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Poppy shook her head, her eyes still fixed on him.

“Then,” Morvoren began, “could he be here to talk with ye?”

“Oh, no. I…” Poppy’s brow lifted the slightest fraction. “Per’aps? But no.”

They stood in silence, neither moving. “What do ye want to do, Poppy?”

Poppy merely shook her head in silence. Slowly, Morvoren watched the hope and excitement flee from her eyes, Poppy’s shoulders lowering and frown returning. “I’ll just go ’ome. ’E can’t be ’ere for I. I be too young. Too…silly.”

Morvoren’s heart twisted, feeling the girl’s agony as her own. But how could she allow her dearest friend—her only friend—to give up hope?

“Poppy,” she said fervently, turning to face her directly, “ye love that man. Ye have since the moment ye saw him, regardless of ye bein’ young or not.”

Tears sprung to Poppy’s eyes, and she struggled to blink them away.

“All that matters now,” Morvoren continued, “is makin’ the decision that ye won’t regret for the rest o’ your life. Whether that be goin’ down and speakin’ with him…or goin’ home and ne’er seein’ him again.”

With a brow tainted with worry, Poppy glanced back down to the man. She wrestled with herself in silence, chewing at her lip before she gave a firm nod. “I…I need to speak to ’im. Even if ’e don’t feel the same as I, I want ’im to know.”

Morvoren smiled, her chest swelling with pride for the young woman’s courage. “Then go, speak with him.”

Poppy’s eyes widened with excitement, a smile growing on her face. She backed slowly away, pausing with another glance at the lieutenant.

“Go!” Morvoren cried out with a laugh, and Poppy giggled, turning away and skittering down the curved path of the cove.

Morvoren watched her retreat for a moment, smiling to herself before the solitude she’d felt for years crept back around her. Watching Poppy leave was only a fraction of the pain she was going to feel. She’d grown so used to having this family be her own, how was she ever going to leave them? How was she ever going to survive without them?

“Morvoren?”

She jumped, whirling as Trevik walked up behind her, the growing turmoil of the waves below having drowned out any sound of his approach.

“Trevik,” she breathed. Should she run straight to his house? Plead illness? Escape Tristwick without telling him anything of what she knew about the connection between her uncle and Trevik’s family?

No. She would face her fears with courage—just like Poppy had.

“Where be your mother?” she asked, glancing over his shoulder. Matters would be easier with her there. She wouldn’t be as furious as Trevik would be.

“She took the shorter route ’ome,” he said. He stopped a few feet away from her, clearly hesitating before speaking again. “Are ye well this mornin’?”

She nodded, strapping a smile as best she could to her lips. “’Course.”

He didn’t believe her, worry still creased in his brow. “I just thought that ye were upset about…last night.”

Morvoren swallowed, wincing at the needles prickling her eyes as tears filled them. She’d hoped to avoid any mention of the previous night. The memory of the joy that had been ripped from her grasp burned too greatly to recall.

She looked at the storm swiftly approaching, light flashing in the dark clouds like a candle flickering in the night sky. “Last night? Oh, that was nothin’, surely,” she said, if only to convince herself that she’d imagined the connection between them. After all, if it was only her imagination, leaving Tristwick would then be far easier for them both. “How can I be upset about a simple kiss that meant…meant nothin’?”

When he didn’t respond, she dared a glance in his direction. In an instant, she wished she hadn’t. Hurt tainted his brown eyes, and his brow lowered.

“’Twas nothin’,” he said, repeating her words.

Her lips parted, the breath escaping her lungs and leaving her chest concave. How could she have called their kiss, their affection, his choosing her…nothing?

His eyes hardened further as silence continued, and she saw the truth too late. Trevik might have forgiven her for the connection she held with Uncle, but he could never forgive her for what she just said.

He fixed his eyes on the sea. “What were ye speakin’ about with Captain Kendricks?”

Did he know? “I was askin’ for work…in Bodmin.”