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“No. Honey’s daughter broke her ankle, so she had to go to the mainland to help with her granddaughters. Ismay is house-sitting for her.” He didn’t see any point in mentioning Jack. There was enough to explain as it was.
“Then the situation’s been defused.”
“Fortunately.”
“Bastian told me you’re getting involved with Ismay... romantically. Is that true?”
“I’ve barely met Ismay,” he said to avoid a more direct answer. “I’ve only tried to keep her safe while she’s here.”
“Then you’re not the reason she’s broken off her engagement with Remy?”
“Absolutely not,” he said. “That has to do with a video Ismay was sent from a third party showing Remy with another woman.”
She gasped. “You mean...cheatingon her?”
He knew Remy wouldn’t appreciate what he was divulging, but it was about time the would-be doctor had to account for his behavior. “Yes.”
“That can’t be true!” she said, raising her voice again.
“She showed it to me. If you want to call her, she can probably send it to you.”
“I don’t want to see it,” she said, sounding as though news of Remy’s infidelity had punched the last of the fight out of her. “She must be heartbroken,” she added softly.
“She is. And then to have Bastian wandering around, coming to her door and trying to get in after one in the morning... It was unnerving.”
“I bet,” she agreed. Then she got quiet, and Bo thought she might be weeping.
“Mrs. Windsor? Are you okay?”
He heard her sniff. “Yeah. I—I just don’t know what to do.”
“Don’t worry. I have things under control here. I’ve repaired all the water damage, and I’m just about done with the fence—”
“I appreciate that,” she said, but she hadn’t even let him finish, so obviously she didn’t want to hear about it right now. Her mind was elsewhere.
“I hope you’re not upset about what I did. I couldn’t see any other way around it.”
“I’m grateful to you for handling things as well as you did,” she said. “But...that’s only a small part of the problem.”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“I just... I don’t know what I ever did to deserve the children I got,” she replied. Then she disconnected, because she’d probably already said more than she intended.
Stunned that she seemed to believe him over Bastian, he sank back onto the bed. He half expected her to call again, take it all back. But that didn’t happen. He received no calls and just one text. From Matilda.
When will you be in Louisiana?
He was taking the first flight off the island in the morning. He’d had to put together a patchwork of travel plans in order to arrive by nightfall, but he wouldn’t let Chester, the one person who’d looked out for him, go without help if he needed it. But Bo wasn’t going to tell her that. He was afraid he’d show up at Grand Isle and she’d be there waiting for him.
Ignoring her message, he shoved his phone in his pocket and went into the bathroom. He had to pick up Ismay and Jack in fifteen minutes.
“Jack’s doing better,” Ismay said, obviously relieved.
Bo watched her brother dive into the surf. It was the warmest day they’d had so far on Mariners; the storm that’d hit the island felt like a distant memory. “I’m happy to hear it. Hopefully, that trend will continue. Has he heard anything from Ashleigh?”
“I haven’t asked. He seems better able to cope if we don’t talk about it.”
Bo straightened his towel over the soft warm sand. There was something else they hadn’t talked about, and that was what they’d done in his bed last night. Bo thought she might want to address it now that they had a few minutes alone, but so far, she’d avoided the subject. “Annabelle called earlier,” he said.
