Page 15 of Play Action Pass

When Coleson docked theHenrietta, she hopped onto the slip to tie the boat up. Once everything was locked up and covered, he joined her and it seemed as natural as breathingwhen he took her hand and threaded their fingers together.

“Hungry?” he asked.

“Starving.”

“Let’s head into town and find a nice place to grab lunch.”

They settled on a seafood restaurant with a table by the huge window so they could look out over the bay.

“I want to scatter my brother’s ashes on the ocean,” she said.

“Thomas wanted that too.”

“Maybe we can have a goodbye ceremony, you and I.”

“That sounds a great way to honor their wishes. You said your brother had a journal of Anchorridge Cove?”

She nodded.

“Why don’t I help you walk in his footsteps?”

Emmie cocked her head. “What?”

“Let’s go to all the places he went. It’ll be part of saying goodbye. Letting him rest in peace.”

A lump rose in her throat that she had to swallow down. “You’d do that with me?”

When he held out his hand, she placed hers in it without hesitation. “I have the feeling you’d offer the same if our places were reversed.”

“I would,” she confirmed.

A united front over their shared grief.

Chapter Nine

Emmie’s phone rang early the next morning, waking her from a sound sleep. She sat straight up, blinking as her mind tried to process where the shrill bell was coming from. When she realized it was a call, she groped for her cell and answered.

“Hello?” Her voice came out as a croak so she cleared her throat and tried again. “Hello?”

“It’s … I’m … my name is Mallory Lacefield, and you came by the other day.”

It took Emmie a moment to realize Mallory was the ice cream shop owner. “Yes! Yes, thank you for calling me.”

“It wasn’t easy for me to make this call.”

“I understand,” Emmie said. “Did you know my brother?”

“I did,” Mallory replied. “I thought he forgot about me. When you said he wrote about my store in his journal, my heart broke all over again. He didn’t forget, did he?”

“No, he didn’t.”

“I loved him.” Mallory sniffed, and her voice was thick from crying.

“Can I come over?” Emmie asked.

“I would like that.”

“I’ll be there in ten minutes.

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