Page 86 of Forgiving Her First Love

“It was actually kind of peaceful, once I got to the wharf.” She looked out at the water. “Listening to the waves and watching the sun hit the other side of the bay.”

Passage, but Sophie didn’t correct her.

“I should have called first, instead of showing up like this.” Her brows crinkled with consternation. She picked at a hangnail. “I don’t actually have a phone. It’s a whole thing. My life has been really complicated since before Tiff passed. Now that I’m out of that vortex, I wanted to get away and”—she sent a wistful look toward the upper level of the house, then down toward the marina and village—“I wanted to see where she was.”

Storm? Or Tiffany?

“I’m really sorry about Tiffany.” Sophie waved at the lounger where Cloe had been sleeping, inviting her to retake her seat while she lowered onto the one beside it, facing her. “You probably have questions. Is that why you’re here? To find out more about what happened? I’ll tell you anything I can.”

“I know what was on the news, that it was a plane crash.” Cloe sat and looked into her half-empty glass. It wobbled as her hand began to shake. “Wilf was the pilot. He was flying them to Vegas to get married. Tiff asked me to meet them there and come back with them, but I couldn’t. Was he nice, though?” Her worried gaze came up. “I know he was a lot older than her. I was surprised when she told me she was pregnant, but she was really happy about it.”

“She was,” Sophie agreed, even though it had been in the way of certain women who went into a blissful state of denial when they got pregnant. This baby won’t change my life. I can do it all. Then the baby arrived and everything changed and it nearly broke them in half, they were so unprepared.

But Sophie was trying to be kind so she didn’t get into how Tiffany had seemed at the end of her rope from the jump. Looking back, maybe her underlying tension had had something to do with her sister’s legal troubles? Sophie didn’t think it was appropriate to ask what kind of “vortex” Cloe had been spinning in all this time.

“I knew Wilf my whole life,” Sophie volunteered, smiling with genuine affection. “My granddad worked for him and so did my mom. He gave me my first job, then hired me again four years ago when I came back here. He was colorful.” Understatement. “Not the most sentimental person. He definitely fancied himself both a man’s man and a ladies’ man, but he was funny. Generous. Definitely too old for Tiffany, but he really cared about her.”

For all the talk among the locals that Tiffany had been his nurse and Wilf her purse, they had seemed to have more between them than that.

“Wilf had always had a vision for this place that he never quite got off the ground. Before Tiffany came along, it was falling into disrepair. She saw its potential, though. She was willing to do the work to make it happen. That put a fresh sparkle in his eye. I think, in some ways, he saw their marriage as a do-over.” Sophie hadn’t completely put that together until she said it, but it rang true. “He had a couple of failed marriages behind him. His sons were grown and gone. He had regrets about his relationships with them.” Estranged. Strained. “When Storm came along, he wanted to get it right. He was definitely happier with Tiffany than he’d been in a long time.”

“And Tiff? She was about to marry him so she must have been in love? Did she really want to stay here with him forever?” She sent another uncertain look toward the marina and its desolate location.

“Honestly? I wish I’d made more of an effort to get to know her.” It was true. Sophie regretted now that she’d remained so aloof, but she’d only been back a couple of years when Tiffany had arrived and started changing things. Her defenses had been pretty high.

“Tiffany was the boss’s wife and was pushing to make all these changes,” Sophie noted with a quirk of her mouth. “I don’t know why we all felt so threatened by that. Small town, small minds, I guess.” Also, Tiffany had skimmed all the working capital from the marina, making Sophie’s job infinitely harder, but Tiffany hadn’t been trying to line her own pockets with it.

“She seemed to want to make an impact. I could see that she was excited to do something big and meaningful. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“That sounds like her.” Cloe was smiling, but her eyes were wet, her voice husky with emotion. “She always had goals. She always wanted to be taken seriously and prove herself. I miss her so much.” She wiped under her eye. “I should have come when she first told me she was pregnant. She wanted me to, to help when the baby came.” Anguish flashed across her expression. “Is she here? Storm?” She looked longingly toward the upper floors again.

“Emma took her to Reid’s office.” Sophie pointed vaguely toward the village. “They’re married now. Did you know that?” she asked tentatively. “They want to adopt Storm.”

“Oh. No, I didn’t know.” Cloe’s voice went hollow. She seemed rocked by that news, gaze turning inward. “That’s why I’m here. I mean, not to adopt her. To see her. To make sure she’s okay.”

“She is. Emma really loves her. So did Tiffany. She absolutely loved Storm to bits. It was just a lot for her to help Wilf and keep house and have a new baby. This place is very isolating. That was hard on her. That’s why she hired Emma. Then, when the plane crashed, Emma spent so much time with Storm, she bonded with her.”

She’s her mother. Sophie wanted to hammer that home, but made herself keep the kid gloves on.

“If only”—Cloe fisted her hands against her brow, elbows on her knees—“I wanted to come. I just couldn’t.”

It almost sounded as though Cloe wished she had been here so her niece would have come to her after the crash, instead of Emma. Sophie felt a tug of empathy for her, but her loyalty was to Emma and Reid all the way.

“Here come the men,” Sophie noted with relief.

Down at the marina, the Fraser brothers were tying off the bowrider and striding purposefully up the wharf.

*

Logan moved with grim purpose alongside Reid and Trystan, crossing the village grounds and climbing their drive.

Fear nipped at Logan’s heels. Fear that he was losing everything that meant anything to him. He could stand to sell Raven’s Cove, even though it had come to feel more like home in the last months than it had during any other time in in his life.

He was losing Sophie, too. He had no right to hold her back so he had to let her go.

But Storm? If Tiffany’s sister was thinking she could take her, if she somehow managed to, what would he have? His brothers both had lives to go back to. Even his mother had built a new life without him.

He would wind up alone in some far-off place, trying to convince himself he was happy when he knew damned well he was faking it. As they pushed into the house, Sophie opened the door to the deck off the kitchen.

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