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  really is not about Jake or you and Jake or even Erica and Jake.”

  “Please.”

  “There are more important things going on than men, Julia. Believe it or not.” Like having twenty children die at your hands. Or hearing the remaining ten grow more silent each minute. Dani cleared her head. “And for your information, if I wanted Jake back, I could take him back.”

  “Dani!”

  Julia whirled to face her.

  Dani saw it in that instant. She was right and that was what Julia was scared of. For Julia—this had nothing to do with her five-year disappearance. This really was about Jake. But for Dani—this was about so much more. This was about being barred from her own home. From the memories of her mother.

  “Do you not seriously believe that?”

  Dani waited. She took a moment and let her question hang between them for a moment. “You do.”

  Julia blanched.

  Jake drew in a sharp breath of air.

  Dani watched her sister dissolve before her eyes. She rolled her eyes. “I’m done. If you want to try to keep me from my own home, fine. I’ll see you in court if it comes to that. Anything else, I’m done.”

  “Dani.”

  She stopped listening as she left.

  She didn’t hear the footsteps until someone plopped down next to her on her bench. Jonah.

  “What do you want?” She didn’t look up.

  “So who were you really yelling at back there?”

  “We both know the person I want to yell at is in the ground.”

  “Yeah. I know.”

  “So what am I going to do about that?” She shrugged. “I can’t exactly yell at a tombstone.”

  “It might help. You never know.”

  “What are you doing here? I told you that you’re not responsible for me.” Dani sighed as she threw a rock into the pond.

  Jonah chuckled. “You know when I go to work at the waterfront, there’s this whole line of little kids out there. They must beg their parents to bring them out there. And you know what they’re doing? They’re all lined up. One by one, shoulder to shoulder, just throwing rocks into the water. You think they’d get tired of it, but they don’t.”

  “They feel powerful when they do that.” Dani watched the waves ripple from her throw. “They feel the impact that they did.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “My ex-fiancé was a psychologist.”

  “What?”

  “He told me that one time. He tried to explain to me why the kids in the orphanage always wanted to go to the ocean.”

  “You were engaged?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  Dani shook her head and laughed. “He’s twice the man that Jake is. Isn’t that sad? After everything that just happened—why Julia is so threatened by me. And here I am. I walked away from a guy that—” That loved her. That cared for her. That made her feel beautiful. That held her hand and knew her worst secret.

  “I know you probably don’t want to hear this, that you’re on this martyr kick or something, but there was something about the guy that enabled you to walk from him.”

  “It was me.”

  “If he was the right guy, you wouldn’t have walked from him. You would’ve ran to him.”

  “You’re not the guy that everyone thinks you are, are you?” Dani questioned, watching from the corner of her eye.

  Jonah sighed and sat back. He regarded her with a faint grin. “No.” Standing up, he murmured, “I know one of your secrets. You know one of mine.”

  “Touché.”

  As Jonah left, she couldn’t help but think if she’d never gone. If Jake had never ended things with her. If she’d never met Boone or been stranded in a tsunami, what would life have been like?

  “Dani.”

  Glancing up, on her way back to her car, Dani saw Aiden. The gang had migrated to the outside tables. Jonah sat at the end of their table, grinning down to a slender nubile female, red curls swept down her long nape, highlighting her slender back. Hawk had his own woman, clad in black leather, and they seemed perfect.

  She waved back and waited as Aiden separated from the group and crossed towards her. “Hey. Are you leaving?”

  Dani laughed. She couldn’t help it. “I think that’s for the best. I did enough airing of the dirty laundry tonight.”

  Aiden nodded in acceptance. “I know, but the worst is already done.”

  “I think it’s time to turn in.” Dani breathed a deep breath. The night air was a bit chilly, but refreshing. Even with the carnival musk intermingling.

  “Look,” Aiden’s tone turned serious. “I know that Kate can sometimes come across as power hungry or something. It’s these small town politics. She’s more affected than the rest of us. I have Jonah and everyone loves Bubba. Robbie’s a guy. Robbie’s accepted no matter what, you know? Everyone thinks Stilts is the most hilarious thing that’s come to town in a long time. So for most of us, yeah, we’re affected by the small town politics, but it’s more for Kate. She’s—”

  “Not accepted.” Dani could relate.

  “Yeah.” Aiden looked guilty. “Kate was so excited when she heard you were back in town. Julia has made her life hell. She’s gone out of her way to be cruel to Kate and everyone knows it’s just because Kate is work partners with Jake. She thinks that Jake is going to leave her for Kate or something.”

  “Kate’s not an O’Hara. Doesn’t Julia know? That’s a dating requirement for Jake.”

  “Try telling that to Julia’s insane jealousy.”

  “I have. It doesn’t work.”

  Aiden laughed and then gestured towards the parking lot. “We’re all going to Mae’s bar. Would you come with us? I know the whole group would like that. They’d like to get to know you better.”

  She remembered Jonah’s warning. It didn’t hurt to have friends in a small town so Dani found herself nodding and agreeing to meet them there. Approaching her Mustang, Dani waved and climbed inside. She rested her head against her seat and let out a deep breath.

  What was she doing? Dani had never belonged in crowds like those. She didn’t have friends. She didn’t know how to be a friend.

  Thump! Thump!

  Jumping, Dani gasped and saw Jonah grinning at her through her window.

  He motioned to unlock the lock and gestured to the passenger door. Dani reached over and a second later Jonah climbed inside “Were you sleeping?”

  “No.”

  “What are you doing?”

  “I’m waiting for the parking lot to clear out. What are you doing?”

  “I need a ride to Mae’s.”

  Dani shook her head even as she started the car. “What is it about you that everyone loves? It’s like you have some billboard on you that says ‘Like me, I’m adorable.’”

  “What?”

  “Nothing.”

  Then he started, “You know, you’re not like everyone else. Some girls act all tough and are mean right off the bat because they’re just protecting themselves. I get that. I know that women like me. And then there are the other girls.”

  “Throw themselves at you.”

  “Yeah. Don’t get me wrong. Sometimes it’s nice and it’s what I need after a hard day at work or if we lost a few in the river. But to be honest, I think you have so much crap to deal with, you couldn’t ever see me in that light. That’s why I like hanging out with you. That’s part of the reason I showed up yesterday for dinner.”

  “But you don’t feel responsible for me.”

  Jonah glanced away for a second. “I do.”

  Dani was about to protest, but Jonah held a hand up, stopping her. “I do because I’m the only one that knows what you went through. And I don’t see you opening up to people. So, yes, I do feel some responsibility towards you.”

  “I opened up to you.”

  “Maybe my charm isn’t completely lost on you.”

  “It bugs me that I was so honest wit
h you.”

  “Because you’d been holding it in for so long. You hadn’t talked to your fiancé about it and I came along. Some guy who’s fun to hang out with and who wasn’t going to smother you like everyone else would. That’s why you told me. No other reason. Promise.”

  It made sense, but it still rattled her. “You’re not responsible for me.”

  “Yes. I am.”

  She held in her breath, a knot forming in my gut. She didn’t know what to say to that. Then she realized she didn’t want to argue against it. That horrified her even more.

  Jonah broke the spell. Grinning, he thumped her dashboard. “Let’s drive. Knowing my sister, she’ll have Bubba halfway to your house if we don’t show up soon.”

  “I like your sister.”

  “She likes you too.”

  Dani liked that. She didn’t know why. She didn’t want to know why so she turned her thoughts off and drove to Mae’s.

  Everyone had called it.

  Mae’s Grill was filled to the max. And it was a mix between the fair’s beer garden inhabitants, the regulars, and the tourists that traveled up during the summer for Tenderfoot Rush. All three groups came together at Mae’s Grill and Jonah had been right. Dani saw the rush of relief that came over her aunt when she spotted Jonah standing behind her niece.

  Jonah tapped her hand and asked, leaning close to her ear, “What do you drink?”

  “Just a water. Thanks.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Okay.” He nodded towards the corner. “Gang’s over there.”

  When Dani arrived, Aiden and Kate moved to her side and asked, “Where were you?”

  Aiden remarked, “I was about to send Bubba out to your home.”

  Two points for Jonah, for knowing his sister. “I held back and waited for the parking lot to clear.”

  Shifting on her feet, Kate glanced over her shoulder, “Did I see you come in with Jonah?”

  “Yeah. He wanted a ride.” Dani shrugged. Seeing Robbie on the dance floor with Lori, she asked Kate, “Want to play a game of pool?” She nodded towards two guys, pool cue in their hands, chatting with a group of guys. “They look up for it.”

  “Yes. I’d love to.”

  Dani grabbed the water from Jonah’s offered hand as he approached, then she followed Kate to the pool table. The two guys took one look at Dani and Kate and produced the money. As they slid the coins in, Dani weighed her pool cue and murmured in Kate’s ear, “By the way, this is how I got money when I traveled around.”

  Kate grinned, but neither female spoke again as the guys lined up for the first shot.

  “Oh no.” Aunt Mae appeared and grabbed Dani’s pool cue from her hand. She handed it to Jonah who had followed to watch. “I will not be having my niece hustling’ in my own nest. You hear me? Not going to happen.”

  The damage was done. The two guys had heard and looked startled. She saw the anger set in. It was pointless to argue, but Dani said anyway, “I wasn’t going to hustle. I have some decency for your home turf.”

  “Then you best be showing me your decency. You can help out behind the counter,” Mae shouted over her shoulder as she pushed through the crowd, two empty beer bottles in her hand.

  Dani sighed and turned to Kate. “Some other time.”

  “You know,” Kate leaned in. “Hustling’s illegal.”

  Dani shrugged and pointed out, “All the more reason why they’d never suspect it if folks knew a police officer was playing.”

  Kate laughed and moved to take her turn. Jonah resumed her vacated spot and murmured, “I’d be up for a game sometime.”

  “You wanna outhustle a hustler?”

  “There’s no want. I know I could, but it’d be good practice.”

  Dani just laughed and waved to Aiden, Bubba, and Robbie, who approached the table with Lori in hand. She moved through the crowd and took her spot behind the counter.

  Aunt Mae moved closer. “Hope you didn’t go rusty with your time away.”

  Dani merely shook her head as she nodded to an order and filled it within seconds.

  “Nope. Sure haven’t.” Aunt Mae grinned and patted Dani’s shoulder.

  The first hour sped by quickly. Always did when the bar was filled over the brim. But the last thirty minutes were the worst. The drunk got drunker and the one-nighters quickly started sharing their numbers.

  Jonah had taken residence at the end of her counter space. Every time a girl approached and her hand lingered down his arm, he’d shoot Dani a look and she’d move in. The first few were deterred when Dani announced that he’d come with her. And then one took it as a challenge to throwdown and Dani changed tactics. Now she merely slid them a watered down coke and pointed across the bar. She told ‘em it came from the gentleman in the blue.

  There were too many gentlemen in blue to count.

  The girls loved it, didn’t notice it was watered down pop only, and went off in search for their one-nighter.

  After the fifth girl, Dani slapped a towel in front of Jonah and suggested, “If you want, you can start picking up. Just tell ‘em you have to clean-up afterwards.”

  Robbie had heard the last words as he approached the counter. He laughed and shook his head as Jonah left, towel in hand. “You and Jonah seem to get along.”

  “What’ll you have?”

  “A…how about a water and a diet coke.”

  “Lori’s had enough, huh?” Dani murmured as she filled the glasses. She set them up and Robbie lingered a moment.

  “Can I ask you a question?”

  “Sure. Although we really only met tonight.” Robbie had been another outcast like herself, but she only talked to Jake. None other.

  “That’s why I actually want to ask you. You’re objective. You might have a different set of eyes.” He leaned closer. “Do you think…coming from your first impression, do you think Lori would make a good mother?”

  Dani slid a drink to another customer and replied, “I think…Kate would make a good mother I think Aiden is a great mother. And I think that if you’re asking a stranger and bartender, then you have the answer you’re searching for.”

  A night spent with laughs, drinks, and the drunken loosened up the tongue more than usual.

  Robbie sighed and sat down on a stool. He cradled both drinks in his hands.

  “Not the answer you were searching for,” Dani stated, watching his bent head.

  “No.” He sighed and looked up. “It was the answer I thought, just put nicely.”