Page 4 of A Brambleberry Summer

“Sorry. Run that by me again. You did what?”

Wyatt gazed at his sister in shock. She lifted her chin, somehow managing to look embarrassed and defiant at the same time. “You heard me. I talked to Rosa Galvez about you moving into her empty apartment at Brambleberry House.”

He adored his older sister and owed her more than he could ever repay for the help she had given him the last three years, since Tori had died. But she had a bad habit of trying to run his life for him.

It was his own fault. He knew what Carrie was like, how she jumped on a single comment and ran with it. He should never have mentioned to her that he was thinking about renting an apartment until the fire renovations were done. He should have simply found one and told her about it later.

“When I mentioned I was thinking about moving out, I didn’t mean for you to go apartment hunting right away for me.”

“I know. When you said that, I remembered Rosa had an empty apartment. As far as I’m concerned, you can stay on my family-room couch forever, but I thought a three-bedroom apartment would be better than a little camp trailer for a grown man and an active seven-year-old.”

Wyatt could not disagree. In truth, he had made a few inquiries himself that day, and had discovered most of the available rental homes were unavailable all summer and those that were left were out of his price range.

What else did he expect? Cannon Beach was a popular tourist destination. Some of the short-term rentals had been booked out years in advance.

He did not mind living with his sister, brother-in-law and niece. He loved Carrie’s family and Logan did, as well. But as the battle with his insurance company dragged on about doing repairs to his bungalow, he had been feeling increasingly intrusive in their lives.

Carrie was already helping him with his son. She didn’t need to have them taking up every available inch of her living space with their stuff.

“The apartment at Brambleberry House is perfect! You can move in right now, it’s fully furnished and available all summer.”

“Why? I would have thought Rosa would want to rent it out on a longer lease.”

“The couple who have been living there are supposed to be coming back in a few months. I don’t think Rosa is very thrilled about having vacation renters in and out all summer.”

“What makes you think having Logan and me downstairs would be better for her?”

“She knows you two. You’re friends.”

He was not sure he would go that far. Rosa hardly talked to him whenever they were at any kind of social event around town. He almost thought she went out of her way to avoid him, though he was not sure what he might have done to offend her.

“She said it was fine and that you can move in anytime. Today, if you want to. Isn’t that wonderful?”

Again, Wyatt wasn’t surewonderfulwas the word he would use. This would only be a temporary resting place until the repairs were completed on their house.

On the other hand, it would be better for Logan than Wyatt’s crazy camp-trailer idea. He couldn’t deny that.

Poor kid. His world had been nothing but upheaval the past three years, though Wyatt had tried to do his best to give him a stable home life after Tori died.

Wyatt had been working as a police officer in Seattle when his wife went into cardiac arrest from a congenital heart condition none of them had known about. Logan had been four.

Numb with shock at losing his thirty-year-old, athletic, otherwise healthy wife, he had come home to Cannon Beach, where his sister lived, and taken a job with the local police department.

He hadn’t known what else to do. His parents had wanted to help but both were busy professionals with demanding careers and little free time to devote to a grieving boy. Carrie had love and time in abundance, and she had urged him to move here, with a slower pace and fewer major crimes than the big city.

The move had been good for both of them. Wyatt liked his job as a detective on the Cannon Beach police force. He was busy enough that he was never bored but he was also not totally overwhelmed.

He worked on a couple of drug task forces and the SWAT team, which had only been called out a handful of times during his tenure here, all for domestic situations.

The move had been even better for Logan. He loved spending time with his aunt, uncle and older cousin, Bella. He had a wide circle of friends and a budding interest in marine biology.

Wyatt loved seeing his son thrive and knew Carrie and her family were a huge part of that. Logan spent as much time at her house as he did their own.

During the past month, both of them had spent more than enough time with Carrie and her family, since they were living there.

Another month and they could move back to his house, he hoped.

Wyatt counted his blessings that his bungalow hadn’t been a complete loss. Fire crews had responded quickly and had been able to save most of the house except the kitchen, where the fire had started, probably from old, faulty wiring. The main living area had also been burned. Even so, all the rooms had suffered water and smoke damage.

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