Page 11 of The Wild Beneath

Ruth shrugs. “I was with Evan so much at the end, when I was looking after Celeste. He wanted to stay here. I told Isaac it was fine.” Ruth gives Annie a squeeze around her middle. “Evan remembers you, sweetie.”

“You’d think Isaac—­” Aiden starts in a low voice.

“Put yourself in his shoes,” Ruth says.

“His son needs him.”

“He can’t hold it together since Celeste died.”

Evan comes over to them. He’s wearing jeans and a camo T-shirt, a Hale Timber baseball cap pulled low on his forehead. He gives Annie a wave. She looks closely at his face, his sooty black eyelashes, thick eyebrows, pink cheeks.

“Evan Hale, is it?” Aiden says.

“Yes, sir.” Evan removes his hat.

Ruth shades her eyes from the sun. “You want to take him along today? I’ve got a long shift.”

Aiden looks between Ruth, Evan, andAmphitrite, moored about one hundred metres away in the cove.

“When does he need to be back?”

“Isaac’s staying at the logging camp until Friday.”

Annie tugs the hem of Aiden’s shirt. “He should come,” she says. She’s sure of it.

Aiden looks down to Annie. He’s hesitant, but accustomed to deferring to Mara and Annie by now.

“What do you think, Evan?” he finally says. “Would you like to learn about life on the sea?”

It’s not long before the three of them putter back out toAmphitrite. The wind picks up the dark curls of Evan’s hair. Sunlight touches his forehead. Annie feels a fizz of excitement, like a new path unfurling before her.

Evan holds the lifelines carefully as they climb aboard. He gets his footing before he steps tentatively into the cockpit.

“This is Dodge.” Annie hops down and points to the dodger. “Dodge, meet Evan.”

Evan says nothing.

“I call him Dodge, anyway... that’s what you call this cover thing. It blocks the wind.”

Evan runs his hand along the fabric.

“Then the Winch family,” Annie continues. “We have four of them. They’re quadruplets if you’re wondering.” She jumps around to each. “This one’s a bit grouchy.” She pats the starboard winch. She wants him to say something, anything.

Aiden puts a hand on Evan’s shoulder and leaves it there.

“Well. Um.” Annie bounces on her toes. “Wanna play crazy eights?”

“No.” It’s the first thing Annie hears Mara say, after Aiden has climbed below. He talks softly, but Annie can still hear him from the cockpit. Evan is quiet, deep in his cards, sunlight in his hair.

“I think it would be good for her to have another kid around,” Aiden says.

Mara exhales. “Who is he?”

Evan plays an eight on the growing pile of cards. If he can hear the conversation, he doesn’t show it. “Hearts,” he says, deciding the next suit. His voice is the edge of a feather.

“Isaac Hale’s boy. He lost his mom last month,” says Aiden. “Breast cancer.”

Annie plays a queen of hearts during a long pause in her parents’ conversation below. Soft footsteps ascend the companionway. Mara appears.