Page 31 of At First Catch

I reach for it too quickly, stop myself, then reach anyway because dignity is apparently no longer a priority.

Lark

Did you eat something besides coffee for dinner?

I exhale through my nose.

Of course.

Me

Define eat.

Her response comes.

Lark

Nolan.

I can hear the tone through the screen, dry and unimpressed.

Me

I had a burger.

Lark

One?

Me

It had meat.

Lark

That is not the argument you think it is.

A reluctant smile pulls at my mouth despite myself.

Six months ago, if someone had told me Lark Carrington, my platonic sister, would become one of the only people who regularly checked whether I was sleeping and eating, I would’ve assumed they were concussed.

Then the inn fire happened, and everything changed. The inn she purchased as a promise to her deceased father, the sole reason she moved to Coral Bell Cove, and I found myself following.

Lark

Also, don’t work all night.

Me

You realize you’re not my keeper.

Lark

Incorrect. I adopted you during a crisis, and there are no take-backs.

Something in my chest tightens unexpectedly.

Adopted.