Page 88 of Redemption

“It’s a beautiful day.” I panned the camera around, showing her my view.

“You’re in Turks and Caicos, right?”

“That’s right.” I turned the camera back to me. I’d been sending my family emails and updates of my sailing adventures. Brooklyn always replied almost immediately, and I loved that she was so interested in sailing.

“Are you going to be able to get your boat fixed?” she asked.

“Hopefully.” I dragged a hand through my hair. “Jackson and I are going down to talk to the mechanic in a little bit.”

“Where is he? Can I talk to him?”

“Jackson?” I glanced toward the house. “He’s inside. He’s on the phone right now, or I’d let you say hi.”

She leaned in, cupping her mouth as if to impart a secret. “I didn’t realize he had so many tattoos.”

I laughed, though it sounded nervous to my ears. “I, uh… Yeah. He does. What makes you say that?”

“One of the pictures you sent from the snorkeling had Jackson in it.”

“Oh.” Oops.

“The snorkeling has been amazing,” I said, eager to take the spotlight off Jackson.

“I loved the picture of the coral. And the manta ray. And the sea turtle,” she gushed. “So cute!”

“Not the one of the shark?”

Her eyes went wide. “No way. Weren’t you scared?”

“Nurse sharks are pretty docile, fortunately.”

“That’s what Emmy said when I showed her the pictures, but still!” Her eyes were wide.

“Is that Sloan?” Nate called in the background.

“Hey, Nate!”

He came into view, chewing an apple. He seemed to scrutinize me. “How’s it going?”

“Good,” I said quickly. Perhaps too quickly. “Yeah.”

He arched an eyebrow, questioning. I gave a subtle shake of my head, silently asking him to drop it. Nate turned to Brooklyn with a smile. “B, can you give Auntie Sloan and me a minute?”

“Sure! I’m going to grab my guitar so I can play a song for you.” She ran off, and I braced myself for whatever Nate was going to say.

“Tell me the truth. Are things not going well with Jackson?”

Quite the opposite, in fact, not that I was going to admit that to my brother. Jackson had told me he loved me. That he was ready to fight for us. And I wanted to believe him.

I cleared my throat. “It’s going fine.”

I changed topics, and we talked for a little bit, about the new show his studio was producing and what was going on with Knox, Jasper, and Graham.

Finally, I said, “Can I ask you something?”

“You can ask…” Nate grinned, implying that he might not choose to answer.

I rolled my eyes.