“Oh my, the rocks are so smooth.” She laughed. “You are right, Tabs. Walking is much easier without slippers.”
“Graham, you should removeyourshoes!” Tabs said with wide, innocent eyes.
“No, thank you,” I muttered. Had the world turned upside down?
The sea came in small waves, lapping up and splashing gently. Tabs let go of Anna and dipped low to reach in the water, pulling out a smooth, bright pink shell. “Look at this!”
“Goodness,” Anna said, hobbling close, but not quite in the water. “That is a lovely shade. Where is your bucket?”
“I shall retrieve it!” she called, rushing past us. “Watch for more! Pinks are my favorite.”
The tide was rolling in, and Anna stepped out on the wet rocks. My stomach rolled, muscles tense with anticipation. She might fall or twist her ankle, and then what we would do?
“It’s so quiet here compared to London,” she said, eyes focused on where the sky met the sea.
It took me a full ten seconds to realize she was talking to me.
“Yes,” I agreed quickly. I was standing a full step behind her, just far back enough that the water could not touch me. “Is that ... bad?”
“No,” she said, looking over her shoulder toward me. “It is a good quiet.”
She spoke as though she knew the difference. “Peaceful,” I offered. We never spoke so easily like this, without effort.
She nodded, then turned back to the sea. “Do you come here often?”
Was this a trick? Another way for her to find fault in me? I waited a beat, considering. Her shoulders were relaxed, loose tendrils of her hair wisping softly about her neck in the breeze. The thin muslin of her dress, growing damp from sea air and the laps of water licking her hem, swayed around her, betraying every perfect curve. Her hips, her waist. My mouth went dry, and I swallowed.
“When I am home, we always come here for an afternoon. Just the four of us.”
“With how busy you are?” Anna looked back again and met my gaze, surprised. “Do you honestly?”
“Have you found any more shells?” Tabs called, taking quick but careful steps closer.
Anna hurried to look down, then crouched low to pluck one from the water. Her entire hem drowned, and when she rose up, a foot of her skirts was soaked.
The strangest thing was, Anna Lane—proud woman that I knew her to be—did not seem to mind.
Tabs hobbled on her last step and fell into Anna’s side, both of them laughing as they steadied one another.
“Here, I’ve just found this,” Anna said, pressing a shell into Tabs’s open palm. It was brown and plain, but to my astonishment, Tabs grinned and added it to her collection.
Anna lifted her skirts and followed Tabs, splashing down the shoreline.
If only she’d acted like this, wild and carefree and understanding, life for the past few years would have been much more enjoyable.
“Graham,” she called, startling me out of my wondering. “Our bucket is growing heavy. Carry it for us, won’t you?”
Before I knew what I was doing, I reached out my hand and took the handle. I did not know whether to believe Anna’s show of friendliness, for she certainly did notlikeme any more or less than usual, or if this was just a way for her to get through the week until her father came to claim her. I followed Anna and Tabs, receiving every shell and occasional rock sent my way, enthralled to see how my wild little sister had befriended the proud and prickly daughter of my business partner.
Until the tide rushed too near my boots, and I scuttled sideways.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake, take off your boots, Graham.” Anna’s shoulders sagged as she watched me and shook her head. “Is he always like this?” she asked Tabs.
“Mama says he cares too much what other people think.”
I shook off the few droplets that had succeeded in wetting my boots. “When you are in the business of investing like I am, the opinions of others are important.”
“Well, I for one would not wish to do business with someone so uptight. I much prefer the playful sort.” Anna’s steps turned slow, lazy.
