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Meg’s gaze flickered to the diamond-faced watch around Allison’s wrist. “Easy to say when you have it.”

Allison gave a small, polite smile. “I’ve been very fortunate.”

“Obviously,” Meg drawled.

Matt glanced around the table, wondering when his sister had reverted to being a First Class Brat, wondering how much of the tension the kids were picking up. Josh shoveled in food, oblivious, but Taylor’s small face was pinched and watchful.

“Allison’s a great teacher. Josh is lucky to be in her class,” he said.

“Good for him. Good for her. No offense,” she said to Allison. “It’s just that I could never afford to flit around the country following my bliss. I had to work to pay the rent.”

“Says Miss Central Park West,” Matt said.

“Hey, it took me a long time to get there. Everything I have, I earned. Unlike some people.”

Enough was enough.

“What is your problem?” Matt asked. “Allison’s been busting her ass all day, first at school, then here. You should be grateful. You should thank her.”

Meg’s face reddened. “I am. I do. Thank you.”

All right, then.
Matt dug into his dinner.

But Meg, being Meg, couldn’t leave well enough alone. “I’m just saying that people who come from a certain kind of background don’t understand how things are for the rest of us.”

“I understand more than you realize,” Allison said. The good manners Matt had noticed before, that made her so easy to talk to, kept her spine straight and her tone mild. “I didn’t go to Harvard, but one of the things I learned flitting around the country is that you might want to take some time, get to know a person or a situation, before you start making judgments.”

Recognition sparked in Matt. Those were his words, almost the exact words he’d used to her over their first beer at the Fish House.

She looked across the table at him and grinned.

She had more than class, he thought. She had guts and heart.

Most people buckled to Meg. But no matter what his sister threw at her, what life threw at her, Allison found a way to keep smiling.

Matt smiled back, wishing he had more to offer her than warmed-up casserole with his sister and kids.

“W
HEN
I’
VE BEEN
a bitch, I say I’ve been a bitch,” Meg announced the next morning.

Allison straightened from cleaning the toilet and turned. Meg stood behind her in the door to the William Kidd room, wearing two-hundred-dollar jeans and an apron.

Allison lowered the dripping toilet brush. “
Dirty Dancing
. Movie quote,” she explained. “So?”

Meg scowled. “So, what?”

“I’m waiting for you to say it.”

Meg laughed, humor chasing the storm from her face.
“I like you. Even if you are younger, prettier, and way nicer than me.”

“And…?” Allison prompted.

“I’m not getting away without a real apology, am I?” Meg asked wryly.

Allison considered. “I can excuse your being rude to me. You had a long drive and a long day yesterday, and you’re under a lot of stress. But your attitude made things more difficult for Matt last night. So…No.”

Meg nodded. “Fair enough. I was a bitch,” she said sincerely. “And I’m sorry. Can we be friends now?”

Allison smiled, relaxing. “I’d like that.”

“It’s okay if we don’t hug, though,” Meg said. “At least until you put down the toilet wand.”

Allison laughed.

Meg tilted her head. “The Kellers are all off fishing, bike riding, and touring the lighthouse. I have leftover coffee cake and a fresh pot of coffee in the kitchen. Feel like a break?”

“I drink tea, and I’d love to take a break with you,” Allison said.

T
HE KITCHEN GLEAMED
. The dishwasher hummed. All traces of the breakfast Meg had prepared and served to the eleven adult Kellers and their seven children had been cleared, wrapped, washed, and organized away.

“I’m impressed,” Allison said, sitting at the kitchen table. “Also intimidated.”

Meg cradled her mug and stretched out her legs. “Now you’re sucking up. I like it.”

“I’m just being honest. Did you ever think about going into hotel management?”

“Oh, God, no. I had enough of that growing up. Do you
know what those entry-level jobs pay? There’s more money in insurance.”

“And that’s important to you.”

“Yes,” Meg said, one word, fast and definite, in a way that shut down further discussion.

“This coffee cake is delicious,” Allison said.

“Thanks.” Meg’s eyes suddenly, unexpectedly, filled with tears. She blotted them with the corner of her napkin. “Shit. It’s Mom’s recipe.”

“How is she?” Allison asked sympathetically.

Meg sniffed and crumpled the napkin. “I talked to Dad this morning. Mom finally convinced him to catch a few hours of sleep at the hotel last night. The orthopedic guy says she’s making a very fast recovery. They think they’ll be able to remove her chest tube and move her into a step-down unit in a couple of days.”

“That’s wonderful.”

“Yeah.” Meg rubbed the crease between her brows. “Of course, she’ll be in the hospital or rehab for weeks. Maybe months. And Derek is already putting pressure on me to come back to New York.”

“Derek is your boss?”

“That would be awkward. We live together,” Meg explained. “
And
we work together, but I don’t actually report to him.”

“I’m sure he misses you,” Allison said politely.

“Yeah. The company just acquired Parnassus Insurance—maybe you read about that? I write the press releases—and things are crazy at the office right now.”

“I meant personally.”

“Well, sure,” Meg said. “He actually talked about coming down with me, but he’s on the transition team. There’s no way we both could be gone. He really needs me in New York.”

Allison nodded, not sure what to say. They needed Meg here, too.

But Meg had a career, an apartment, a lover demanding her attention. Allison completely understood. She’d refused to let her own life be dictated by her parents. How could she suggest that Meg put everything on hold indefinitely?

“Where’s Taylor this morning?” she asked.

“The Kellers’ daughter Lisa has a couple of kids around Taylor’s age. She invited Taylor to tour the lighthouse with them.” Meg shot Allison a droll look. “Apparently she felt having an outsider along would stop her kids from fighting.”

“Oh, yes,” Allison murmured. “Because that always works.”

Meg grinned. “Hey, I’ve already admitted I was awful. In my defense, I was trying to protect my brother. I don’t want to see him hurt.”

Family was a big part of who Matt was. The man Allison wanted, the man she loved. If she took him on, she realized, she’d also be taking on his entire family: Josh, Matt’s parents, his brother and sister, his niece.

That future she had envisioned, waiting like a bright island on the horizon, suddenly got more crowded. And more complicated.

“Okay, I respect that,” Allison said. “Actually, I envy you. I wish I had that kind of relationship with my own brother. But Matt can take care of himself.”

“Himself and everybody else. Which is part of the problem.”

Allison thought of Matt rescuing her by the side of the road, rubbing her feet, filling her gas tank. Matt, with his slow, rare smile, making her come. Making her happy.

“How is that a problem?”

Meg set down her mug. “Look, you seem like a nice person. You obviously care about Matt. But he’s thirty-six years old. He knows who he is and where he belongs. His family is here. His roots are here. You, on the other hand, are what, twenty-three?”

“Twenty-five.”

“Okay. Not to sound condescending or anything, but you’re young. You’re still finding yourself. You’ve got things to do, places to go. You’re not going to want to spend the rest of your life on Dare Island. I sure didn’t.”

“That doesn’t mean I won’t.”

“What’s keeping you?”

Allison’s heart beat faster. “You mean, besides Matt?”

Meg’s gaze was shrewd and not unkind. “I know my brother. Has he ever once asked you to stay?”

The coffee cake in Allison’s mouth was dry as dust. “We’ve only been seeing each other for a few weeks. It’s a little soon to be talking commitment, don’t you think?”

“With Matt, it’s always too soon. Commitment is not his strong suit.”

Allison swallowed. “He’s committed to his family.”

“Exactly. He’s never made room for anyone else.”

“He must have once,” Allison objected.

Meg looked at her blankly.

“He was married,” she explained.

“At nineteen. To a girl like you. Nice girl, nice clothes, nice family.” Meg grimaced. “Okay, maybe Kimberly wasn’t so nice. But you’re the same basic model—blond, smart, sure of yourself. One thing you can say about my brother, he’s consistent.”

That sounded terrible, Allison thought. It sounded…

Her stomach hollowed.

True.

Sixteen

M
ATT SQUATTED BESIDE
the Harley to change the front brake pads, absorbing the quiet along with the tang of grease and metal.

Taylor perched on a bench, looking up every now and then from her homework.

I’m old enough to look after myself
, she’d said this morning when he had announced his intention of picking her up after school.
I’ve done it before. Mom gave me my own key.

Maybe.

But he didn’t like the idea of her being home alone. She was safe here. The kids on Dare still ran free, roaming wild like the island ponies, the older ones looking out for the younger. But Taylor was so…little compared to Josh, small and female, vulnerable in ways he was only beginning to understand and didn’t know how to deal with.

Matt popped off the brake clips.

God, he wished Allison was here. She would know what to do. What to say.

They’d barely seen each other the past couple of days. He was busy, she was busy, and when they did get together there were always other things, other people around, demanding his attention. Not much fun for her.

The problem was, he’d gotten used to her being there at the end of his day. Not that he needed to dump on her, exactly. He had other people around to talk to. If he wanted to swap stories, he could go down to the tackle shop. But he missed their conversations, missed sharing something besides the weather, the latest fishing quotas, or sports scores. Missed seeing Allison’s face, hearing her enthusiasm as she talked about her students or the island.

He missed sex.

Allison, bless her, didn’t complain. Maybe she was okay with the idea of taking things easy for a while. Maybe she didn’t ache for him the way he ached for her.

The thought didn’t make him feel any better.

Couldn’t be helped, Matt told himself as he reached for the brake cleaner. He’d gone a damn sight longer than this without sex before. Occasional abstinence was part of being a dad, especially a single dad, like colic or fourth grade science projects or taking your kid to the dentist, something you got through with as much humor and patience as you could muster.

He shook the can as Taylor watched silently from the bench.

She’s too quiet
, Meg had said before she left for Greenville yesterday morning.

More than anything, Taylor needs to know that she can confide in you. That she doesn’t have to deal with whatever’s bothering her alone
, Allison had told him the other night.

He didn’t know what the hell to say to her. But maybe he didn’t need to talk. Maybe he could just listen.

He sprayed brake cleaner until it ran dripping onto the newspaper under the bike. “How you doing, kid?”

“Fine.”

Good.
Except he had a feeling Allison would expect him to ask more. He scrubbed at the brakes with a toothbrush. “Everything okay at school?”

“Uh huh.”

“Is there, uh, anything you want to tell me?”

Taylor narrowed her eyes. “Am I in trouble?”

That surprised a half smile from him. “Nope. Not at all. I just thought…Anything bothering you? Anybody bothering you?”

She shook her head.

Right.
He scrubbed harder. “Because you know you can talk to me anytime.”

“Okay.”

“About anything.”

She gave him a dubious look.

He didn’t blame her. He tried again. “Or if you maybe wanted to talk to somebody at school…”

“I don’t talk to the kids at school.”

Matt filed that one away under Things to Deal With Another Time. “Not a kid. Another grown-up.”

“You mean Allison?”

Allison would be good. She was smart and caring and female. She would know instinctively the right things to say to a little girl. She sure as hell wouldn’t be fumbling with the brakes, searching for words.

Matt shook his head. Taylor was his responsibility. His brother’s child. And right now, with Luke in Afghanistan and Tess in the hospital, Matt was all Taylor had.

“I was thinking more like a guidance counselor.” Or a psychologist, like his ex-wife. He winced. Not that trying to talk to Kimberly had ever done Josh a damn bit of good.

“I knew I was in trouble,” Taylor said darkly.

Matt grinned as he slid the clip from the brake reservoir.
“No, you’re not. I just thought maybe you’d like to talk to somebody about your feelings and sh—stuff.”

“No.”

He sighed. “Just think about it, okay?”

She didn’t answer.

He wrapped a rag around the reservoir, wishing little girls came with an owner’s manual, a set of simple diagrammed instructions.

“Why do you do that?” she asked.

“In case it expands and leaks.” Machines, he could talk about. “Brake fluid’s corrosive. You don’t want to touch it with your hands.”

“Oh.”

He pushed in the pistons with two fingers and reached for a new brake pad. Too bad Taylor’s problems weren’t the kind you could fix with a set of tools.

“Can I help?”

He looked up. She perched on the bench, her head to one side, watching him with bright, cautious expectation. Like she was a pelican and he was cleaning fish.