“It’s kind of like dementia, or Alzheimer’s. Happens with alcoholism sometimes. She lost a lot of short-term memory. In fact, a lot of memory in general. By the end, she practically didn’t remember anything from the last five years. I’d go see her in the hospital, and she’d be confused and say, ‘But, Kit, you look all grown up. You’re only twelve.’ Every time.” He made an almost-laugh, a little puff of breath out his nose. “So—Skye not acting like herself, believe me, I do get how that might feel for you.”
“Jeez.” Livy exhaled, resisting the impulse to stop and hug him right there in the middle of the muddy oysters. “Compared to all that, Skye’s problems are a walk in the park.”
“Oh, I doubt it. From everything I hear about depression, it feels about as terrible as life gets.” Kit glanced at her. “And it’s just you dealing with it?”
“Mostly. I’m sure Mom would come up if we asked, but…she worked so damn hard for us after the divorce. I was twelve, Skye was nine. Dad moved out, we saw less and less of him, and Mom was just always working, always tired. It’s why Skye and I got good at taking care of each other. Anyway, recently, Mom’s finally been seeing a great guy, and she’s moved in with him down in Portland, and her job’s taking off—she’s a realtor. And…” Livy shrugged. “How can I mess that up for her, you know? How can I tell her to drop everything and come look after us again?”
“She’s your mom. She probably would.”
“I know she would. Which is why I can’t. I’d have guilt issues.” She threw Kit a self-conscious smile.
“And your dad?”
“He’s in New York. We haven’t been in touch a lot. He didn’t try to take care of us as kids, so now it’d feel weird if he did.”
“I see.”
“But…” She sighed. “If it gets to the point where I need to ask them for help, I suppose I will.”
“In the meantime, I’m glad Skye’s got you around.”
“Today I’m glad she’s got Grady around. I really think he’ll improve things for her.”
“His cooking does work wonders,” Kit said. “It’s made me not totally hate having him in my house all these weeks.”
When they reached her car it was almost dark; the western sky was pale lavender, fading to blue, and the lights had been switched on at the marina. Their sterile reflections rippled in the water between moored boats.
“Give you a ride to the garage?” she asked.
“That’d be great, thanks.” He hopped in beside her.
Amid apologies, she pulled maps and empty coffee cups off the passenger-side floor and threw them into the backseat. “I work from my car a little too much.”
“Reliable car, though.” He tapped the dashboard and cast a professional eye over the interior as she backed out of the parking space. “Had any issues? Head gasket? That’s sometimes a problem with Subarus.”
“Been okay so far. Should I have you look at that?” She paused before the turn onto Shore Avenue, and glanced at him.
He was already gazing at her, his light brown eyes and wind-tousled hair unfairly sexy in the glow of the dash lights. “Maybe. But now I’m just finding excuses to make you come see me.”
Warmth rushed through her, and she smiled. “I’d come see you anyway. Got to see how that mermaid turns out.”
He smiled too. She looked ahead and drove on through town.
Definitely her move.
The drive to the garage was all too short. She pulled into the parking lot within two minutes. Inside the quiet auto shop office, she caught a glimpse of Grady with his head bent over his phone or maybe a book. She rolled to a stop near the garage doors, out of Grady’s sight line.
Livy pulled the parking brake but left the engine running. She looked at Kit. “Did that count as a date?” she asked.
“Our second, I would say. First was at Carol’s.”
“Well, then. Come here.”
He leaned toward her, his gaze slipping to her lips. She met him over the parking brake and kissed his cheek, right at the corner of his mouth. The texture of rough whiskers and the scent of sea wind and masculine skin enticed her to linger a second. His hand cupped her face and held her steady, then he turned and enfolded her in a proper kiss, full on the mouth, but with an exquisitely light touch that brushed tingles throughout her.
“There.” His voice rumbled low, close to her. “That’s what sixteen-year-old me wanted to do to you instead of just borrow your juice bottle.”
Livy grinned. “Is that all he wanted to do.”
“It may not be entirely all.”
She let her nose touch his, then drew back, trying to find her bearings even as the moisture from his kiss still cooled her lips. “You said you’re content with your bachelor life,” she began.
He conceded with a nod. “But I do like some company from time to time.”
“So that’s what’s on offer. Some company.” She hadn’t exactly meant to sound so blunt, but hey, might as well lay this out from the get-go.
He lifted his eyebrows and glanced toward the office. “I’m…willing to have my mind changed. Never know what might happen.” He returned his glance to her, and there was a gentle frankness in it she liked. “Just figured it’s fair to tell you how it usually goes.”
She pulled in her breath, and chewed the side of her lip, considering. “Okay. Well. I can’t promise anything serious right now either, given everything I’ve got going on. But some company…” Their gazes met. “I like the sound of that.”
A spark kindled in his eyes. “Then come here.”
She leaned across and kissed him again, longer and with less restraint.
“Let’s get together soon,” she said, “and you can show me what else your teenage self wanted to do.”
“Yes, please.”
As he kissed her, his hand drifted down to coast across one of her breasts, sending a shiver of pleasure through her. Then he pulled back with a sigh. “Grady’s going to come out here to see what we’re doing any second. I’ll go in. You free tomorrow?”
“I can probably be in town for a long lunch.”
“Perfect. Could show you my place on the island, if you want.”
“Sounds good.” She smiled, though her heart beat hard enough that she felt it in her eardrums. “Oh wait, here—” She hauled her pack out of the backseat, found her wallet in it, and extracted a handful of twenties. “Give this to Grady. His wages.”
Kit took it, and settled his fingers on the car door handle. “All right, although I’m betting he’d gladly do the job for free. Hanging out with a Darwen girl—I know where he’s coming from.” He exchanged a long smile with her, then said, “Talk soon,” and slid out of the car.
Kit scrubbed the stockpot under the kitchen faucet; dishes were his job when Grady did all the cooking, which was nearly every meal lately. Meanwhile his mind told him, Here’s what you really shouldn’t do: a local woman.
Moreover, a local woman he respected and didn’t want to hurt. Far better to stick to the vacationers who were very clear about the lack of strings attached in their hookups with him. But this was winter and there weren’t any vacationers around. And he had been as honest with Livy as he could, and she’d even said she wasn’t looking for anything serious herself, so his hormones really intended to go through with this. Their noise was drowning out the worried rational portion of his brain that asked him to consider how badly this might end.