“Haha, her name is Monique, and she’s right here with me where I want her to stay for a long, long time.”
“That’d be nice.”
“Yeah?”
“I think so.”
“How would you feel about spending a few years out west?”
“Would I be able to come home to visit my new niece as often as possible?”
“That could be arranged.”
“Then I’d definitely give it some careful consideration.”
He turned to her, his expression as earnest as she’d ever seen it. “I’m dead serious, Monique. I want to make this work.”
A knock on the window interrupted the intense moment.
Oliver, wearing a goofy grin, waved at her. “You broke curfew.”
“Shut up and go away, Ollie.”
“Dara said you’re grounded.”
“You’re going away now.”
He laughed as he walked around the car and into the lighthouse, probably to tell Dara that her wayward sister had returned home.
“He’s funny,” Linc said.
“No, he isn’t.”
“He is, and it’s obvious he loves you.”
“I love him, too. He’s the brother I never had.” She kept her gaze fixed on the lighthouse, waiting for Dara to come bursting out. “I’d better go face the music.”
“I’ll come with you.”
“You don’t have to.”
“It’s fine. They don’t scare me.”
They went inside and up the spiral staircase to the combined living room and kitchen, where Dara and Oliver sat at their little table, eating dinner and pretending they weren’t trying not to act like complete fools.
“Well, look who it is, Ollie.”
“Our little girl decided to come home.”
Dara gave her hair a judgy look. “Because she needs her bonnet, among other things.”
“All right, kids,” Monique said. “That’s enough.”
“But we were just getting started,” Oliver said.
“That’s what I was afraid of.” Monique went to the corner where she’d stashed her things and quickly packed her bag. “I’m running upstairs for a second. Do not interrogate him. You hear me?”
“The details must be really filthy,” Oliver said to Dara, who giggled like a fool.
