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“Thanks for being decent about everything,” Jessica said. “Unlike Donny...”
Jack couldn’t bring himself to look at her, let alone respond. “I wish you the best,” he mumbled to his wife.
Ashleigh glanced at Jessica before meeting his gaze. “Thanks,” she said and walked out.
After the door closed, he sank down onto the sofa—which would probably turn out to behersofa—and stared at what was left of the contents of the house. There wasn’t much, but that didn’t seem to matter because there wasnothingleft of him.
9
Ismay hadn’t expected to dislike her prospective brother-in-law quite as much as she did. But he didn’t seem to care one way or another. He certainly wasn’t trying to impress her. He seemed to enjoy being an asshole and purposely tried to get under her skin.
“So you’ve been staying in the master?” he’d asked, feigning as though it was an innocent question when he was really intimating that she’d been rudely presumptuous to take that room as a guest—and a first-time guest at that.
“Only because Remy told me to,” she’d responded, feeling defensive. “I can move into his room. No problem.”
“I’d hate to put you out,” he’d said, but it wasn’t sincere, and he hadn’t protested when she’d packed up her suitcase and carried it to Remy’s room.
Had Remy known Bastian was coming to Mariners? Had he asked him to come because he was so upset she was alone with Bo? If so, he could’ve said something.
Eager to find out, she closed the door as soon as she could and tried to reach him, twice, but her calls transferred to voice mail.
Frustrated, she tossed her phone on the bed and took her time getting situated while waiting to hear back. Moving into Remy’s room was the logical choice, the one that wouldn’t be questioned, but she wished she could’ve gone into the downstairs guest room. Not only would that give her more separation from Bastian when she was sleeping—not that she considered him a true risk; she was just uncomfortable—it would put her in a space that didn’t remind her of what she’d found in the closet. She thought of those things often enough as it was. Being even closer to them—using that closet while being aware of that hole in the wall—creeped her out.
After she put her things away, she still hadn’t heard from Remy. Unwilling to leave the room, she sat on the bed, listening for Bastian’s movements in the house. She could hear him downstairs, probably in the kitchen, when she grabbed her phone again.
Remy hadn’t even wanted Bo to stay at the cottage one night, and yet she’d let him stay two.
But Bo had been the ultimate gentleman. No one had any reason to complain about his behavior...
She braced herself as the phone signaled a message. It could be that Bastian had shown up completely on his own, as he’d said. But had he let his brother know he’d found Bo in the house?
Either way, she was dying to talk to Remy and make sure everything was okay between them—and with his parents. There’d been an emergency, and maybe they didn’t approve of how she’d handled it, but they hadn’t been here, didn’t know what she and Bo had been up against.
That incoming text had come from Remy.
I saw your call the first time and will get back to you when I can. I’m studying. What’s up?
Can you step out of the library for a few minutes? I need to talk to you.
When he didn’t respond, she assumed he was doing as she’d asked—and knew that was the case only after she received a call five minutes later. He could’ve said,Sure, just a minute. But he was probably irritated by the interruption.
“I checked the weather report when I got up this morning. The storm’s moved on,” he said without so much as a hello. “Don’t tell me the power hasn’t come back on and the generator’s gone out.”
He didn’t seem to know about Bo. He didn’t seem to be aware that his twin brother was on the island, either. He would’ve said something right away had either of those things come to his attention. “The power’s not back on, but the generator’s working.”
“So what’s wrong? It’d better not be that you’re still worried about our caretaker. Bo’s resourceful. He’ll be fine.”
She considered admitting that she’d had Bo stay over again but decided not to bring it up. If Bastian told on her, she could always explain later. “Bastian’s here,” she said. As far as she was concerned, that was the bigger issue. When she’d decided to come to Mariners ahead of Remy, it was with the understanding that she’d have the house to herself, not that she’d be sharing it with a brother she’d never previously met.
“What’d you say?” Remy sounded surprised.
“I saidBastian’shere. He just...showed up out of the blue this morning.”
“Why?What’s he doing there?”
“I have no idea. That’s why I’m calling you.”
“Did he say how long he plans to stay?”
