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Birdie glanced at her daughter, who walked pensively beside her.
“Your dad?” she asked with surprise.
“God, no. Grant.” She attempted to catch a crab, which scurried away in its hole in the sand before she was close to reaching it. “I mean, Luke’s single but I think it goes without saying that ship has pretty much sailed.”
What Mia didn’t know was the ship was unmoored and making a hasty departure as far as Grant was concerned as well. But the thought of Grant as anything romantic made Birdie a little nauseous. He was like a brother to her.
Brother turned hostile enemy. At the very least estranged.
Mia continued, sure she was on to something. “Maybe you should spend some time with him. Get reacquainted. He said he used to spend the afternoons with you and Luke after school.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Mia.”
“No, seriously, I think he likes you. I saw him watching you with his eyes all squinty.”
Those squinty eyes were more of a reflection of his deep distaste and overall revulsion of her than any romantic inclination.
Once they reached the sandy beach and took in the view of the ocean and what seemed an endless horizon, Mia said, “Wow, you were so lucky to grow up here.”
Birdie didn’t respond. There didn’t seem to be anything she could say that wouldn’t conjure a more in-depth conversation about her experiences growing up in Wayward. So instead, she chose to respond with another simple truth. “Yeah, I loved living near the ocean.”
Birdie sat on her towel and Mia arranged hers next to her. She seemed to be on the verge of saying something when she blurted, “Who’s Maisie?”
A frisson of fear drew the blood from Birdie’s face as she tried to think of a response. She’d be foolish to believe she wouldn’t find out about Maisie from someone else in this cursed town. Better it come from her.
“Maisie was my sister.”
“Was?”
Birdie nodded. “We weren’t very close.”
“What happened to her?”
“She died.”
“How?”
“She was killed by a very bad man.”
“Omigod,” Mia said, not expecting that response. “How? Who?”
Birdie rubbed her eyebrow. “Maisie was… confused. She spent time with people who were dangerous.”
“I can’t believe you never told me I had an aunt who was murdered.” Mia stared out toward the ocean.
“I thought I was protecting you. I wanted you to be older before sharing some of the more gruesome details of our family. Things were so much better after Marshall came into our lives. I guess I wanted to forget about how bad the past was.”
Mia’s back stiffened as she pulled her legs into her chest. “I’d like to stay a little longer.”
Birdie took in a large breath and exhaled.
Don’t over react. This is a good thing.
“How long are we talking about? Another day, another week?”
“I don’t know. Maybe the rest of the summer.”
Oh, God.
