Heather Graham - Protector, Lover...Husband?

He glared at her, eyes hard. “You just won’t take this seriously, will you?”

“How do I know you haven’t suddenly turned into a murderer in your quest for treasure?”

“Quit fighting me, please. I really don’t want to sleep on your porch tonight. It will just make me harder to get along with. And if I’m cranky, I won’t go to see a lawyer with you. And once I find out what’s going on here…well, I could just take off again and leave you in limbo for a very long time.”

“You wouldn’t!” she said.

“I didn’t file the papers in the first place,” he said with a shrug, then rose. “We’re nearly back. I’ve got to go dock her.”

Left alone, Alex felt her temper rising, but she wasn’t as furious with him at that moment as she was with herself. She shouldn’t be making a terrible problem out of things. Let the idiot sleep on the couch. Under the circumstances, she needed to take everything slow. If John Seymore was really interested in her, he would wait around.

Even with her ex-or-almost-ex-husband in the cottage?

They had docked. She rose slowly, all too aware of why she was so upset. Having David on the couch should be no big deal.

Except she would know he was there. And now, with each passing moment, she was more and more aware of why she had been so attracted to him from the beginning, why she felt a strange flush of excitement when he was around, and why she found herself so annoyed that he ran around shirtless so often.

“We really do need to talk,” David murmured as they went ashore, following Hank Adamson and John Seymore off the Icarus.

“I really need to see to my dolphins,” she told him, and purposely walked as quickly as she could along the docks, aiming straight for the dolphin lagoon and praying, for once, that she wouldn’t be followed. By anyone.

“Come to the Tiki Hut with me?” Jay said to David. He’d waited at the end of the deck He was trying to sound casual, but there was an edgy note in his voice.

Damage control, David thought.

“I really need a shower,” David told him.

“And I don’t think anyone actually wants a drink,” Hank Adamson said.

“What the hell, I’ll go for a few minutes,” John Seymore said.

“We’ll all go,” David determined. He wanted to keep an eye on the guy. He wasn’t sure if he was suspicious because a man like Seymore was in a place like this, or because he was interested in Alex. Interested in her? He’d had his tongue halfway down her throat the other night.

“Apparently the sheriff doesn’t believe that Seth Granger just fell in the water and drowned,” Hank said as they walked.

“What makes you say that?” Jay asked him sharply.

“He questioned everyone pretty closely.”

“He’s the sheriff,” Jay said uneasily. “He has to cover all bases. Why the hell would anyone want to kill Seth Granger.”

The silence that followed his question was telling.

“For being a crass, overbearing windbag, for one,” Hank offered dryly.

They reached the Tiki Hut. The employees rushed for Jay as he appeared, and he calmly explained the situation. No one seemed to be terribly sad, David noted. They were amazed, though, and maybe even a little titillated. The drowning of such a wealthy man was bound to excite gossip.

The four men took a table. David admired Jay’s determination to deal with the situation. He wanted to be visible, to answer any questions. That was damage control, yes, but at least the guy wasn’t shrinking from his responsibility.

Zach’s mother, Ally Conroy—the one person who had seemed to be getting on with Seth the night before—was in the bar without her son, and it appeared she’d had a few herself. She rose, walked to the table and demanded, “Are they really saying he just…got up and drowned?”

“That’s what they think right now, yes,” Jay told her.

“I don’t believe it. I didn’t know him that well, but I don’t believe it,” she said, slurring her words. “Everyone was there, right with him. How come no one saw?” Ally demanded. Her voice was strong, but she was shifting from foot to foot as she spoke.

“Probably because none of us was expecting anything to happen,” David told her, rising. “Mrs. Conroy, you seem…distraught. Would you like me to walk you to your room?”

“Why? Because I might fall into the water and drown?” she said with hostility.

“Because I wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself in any way,” David said.

Suddenly her eyes fell. She sniffed. “He liked me. Liked Zach and liked me. You don’t know how hard it is to raise a kid by yourself. And he was…not the kind of man who’d get drunk, fall in the water and drown.”

“The sheriff will be investigating,” David assured her gently. “In fact, he’ll be here tomorrow. You can talk to him yourself.”

She suddenly seemed to deflate, hanging on David’s arm. She looked up at him, a little bleary-eyed. “Hey, you’re all right, you know?”

“I’ll walk her to her room,” David told the others.

They nodded.

Ally Conroy was definitely stumbling as she clung to David. “We’ve got one of the cottages,” she said. “It was an Internet deal. Cool, huh? I’m paying a lot less than most people. Have to watch my money, you know?”

“Of course. I’m glad you got a good deal.”

By the time they reached her cottage, he was ready to pick her up and throw her over his shoulder, she was stumbling so badly. He damned himself for taking the time to go with her, was even now missing something being said at the Tiki Hut, some piece of the puzzle that had to come together soon.

Because he didn’t believe, not for a minute, that Seth Granger had just fallen into the water and died.

They reached the cottage at last. She couldn’t find her key, so David knocked on the door, hoping Zach would hear.

“He was onto something. Onto something big,” Ally said suddenly.

“What?”

“He told me about some ship.”

“What ship?”

“Where is that damn key?” Ally Conroy said.

David strove for patience and an even tone. “Mrs. Conroy, what ship? Please, think for me.”

“The…ship. He was going after a ship. Said he had a friend who needed help, and he intended to help her, because it might be the best thing he’d done in his life. Will you look at this purse? It’s an absolute mess.”

“Don’t worry, there’s a key in there somewhere, and if not, Zach will open the door. Mrs. Conroy, you could really help me out here. Did Seth know the name of the ship he wanted to find?”

“The name of the ship…” she repeated.

“The name.”

“Oh…yes! The Anne Marie, I think he said.” Her eyes brightened, and she smiled, forgetting her quest for her key for a moment. “He was very excited about it. He said there was more fantasy written about her than fact. That the legend had it all wrong. No, history was wrong, legend was right.” She shook her head and gave her attention back to her purse. “Where is that damned key?”

The door opened. Zach looked at them anxiously.

“I thought I should walk your mom to your cottage,” David said.

Zach looked amazingly world-weary, understanding and tolerant. “Thanks, Mr. Denham.”

“No problem, and call me David.”

The kid nodded, taking his mother’s arm.

“I’m okay,” Ally said, steadying herself. She cupped Zach’s face, then gave him a kiss on the forehead. “I guess we have to take care of each other, huh? I’m sorry, hon.”

“It’s okay, Mom.”

“I’m going to lie down,” Ally said.

“Good idea,” Zach told her.

Ally paused, looking at David. “I…thank you,” she said.

“Not at all.”