Page 46 of Cruel Tides

“This is Barren, Kai, and Leander,” I said, gesturing to the three of them. Then I swallowed hard.Here we go again. “They’re my… friends.” Thankfully, the lie came out smoother this time. Totally believable.

That is, until Gram threw her hands in the air and vented a“Ha!”

Dad’s eyebrows drew in closer, and I quickly cleared my throat. “Gram let them come in. I hope you don’t mind.”

He gave Leander another look just as the front door creaked open. Laverne’s flippers made a slippery swishing sound as she glided along the linoleum. After a quick survey of the room, she made for the kitchen table, where she flopped into the chair next to Kai, her snout pointed high.

“And this is?—”

Dad’s gasp cut me off. “Would you look at that? It followed me inside! Look, Claira. Look how beautiful it is.”

He veered over to the table, drawn to Laverne in much the same way Kai had been drawn to the doorstop. “I’ve never seen a sea lion this far south. Look how fit and sleek its coat is.”

Laverne puffed and preened, gobbling up the praise while Kai gave her a good scratch underneath her chin. “This is Laverne,” Kai said, giving Dad a smile. “She’s also included in the group of Claira’s new friends.”

Then Kai suddenly turned his bright smile on me, and my stomach tumbled at the sight. “The most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen,” he said airily, and his face flushed a pale pink as his gaze lingered on me, leaving me uncertain if he was referring to me or Laverne.

Laverne didn’t doubt his intentions one bit though. She rumbled a series of clinks, her chin nuzzling into his hand.

Dad picked up the empty plate in front of Barren with a frown. “Now, Jeanette, don’t think you can give these fine folks some pie to get out of feeding them dinner.” He walked the plate to the sink, then returned to gawk some more at Laverne. She was sitting in my usual seat, but something told me he wasn’t about to ask her to move.

Gram stood there with one hand on her hip and another on her pistol, her face pinched like she was aware she’d been caught. Then she stared at Barren, maybe a little too long, before sighing. “I better throw in a few more potatoes into the pot, then.” She stuffed the pirate pistol back under her shawl. “Looks like we’re going to need them.”

* * *

I couldn’t believeGram agreed to let Laverne eat with us at the dinner table. Or that Laverne had demanded we place a bowl of stew on the table for her so she could have the same thing we were having.

Okay, maybe that one wasn’t too surprising—Laverne seemed to enjoy watching everyone bend over backward to please her.

At least Leander didn’t care enough about her to bother masking his disinterest. He was too focused on shooting me heated looks and trying to find my leg with his underneath the table to notice anyone else. But Dad was thrilled with the arrangement and had no trouble recruiting Kai to help him fetch a few dusty chairs from the shed to make sure everyone had a place at the table. By the time dinner was ready, we sat shoulder to shoulder, and it was definitely not awkward.

Not at all.

Dad took a bite of stew, then wiped his mouth with a napkin. “So, how is Laverne enjoying the Crystal Coast?” It was hard to ignore how interested he was in her journey, yet he hadn’t pushed me for more details about mine.

I stopped my negative train of thought right there.Pull yourself together, Claira.It only made sense that Dad hadn’t brought up what I’d been through. It wasn’t that he didn’t care, but that he was trying to avoid talking about it in front of Gram.

Kai dropped his spoon, eager to reply to more of Dad’s ceaseless questioning. I couldn’t tell if Laverne was the one supplying Kai with the answers or if he already knew all there was to know about her.

“She’s loving the surf,” he said, then gave Laverne’s thick neck a firm pat. “Aren’t you, pretty girl? She goes out as often as we can spare her company.”

Spare her company?Pfft.

Laverne’s whiskers pulled flat as she gave a quick, confident nod.

I scooped up a chunk of meat, perhaps too forcefully, and stuffed it into my mouth. I wasn’t jealous of asea lion.Nope. Nu-uh.

“I bet you never want to take your eyes off her.” Dad’s dreamy sigh had me inadvertently kicking Leander in the shin when I shifted uneasily in my seat. He didn’t appear to be bothered by it, though, and his leg quickly returned for more.

“The water can be dangerous around here. Riptides and all that,” Dad continued. “Wouldn’t be wise to let her go out alone, don’t you agree, Claira?”

“Yeah,” I said tightly. “Laverne is a joy to have around and should be protected at all costs.”

“Exactly!” Dad said, snapping his fingers. Barren masked a bark of laughter with a cough as Dad leaned forward in his chair. “We’ve got lots of predators around here. Even something as small as a sharpnose can do a lot of damage if they get their teeth around you just right.”

Embarrassed that Barren had picked up on the sarcasm in my remark, I turned down to stare at my bowl. I couldn’t believe I was being immature enough to voice my jealousy out loud. I’d been so excited to be back home, only to have Laverne steal the spotlight. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so hard on Leander for taking revenge on a seabird.

By the time dinner was over, I knew Laverne’s preferred fish to hunt, where she grew up, and even her favorite song to yap along to on the radio. All very important Laverne facts that would surely be useful to me sometime in the future. You know, if she ever decided to not hate me.Yeah, not likely.

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