Page 14 of Adrift

Kieran just shrugs. “If you’re not from here, nobody is.”

Huh.

You know what? He has a point. This placeiswhere my family was forged, and Grandma wanted me to come back.

“And in any case,” Kieran forges ahead stubbornly, “you’re here now. So if you stay, you’re from here. That’s how the Sunrise Brothers always acted, wasn’t it?”

He’s right again. How does he do it?

“Um… yeah?”

Kieran grins. “That’s exactly what happened to me. I’ve been here eight months and they think I’m a real islander now. Look at all the group chats I’m in!” He grabs his phone and waves it at me for illustration.

I actually manage a smile for him.

Gotta say, it felt good to get all of that off my chest. And I don’t think Kieran’s bullshitting me at all. He gets what this place is like, and what it’s like to be new here.

“Hey. That actually gives me an idea…” Kieran’s eyes light up as he unlocks his phone. “Don’t worry. Give me three minutes and everyone will know who you are.”

“Um…” I trail off, scratching the back of my head.

From the frying pan into the fire.

I wish I’d had a chance to settle in before the pressure got turned up. I don’t really have a plan, but everyone will be expecting me to pull a bunch of miracles out of my ass.

Revive the orchard, produce the perfect cider, launch the business, bring all the tourists here… like a made-for-TV romance.

Where I run into a stranger who’s my total opposite, but helps me find my way?

I swallow hard and push back the thought. That kind of stuff doesn’t happen in real life. Not to me, anyway.

“Okay,” Kieran says briskly, looking up at me. “You’re not planning on cutting down the trees and replanting them?”

“Uh…” I look down at his phone and then up at him. It feels like I’m being interviewed all of a sudden, and I didn’t prepare my answers. “No. I might need to plant some new ones, but I want to rescue all the veteran trees.”

Kieran breathes out a sigh of relief and furiously taps away at his phone as I try not to smile. He’s switching between several conversations so fast that I definitely don’t believe he doesn’t get involved with gossip.

Maybe he doesn’t create it, but he sure keeps up with it. The sneaky look on his face is actually cute as hell, though.

“And the footpath stays, right?” Kieran looks up at me again.

“To the beach? Yeah, of course. That’s been there for longer than I have.”

Kieran nods and taps away again as I laugh, folding my arms to prop my chin on my fist as I watch him.

When he has a mission, Kieran sure doesn’t stop for anything. It’s a dangerously attractive quality whenI’mthe mission.

Speaking of which, I should start mine.

Spring is already here, and I can’t spend all day sitting around flirting. However much I’d like to.

“And you’re staying in the cabin?” Kieran puts down his phone again.

I wasn’t born yesterday. I raise an eyebrow, letting him know that I know exactly what’s up. “People want to know that?”

“Somepeople do,” Kieran says, maintaining his innocence with a blink.

“I am,” I answer his question. As he grins mischievously, I scowl. “But it’ll take a bit before I’m ready to invite over guests.”

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