Page 44 of Island Protector

Sharon smiled gently. “I simply don’t want to confuse him with any of my romantic interests. Not that there are legions.”

Sharon was worth legions. “But this man is special?”

“Maybe. I’m not in the mood to rush into anything.”

The breeze caught Molly’s hair and she drew it back. “As long as you’re being safe. Do we need to have the talk?” Molly joked. “Things have changed since you were a kid.”

Sharon’s laughter carried on the wind. “You’re incorrigible. You might have a child, but I daresay I have the experience.”

“No argument there.” Her aunt would’ve been a wonderful mother. In truth, she was. She’d mothered Molly with unparalleled warmth, patience, and compassion through the years.

“What about you and Miles? Don’t think I haven’t noticed the way he looks at you.”

“He kissed me the other night,” Molly confessed in a rush. “And he asked us out on a Valentine’s date.”

“Us?” Sharon bobbed her eyebrows. “Tell me more.”

“When he realized you wouldn’t be home to babysit—he was all kinds of supportive of that, aside from not knowing who you’re meeting. Anyway, he changed the date plans to include Bryce.”

Sharon’s eyebrows shot up. “That man is a keeper, Molly. You heard it here first.”

Molly thought she might have heard it in her heart first and just been too much of a coward to listen. “I think you’re right.”

Before she could say more, her phone chimed and she pulled it from her pocket. An incoming alert showed on her screen, but she didn’t recognize the number. Tapping the icon, a series of pictures came through and her heart stuttered.

Her feet rooted into the sand as she stared at the images. All of them were focused on Bryce: at the dock near the water or in the workshop near the boat Miles was refurbishing. Only one of the shots showed Sharon nearby. The others had been cropped to make it look as if Bryce was alone. A little boy ready to tumble into the sea, no one the wiser.

She was trying to figure out how the images had been manipulated when the text followed:

Do what’s best for the boy. Surrender custody or your negligence will be exposed. You have forty-eight hours before these go to the judge.

Gutted, Molly dropped to her knees in the sand. She couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe through the fear gripping her heart.

Sharon came down beside her. “Molly. Honey, talk to me. What’s going on?”

Molly could only shake her head. She shoved her phoneinto Sharon’s hands. “It’s lies. It’s a setup I can’t win. He’s mine, but I?—”

“He’s yours.” Sharon looked at the phone and swore a blue streak, using words Molly had never heard come out of her mouth. “You look at me, Molly. Look at me. You are going to send these to your attorney right now.” She pressed the phone into Molly’s hands.

Shaking, she forwarded the pictures and text message to Mr. Devaney. “Done.”

“No, not yet.” Sharon’s voice vibrated with fury. “Now you forward those messages to Jess.”

Molly blinked away a sheen of tears. This was almost as bad as having the stranger broadcast her failings to the judge. Except she hadn’t failed. Bryce had never been in danger at any time he’d been down near the marina. She had nothing to be ashamed of.

“You can do this,” Sharon squeezed her shoulder.

Nodding, she sent everything to Jess. Sitting in the damp sand, she let herself cry. “How did they make this look so bad? We are always safe. Always safe.”

“That’s right, we are. This is a stunt. Smoke and mirrors,” Sharon said. “Your son could teach water safety. He’s always echoing Miles’s rules about boats and docks and life jackets. Never forget that. You haven’t done anything wrong.”

She dried Molly’s cheeks. “Now, let’s take a beat. I’m sure the lawyer will want you to send that on to the local police. That’s evidence of stalking.”

She’d been too scared to think of it that way, but Sharon was right. At last, anger started burning through the fear and she got to her feet. “I need to see Bryce.”

“He’s in school, honey. He’s safe.”

“Yeah, well, he’s safe in these pictures too, but somebody made it look otherwise.”

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