“The rain,” Regina explained. “Margred told the guys she wanted good weather for the baby shower tonight.”
“They can do that?”
Regina nodded as if they were talking about changing the batteries in the remote. “They‟d better. Nobody rains on
Margred‟s parade. Or her party. She‟s been looking forward to it for weeks.”
Liz blinked. “Wow.”
“Yeah.” Regina grinned. “Being married to a man who can control the weather is a definite advantage when I have a big
catering job.”
“I imagine it must be,” Liz said faintly.
“You‟re coming, right?” Regina said. “Tonight?”
She hesitated. Would Morgan be there? She missed him with an almost physical ache, as if they had been lovers for years
instead of one evening.
Yet this was a short separation compared to the one to come.
She had survived losing Ben to death. She would survive losing Morgan to the sea.
But she wasn‟t ready to give up Zack. Not yet. Their son still needed a chance to grow up before he made the most
important choice of what could be a very long life. Emily deserved a better role model than a mother who accepted anything
less than everything a man had to give.
“I don‟t want to intrude,” she murmured.
“As if you could. You‟re Maggie‟s OB. If you don‟t belong at her baby‟s shower, I don‟t know who does. Anyway, half
the island will show up, invited or not.” Regina cocked her head. “You sure you‟re okay?”
Liz swallowed around the spiky lump in her throat. “Fine.”
“Good.” Regina pursed her lips. “Morgan looks like hell.”
Liz gaped, flattered and distressed. “Excuse me?”
“He‟s been palling around with Dylan since you kicked him out. Holding the weather system in place—like it takes the two
of them to make rain in Maine—and sulking. Poor guy.”
“I thought you didn‟t like him.”
“You mean because I called him a coldblooded son of a bitch?”
“That was a clue,” Liz said dryly.
Regina grinned. “Okay, so he‟s the opposite of warm and fuzzy. But he‟s good with Nick. And . . . Well, you didn‟t ask for
my opinion.”
Ever since her parents cut off all financial support when she failed to follow their advice, Liz never asked for anyone‟s
opinion. But she genuinely liked Regina. She hoped they could be friends. And she was both concerned and curious about
Morgan.
“Tell me,” she urged.
Regina met her gaze. “Dylan says you told Morgan you need time to think things through.”
Liz nodded.
“That was smart,” Regina said. “Maybe smarter than you realize.”
She hid the pang at her heart. “You think things won‟t work out.”
“I think they might,” Regina said, surprising her. “Once Morgan has a chance to figure stuff out. You‟ve got to remember
they‟re no good at this emotional stuff.”
“They.” Men? Liz wondered.
“The children of the sea,” Regina explained. “Maybe when you live forever, you can‟t afford too many attachments. You
love a human, they die. You love another elemental, you have to sustain that relationship over centuries. Easier not to love at
all.”
“But Dylan loves you.”
“Dylan had to learn to love me. To love anyone. And he‟s at least half-human. This is all new territory for Morgan.
Whether he admits it or not, he needs time to adjust as much as you do. And the fact that he‟s at least trying to consider your
feelings, to honor your request . . . That‟s big, coming from an elemental.”
“I don‟t doubt that he cares for me,” Liz said. His whisper seared her heart: “For no other woman—for no other force on
earth—would I have stayed.” “But I have to think about my kids. Would you get involved with someone who didn‟t know