietly walked into the room, switched off the bedside lamp, and eased the door nearly closed.
Then he went to check for his father, but Holt’s room was still empty.
That didn’t surprise him, but it did add another small weight to an already overloaded night. His father would still be out there somewhere, trying to figure out what the heck was going on in Sandpiper Shores.
Rad thought about calling him, but he knew it would not be answered if his father was buried in paperwork, so he headed back to his own room.
The bracelet sat where he had left it, sealed inside its evidence bag on top of the dresser beside the smartwatch.
Rad stopped.
Even through the plastic, it looked delicate and expensive. White gold with a fine chain. It was feminine, stylish without being gaudy. He stared at it for a long moment. Something about it felt familiar.
It was not familiar enough to land, but it was enough to bother him.
Rad changed for bed and turned off the light. When he climbed beneath the covers, exhaustion should have taken him quickly. Instead, his mind kept moving.
His mind moved to Margo in the hallway of Teacups, thanking him for finding her.
Then it moved to June’s hand on his arm in the car and to Tyler saying danger felt different here because people came together.
Then his thoughts went to another puzzle that had taunted him earlier: Willa is only thirty-seven.
June had told him that she and his father had been divorced for roughly thirty-eight years.
Rad rolled onto his back and lifted his hands behind his head as he stared at the ceiling in the darkness and let the math circle him again.
If his father and June had been divorced nearly thirty-eight years…
And Willa was only thirty-seven…
Something else June had told him rushed back into his mind:
