Page 72 of Tattered (Lark Cove 1)

Damn, I wanted to. I had no idea what shoreline picking was, but I wanted to find out. I’d go Dumpster diving if that meant I got to spend the day with the Landrys. But the phone in my pocket had been vibrating all morning. Ignoring it was getting harder with each call.

“I’m not sure.” I touched her nose. “I’m supposed to be working, but hanging with you sounds like a lot more fun.”

She nodded. “It is. It’s super fun. And we can bring snacks for a picnic.”

I glanced over at Thea’s back. “What time are

you going?”

“Whenever. We can hang out and wait for you. Maybe leave around noon.” She was trying to come across as nonchalant, but I could hear the hope behind her words. It matched Charlie’s.

“Okay. Let me make some calls.”

I’d been killing myself for two weeks—more like two years. I could take an afternoon off.

“Now.” I gave Charlie a serious look. “What on earth is shoreline picking?”

By noon, Thea had loaded up her hatchback with some empty buckets and work gloves. She and Charlie had both changed into their swimsuits, and I’d run back to the motel to do some work and pull on a pair of shorts.

I hadn’t changed my shirt, because it still smelled like Thea. She used the same lavender shampoo and lotion that she did on Charlie, but her natural citrusy scent made it entirely her own.

“What can I do?” I asked her as she carried out a handful of trash bags from her workshop.

“I think we’re good to go.” She scanned the yard, searching for our daughter. “Charlie!”

In the distance, a faint “I’m coming!” carried through the trees.

My phone buzzed in my pocket but I ignored it. I’d scrambled in my attempts this morning to fit eight hours of work into three. I hated being behind or leaving my team on their own, but that motel room couldn’t keep me today. I was too excited about what Thea had planned.

Shoreline picking, I’d learned, was basically a treasure hunt.

Thea and Charlie had made this a special outing between the two of them, and they’d go a couple of times each summer.

Thea would pick a spot along the lake’s long, winding shoreline and they’d spend the day walking around the edge. Sometimes they were right on the water. Other times they were on deserted gravel roads, like the one that wrapped around the shoreline in front of my future property.

But wherever they were, they’d walk a mile or so, searching for items that had been discarded.

“I’m ready!” Charlie joined our sides just as Thea slammed the hatchback closed.

She smiled. “I’m ready too.”

Charlie turned to run toward the backseat, leaving Thea and I alone. So before she could walk away, I grabbed her wrist, yanking her to my chest.

“What—”

I cut her off, slamming my lips down on hers in a hard, fast kiss. “There,” I said, breaking away. “Now I’m ready too.”

She shook her head, smiling as she turned and wiped her lips dry.

We hadn’t talked about how to act in front of Charlie and whether or not we should keep our relationship a secret. But if all went according to my plan, I’d have both of them living with me before fall. Charlie would need to know something was up between Thea and me before we were all living under the same roof and her parents were sharing a bed.

I rounded the car and got into the passenger seat, turning over my shoulder to smile at Charlie. “Excited?”

“Yeah.” She nodded wildly, digging a small bag of chips out of the console in the backseat. “This is my favorite.”

“So what kind of things do you guys usually find?” I asked as Thea pulled away from the cottage.

“It depends. Usually when we go out in the early summer, it’s mostly trash. Stuff that got buried in the snow. But this time of year, we’ll find more. Tourists and visitors always lose things as the summer progresses. Last August, I found three sets of keys over a few weekends. I posted them at the bar for a month, but when no one came to claim them, I welded them all together in pipes for a wind chime. I had to buy a few plain keys so I had enough, but it turned out really cool.”