Page 10 of Devlin

"I was talking about when Mom and I left—the divorce."

"Oh, right." He let out a sigh. "I'm sorry, Hannah. You came all this way to be here for me, and I've been a grumpy bear."

"It's okay. I know you're having a difficult time." She paused, thinking back to her earlier conversation with Devlin. "Did something happen between you andGraham that precipitated him firing you?"

"Why would you ask that?" His gaze narrowed. "You didn't talk to Graham, did you?"

"No." She hesitated, and her dad's mouth tightened.

"What did you do?" he asked.

"I spoke to Devlin. I told him you're the heart and soul of his company and he'd be a fool to lose you. And I'm not sorry I said it," she added defiantly. "Becauseit's true."

"This is not your fight, Hannah."

"That's the thing—I don't understand why you're not fighting."

"Wouldn't do any good."

"Why not? What happened? Please talk to me. Maybe I can help."

"You can't help. You should go home, Hannah. I appreciate your support, but this isn't a situation you can fix."

"Okay, but you must have some thoughts. Whatare you going to do? Where are you going to work? Will you stay here in Maine?"

"Whoa, slow down." He put up his hand. "I'm still considering my options."

"I'm sure a lot of people would love to hire you. Devlin is going to feel the pain of your loss in so many ways, including the race coming up. He's never won it without you. In fact, the Blackthornes have never won it when youweren't on the boat."

"Devlin is a good sailor, a good racer."

"Not better than you."

"No. But he'll still have the best boat in the race, one I built with my own hands. The odds will be in his favor, no matter who he gets to crew with him."

"It's not right," she said, as another wave of anger washed over her. "It's your boat."

"It's a Blackthorne boat. It wastheir money that built it."

"But it was your design, your craftsmanship."

"You need to take a breath, Hannah."

She probably did need to slow down, but she couldn't, not with a new idea taking hold in her head. "We could enter the race and beat the Blackthornes. Take the trophy for ourselves."

He gave her a bemused look. "We? When was the last time you raced a sailboat?"

"Not for a few years, but I'm good. You taught me well. And I have two weeks to practice."

"Don’t you have to get back to work?"

"I work for Mom."

"Yes, but I'm sure that doesn't mean Marianne takes it easy on you."

"She doesn't," she admitted.

Her mother had worked hard to build a real estate business after the divorce. She'd wanted to be able to providea good life for both of them, and she had. After college, she'd gone to work for her mom, which had been mostly good. However, her mother was driven to succeed, and she expected that same drive from Hannah. She didn't always live up to those expectations, but she'd had a good spring and had closed a sale the day before she'd come to King Harbor.

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