Christie Ridgway - The Love Shack

Her hand fell and she went back to weeding, her head bent so he could no longer see her pretty face. She had classic-beauty bones, wide-spaced eyes, a delicate nose and a soft yet serious mouth. A long tail of hair streamed down her back, the sun finding random gold and red threads in the dark mass. “If you’re interested, we now have a room dedicated to Sunrise Pictures with lots of memorabilia on display,” she said.

“Yeah?”

“It’s connected to the art gallery beside Captain Crow’s. You can take a look anytime, but you’ll have to get the key from me or from Maureen, who manages the gallery. We keep the door locked since the trouble we had there last month.”

Gage frowned. “Trouble? What kind of trouble?”

“We caught someone vandalizing the place.”

He dropped to her level, resting on his haunches. “Jesus, Skye. Are you all right? What happened?”

“A small group of us—Teague, and two of the women who were staying at No. 9—surprised an intruder when we decided on an impromptu tour. One of them got a bump on the head when he pushed past us.”

“Did you get a good look at whoever it was?”

“No. We called the police, but the man was dressed in dark clothes and wore a ski mask—like he’d been at a casting call for thief of the week.”

Gage took a seat on the grass, rubbing his stubbled cheek with his palm. “What do the police think? It seems just...damn disturbing that anything dangerous would happen here.”

She sent him a quick, unfathomable glance. “My sentiments exactly. The police have no idea about...about anything.”

“Huh.” He directed his gaze down the beach. No. 9 was a fifteen-minute walk from here; he could sprint it in half that. “You need something, you know where I am.”

She shrugged. “Thanks, but I’m used to handling things on my own. Keeping the cove going is all on me, now that Mom and Dad have moved permanently to Provence. And I wrote you that my sister, Starr, is living in San Francisco.”

“I remember her from when we were kids,” Gage mused. “Starr. Starr and Skye. Such unusual names.”

“Unusual spellings, too,” Skye said, shaking her head. “It was Dad’s idea to add the extra r and the unnecessary e. He thought they looked weightier that way.”

Gage laughed. “Your dad was always a character. But Starr goes by Meg now, right? You told me that.”

“Mmm,” Skye said by way of agreement. “And she’s married, after a whirlwind romance with her Caleb. They met at the cove in May, spent a few days together here, then decided to seal the deal. Love liberated her impulsive side, I guess.”

“Good for her. Good for them.”

A moment of silence passed. “Speaking of family, is yours well?”

“Sure.” Especially as he’d kept each and every member unaware of his latest misadventure. “You saw my brother and sister last night, of course. And my parents will be here for Griffin’s wedding.”

She gave him another sidelong peek. “You’re okay with that?”

“With Griff getting a ball and chain?” At her quick frown, he smiled and hastened to amend himself. “I’m kidding...and I really do like Jane. When you wrote me about her, you told me I would.”

“She’s good for your brother, and vice versa. Did I tell you she worked with Ian Stone for several years?”

He rolled his eyes. “Not Ian Stone, the author of those sappy and maudlin bestsellers you like so much?”

“Nobody should have to defend their choice of reading material,” she said, and even in profile, he could see her scowl. “A person likes what she likes.”

“And Skye Alexander goes for that oozily overromantic stuff.”

She turned her head to narrow her eyes at him. “Maybe it’s the endings that appeal—you know, when the hero dies from some painful lingering illness or an equally painful but accidental act of God.”

Gage laughed again. “Okay, okay. I don’t want you wishing one of those sorrowful-ever-after outcomes on me. I can’t afford to take bad luck with me on my next assignment.”

She reapplied herself to the flowers and weeds, wielding a spade. “Griffin says he’s done with war reporting.”

“I’ve got to go back,” Gage said quickly. Too quickly, he decided, because she cast him a puzzled glance.

“Sure,” she said.

“I accepted a new assignment.” And he had something to prove, too. Those bastards hadn’t taken anything from him. He wouldn’t let them.

“Sure,” she said again.

Realizing he’d curled his hands into fists, he took a moment to relax his fingers, breathing deep as he gazed around the cove where he’d come to recharge. There was a mini cottage next door, so small it was almost a dollhouse, and as he watched, the front door opened. A pretty blonde stepped out and, spotting him, waved before disappearing around a corner.

He waved back. “Who is your friend again? Polly...?”

“Polly Weber.”

“Cute.”

Suddenly Skye had pivoted on her knees and was pointing her spade at his throat like a stiletto. “Don’t even think about it.”

“Think about what?”

“Polly’s a kindergarten teacher. She just moved to the cove and, besides me and Rex, will likely be the only one living here come fall.”

“So?”

“So if you break her heart, she’ll leave the cove. That’s just what my sister did. She ran away and didn’t come back for ten long years. I don’t want that for Polly. I like my friend living nearby.”

“What makes you think that I—”

“Three words.” She paused, then continued gravely, “The Gage Gorge.”

Jesus Christ. A dull heat crept from the back of his neck to his face. “I wrote you about that?”

“Your twin told me about that.”

“Which is the slower death, strangulation or drowning?”

“I have no idea,” she said, her tone cool.

She should have no idea about the Gage Gorge, either. “For the record, Griffin coined that phrase, not me.”

Her silence said more than actual words.

“Look, any guy would do the same. After months of crappy meals and crappy booze, it’s natural to want to consume mass quantities of my favorite foods and beverages.” And he never wanted to see another juice box or packaged cheese and crackers for the rest of his life.

When she didn’t say anything, he plucked at his T-shirt. “I’ve lost weight!” He’d worried about dysentery when the water they’d given him had arrived in a rusty watering can and from some unknown source. He’d tried sticking with the mango juice, but the thick stuff had eventually made him sicker than the thought of parasites in his H2O.

“By all means,” she said, still in that chilly voice, “indulge in your desires. It’s really none of my business—as long as your...your feasting doesn’t extend to my friends and neighbors.”

Okay, she was just being snotty now. Feasting, she’d said, as if he were bellying up to a banquet. But they both knew she was referring to something other than nutrients. “It’s not a crime to want to get laid.”

“But when you’re on a ‘Gage Gorge’ your goal is to get laid as often as possible.”

He opened his mouth to argue, then shut it with a snap. After a few long breaths, he tried again. “I think my brother thought he was, uh, enhancing my reputation with that kind of talk.”

She sent him a skewering look over her shoulder. “You think being a man-ho enhances your reputation?”

“I’m not a man-ho. Jesus, Skye. I’m just a guy who likes sex and when I haven’t had a chance to get any for a few months, then I...I want to have some.”

She stood and brushed at the dirty knees of her jeans. “And some more and some more and some more.”