Ace didn’t turn immediately. He knew who it was as he’d known that voice since they went to kindergarten together.
“How much did you hear?” Ace asked, keeping his eyes on the fire.
“Enough,” Margo said.
He heard her settle onto the rock beside him, not the flat working rock near the entrance where he had been sitting with Willa, but the lower one just to the left of the fire ring, close enough to speak without being overheard by anyone still sleeping. Ace straightened up from his crouch, sat properly, and looked at her.
Margo looked back at him with the expression she had been giving him his entire life when he’d done something she considered simultaneously reasonable and completely avoidable.
“Don’t,” Ace said, still feeling too exposed.
“I haven’t said anything,” Margo pointed out.
“You don’t have to,” Ace told her, using his hand to indicate her face. “Your face is doing that thing it does when your mind is shouting—what an idiot.”
“I don’t have a look on my face like that,” Margo said defensively.
“You have different looks you give,” Ace pointed out. “That one in particular I’ve known since kindergarten. It means you have an opinion about my conversation you were eavesdropping on.”
“Okay…” Margo looked at him. “I do. But only because I love you like a brother and you know that!”
Ace sighed. “Yeah, I know.” He put an arm around her shoulders and gave her a gentle squeeze. “You’re my sister and one of my best friends.”
“Then, as your sister and best friend, I’m telling you that while you have the worst timing,” Margo told him. “I’m proud you finally came out and told Willa how you feel.”
“Thanks,” Ace said, dropping his arm and rubbing a hand over his face. “But I think I just blew up a friendship.” He gave a mocking laugh. “Guess there’ll be no more family Sunday lunches at the Parkers for me.”
“Well, I’m sure Willa is not like that,” Margo assured him. “But, if that is the case, you can always have Sunday lunch at my place.”
“Thanks,” Ace said, smiling at the woman who had known him most of his life.
“Just give her some time,” Margo suggested. “Willa is still holding onto Shaun’s memory, and she has the kids to think of.”
“I know!” Ace nodded.
Margo was quiet for a moment. The fire crackled with a slow pulse of warmth across the cave floor, reaching the sleeping bags and the still shapes inside them.
“Willa’s struggling with so much right now,” Margo said carefully. “The memorial is in a few weeks. Andy’s been having a harder time than he lets on this year. She carries Shaun every single day, you know that, and around the anniversary of the fire, it gets heavier.” She paused. “That doesn’t mean Willadoesn’t know what she feels. It means she doesn’t feel she has the right to feel it yet.”
Ace looked at Margo and then glanced at the fire.
“I know the timing was poor,” Ace admitted quietly. “But, after what happened with Willa being washed out to sea and the ten-year anniversary of Shaun’s death…” He sighed. “I just couldn’t hold back.”
“There is no perfect time,” Margo said sympathetically, looking at him sideways. “And it was bound to pop out one day after you’ve held your feelings for Willa in for what…”
“Twenty years,” Ace added.
Margo smiled, and she shook her head very slightly, blowing out a breath. “Yes, you’ve held on to your emotions for far too long.”
“Yeah, well, Shaun was my best friend, and having feelings for his wife just seemed rude,” Ace said, standing up.
The need to move had been building for the past several minutes, a physical restlessness that wasn’t quite agitation and not quite urgency but was somewhere between the two. The kind that came when your mind was too full, and your body had been still for too long, and the only available remedy was to do something with your hands.
“The wood stack is getting low,” Ace noted. “We might need more before the coast guard gets here.” He peeked outside. “The storm has been knocking branches down all night. There’ll be fallen wood just inside the tree line.”
“It’s still raining, though,” Margo pointed out.
“I know.” Ace nodded, his eyes landing on the yellow rain slickers that Margo and Rad had come on the boat with. “I’ll use one of those.” He pointed to the items.
