Page 53 of Dancing on Air

“For?” Cora laughed.

“A few things. My brother’s smile.” She elbowed Max. “For setting up this weekend. But most of all, for getting us rooms at my dream vacation resort.”

“You’re welcome, you’re welcome, and you’re welcome,” Cora said with a chuckle.

“Did you eat?” Max asked once he shoved Missy’s bag in the trunk of the rental.

“I had a stale muffin on the train,” Missy answered.

“We got you a croissant sandwich,” Cora said, holding up the bag. “I’m afraid the coffee is probably cold.”

“I’ll take it.” Missy took the items as he headed out of Portland.

“How long is the road trip?” Missy asked Cora.

“Only about half an hour. But I thought we’d stop somewhere along the way. There are a few really great little shops…”

“Yes and yes,” Missy said with a full mouth. “Sorry, bro, girl shopping is a requirement for a fully fun weekend getaway.”

“Understood,” he said with a smile. “Just tell me where to turn off.”

While he drove, he listened to Missy and Cora chatting, mostly about his sister’s college graduation and the ballet and how they’d met.

“Next turn off, there are shops,” Cora pointed out shortly after they’d left the city. “We can walk along the outlet mall and have lunch along the water.”

For the next two hours, he followed his sister and Cora around the shopping center. Three times he had to make trips back to the car to lock up their purchases.

They ate at a small gourmet hot dog stand that sat directly off the pier along the water’s edge.

By the time they loaded up into the rental car again, he even had a pair of new shoes, socks, and a new pair of sunglasses, since he’d forgotten his.

The drive from the outlet mall to Silver Cove seemed to go by much faster since there weren’t any awkward silences between his sister and Cora any longer. The two were comfortable around one another now and chatted nonstop the rest of the way.

He was thankful for it, even if he had had to deal with them shopping.

“Pull up here,” Cora said. She pulled out her phone and shot out a text. “JT will be here in five,” she said after getting a response back.

The three of them sat out on the small dock area and enjoyed the sun while Cora filled Missy in on her family dynamics.

Even though he thought he knew the whole story behind Cora’s family, he still hung on her every word. She quickly ran through how she’d found JT, snuck onto his private island, and had gotten caught by him and Emma.

She briefly talked about how her mother had pulled a gun on her brother and almost shot him because she feared that he was the reason Cora had run away.

She didn’t get to finish the story because they all turned at the sound of a boat engine.

Cora’s smile doubled when the small ferry boat came into view. A man stood out on the top deck waving. Then a woman joined him.

“Holy shit, it really is Emma Wilder,” Missy gasped.

Chapter Fourteen

Just seeing her brother made her eyes burn with tears. Then Emma stepped out on the deck and those tears slid down her cheeks as she saw the stroller with her nephew and niece inside.

When the ferry came to a halt, Cora rushed on board and wrapped her arms around her brother quickly after he tied the boat off.

“Hey, kid.” JT wrapped his arms around her.

When Emma reached them, JT reached over and easily took Sophia, her niece, from Emma’s arms while Liam, her nephew, snuggled up to Emma’s side.