a location, or at least a direction. We’ll know where we want to be,” Riley concluded.
“Good enough. Now, Annika needs the sea.”
Bran nodded at Sawyer. “I’ll take her down later.”
“No, I’ll take her.” As Doyle shook his head, Sawyer aimed a pointed look. “I wouldn’t say I’d take her if I wasn’t sure I could, and it won’t be here, where Nerezza may sniff us out. I’ve got a place she can have some freedom.”
“You’re not a hundred percent, Sawyer,” Riley began.
“No, but I’m closer, and this is something I’ve been doing for a while now. I know what I can handle. I wouldn’t take chances with Annika, with any of us.”
“The pool is very nice. I’m happy with it.”
“You need the sea. You’ll be stronger for it. And I need to work muscles other than biceps. I need to tune up, and this is a way to do both. Can you trust me for this?”
“I do. I trust you for anything,” Annika said.
“We need to know where you are, and a time frame.” Bran glanced around the table. “That’s nonnegotiable.”
“Two hours. That gives Annika plenty of sea time, and me some recharge time if I need it. I don’t feel like I will, but if I do, that’s enough. And where?”
He blinked away, and seconds later, blinked back with a map.
“Show-off.” But Riley grinned.
“Just demonstrating I’m coming off the DL. We’ll be here.”
“But . . . the South Pacific?” Sasha looked at Bran, worry in her eyes. “It’s so far.”
“It’s one of my places—it’s . . . like driving home.”
“Can you get there?” Sasha asked Bran.
“If needed, yes.”
“And how’s this? If I think or feel hard enough, will you be able to read me? If I can try to let you know we’re there safe.”
“I can try.” Sasha nodded. “I can try. Bran can help. It’s just so far away.”
“It’s one of my places,” Sawyer repeated, and slid a small duffle out from under the table.
“What’s in there?” Riley demanded.
“Nothing much.” He held out a hand for Annika’s. “Ready?”
“It’s nine. Curfew’s eleven. Sharp,” Sasha added.
“Yes, Mom. Let’s go.”
When they vanished, Doyle picked up his beer. “So do you think he’s going all the way to the South Pacific to bang her?”
“Not just, but it’s a factor.”
Sasha poked Riley’s shoulder. “He needs to do this, needs to rebuild his confidence. He nearly died, and he’s been weak and shaken. Anni needs the sea; he needs to give it to her.”
“The sex is just the bonus round,” Riley decided.
“They’ve two hours for the sea, for confidence building, for sex.” And to make the point, Bran flicked his wrist. An old-fashioned hourglass sat in the center of the table. “It’s on two hours. Last grain of sand falls through, I go.”
“I like it. I already set the alarm on my watch,” Riley added as she studied the glass. “But this is much cooler.”
“He’s taking his moments,” Sasha told him, then went still. “I . . .” She reached for Bran’s hand, drew from him. “I feel them. I feel them. They’re safe.”
Sawyer brought them right to the verge of land where the surf rolled, smooth and gentle under star-struck skies. It felt as if he’d taken a good, solid jog—and that worked for him.
“Oh, Sawyer.” In absolute delight, she spun, then stood, one foot in sea, one on shore.
“Great spot, huh?”
“It’s wonderful. I’ve been here before.”
“Really?”
“Yes, with my family. Many times.”
“How do you know?”
“I know the water—the sea—like you know a road. It’s the best I can explain. This place, these waters, we come on . . .” Annoyed with herself she shook back her hair. “I can’t remember the word. A journey to a special place. A holy place.”
“Pilgrimage?”
“Yes! Pilgrimage, pilgrimage,” she repeated to fix the word in her mind. “We believe Annika—I was named for her. She was holy and powerful, and swam all the seas to spread kindness and love.”
He brought her hand to his lips. “Then you’re well named.”
“It’s an honor to be named after one so beloved. It’s said she was nearly captured, and badly injured by seamen who hunted these waters. But one found her, helped her, tended her until she was well again. He saved her, and she saved him. He was lost, you understand? And she helped him find his way home. She gave him a gift so he would never lose his way again, on land or sea.”
Sawyer set his duffle down on the beach. “That’s pretty similar to the story passed down