Page 12 of Wanting a Family Man

Did he accidentally say,Feel herup? Shut up, libido.

“Thank you.” Emma’s shoulders sagged in relief.

“Here. Snuggle Em,” he told Storm, suspecting Em could use a dose of baby love.

The second he offered her to Em, Storm went straight to her, cuddling into her and resting her head on Emma’s shoulder.

Trystan left Reid smooching his wife and went down to the basement to wait for Cloe.

*

It felt goodto wash away the dullness of travel, even if it was with men’s body wash that smelled of cedar and spice. While she did, fresh salt tracked down her cheeks.

Cloe stifled her sobs, but otherwise released all the rigid, single-minded urgency that had carried her here. Storm wasn’t withering from neglect in a Victorian orphanage. She was safe and happy and loved.

If shehadn’tbeen in a good place, what could Cloe have done, though? She leaned weakly against the tiles, hating herself for being so inadequate. Solost. Not just beyond the place that she knew but defeated. Hopeless.

Now that she didn’t have to worry about Storm, she had to turn her attention onto herself, and it scared the hell out of her. A whole new mountain arrived in front of her, one that seemed even more impossible to climb than the journey to get here had been.

Some of this overwhelm was grief. She knew that. She was standing in the house where her sister had last been alive. Tiff had probably chosen these pretty fish scale tiles with their gold speckles on green. She had made her own coffee in the kitchen upstairs and sipped it while looking out at the water, wondering when Cloe would arrive.

Too late, too late.

Cloe covered where her chest ached as though her breastbone had been fractured, trying not to resent how this house was full of strangers who didn’t want her. She had to find a way to be with her niece and not impose on them, but Raven’s Cove wasn’t a town. It was barely a village. She was afraid to count her money because she already knew how little she had left. Where would she go? What would shedo?

She made herself turn off the shower, hoping it would turn off her tears. She had already lingered under the spray a lot longer than she would dare spend back in California.

As she reached for a towel and buried her face in it, she began to form hazy thoughts. She could ask around on the boats. Deck swabbing was a thing, wasn’t it? Would Trystan let her borrow a tent? He must have one kicking around. Would that look too desperate?

If it did, did she care?

Not really. Of the many things she could no longer afford, pride was one of them.

She dried off with the soft towel that smelled vaguely of baby powder, but she only had the one change of clothes. They were no fresher than the ones she’d been wearing, but she changed into her yellow T-shirt and denim shorts. Her face looked dewy and clean, but her eyelids were puffy and red. Hopefully, no one would notice.

She faltered when she came out of the bathroom and found Trystan standing at the chest freezer, using the top as a table while he folded towels and Storm’s clothes.

“Have you been out here the whole time?” she asked, horrified he might have heard her crying.

“No. I was upstairs with Reid and Emma, but Storm is going down for her nap and Reid is heading back to work. I have things to do on theStorm Ridgeso I thought you could come with me and relax until dinner. Did you leave anything upstairs?”

“No, this is everything I have.” She shouldered her small backpack and gave him a tight-lipped smile.

He folded the last sleeper and left it in the basket, then opened the downstairs door out to the carport. There was no vehicle in the space, but she didn’t suppose they needed one, seeing as they worked at the bottom of their driveway.

“If this is an excuse to get me out of the house, and I’m not allowed to go back, just tell me,” Cloe said, unable to put herself through the suspense, even though she wasn’t ready to hear such a blunt truth.

“Em invited you to dinner,” Trystan reminded her. “But she needs a little time to wrap her head around your being here.”

Fair.

“I could tell you’re all pretty appalled that I’m here.” She accidentally kicked a rock and stumbled.

“Okay?” He put out a hand but didn’t touch her. “You’re tired?”

“I’m fine,” she lied.

“You did take us by surprise,” Trystan admitted. “Reid doesn’t care for surprises. At all.” There was a pithy dryness in his tone. “So don’t take it personally. Em has a huge heart, but she won’t feel secure as Storm’s mom until she’s got her permanent residency and an adoption certificate in her hand.”

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