I know you don’t owe me a damn thing,” she said at length…

““I know you don’t owe me a damn thing,” she said at length, “but I’m going to ask a favor anyway.” “Ask,” he replied, simply. She didn’t glance at him, keeping her eyes on the rocks as they began to crowd out most of the seafloor and the kelp beds, which were strewn over and in between them. “Please tell Sadie that my being a total shite of a friend was not in any way about her.” “What was it about, then?” he asked, the barest hint of amusement in his tone, when she’d expected--and earned--censure. Or worse. She sent him a quick, sideways glance, but his gaze was fixed downward, as hers had been, as he navigated the exposed seafloor under their feet. “I meant to,” she said. “Write her,” she added. “I know she was upset that I left.” “She’s a tough little sheila,” he said. Kerry glanced at him again, not missing the barest hint of an edge in his voice this time. More like it, she thought. More like what she deserved. “I know. She has to be, living with the likes of the rest of her family.” That got a quick look from Cooper, and maybe the first bare hint of a smile from her. He caught that, looked back, and this time their glances caught and held. Her smile faded, but the honest affection came through in her tone when she said, “She shouldn’t have had to be where I was concerned.” Kerry was surprised at the bark of laughter that comment earned her. She merely lifted her eyebrows in response. “Says the woman who made it as hard as humanly possible for Sadie to connect in the first place. That girl could make friends with the meanest croc alive with little more than a smile and a laugh. You, on the other hand, made her work for it.” “Did you just compare me to a mean old croc?” Kerry asked, the thread of amusement back in her tone. “If the tough hide fits,” he said, but not unkindly. Kerry nodded, gave him a considering look. “True that,” she said.””

— Donna Kauffman