Heather Graham Pozzessere - If Looks Could Kill

Fifteen minutes later, she was dressed in her new turquoise-and-gold two-piece from Bianca, along with a sleeveless thigh-length cover-up, and ready with a bag filled with snorkels and masks, suntan lotion, and clothing to change into for both her and Carrie Anne when the sun and salt became too brutal to bear anymore. The boat was complete with a shower in the head, so she wouldn’t have to suffer the salt. She packed several books, her own CD player and headphones and Carrie Anne’s tape recorder and tapes.

Just in case they all ran out of conversation.

Then, hand in hand, she and Carrie Anne walked down the hallway to the outside patio.

She saw her father first. He was definitely a unique man, with something of a Hemingwayesque quality. His thick silver hair fell to his shoulders. He wore a straggly beard and his customary clothing—cutoffs, no shoes, no shirt. He loved the image of being an island bum. She knew that women still found him attractive, that his dark eyes were described in interviews and reviews as “brooding” and “charismatic.” Kyle—in cutoffs, as well—was in the chair next to her father. He was wearing dark glasses, but no baseball cap today. He wore his dark hair cut to a medium length, not too long, but long enough to curl slightly at his nape and leave enough to brush back over his forehead now and then.

He was in very good shape. It was easy to see that now, with his chest bare. Lots of dark hair grew across that broad expanse. His shoulders, too, were broad and bronzed.

Jassy was with them. Madison hadn’t known that her older sister was coming. Tiny and blond, but with her father’s dark eyes, Jassy was a dynamo. Despite her fragile appearance, she had gone into pathology and now worked for the Dade County medical examiner’s office. Jimmy had told Madison about the cops who initially didn’t want to take Jassy seriously; one look from her dark eyes and one sure swipe of her scalpel assured them that she was all business.

Madison wouldn’t have minded observing the threesome for another few minutes, but it wasn’t to be. Carrie Anne slipped her little hand from Madison’s and went rushing out to Jordan Adair. “Morning, Grampa!” She sat right on his lap, took his whiskered face between her hands, wrinkled her nose and kissed him on the forehead.

“Hey there, munchkin!” Jordan said, giving her a fierce bear hug in return. “What are you doing up and about so early?”

“I’m going out on the boat,” she said happily, smiling and squinting at her aunt Jassy. “With Rafe’s brother, who mommy says is very different, but nice, too. Are you coming, Aunt Jassy?”

“Where’s your mother?” Jordan asked Carrie Anne.

“Here, Dad,” Madison said, stepping out onto the patio. A coffeepot and cups sat on the counter by the breeze-through to the kitchen. Madison helped herself to coffee and took the fourth chair at the patio table. Carrie Anne was still on her grandfather’s lap, but the three adults were staring expectantly at Madison.

She sipped her coffee. Black. “Good morning.”

“You’re coming on the boat?” Kyle said politely. If he was surprised, he didn’t show it. If he was pleased, he didn’t show that, either.

“You asked us.”

“Yeah, I did.” She couldn’t see even a hint of his eyes behind the glasses.

“You can’t come, Dad?” she asked her father.

He shook his head. “I’m in the middle of some research.”

“I told you I’d help you later, Dad,” Jassy said sweetly, winking at Madison.

“When I need help from you, you little whelp, I’ll let you know,” Jordan grumbled.

Jassy shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

“Are you Kyle?” Carrie Anne asked, looking straight at him and inspecting him curiously, the way only children can.

“Carrie Anne…” Madison murmured.

“We did forget to introduce them,” Jassy reminded her.

“Yes, I’m Kyle. And you must be Carrie Anne. I’ve heard very nice things about you. Nice to meet you.” He offered her his hand. She shook it, smiling.

“It’s nice to meet you. Mom said that Uncle Rafe was nicer, though.”

“Carrie Anne, I said no such thing—” Madison began, startled and appalled.

“Did she say that? Well, she’s wrong,” Kyle told Carrie Anne, grinning. “I’m a lot nicer.” He sat back, and though Madison couldn’t see his eyes, she could feel them.

“I said no such thing,” she protested lamely. She looked quickly to her sister. “Are you coming out on the water, Jass?”

“I don’t know. Dad’s decided to plan a party tonight—”

“What?” Madison said, interrupting her.

“Yeah, I thought a big get-together would be nice,” Jordan said, shrugging. “It’s not too often that so many of our family and friends are around. Rafe and Roger can come on down, Jass is already here, Kaila should make it with the kids in a couple of hours, and her husband is supposed to make it back by about seven.” He hesitated for a minute, looking at Madison. “Darryl’s been down for a few weeks now, but we haven’t had a chance to see him, and—”

“You invited my daddy?” Carrie Anne said, delighted.

“You don’t mind?” Jordan said brusquely to Madison.

She didn’t mind in the least; she and Darryl got along fine. Probably because deep passion—involving love, spite or jealousy—had never gotten in the way of their divorce, as it did with so many people.

But she felt Kyle watching her, and she flushed. Angry at her own reaction, she said coolly, “It will be fine.”

“Jimmy Gates will come down,” Jordan continued, “and a bunch of locals. Your band, Madison, and Trent and Rafe can both make it. And Roger Montgomery, of course. It will be like a big family reunion.”

Right.

Their big, dysfunctional family.

Minus Lainie.

And the other mothers, too, Madison admitted silently to herself. She knew almost nothing about Rafe’s mother, except that she had been sick a long time before she died. Kyle had been just a few years old when his mother was killed in a car accident. Jassy’s mom, at least, was alive and well, in Portland, Oregon, studying the effects of carcinogens on sharks. Jassy had definitely inherited her medical inclinations from her mother.

As to Madison’s half brother Trent’s mother, she’d been a very gentle scientist working to cure the world of the common cold. Her dedication and nobility had apparently appealed to Jordan as a young man, but marriage—and a life in the remote regions of Montana, where she worked—hadn’t been for Jordan. Trent’s mother had passed away quietly of a heart attack just a few years ago. Madison thought that Trent was the lucky one of her father’s offspring. He had his mother’s slow, easy nature. He was hard to rile, and not as passionate, pigheaded or angry as she could be herself.

As Lainie had so often been.

Trent loved literature and had spent most of his formative years with his father. He and Jordan had remained close. He, Jassy, Kaila and Madison met for lunch at least once a month, usually with Rafe. It was a firm date.

Kyle was the only member of their strange “sibling” group who was consistently missing.

And now he was here.

The prodigal son returning. And her father was planning a great feast.

Curious. Well, Jimmy would be here. Maybe she could learn a little bit about what was going on.

Jordan turned to his oldest daughter. “There’s no reason for you not to go out on the boat, Jassy. You’ll be back in plenty of time.” He threw up his hands suddenly, shaking his head and turning to Kyle. “Can’t get this one married off. But she makes a great hostess for the old man,” he added affectionately.

Jassy plucked a grape from a bowl of fruit on the table and made a face at her father. “To some of us, the concept of marriage means monogamy—and those vows, you know? ‘Till death do us part’? Some of us take those things seriously.”