Maggie checked her phone—and her stomach dropped at all the notifications from her mother. When Mom hadn’t reached out first thing this morning, Maggie assumed she was planning to let her stew awhile. It was one of Mom’s favorite games: Guilt Maggie, Then Ghost Her for Punishment.
But Maggie had made a tactical error. She should’ve checked her phone between lessons because Mom had called seven times and left three—no doubt scathing—voice mails.
Crap.
***
From the pier Josh waved good-bye to Big D. They had a one-hour lunch break between their morning and afternoon tours, which they often took together. But Josh had some bills to pay, and he often used a table on the main deck to work on them during his lunch break.
Will disembarked theCarolina Dream. “I’m off to lunch. See you at one.”
“Hey, thanks for helping out with the sick passenger.” A woman had gotten physically ill and didn’t quite make it to the railing. According to Big D, Will cleaned up the mess and directed her to the middle of the boat once her misery subsided.
“No worries, man. All in a day’s work.” With a wave Will took off.
Josh went to the upper deck and grabbed the stack of bills from the pilothouse. When he came back downstairs, his sister was boarding. With her short blonde hair up in a stubby ponytail, she looked about eighteen. The summer sun had bronzed her skin and a pair of white shorts and a pale pink top set off her tan.
“Well, hey there,” he said. “What are you doing here? Everything okay? The kids?”
Her smile didn’t quite reach her green eyes. “The kids are fine.”
“Well, what is it? You haven’t been down here since I took the family onCarolina’s maiden voyage on the river.”
“You got a minute?”
Something had upset her—hopefully she hadn’t spotted Will on his way out and thought she’d seen Ethan’s ghost. “Sure, my next tour isn’t for another hour.” He ushered her to one of the booths that overlooked the river and sat across from her.
Erin pinched her shirt and fanned herself. “Feels good in here. It’s been miserable outside this week.”
“Gotta be close to a hundred.”
“It’s the humidity. Even that storm the other day didn’t help matters. You can’t walk outside without melting.”
He observed her as she glanced around the vessel. She’d always been one to settle into a conversation, and even though his curiosity was killing him, he let her.
“You’ve made some upgrades in here.”
“Some paint, new upholstery on the booths, new flooring.” He’d done a lot more than that, but he wouldn’t bore her with mechanics—electric and plumbing updates. His sister only noticed the aesthetic stuff anyway.
“It’s nice. Warm and welcoming.”
“The old girl needed some love for sure. I wouldn’t have gotten such a great deal on her if she’d looked like this when I bought her, though.”
“Business still good? Mom said you hired someone recently.”
“Uh, yeah. He’s working out real well.”
“That’s great.” Her attention drifted back to him and her expression turned serious. “A while ago I got a phone call from Nora.”
He swallowed back a curse. “Maggie’s mom?”
“None other. I would’ve gone straight to Maggie with this, but she tolerates enough from that woman. I wanted to spare her the drama if it just turned out to be a bunch of her mom’s narcissistic bull.”
He pressed his lips together. Leave it to Nora. She’d spilled the beans about their relationship. “Let’s have it.”
Erin aimed her eyes at him like a heat-seeking missile. “She was fuming because she’s under the impression you and Maggie are seeing each other.”
He maintained eye contact, resisting the urge to squirm in his seat. Their gazes tangled the way only a brother and a sister’s could.Erin could always see right through him. But Maggie was her best friend. Should he prevaricate? He put up a mental shield while he decided how to handle this.
