Twilight at Blueberry Barrens (Sunset Cove #3)(50)

She set her backpack down and began to rummage in it. Jackson tried to put his nose into it, and she pushed him away. “I think I was five when I saw my first one. I was entranced from the first moment. They are onshore right now to raise their chicks, but they’ll be heading out to sea any day now.”

“I want to play in the water,” Emma said.

“And I want to play with my bucket and shovel.”

“Not until we get in a little educational lesson about puffins. I want you to love them like I do.” She handed each of them a pair of binoculars. “I see a bit of orange up there. Atlantic puffins are sometimes called sea parrots because of their bright colors. And some people call them the clowns of the sea because of their coloring.”

Emma scratched at a mosquito bite on her knee. “I like parrots. Do they talk?”

“No, but did you know they spend the entire winter at sea? They only come ashore to raise their babies in the spring and summer. Then they’re alone in the cold for months.” She shivered. “Can you imagine being alone in the cold?”

A flicker of interest lit Phoebe’s blue eyes. “How do they sleep if they’re flying?”

“They land in the waves and sleep there.”

Emma bared her teeth. “But a big shark might come up and swallow them whole!”

“They are white on their underside. That way they blend in with the waves when something is looking up. God has perfectly equipped them to rely on how he created them to survive. God is awesome that way.”

Phoebe’s eyes grew wide. “Wow.”

Drake was impressed that she took the time to circle back to God’s provision in nature.

Kate touched Emma on top of the head. “Have you ever done a belly flop in the water?”

Emma nodded and rubbed her belly. “It hurts, and my skin was red.”

“Puffins are awkward flyers. They belly flop when they try to land in calm water or they crash into the waves.”

The girls giggled, finally getting into the tale. Kate held up her binoculars. “Let’s see if we can find some young ones up there.” She helped the girls focus their binoculars and smiled when they squealed at the sight of the colorful birds. Drake took a turn and caught his breath at the bright plumage. They really did look a little like parrots.

The girls quickly lost interest, and Drake let them take their buckets and shovels to the water’s edge.

“How are the plans coming for your drone modifications?”

He watched the girls shovel sand into their buckets to make a sand castle. “I’m having a little trouble with the delivery crane. I really need to work with my engineers.” He raked a hand through his hair. “Lakesha is pressuring me to come back, but I know if I leave, my brother’s death will be filed away and never solved.”

“You have a lot on your shoulders.” She waved her hand toward the children. “Making them feel safe and loved, finding how your brother and Melissa died, and now your business. I wish I could help.”

He grinned at her. “I can forget about it today.” He started to put on his flyboarding equipment until Kate shot him a look. “What?”

“That’s crazy dangerous, Drake. You could drown, and then where would the girls be? Would your parents take them? Or Melissa’s?”

He frowned. “They’d be too much for grandparents to handle.”

She patted the space beside her on a large rock. “Then come sit here and talk to me.”

Her pull was stronger than the tide, so he grinned and went to sit beside her.

The silence between them was the comfortable kind, and he lay back with his head propped on a rise in the rock. She had the most gorgeous eyes he’d ever seen, and he could sit and stare into those blue depths for hours. The more time he spent with Kate, the more he wanted to spend. “So tell me why you love the puffins so much. Your eyes shine and your voice gets louder when you talk about them.”

Her dimples flashed, and she tucked a strand of dark-blonde hair behind her ear. “I think I felt a sort of kinship with them right from the start. They live most of their lives alone out at sea. They are only with other puffins when they come to shore to mate and raise their yearly baby.”

“You felt alone as a kid?”

She stretched long, tanned legs out on the rock. “My mother was always consumed by her own troubles. Uncle Paul tried to be a dad figure, but you know how that turned out. I often felt like I battled the waves of life all by myself.” She fell silent a moment. “It’s better with Claire back in my life.”

He saw the shadow linger in her eyes. “But now that she’s married, you’re afraid she won’t have time for you.”

She blinked and shaded her eyes with her hand. “How’d you know that?”

“I guessed by your tone. You feel alone.”

She picked up several pebbles and studied them. “I don’t really have any family but Claire. My best friend, Shelley, took a job in Michigan, and I won’t get to see her very often.”

“I’m surprised you’re not married.” He inwardly shook his head at his fishing. “I mean, you’re beautiful and smart. Hey, you even like guy movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark.”

Pink flooded her cheeks. “That’s nice to hear.”