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“Not much. I kind of skimmed over all the worst bits.”

“Oh, dear. Oh well, at least she’ll know why you’re….”

“So emotionally retarded?” Josh interrupted.

Thea cringed. “I wouldn’t say that. I was going for ‘unavailable.’ The rest of the female population of this village can’t work it out. Again, though, what’s the problem? It sounds like a great day.”

“Well, when we got back to Julia’s, I planned to tell her I wanted to be less ‘unavailable.’ Let her know I like her.”

“Holy shit Joshie!” Thea’s face shone, her eyes sprung wide, and her lips curled in a smile. “Are you kidding? Way to go, little brother! I had no idea. What did she say?”

“I didn’t get that far. Kitty had a visitor waiting for her when we got back.”

“Who?” asked Thea, hanging on his words.

“Daniel Cunningham,” Josh said, unable to keep the sneer off his lips.

“Oh gosh,” said Thea. The grimace on her face marred the sunny smile she’d worn. “What on earth washedoing there?”

“What do you think, Thea? Turns out they’ve seen quite a lot of each other.”

“Are you sure? She hasn’t mentioned him to me. We don’t share every minute detail of our lives, but would Kitty be into someone like him?”

“Well, he can be very charming.”

Thea huffed a breath. “That’s one word for it. A few of my friends would describe him as insatiable. He makes Don Giovanni look like a boy scout.”

Josh sighed and sipped his coffee.

“It surprised me, but she didn’t deny it. I guess you don’t know somebody until you scratch the surface. Yesterday was more of a deep gouge, though.”

“Hence the drinking for one?”

Josh nodded, his head thumping anew.

“I’m going to assume that you like Kitty a little more than you’re letting on and that she doesn’t have a clue about Daniel Cunningham. When are you going to tell her?”

“I’m not,” Josh said, blowing on his coffee, the pollen-laden smell of the morning competing with the thick aroma of his drink.

“But you have to. She should know what he’s like.”

He shrugged. “It would make me look petty. Anyway, it’d be weird. She’s got no idea how I feel.”

“Are you sure?”

Josh rubbed the back of his aching neck. Thea was there for every minute of the misery Tabitha had wrought on him. Looking into her earnest face dredged up the unpleasant feelings he’d buried well.

“She’s a grown woman,” he said. “She can make up her own mind. If he’s the sort of man she wants, that’s her choice. I’m not getting involved.”

“Josh, don’t cut off your nose to spite your face.”

He shook his head. Burying it in the sand seemed very appealing.

“He won’t be able to hurt her. She’s not interested in love.”

“What do you mean?”

“Kitty’s only here until she can get back to her career. This was only ever a stopgap. She’s told me as much.”