Page 38 of Changing Tides

I turn my attention to Avie. “I don’t hook up with older divorcées every summer.”

“That’s true. It was a few years ago, but what a summer,” Anson bellows.

“You rascals need to change the subject,” Nana scolds as she points down at Leia.

“Sorry, Nana,” Anson mumbles.

“What’s a rascal?” Leia asks as she looks up at her.

“A very naughty boy,” Nana replies.

Leia nods. “Boys are naughty rascals.”

We all burst into laughter, but my focus shifts back to Avie, who’s lost in her red plastic cup filled with wine.

Fucking Anson.

“What about you, Avie? Didn’t you give up the big job and expense account in the city to watch turtle nests on a small coastal island in North Carolina?” I ask.

She shrugs. “Yeah, maybe. I mean, my job in New York wasn’t that glamorous. It was mostly research, writing papers for grants, and things like that. But I did have a nice, big corner office with a view of Uptown.”

I lean forward so I hear her better over the crackle of the fire. “So, tell me, why would you walk away from that?” I’m genuinely curious.

“Honestly, I just needed a change. I chose to study marine science because I love the ocean and the animals that call it home. I don’t mind research, but I want to be hands-on. To have a chance to work with the animals, the coral, and the reefs, not just for them. And I want Leia to experience something other than the loud, rushed city. She should be spending her days playing in gardens and chasing fireflies, like I did when I was a kid, because before I know it, she’s going to be in kindergarten and spending the next twelve years going to school and coming home to hours of homework and extracurricular activities. Now’s the time for her world to be filled with magic.”

“You picked a good place, then. There’s nothing like the magic of Sandcastle Cove,” Nana says.

Avie looks at her. “I’m beginning to see that.”

“I can carry her,” Avie says as we make our way across the low-lit street.

A sleeping Leia is cradled in my arms.

“I’m sure you can, but you’re three Solo cups in,” I remind her.

She hiccups. “I’m not drunk,” she insists.

“I didn’t say you were.”

We left to tuck the little girl in bed as Nana and Amiya were raiding the dinner leftovers and heating plates of chicken for everyone. Nana sent Parker and Gramps on a wine run, and Anson is keeping an eye on the fire so it doesn’t go out.

Avie opens the door, and I walk inside the cottage.

“This way,” she whispers as she tiptoes down the hallway. “We’ll put her in my room,” she says as she opens the door on the left.

I carefully place the sleeping girl in the middle of the king-size bed, and she curls into a ball against the pillows. Avie crawls up to tightly tuck the covers around her. Then, she places a light kiss on her forehead.

“Sweet dreams, baby girl,” she murmurs before we back out quietly.

Once we’re in the hallway, she pulls the door shut.

“You hungry?” I ask as I follow her.

She stops and presses her back against the wall. “I think I should stay,” she says.

“I thought you wanted fried chicken?”

“I do, but I don’t feel comfortable with leaving Leia. I know she’s asleep, and it’s just across the street, but what if she wakes up and needs me and I’m not here?”

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