Page 81 of Changing Tides

And she’s not just talking about the pipe.

“Yes, ma’am,” I murmur as I kiss her cheek.

“Excellent. Now, who wants cobbler?” she asks as she stands, sliding the key into her pocket.

We all yell, “Me,” in unison as we follow her inside.

“You know, your grandfather and I were thinking about taking this out to The Point when he gets home,” she says as she pulls the cast-iron pot from the oven and sets it on a trivet.

“What’s The Point?” Leia asks.

“Well, Sandcastle Cove is an island with the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway on the other. The Point is the tip of the island where the two meet. It’s the best spot to paddleboard, swim, fish, and an even better spot to watch the sunset,” Nana explains.

Leia turns to Avie and begins to bounce up and down.

“Mommy, Mommy! Can we go to watch the sunset?” she pleads.

“We weren’t invited. Sebby and Sabel probably want to go alone.”

“Oh, please, you’re welcome to join us,” Nana says.

“Please?” Leia begs, folding her fingers together as if in prayer.

“I don’t know. It’s getting late, and someone has to get a bath and go to bed soon because she has to get up early in the morning to go check nests with her mom,” Avie informs her.

“I promise I’ll go straight to bed after the sun sits down,” she says.

“Leia,” Avie begins.

“I won’t even need a bedtime story, and I’ll get up the first time you ask in the morning.”

Avie places her hands on her hips and raises an eyebrow. “The first time?”

Leia nods.

“And you won’t be Miss Cranky Pants to Ida Mae tomorrow?”

“Pinkie swear.”

Avie looks up from her to me.

“I’ll swing by and help Ida Mae and Nana, just in case. Pinkie swear,” I offer.

“Don’t you have to work?”

“Not until two.”

Her eyes shift between the three of our pleading faces.

“I’ll grab a blanket and pull the golf cart around,” she relents.

“Yes!” Leia shouts, and she throws her hand in the air and turns to me.

I give her a high five, and Avie shakes her head.

Avie

“Wait, he washed you, and that’s it?” Amiya’s shrill fills my car.

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