Page 75 of One Southern Summer

Her winsome laughter filtered into the air. “Evidently The Oasis is the place to be. I didn’t want to be there tonight.”

Cole secured the empty hook on his fishing pole then leaned it against his tackle box. “That makes two of us.”

She glanced at him. “Thanks. I appreciate that.”

“Mainly because I didn’t trust myself not to do or say something regrettable.”

“Same.”

He met her gaze and offered his full attention. “I’m sure this is tough to navigate, co-parenting with your whole town watching.”

She looked away then tugged her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. “Pax and Trey are grown men. They have the freedom to make their own decisions. I’m still worried they will bring the kids onstage. After everything that’s happened recently, the thought breaks my heart.”

“Did you ask Pax not to do that?”

She was silent then nodded slowly. Moisture hovered on the edge of her lashes. His heart squeezed in his chest. He slid his arm across her shoulders and pulled her close. Her eyes fluttered closed and she leaned into his touch. There was no one around. It would be so easy to kiss her.

No. He couldn’t. Not right now.

She straightened, putting space between them.

He tried to mask his disappointment.

“I trust Pax and Trey and whomever Whitney hired to help tonight to keep the kids safe. I want to believe they won’t use Hayes and Addison for a publicity stunt, but Pax insisted that the children be a part of the event tonight, and now I’m nervous.”

“That’s understandable. Addison and Hayes are quite young to be at such a large event.”

“I won’t rest until we’re back under the same roof.”

“It’s a new normal. You have to find your rhythm,” he said, leaning back on his hands to keep from touching her again.

“How did you keep moving forward after Kim was gone?”

The question had been asked at least a dozen times. Still, it gutted him. “We didn’t know how to live without her. Our family was never quite the same. We got up every day and did what we needed to do, but my parents were always fighting and my dad blamed me.”

“No, he didn’t.”

“Yes. He did.” Cole picked up a pebble from the ground and tossed it into the water. “We always stayed at that same place in Destin. Dad told me every morning at breakfast that I was supposed to keep an eye out for her. But I got distracted...” he trailed off, dipping his chin to his chest to get control of his emotions.

“Cole Whitaker, look at me.”

He didn’t.

“Look at me,” she insisted.

Slowly he lifted his chin. Empathy tinted her gaze, somehow soothing the ache of Kim’s absence.

“You are not responsible for your sister’s abduction. Or her death. It was an evil, twisted crime.”

“For as long as I live I’ll never forget the look on my parents’ faces when I had to tell them that Kim was gone. I’ve spent hours in therapy trying to work through the things my father screamed at me. The way my parents fought until their marriage imploded. Avery, if I hadn’t lost my sister that night my whole life would have been different.”

“But look at all the good that has come from a senseless crime,” she reminded him. Her hand encircled his bicep then squeezed.

He forced himself to listen carefully to her words and not think about how those slender hands of hers might feel tunneled in his hair.

“You’ve changed so many lives. Sacrificed a lucrative career. I know none of that can bring your sister back or fill the hole her absence left in your family, but you have got to let go of the weight of that burden.”

“You first.”

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