His shrieks barely sounded human.

  “You suck at this, Ray.”

  She had to make her descent—perilous, of course, but the beach and the boat waited below.

  As she started down, Edina spewed fire. Thea clung to the rock wall, gripping until her fingers bled. She’d forgotten the climbing gloves in her vest again.

  Rookie mistake.

  But she made her way down, foothold by handhold, as flaming balls of rock flew out of the volcano, crashed into the jungle, onto the beach head, into the Rage.

  She sprinted across the sand, untied the boat. Engaging the motor, she sped away and watched the island burn behind her. Waves of heat slapped the air. Panicked animals raced toward the sea, some burning as they ran.

  Thea gave the sharks a wide berth, then pulled to shore on Sanctuary Island.

  He’d never gotten out of the jungle.

  “Stay out of my head, Ray. Stay clear of me or I’ll bring you back to this. Or worse, I’ll bring you back and keep you there.

  “You can wake up now. Game over.”

  She rolled over in bed, checked the time.

  Three hours and thirty-six minutes. And she felt every second of it. Her head ached, her muscles throbbed, her throat screamed with thirst.

  But she’d made her point, to Riggs, to herself.

  She could hurt him, and she would, without hesitation, without mercy.

  Rising, she got a bottle of ibuprofen, took three, and downed two glasses of water. Though she didn’t expect he’d try anything tonight, and hopefully never again, she hung her charm bag, and the two more she’d made.

  She said the words.

  Then slipped back into bed and into quiet dreams.

  Chapter Eighteen

  As June bumped into July, Ty decided to take that walk to the little farm down the road. It seemed much less stressful than facing the terrifying Ready to Assemble on the play set he’d bought Bray.

  Hand him an instrument, he’d figure out how to play it. Hand him a hammer, and very bad things happened.

  Given it was Saturday, he had to hope he wouldn’t interrupt Lucy’s work. Besides, she’d said to bring Bray, and seemed to mean it.

  And his boy brimmed with excitement over the whole thing.

  “Moo!” Bray strutted down the side of the road. “Pet the cow!”

  There, Ty reserved judgment.

  “Goat says naaaaa! Pet the goat.”

  “Maybe. Let’s wait and see.”

  Did goats bite?

  “Chickens go cluck, cluck. More chickens. Doggies, too, Daddy.”

  “So I hear.”

  Maybe, considering, the play set assembly would be less hazardous. But since he caught sight of the house, too late to turn back.

  Nice place, he decided. It looked sturdy and homey and like it had been there forever.

  Bray raised his arms. “Up!”

  And ten paces later, wiggled. “Down!” As the dog mountain and two long-eared dogs ran around the house.

  “Hold on a minute.”

  They stopped short of the road and wagged. Then, when Ty got close enough, sniffed at his shoes, his pants legs, and wagged some more.

  “Okay, but we don’t know if these two are used to kids, so let’s be careful.”

  Bray’s idea of careful was to try to grab all three dogs at once, laugh like a lunatic, and end up on the ground buried in dogs.

  “Danger Guy. I’m raising Danger Guy.”

  “We run now!” And Bray took off so all three dogs ran after him.

  When he squealed, Ty’s heart stopped. Then went into overdrive as Bray shouted, “Cows,” and, shifting directions, went into top speed.

  “Braydon, stop! Now!”

  The Serious Dad Voice did it, so Bray stopped seconds before the dogs bowled him over again.

  “Cows, Daddy!”

  “Yeah, I see them.” He saw two cows, two really big cows. Two enormous cows behind a board fence that didn’t look like it would hold them back if they wanted out.

  Did two cows equal a stampede? He didn’t want to find out.

  “Look, this isn’t our house. We have to talk to Miss Lucy first, okay?”

  He heard the slap of a screen door, and looked over to see the lady herself on the back porch.

  “Sorry,” Ty began. “He took off before I could knock. He’s got speed.”

  “So I see. Y’all finish that batch for me while I introduce this young man to Betty Lou and Rosie.”

  “You’re working? I’m sorry again.”

  “No sorrys for giving me a break and having my grandchildren finish the work. How about we get some grain, Braydon, and you can give Betty Lou and Rosie a little snack?”

  “Okay!”

  “Now, unless you’re interested in livestock, you hand over that boy and go on into the house. Get yourself a cold drink.”

  “I—”

  Bray just reached out for her, made the decision. “Where’s the goat?”

  “Oh, we’ll see Greta, too. I’m going to introduce you to all my girls.”

  “How come just girls?” Bray asked as Lucy carried him toward a barn.

  “Boys don’t give milk or lay eggs.”

  “Why?”

  “Now, that’s a good question for your daddy later on.”

  “Great. Yeah, that’s great,” Ty muttered, and walked to the house.

  Clearly, Thea came by her love of gardening—or determination for it—naturally. Flowers and vegetables thrived here, too. And he spotted the goat watching him with its weird eyes from under a lean-to.

  She had bottles hanging from branches, like Thea did, and bird feeders, a flower-shaped birdbath.

  Another sanctuary.

  Then the scent hit him. Another garden, he thought, coming from inside the house. Before he could knock, Rem called out.

  “Come on in. We’ve got our hands full for another minute.”

  He stepped into the kitchen and saw a smaller kitchen off to the side. Thea, in shorts that set off her legs and a snug tank top that set off the rest of her, poured something bold red into glass jars.

  Even wearing gloves that came to her elbows, and some sort of apron, she looked damn good.

  Rem had his own set and poured something purple.

  “Nearly done,” Rem told him, blowing hair out of his eyes. “Got a hefty order in yesterday, so all hands on deck.”

  Ty stepped a little closer. “That’s a lot of candles.”

  “Speaks to the success of Mountain Magic. Did soap first thing.”

  Ty saw filled molds on the opposite work counter. A soft pink, a pale purple, with flowers all over them. Or in them.

  He slid his hands into his back pockets because he wanted to touch, and figured he shouldn’t.

  “Hot work.”

  “It’s all that,” Rem agreed. “That’s the last of mine.”

  He carried the pot to the sink and started right in on cleaning it. “There’s tea in the fridge. Maybe you could get some glasses, some ice and pour some out.”

  “Sure.”

  As he did, he heard Bray’s voice, high, excited, asking a million questions.

  Thea stepped out without the gloves and apron, a little dewy from the heat. And yeah, she looked damn good.

  He handed her a glass.

  “Thanks. Grammie’s got two craftswomen working for her, but one’s on vacation, and the other had a family thing this weekend. So.”

  “All hands on.”

  “That’s right. The soap takes time to cure, so the order’s going to almost wipe out her stock. Can’t have that.” She walked to the screen to look out. “Aren’t they having the best time?”

  “If your grandmother doesn’t mind answering ten thousand questions.”

  “She always answered mine and Rem’s, and never seemed to mind. How’s the organizing coming?”

  “Almost there. Now I’ve got a to-be-assembled play set for Bray sitting outside, intimidating me. I thought I might call on that contractor you told me about.”

  “Knobby?”

  “I can do it.” Wiping his hands on his jeans, Rem stepped in. “Not handy?”

  “Not with tools. A screwdriver is about top of my skill set.”

  “I’m handy.” And Rem rubbed those hands together. “Let me at it.”

  “Really? I don’t want to—”

  “He loves that sort of thing. I’m handy, too, if he needs an assistant.”

  “She is,” Rem confirmed. Then grabbed a glass and downed it before going to the door. He shoved the screen open. “Hey, Grammie, Ty’s got something needs put together at his place. Thea and I are going down to give him a hand with it. We’re all done here.”

  “That’s fine. You leave this boy with me. We haven’t finished our visit. Have we, Bray?”

  “Uh-uh. I stay with Grammie. Bye!”

  “But—”

  “You’re doing her a favor.” Rem slapped Ty on the shoulder. “Got tools? Besides a screwdriver?”

  “Not to speak of.”

  “Mine are in my truck. We’ll ride down in it.”

  * * *

  They took over. And after a short period of bafflement, gratitude took over. They obviously knew what to do, how to do it, so delegated him as whatever came just below apprentice.

  More, they clearly enjoyed the work, and beyond that, working with each other. As he carted precut lumber, tools, hardware, he tried to come up with a project he and his sister or his brother had done together.

  And couldn’t come up with one.

  They got along fine, he reminded himself. But it seemed to him Thea and Rem shared a different kind of bond.

  Not so surprising, really, he decided, considering how and when they’d lost their parents.

  After a couple hours, Ty could see the bones of it, and concluded Bray would have started high school, possibly graduated, before he’d have finished it.

  “I didn’t realize it was so … much. He’s just one kid.”

  “You’re going to have more coming around once they see this. Got this little rock wall going, the swings and slide. Got your pretend grill down here—once we get to it. And that majorly cool upper deck clubhouse.”

  Grinning at it, Rem swiped sweat off his forehead with his forearm. “I’d’ve been all over this as a kid. Hell, I’m going to be all over it now.”

  “He’s going to love it,” Thea confirmed. “And it’s good and sturdy. And here comes the lucky boy now, so you can get his opinion.”

  Bray’s squeal said it all as he raced ahead of Lucy. “Wanna swing!”

  “Not yet. It’s not ready.”

  “Made progress.” Lucy set a picnic basket on Miss Leona’s old picnic table. “And isn’t that going to be something? What a good daddy you’ve got. We figured it was time for the construction crew to take a lunch break, didn’t we, Bray?”

  “I had ham and biscuits and pie!”

  “And we’ve got more.”

  “Perfect timing.” So declaring, Rem set down his drill, winked at Bray. “If you talk Grammie into helping, we’ll have you swinging by suppertime.”

  Somehow, they did.

  With the three of them working, and his minimal help and steady supply of cold drinks, Bray had his debut swing by suppertime. He followed that up by clambering like a monkey up the little rock wall, hauling himself onto the upper deck and into the clubhouse, wheeing his way down the slide.

  Almost as giddy as his son, Ty took pictures with his phone.

  “One more favor? Could you all stand over there, in front of it? Crew shot.”

  After they posed for him, he tucked his phone away. “I’m never going to be able to thank you enough.”

  Thea glanced back to where Bray came down the slide again, laughing all the way.

  “I think that does the job, right there.”

  “I’d offer to make dinner, but that feels more like punishment than reward. How about I take everybody out to dinner?”

  “Oh, I appreciate that, Tyler.” Behind Thea’s back, Lucy took Rem’s hand and squeezed. “But Rem and I, we’ve got a little business to work on over dinner tonight.”

  “Yeah, right. But I’m in for a serious rain check on that.”

  “Come on, drive your grammie home. We’ve got animals to feed. And you?” She crouched, crooked a finger at Bray. “You come see me again real soon.”

  “Bring my trucks.”

  Ty watched his son throw his arms around Lucy’s neck.

  She hugged him back, then rose to kiss Ty’s cheek. “You’ve got a bright little jewel there, Tyler.”

  “I know. I— He’s careful who he hugs like that.”

  She just smiled. “Grammies are easy to hug. Take me home, Rem.”

  When they walked around to Rem’s truck, Ty turned to Thea. “Are you up for dinner?”

  “I did hear something about pizza before.” She nodded at Bray, currently heading up to slide yet again. “But you might have a hard time breaking him away from his new boy palace.”

  “Pizza would do it.”

  “Then give me about thirty minutes to feed Bunk and the chickens, clean up a bit. I’m in for pizza. Come on, Bunk.”

  The pizza bribe worked well enough, with the added incentive of a promised nighttime swing, for Ty to cart Bray into the shower with him for a quick cleanup.

  When he drove up to Thea’s, she came straight out. She’d changed into long pants and a shirt and looked as fresh as if she’d spent the whole day sitting in the shade reading a novel and sipping her amazing lemonade.

  As she slid into the passenger seat, she filled the car with the scent of female. Subtle and intriguing.

  And made him wonder when he’d last driven anywhere with a woman who wasn’t related to him.

  She shifted to look at Bray in his car seat.

  “What kind of pizza do you like?”

  “I like pizza.”

  “Me, too.”

  “I like pepperoni.”

  “Me, too! This bodes very well.”

  “Sometimes Daddy gets vegbles on it.” He made an ick face.

  “You know, Grammie does that sometimes, too. I just don’t understand it. What’s better than pepperoni pizza?”

  “That’s not helping.”

  She shrugged at Ty. “True facts matter. Did you have a good time at Grammie’s?”

  “I petted the cows and the goat. Doggies chased sticks. She had trucks! We played trucks.”

  “Rem’s trucks. I see you have a truck with you.”

  “Monster truck.”

  In town, Ty parked, then dealt with extracting Bray from the car seat. Though traffic barely existed, he kept Bray on his hip while they crossed to the restaurant.

  Inside, the siren’s call of Italian cooking filled the air. And a summer Saturday night crowd filled plenty of tables and booths.

  Since he knew the routine, Ty led the way to a four-top, grabbed a booster seat for Bray. Then, reading Thea’s amusement, shrugged.

  “We’ve been here a few times.”

  “I think they started up when I was about eight. I’ve been here more than a few. Hi, Pru.”

  “Hey there, Thea.” The server with her bob of blond hair and pink nose stud put a coloring sheet and box of crayons in front of Bray. “We got your trucks tonight.”

  “I color trucks!”

  “Bray?”

  “Thank you,” he remembered to say.

  “You bet. Get y’all started with a drink?”

  “Wine?” he asked Thea, and ordered two glasses of red at her nod and ice water for Bray. “Pepperoni pizza?”

  “Braydon and I are soul mates there. You do as you will.”

  “Pepperoni pizza,” Ty told Pru. “Large.”

  “I’ll get that right in for you.”

  When Pru stepped back, she caught Thea’s eye, pressed a hand on her heart, and rolled her own.

  “How did a game designer learn how to use an electric drill like that?”

  Thea shifted her attention back to him. “I could say life on the farm, which probably refined it. But my parents were handy. He was an architect and she an interior designer—well, exterior, too. They had a business together, and were hands-on. We were always around tools.

  “I take it you weren’t?”

  “I don’t think anyone in my family’s ever held a drill. Doctors, lawyers, businesspeople, like that.”

  “But musical?”

  “Not especially. Your basic piano lessons, and my sister played the viola for about five minutes. Thanks,” he said when Pru brought the drinks.

  “It’s funny, isn’t it? We’re a musical family, and my uncle Waylon’s made a career there. But otherwise, it’s just a pastime for the rest of us. Caleb’s pulled that out in a few roles, but he’s never spotlighted it. And you, mostly nonmusical family? Apparently you hoarded all the talent.”

  “I made a blue truck.”

  Thea looked down at the drawing paper. “An excellent blue truck. Not all the artistic talent,” she corrected.

  “Thea!”

  Maddy, hair a little wild, eyes very tired, arrowed from the door to the four-top. “Hey, Ty, hey, kiddo. Nice truck. Can I sit a second?”

  She dropped into the chair next to Thea’s. “And have a sip of this. It’s been one.”

  She snagged Thea’s wineglass, took one deep sip.

  “Let me get you one,” Ty said.

  “Would you? Gratitude. Arlo’s meeting me here. He’s just finishing up. I escaped.”

  “Busy at the clinic today?” Thea asked.

  “Get that right there.” Maddy pointed to a spot between the curve of her neck and shoulder.

  Shifting, Thea used her thumbs to go after the knot.

  “Busy? No more than usual for a Saturday, until Alley Greer waddled in at about four, in labor, in the late stages thereof.”

  Maddy circled her head. “Thanks, that got it.”

  “Everyone okay?” Thea asked.

  “Perfect baby girl, eight pounds, three ounces. But we had a scramble. She walked in after putting in a full day at the store, even though I told her it was time to take leave two weeks ago. But money’s tight. Anyway, ready or not, that baby was coming.

  “Thanks, Pru.” Maddy lifted the glass Pru brought to Ty. “Thank you.”

  “I’d say you earned it.”