Page 23 of Shallow Remains

Grey caught him staring as he picked up his mug. “What?”

“Nothing.” He forked up another stacked bite of pancakes and stabbed a couple blueberries on the end of the tines. “Really tough time for her.”

“Yeah. Sucks.”

“Heard she’s thinking of moving too. Might put her house up for sale.”

Grey stilled, the mug halfway to his mouth. “You sure?” His gaze bounced over to where Naya was ordering at a little booth for two in the opposite corner. “Where’s she gonna go, did you hear?”

Oh, yeah, that was definitely more than casual interest on his brother’s part. Damn, Grey. Still? “No.”

“Off island?”

“Not sure.”

Grey went back to eating and made an attempt at continuing their earlier conversation, but his gaze kept straying to Naya every so often. Lachlan wondered if he was even aware of doing it. Or how deep his feelings for her still ran.

As they finished their breakfasts in silence, he thought about his own situation. He’d been single a long time, hadn’t been interested in anybody since he’d moved back to the island. Until Maddy had boarded his boat a few weeks ago and awakened something in him. Something he couldn’t ignore.

Something he wasn’t willing to give up on.

Based on everything he’d seen so far, he would need to go slow with her. She was cautious. Wary of him.

He’d never had to go slow before, but he would for Maddy’s sake. Because he could already tell she was worth whatever it took to make her his.

ELEVEN

The yoga class was only an hour long. Even if she wound up hating it, she could suck it up for an hour.

At least it wasn’t hot yoga. Maddy didn’t think she could handle that. Not when the thought of it sent her right back into that hellish room straight out of her darkest nightmares.

“So what’s the procedure here?” she asked as she and Xanthe hurried up the steps to the yoga studio. They were cutting it close.

“Just grab a mat from the cupboard on the left, and we’ll pick a spot on the floor,” Xanthe said, her long, lean body clad in yoga pants, a sports top, and a form-fitting jacket. Her personal mat was rolled up and tucked into the bag looped over her shoulder.

The studio was more than half full when they walked in. Everyone else was already in place. Bronwyn and Willow waved and gave them giant grins from where they sat on their mats on the far side of the room. Maddy hurried to the cupboard, took out a mat, and spread it out near the others.

“We thought you guys weren’t gonna make it,” Willow said, long brown hair pulled up into an artfully messy bun at the back of her head.

“Sorry, work stuff,” Xanthe answered.

Maddy glanced around. There were eleven women in here.

The instructor stepped to the front of the room, a twenty-something lady with red hair pulled back in a French braid whom Maddy had seen in town. “Namaste, everyone.” She put her palms together and bowed slightly to the class.

“Namaste,” everyone murmured back.

“I see several new faces amongst our regular crew. Welcome. Is this anyone’s first time doing yoga?”

Maddy glanced around, reluctantly put her hand up when she spotted two other ladies doing it, plus Bronwyn.

“Fantastic. Don’t worry. This class is a blend of strengthening and relaxation, so you’ll catch on fast. The whole point is to shut out the rest of the world and turn inward. Connect with your body, your breath. If anything hurts or feels too hard, back off and work to your comfort level. Listen to your body and focus on your breathing.”

There was a lot of stuff about breathing apparently. She’d never realized. Might be helpful.

The instructor gave them a big smile. “Let’s get started.”

She walked over to dim the lights. Little candles flickered to life around the room. Maddy’s entire body sighed in relief.