Was she imagining it, or did his cheeks go slightly pink? No. She was making things up. Crazy.
“I’m Kenna,” the teenaged girl admitted reluctantly. “Kenna Weaver. This is Dylan, and—”
She closed her mouth so quickly her teeth clacked together.
“All right. Kenna, Dylan, and Tally—uh, Jacqueline. Why don’t you tell us what you’re doing here?” Arlo cleared his throat and flashed Jacqueline a wary look.
An electric charge raced up her spine. Okay, now I’m definitely suspicious. Tally? Who’s Tally?
She looked around the small group. Kenna and Dylan had to be brother and sister; they had the same wriggly blond hair and snub noses.
And then there was the seal.
And Arlo.
“I see,” Arlo said, even though no one else had said anything. He took a heavy breath and ran one hand over his jaw.
“Wait, what’s going on here?” Jacqueline demanded. “Dylan, you thought your friend—Eric—wouldn’t call me because I’m human? And you both—” She flung up her hands. “What am I saying? Both of you? All three of you. That little seal was a little girl when I first saw her, I’m—I’m sure of it.”
Are you? Doubt wormed at her. Maybe you just thought you saw…
She shook her head. “Either way, we need to get you back into town. I can organize a place for you to stay until we get everything sorted out.”
“Get what all sorted out?” Kenna scowled. “You don’t know anything about—no, not now!” Kenna made a frustrated noise as the seal pup wriggled around in her arms.
Jacqueline crossed her arms. “I know you’ve been staying out here for who knows how long, waiting for Eric to come get you. But he’s not coming.”
Kenna flinched, and Jacqueline immediately regretted being so blunt.
“He’s really upset about that, but he wants you to be safe. And so do I, and that means not leaving you out here in the middle of nowhere. I can take you back to Dunston—”
“We’re not going!” Kenna was scowling so fiercely Jacqueline was worried she was about to burst into tears.
Dylan was wincing, too. Even Arlo looked uncomfortable.
“What’s going on?” she asked. “What am I missing?” Jacqueline’s head was spinning. Maybe she was going into shock, after all. It was as though there was a conversation going on that she couldn’t hear half of.
“Ms. March,” Arlo began, and rubbed his jaw again with a wince. “I can explain.”
He sounded so reasonable.
Jacqueline had met so many reasonable men. Especially these last few years. Derek had been perfectly reasonable when he told her there was nothing going on. Then he’d been just as reasonable when he told her he had a secret two-year-old, and that she didn’t need to hire her own divorce lawyer, because didn’t she trust him to do the right thing?
Arlo exchanged a glance with Kenna and Dylan and something inside Jacqueline snapped.
“Don’t you dare lie to me.” Jacqueline met Arlo’s gaze, her heart in her throat. “I am so sick of people lying to me.”
Please, she added silently. Please, please don’t lie. Don’t tell me I’m crazy. Don’t tell me I’m imagining things.
She’d had more than enough years of that already.
6
Arlo
A shock of horror jolted down Arlo’s spine.
She was right. He couldn’t lie to her.