Page 41 of Cruel Tides

The sound of Gram’s voice spun me around. “Keeping me out here in the cold until suppertime, Claira?”

Although she was still on the porch, she’d risen from her chair, the rusted and weather-beaten rocker still teetering behind her. She beckoned me with a wave, then set her hands on her hips.

I took off for the porch at a sprint, and her arms found their way around me before I’d even made it up the last step. “Shhh, shhh, dear girl,” she soothed in my ear. While I wasn’t crying, I was close. A gentle warmth seeped into me as her arms embraced me, making it hard not to feel like a little kid again. I wasn’t usually one for hugs, but Gram’s hugs were the best. “You look like you went on quite the trip.”

“I hadn’t planned on taking a trip at all.” Sighing, I held her tight. “I’m sorry I left. And that I lost your slow cooker.”

“Don’t you worry.” She chuckled and gave my forehead a big, wet kiss. “Slow cookers are replaceable. You are not.”

Somehow, my heart melted even more. She smelled of aniseed oil and white linen, and… was that gun smoke? My nose wrinkled as I pulled away. There might have been a suspicious lump underneath her knitted shawl. One that wasn’t normally there. “Gram?—”

Her smile turned wry. “You can never be too careful,” she confided, shimmying her shawl to better conceal what was hiding underneath it. Definitely her pirate pistol. But what was holding it up?

The thought of Gram stashing a weapon in her bra popped to mind, which wasn’t a visual I appreciated. As soon as I shook it away, another thought appeared.

Huh…Maybe I’d gotten my penchant for stashing knives from her.

A car door opened and slammed behind me. I twisted around to look, but it was just Laverne darting out of the car. She headed down to the beach, her mouth wide and tongue flapping out of the side of her face as she ran.

Gram must not have noticed the spectacle because her hands fell to the sides of my arms. She gave them a squeeze as she backed up to get a good look at me. “Well, you look hale and hearty. Must not have seen too much trouble while you were gone,” she said with an exasperated sigh that had my smile turning nervous. If only she knew the half of it.

Then she huffed. “John has been beside himself with worry. I know that boy’s going to hate that he’s not here.”

My heart pulled tight. Gram looked so concerned not only for me but for Dad, too. It must have been the mother in her, still trying to look after her son-in-law’s well-being—the only family she had left—even though he was long grown. “I’m sorry I made him worry,” I whispered, my throat tight.

She gave my arm a good pat. “It’s done now, so no more apologizing. I radioed the boat right after you called, so I expect John will be here soon. No tears, now. You know John will have enough for all of us when he gets here. That boy can sure blubber.”

Something in my chest twisted. When Dad got here, I would have to tell them I wouldn’t be staying long. I knew they’d get by without me—they’d been taking care of each other since before I was even around—but it hurt not knowing how long I’d be gone.

I just needed this trident nonsense to end or for someone to find a way to break the curse. Then I’d be back. Merfolk were gifted with all sorts of magic, right? So why not curse breaking magic?

I froze—that sounded a lot like what my touch did.Freaking hell. Why did all these things have to point back atme?

Suddenly, Gram’s voice was in my ear, shaking me back to the present. “Are you going to introduce me to the good folks who brought you back to us?”

“They really are good folk…” I assured her, but my voice trailed as Gram’s hand crept underneath her shawl.

Oh. How could I forget Gram’s personal brand of sarcasm?

“Wait, wait—” I gasped. “They’re not the ones who took me.” In a rush, I squared myself in front of her in case she whipped her pistol out to do something crazy like shoot at their tires. Or worse.

“They’re my—myfriends.” I cringed as soon as the words left my mouth. That last word came out so wobbly, there was no way she was believing it. Not for a second.

One of her thin eyebrows hitched as she looked around me, her hand still planted firmly underneath her shawl. “Your friends?”

A burst of heat flared inside of me, setting my face ablaze. “Yes—er, no—” My hands were waving wildly. Why was I so bad at lying? “Just,please, Gram. They aren’t bad guys. Not at all.” I pleaded with my eyes, and I must have been convincing enough because she dropped her hand with a sigh.

“I just worry about you, you know.” Her tongue clicked a time or two before she huffed. “You haven’t done anything like this before, Claira. It’s not in your nature to run off.”

“I know, I know,” I agreed. “I’m not sure what Dad told you happened, but…”

Suddenly, there was the sound of doors opening and closing behind us. Before I could turn to look back, I knew by the look on Gram’s face that the guys had gotten out of the car.

“Shit.”The curse slipped out on its own, and Gram broke her bewildered stare to swat me with the end of her shawl.

“Language, young lady! I raised you better than that.”

“Sorry, Gram,” I choked out, turning around to give the guys a look that I hoped screamedwhat-the-heck-are-you-doing?They were walking up the driveway with confidence that annoyed me way more than it should have. They weren’t getting my look’s meaning. Not at all.

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