The Way Back To Erin. Cerella Sechrist

old?”

      “Hmm?” Burke asked distractedly as he searched for the crack Aunt Lenora had mentioned. He found it relatively easily. She, or perhaps Erin, had positioned a small table in front of the worst part to hide it. But it was still visible if you stood a few feet back. He put down the drywall tools and lifted the table out of the way.

      “How old is the Moontide?” Kitt asked.

      “Oh, way old. From before the 1800s. It was built several years after the end of the Revolutionary War, I think. I remember once this guy came to stay here for a weekend, and he kept talking at breakfast about the archeology of houses like this, how they survived attacks during the War of 1812 and stuff, when the British were trying to take the Bay.”

      Burke turned and caught Kitt’s befuddled expression. He grinned.

      “Let me put it this way. This inn has been standing for well over two hundred years.”

      Kitt’s eyes grew round at this number. “Two hundred years?” he breathed.

      “Yep.”

      Burke examined the six-inch gash in the wall, wondering how it had happened and then decided it didn’t matter. Aunt Lenora had grumbled often enough about how the more careless guests at the inn treated the house. People didn’t worry about damages when they’d be gone by the end of the week. Although, with a house as old as the Moontide, repairs had to be expected. A building didn’t get to be around this long without its fair share of aches and pains.

      “It looks like this one is going to take some work. You want to help me cut out the wall?”

      What little boy didn’t like the chance to do a little demolition?

      But Kitt hesitated.

      “You’re going to cut the wall?”

      Burke laughed. “In this case, it’s okay. It’s kind of like...we have to make this part—” he pointed at the crack “—worse before we can make it better.”

      He tugged the utility knife free of his pocket and handed it to Kitt.

      “You want to take a shot at it?”

      Kitt stared at his hand for a long moment before reaching for the handle.

      Burke squatted down next to him and pointed two inches left of the wall’s gash.

      “We’re going to start here.” He held Kitt’s hand steady and helped him press into the wall.

      And then he heard Erin’s voice, shrill and sharp.

      “What do you think you’re doing?”

       CHAPTER FOUR

      ERIN FELT HER cheeks warm with anger at the sight of her six-year-old son holding a utility knife in his tiny hands. The sound of her voice caused Kitt to let go of the plastic handle and pull back, leaving the incriminating object in Burke’s hand.

      “Hey,” Burke greeted her, his tone belying his confused expression. “What’s up?”

      “What’s up?” She experienced another swell of ire and moved forward to pluck the utility knife from Burke’s hand, careful to avoid the sharp end. Belatedly, she realized it had a safety mechanism that prevented the blade from remaining out. It was securely sheathed beneath a plastic guard. “Oh.”

      “Oh?”

      She was not about to let this offense go. “What do you think you’re doing, giving a knife to a child?”

      Burke blinked, his lips parting in surprise. “I was right here. Nothing was going to happen.”

      “He’s six years old, Burke. You can’t let him play with a knife.”

      “He wasn’t playing,” Burke defended. “We were patching drywall.”

      Erin’s lips pursed. This was why it was a bad idea for Burke to live at the inn. He just didn’t understand. He hadn’t been around kids enough. He didn’t know what was acceptable and what wasn’t. He wasn’t Kitt’s father—

      She drew this thought up short. Of course Burke wasn’t Kitt’s father. But he was his uncle. And in truth, Erin couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen Kitt interact with anyone the way he’d been interacting with Burke a moment ago. Some of her anger deflated.

      Some. But not all.

      “You have to be more responsible, Burke. If you plan to live here—”

      “Whoa. Hold on.” Burke held up a hand. “This is temporary, Erin. I’m not planning to stay here long. Just until I can figure out what’s next.”

      These words should have relieved her. But she experienced a pang of disappointment instead.

      Kitt stood to his feet then, turned and hurried away, his tiny footfalls echoing through the upstairs hall as he headed downstairs. She sighed.

      “What did I say?” Burke asked, confusion evident in his tone.

      Erin didn’t answer. She wasn’t sure what Kitt’s abrupt departure meant. Maybe her and Burke’s disagreement had bothered him. He wasn’t used to hearing Erin raise her voice. He rarely gave her reason to.

      “I should talk to him,” she said and headed toward the stairs.

      “Erin, wait.”

      She halted, her heartbeat picking up speed as Burke came up behind her.

      “Are we...good?”

      She tensed at the question, too aware of how closely Burke stood. She could see every dark fleck in his eyes, and the way his lashes started out dark and then lightened toward the tips. Gavin’s eyelashes had been a dark brown the whole way through. She swallowed.

      “I don’t know what you mean.”

      Burke shifted from one foot to the other, the action moving him just slightly away from her. It was all she could do to keep from leaning in his direction to bring him closer again.

      He scratched the back of his head, looking uncomfortable.

      “I just meant...I don’t want it to be weird for you, with me staying here. I know it’s where you and Gavin—”

      “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She crossed her arms over her chest, willing Burke to drop the conversation. She didn’t want to think about what his words meant. She didn’t want to relive a past that needed to stay buried.

      Burke stopped talking when she interrupted him, but his eyes were intent on hers. She blinked, refusing to look away. Refusing to back down. She would pretend as though his presence didn’t affect her, that none of it touched her. She was a master of denying her emotions.

      She’d had to be or her grief would have pulled her under a long time ago.

      She stared him down until his features smoothed out, understanding darkening his eyes.

      “Okay then.”

      She gave a short nod and made to move past him. He blocked her way for a moment longer.

      “This is only temporary, Erin. I promise.”

      She didn’t react, and after another few seconds, he stepped aside to let her pass. As she brushed by him, she schooled her features to a blank slate so he couldn’t see the turmoil inside her.

      * * *

      AFTER HIS ENCOUNTER with Erin, Burke finished up a few more of the drywall repairs on the second floor. His chores eventually led him to the large windows overlooking the Moontide’s expansive backyard. He paused to stare out the window, admiring the gazebo that had been the showcase for so many weddings over the years.

      When he and Tessa had first begun