Page 49 of Against The Tide

“She had it coming,” Jo states with a gruff edge to her voice before looking at Rhett and telling him, “I think our girl likes her new room.”

Looking between them, I’m greeted with conspiratorial grins. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing. Since you’re staying and all, we need to get you settled in.” Jo shrugs, leaning on her stick.

A wicked grin splits her face, and it’s so infectious that I can’t help but mirror it. “You don’t need to⁠—”

“Please,” she cuts me off, winking at Rhett again. “I can’t in good mind let you live with the Wild Thornberrys.”

“The what?”

“It’s a crazy-ass cartoon Caleb used to watch when he was little.” Rhett heads back to the sink and starts putting the rest of the dishes in the dishwasher.

“Oh.”

“I read her a story and tucked her in,” Jo calls while she backs away, leaving Rhett and me alone as she disappears in the direction of her bedroom.

“Want to help, sunshine?” He holds a glass out to me with the broadest smile I think I’ve ever seen on his face.

Even with a bust lip, he’s handsome as all hell. With his dark blond hair falling in front of his eyes, and a confidence that radiates naturally from within, he is totally breathtaking.

The butterflies in my belly flutter wildly, making me squirm as I take the glass from him and place it in the dishwasher.

“Feel free to hum too. I’m getting really fond of the Care Bears.”

He teases and I laugh. Maybe Iris is right—Rhett makes me happier than I’ve been in a very long time. Even with the storm brewing overhead.

CHAPTER 15

AVERY

The smell of coffee wakes me, although it takes me a while to get a full sense of myself this morning. My body aches from the fitful sleep I had, waking up almost every other hour with the same déjà vu nightmare that Iris is taken away from me. We’re walking along the beach, collecting stones and shells. I only look away one second, but when I turn back, she’s gone. The beach is empty, the tide is out, and I can’t find her anywhere.

It’s my biggest fear—that somehow, I’m going to lose her. The agony I feel at the thought is enough to muddy the peace from the morning sunshine. I know a lot of my anxiety is stemming from my decision to put up a fight and cut Carl from our lives—something I should’ve done a long time ago—but a part of it is also due to the fact that I have so much to figure out and make sense of. A whole life to possibly transport, and every time I think of my parents’ home and leaving it…leaving behind the “safe” part of my life, I get a pang of sorrow.

Jo’s right, though. I can’t chase something that’s been and gone. The only thing I can do is seek out mine and Iris’s happiness. And she is beyond content here.

“You have to do this,” I tell myself as I get up and head to the bathroom.

It’s time to put down roots and start building our life. It’s time that I push past my fears and focus on the future. Even if it scares me to the point where I’ve started having these awful dreams.

After I’ve showered and dressed, I check on Iris to find that she’s already gone downstairs. Her pajamas are thrown over her bed along with a damp towel. I check the small bathroom adjacent to her room to find her toothpaste open. She was clearly in a rush to get downstairs this morning.

Knowing her, she’s sitting out back with Josie. Every morning she and Josie sit out on the porch swing reading one of the Dr. Seuss books that Rhett brought her the other day. It’s become their thing.

“Come on, champ, you’re going to give us away,” Rhett tells her.

His voice instantly sets the butterflies off. My belly and chest are so full at the mere sound of the two of them together that I pause for a bit, waiting for more, but all I get is a lot of giggles and clattering of crockery to go with the warm baking scent that makes my mouth water while I come down the stairs.

Leaning on one of the timber beams that allows me just enough of a glimpse of them, I stop and take in the sight. My heart melts into a puddle of goo as he holds his finger to his lips while trying not to laugh himself.

“Sorry,” Iris giggles back, failing to keep her voice down.

In all her life, she’s never had the kind of relationship she’s built with Rhett. Apart from me, nobody has doted on her like he does.

Iris is laughing so hard that she snorts, and the sound makes the heaviness I woke to ease. She really is happy here—in truth, I’m happy here too. Every day this place feels more and more like home.

“It’s a beautiful sight.”