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Her face scrunched in confusion. “About what?”

“If there’s somewhere you want to go. Hiking. Sunset watching. Whatever. I’ll take you.”

Her smile was soft. “That’s sweet, but unnecessary.”

“As friends of course.” I didn’t want her to think I’d ignored her earlier edict about our relationship. Maybe she wasn’t ready to date. Maybe she wasn’t interested in me. It didn’t matter. I still cared about her safety. I couldn’t explain the protective urge that drove me. Couldn’t put my finger on what was wrong, but something didn’t fit. She had no relationship with Jordan Dawkins that I knew of. So why did her finding his body have such an impact on me?

Was it the circumstances or the woman? There was an almost imperceptible undercurrent of fear running behind her blue eyes. Had it always been there, or had Saturday’s discovery sparked it? I didn’t know much about Anya’s past. She’d simply showed up on island a year ago, first as the new yoga instructor Vi raved about, then eventually as her roommate and the studio’s new owner.

“Thanks, Drew.”

It was a gentle dismissal, but a dismissal just the same. I ushered her under the shelter of the back porch, sliding open their back door. She stepped over the threshold, closing the door and toeing off her shoes.

“Lock the door, honey, so I don’t have to worry about you both.” I waited a beat, supervising as she flipped the latch. Flimsy, but better than nothing. Tomorrow, I’d get a dowel from the hardware store and drop it off.

I sketched a salute, slipping into my hoodie for the walk back to my truck. The mix of petrichor and Anya’s subtle floral perfume comforted me as I trudged through the mist.

Gran paused her show as I dropped my keys on the entry table. From experience, I knew better than to look at her screen. She seemed to delight in watching porn in the living room. I bought her a TV for her bedroom for Christmas, but it didn’t matter. Ithink she liked scandalizing me almost as much as she liked the smut.

She took in my jeans and sweatshirt in one sweeping glance, shaking her head. “I may have to rethink your motto. Have you looked it up yet?”

“Nope.”

She sighed. “And here I thought you were my favorite grandchild.”

“Last week at family dinner you called Zach your favorite,” I pointed out.

“Yes. Last week he was. He hooked me up with a new grow light for … gardening.”

I snorted gently. She’d banned me from her tool shed a decade ago. I left any “gardening” support to Zach.

“This week, it was gonna be all you. I thought you were finally going to embrace your destiny. Live a little. Word is you had coffee just yesterday with that sweet friend of your sister’s, but do I see her here?” Gran snorted. “I do not.” Her piercing gaze skewered me. “You live like a hermit. It’s not healthy.”

“I’m fine, Gran. Just busy.”

“You’ve taken on too much responsibility.”

I raised both brows, surprised she could say that with a straight face. “Like you should talk. Didn’t you start up the salt farm in your twenties?”

Her jaw tightened. “I had to. That was survival.” She gestured to me. “This? This is comfort zone. You need to get out of yours.” She drew herself up to her full height, expression serious. “It’s time for you to move out, Drew.”

My grandmother loved her pranks. They were legendary. This had to be one of them.

“Very funny, Gran. I need to be here for work.”

“No, you don’t. If anything, you work too much.”

“Mom and Dad are retired.”

“Yes, and it’s a blessing to have them travel and get out of my hair. But you’re not taking advantage of their absence to do any of the things young men do.”

“I’m in my thirties, Gran.”

“Exactly. Don’t let more time pass you by.Nudus currere et loqui sordida.”

I threw up my hands. “Fine. If I look up this so-called motto you want me to adopt, will you stop trying to throw me out of my house?”

Frustration filled me. Mostly at the realization that she could do it. Kick me out of my home. She owned the farmhouse. The surrounding land. Most of what we had was in my grandmother’s name. I could be homeless and jobless at her whim.