As Anna and Cole walked towards their group, her father must have been waiting for her because he stood and waved. Others turned their heads and her father frowned. It was probably because of her bump.

Cole set up her chair next to where Rory and Sam were sitting. Cole was right, Rory didn't have a suit on. Before long, the boys started tossing the football.

Rory jumped up and ran to a couple walking on the beach. They were holding hands, and the woman was pregnant. Her belly looked bigger than Anna's but she wore a tight shirt. Obviously she was older and not single so she didn't need to hide it.

The guy joined the boys with the football. It surprised Anna when the woman greeted her father.

"Hey. Ohio."

She saw her father smile, and he jumped up and offered her his chair. Then he joined the game after shaking hands with the other guy.

The woman said, "Rory next Saturday, you start training. Jessie handled the few we had this morning."

"I know. Thanks for the job, Lana."

She was Mari's friend. Maybe that was how her dad knew her. Cole said they would swim in her pool.

Rory said, "Looks like Uncle Ryan is showing off again."

Lana affectionately put her hand on her baby. "He can't wait until your cousin can play pass. Look, your brood is coming. Maddie must be working."

A man approached pushing a stroller loaded with sand toys and with a small girl walking holding on to it. Rory jumped up. "Dad, go play. I'll watch them."

Rory expertly took a small boy out of the stroller. Alison said, "Rory, I'll take JP. You can play with Emma."

Anna had lived there for over three months, but she didn't know Rory at all. She had spent so much time worrying about herself to care about anyone else. Rory had a baby brother and a little sister.

She sat alone next to Lana. "So you are friends with Mari."

She smiled. "Yup, for as long as I can remember."

"She's nice."

"She is." Lana answered, but Anna noticed she was too distracted watching her husband throw the football. Anna's eye wandered past her father who looked in better shape than any of the others to Cole who looked good with the sun shining on his dirty blond hair.

Lana said, "I love my husband, but Ohio is hot."

Anna giggled. "He's my father."

"Oh." Lana looked embarrassed.

Alison's sister overheard. "I was thinking the same thing. He can rescue me any day."

"Rescue?" Lana asked.

"He's a fireman, both him and Bryan."

"Oh interesting. Does Mari know that?"

Anna shrugged. She wasn't sure why it would matter. Lana must have thought it did because she was smiling.

The guys took a break from football and were sitting in small groups talking. Rory was sitting with Anna, Sam and Cole since Rory's father was playing with her sister and her uncle was holding her brother.

Anna noticed Cole stiffen, and she looked. Cassie was walking towards them with two other girls.

"Hi Rory. Sam. Cole."

The way she said Cole's name gave Anna a sick feeling in her belly. She said it as if she owned him. Anna remembered the exhilaration she felt when she first started to say Dustin. She felt special and wanted. She confused those feelings with love.

Worse than the way Cassie said his name was the way he smiled at her.

"Cole, do you want to go for a walk?"

Sam said, "No! It's a family day. Cole needs to stay here."

"Family." She frowned as her eyes scanned the crowd and then stopped on Anna. They pierced through her and she had the urge to hide behind Cole.

Sam spoke up. "Yes, family. Anna's my cousin."

Anna loved Sam especially when he protected her. Cassie raked her eyes over Anna and she instinctively fiddled with her shirt hoping it was hiding her secret. It didn't occur to her that Cassie was looking at her because she was wearing Cole's shirt.

After she walked away, Rory said, "That was killing her!" Cole questioned her. "She knows that's your shirt. It still has a faint stain from when she was wearing it and dribbled her chocolate ice cream."

Anna suddenly wanted to take the shirt off. Why was she feeling sick? When Alison mentioned going back to work on some sides for dinner, Anna jumped up to join her.

Maribelle was restless all day waiting for Mike to come back. She went weeks without feeling like a prisoner in her own home or mind as she was certain others said behind her back. Suddenly, the solitary confinement was killing her. If she had agreed to go have ribs with him, how would he have introduced her? She had thought he would kiss her. She wanted him to kiss her and not just her scar. He was just being nice because no man would ever want to kiss her.

Charlie kissed her after their first date. They had gone to a pretentious restaurant that she hated - her mother's favorite. Raised to be polite, she hid her disappointment. Thankfully, her mother and husband number something were not there. After the meal, Charlie raved about the food. Maribelle bit her tongue because she would have referred to their meals as overpriced small plates served on big plates by mistake. When he suggested they go out again, she said, "I'll take you to my favorite restaurant, but no suits allowed. Wear jeans." Teasing she had asked, "You own jeans?"

Charlie laughed and called her a tease just before he captured her lips. He was a proper man, but there was nothing proper about that kiss.

Thinking of Mike, he probably made less in a year than Charlie made in a month, but he knew how to make her forget her scars. She felt shivers remembering.

She didn't fit into Mike's life like she had Charlie's. She was afraid to leave the house, and he lived in a different state. She smiled when she imagined a conversation with Ruby. Her mother would flip if she were to announce that she met a fireman and was moving to a small town in Ohio. Her father would just be glad that she was leaving the house. None of it mattered because it was all a fantasy.

It was after seven when she heard him return. She expected Anna to be with him but was glad to see he was alone. He had a glow as the sun bronzed his skin.

When she commented, he shrugged. "We spent the afternoon on the beach. I tan easily even with sunscreen."

It seemed impossible, but he looked more handsome. She smiled at him trying to will him to kiss her. Perhaps he was a mind reader because after he put down the bag of food, he slipped her hood off.

"If I kiss you will you leave it off for me?"

She could get her wish but she felt the need for honesty. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you want to kiss me? You're leaving in about thirty-six hours. We live different lives."

He looked sad. "I've thought of all that but I can't explain why. I just know I'm attracted to you. All of you. Inside and out. I was glad to be coming back to see you and Anna, and that was before I saw how beautiful you are without the hood."

She heard his words and didn't believe him. "I have scars that you don't know about."

He looked concerned. He looked at her legs. They didn't have scars. "On your torso?"

She whispered. "On my shoulder, but I meant inside." She tapped on her head. "I'm broken." She was afraid to say the truth, but she couldn't lead him on. "I can't leave the house. I haven't in months."

He sighed as if he expected something worse. Then he smiled as if he felt relieved.

"Oddly enough, I can't leave my house either. Well, I can but my whole town has turned against me."

His words shocked her. "What did you do?"

"Nothing. it involved Anna, but although she was... is a victim, the town has it backwards. They are supporting a criminal."

"Is that why she's here?" She asked in disbelief mingled with concern for his daughter. "She wouldn't tell me unless I told her why I wear the hood."

"Did she say that?" He sounded angry.

"Yes, but don't be mad at her. She was negotiating."

He nodded and began unpacking the bag. "We can talk while you eat."

They fell silent while she dished some potato salad and coleslaw on to a plate. Mike heated the ribs in the microwave.

"They may be hot or not." He smiled and winked.

He was so kind and a part of her wanted to tell him everything. Anna's secret worried her.

"Will you explain what happened to Anna?"

"I want to, but I have to respect Anna. Do you mean you never go out?"

"I used to with the hood on but then I stopped. Now it's been so long. I think I want to but when I try I can't."

"So you stand in the open doorway."

She nodded. "Today I took a step out, but I quickly stepped back."

"What if I were with you? I could support you."

"You're leaving and I'll be on my own."

"Lana was at the beach today. Could she help you?"

"I used to go for walks with her, but then she moved away. I tried going on my own but people stared."

"Didn't people stare at you before the fire?"

Mari exclaimed, "Why?"

He smiled. "Your eyes are so striking. I stare at them every time I see you."

When she and Charlie went out, she always assumed it was him who drew the attention.

"I know you don't see it, but you are beautiful. That would be the only reason anyone would stare. That and the fact you wear a thick hoodie on a warm day."

Mari knew he had said the last bit to lighten the mood, but she felt overwhelmed by what he was saying.

"These ribs are incredible!"