Halfway down the beach, Winston paused to investigate a hunk of driftwood. Rafe aimed the flashlight at him and then let the light slide away toward the foam at the water’s edge.
“I was wrong about Jed, you know,” Rafe said after a while.
“What do you mean?”
“He wasn’t the lucky one. I was. I had Mitchell after my parents were killed. Gabe and I both had him. I went off track for a while, but at least I knew there was a track, thanks to him.”
Hannah nodded. “I understand.”
“I don’t think there was ever anyone there for Jed. His father drank a lot, and one day he just disappeared. His mother remarried two or three times.”
“Hmm,” Hannah said.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Let’s not go too far into let’s-feel-sorry-for-poor-Jed-who-came-from-a-dysfunctional-family territory. I’m sure it’s all true, but I can’t believe that he didn’t know a few of the rules. The night he murdered Kaitlin Sadler in order to get his hands on those blackmail tapes he broke those rules. I’m sure he was well aware of what he was doing.”
“You know, Hannah, that’s one of the things I like about you.” For the first time that evening there was a trace of wry amusement in Rafe’s words. “I can always count on you to cut right to the heart of the matter.”
Hannah sighed. “All right, if you’re not brooding because of Jed, do you mind telling me why you’ve been in such a foul mood all evening?”
“I’ve been thinking.”
“No offense, but I’m not sure it’s good for you.”
“I appreciate the positive feedback.”
“Okay, okay. I don’t want to argue.”
“But you’re so good at it.”
She tightened her hands inside the pockets of her sweater jacket. “Let’s start over. Tell me what you’ve been thinking about this evening.”
He was silent for a couple of heartbeats. She had the impression that he was gathering himself for a big jump.
“I’ve decided to sign over my half of Dreamscape to you,” he said.
For a few seconds she thought she had misunderstood. She reran his simple statement twice through her brain before she finally decided she had gotten it right the first time.
She came to a sudden halt on the beach and swung around to face him. “You’re going to do what?”
“You heard me.” He stopped and looked at her. “Dreamscape is Harte property. It’s always been Harte property. I know your aunt had some romantic notions, but the truth is, I don’t have any real claim on the place. It’s yours. I’m not going to fight you for it.”
Panic seized her. She jerked her hands out of her pockets and grabbed fistfuls of his black pullover. “I thought we had a deal.”
“You didn’t seem interested.”
“I never got a chance to respond.” She stood on tiptoe and leaned closer. “Arizona Snow arrived with her logbook in the middle of our business discussion, if you will recall. Then came our big deductions concerning Kaitlin Sadler’s death.”
“Hannah—”
“That was followed by you and your grandfather deciding to engage in a bit of breaking and entering. The next thing we know, Jed Steadman has left town and you’re brooding. All in all, it’s been a somewhat hectic day. I haven’t had a chance to get back to you on your business offer.”
“I’ve known for a long time now that my claim on Dreamscape was the only thing I could use to hold you. I don’t want to use it.”
“Excuse me if I got this wrong, but I was under the impression that you saw me and Dreamscape as a sort of package deal.”
“I can build my restaurant somewhere else.”
“Your dream of a restaurant is your passion. Dreamscape is the best possible location for it, and you know it. You can’t give it up.”
“Got news for you, Hannah. The restaurant is important, but it’s not my greatest passion.”
“Rafe—”
“I don’t want you and the restaurant in a business deal.”
“You’re the one who made the offer.”
“I was getting desperate.”
Hope soared within her. Grimly she tamped it down, forcing herself to keep things in perspective. “But now you’ve changed your mind? You don’t want me anymore?”
He closed his free hand around one of her fists. “I want you, Hannah, but it’s no good unless you want me. Tonight I realized that taking Dreamscape out of the equation is the only way to find out how you really feel about me.”
She couldn’t keep the lid on the tide of hope any longer. It surged through her. “You want to know how I feel? I’ll tell you how I feel. I love you, Rafe Madison. I want to stay here in Eclipse Bay with you. I want to open a five-star inn and restaurant at Dreamscape with you. I want to have babies and a future with you.”
For an instant he did not move. Then he abruptly wrapped one arm around her and pulled her hard against his chest. “Are you sure?”
She snuggled against him. The heat and strength of his body enfolded her. He was her future.
“I’m sure.”
“I love you,” he said into her hair. “You’re my passion, not the restaurant. You know that, don’t you?”
“I do now.” Relief and joy washed through her. Once a Madison was committed to his passion, nothing else was allowed to get in the way.
“What about your new list?” he asked quietly. “Do I qualify?”
She smiled against his throat. “There was only one item on it. I wanted to marry someone I could love with all my heart. Someone who loved me the same way in return.”
“No problem. I meet all the qualifications.” He tightened his hold on her. “We’ll make it work. You and me. Dreamscape. The future. We’ll make it all work. I swear it.”
“With your dreams and my brains, how can we miss?”
He raised her chin on the edge of his hand. “That night on the beach I told myself I could never have you, but I knew even then that I would never be able to forget you.”
“I told myself the same thing about you.”
He smiled against her lips. “You and your damned list were always there, somewhere in the back of my mind. You want to know the truth? Part of me wanted you to be happy. But another part hoped like hell that you would never find a man who met all those specifications for a husband.”
“You and your big career objective to stay out of jail were always in the back of my mind. The thought of so much potential going to waste was extremely annoying.”
“Sounds like we’ve been a constant source of irritation for each other all these years.”
“I can’t think of a better basis for a marriage.”
He grinned. “Neither can I.”
The beam of the flashlight splashed across the sand when his mouth came down on hers. Hannah reveled in the kiss. A singing happiness exploded inside her.
Winston’s sharp, harsh bark broke the spell.
Rafe reluctantly raised his head. “I don’t think your dog approves of us making out on the beach.”
“He’ll just have to get used to it.”
Winston left the piece of driftwood he had been worrying and dashed toward them. He barked again, louder and more urgently this time. Not a request for attention or an invitation to romp.
A surge of alarm shot through Hannah. “I think something’s wrong.”
Winston did not stop when he reached the place where Hannah and Rafe stood. He sped on down the beach toward the path that led back to Dreamscape. He was barking furiously now.
“What the hell?” Rafe swung around to follow the dog with the flashlight beam. “Oh, shit.”
He broke into a run.
Hannah looked toward the mansion. Shock seized her. The background rumble of the restless bay behind her blotted out any sound that might have drifted down the cliffs from Dreamscape. But she did not need to hear the crackle and hiss of the fire. She could see the flames leaping into the night quite
clearly.
Should have taken the cell phone with me, Rafe thought as he raced toward the house. But the possibility that the fire could still be handled with the garden hose was too tempting to allow for a detour into the house to call 911.
He leaped the steps and ran the length of the veranda. Winston was a short distance ahead of him. The dog was in full charge mode. He was no longer sounding the alarm with short, warning barks. The porch lights glinted on bared teeth and flattened ears.
He had been right about Winston the first time he saw him, Rafe thought. Definitely not a froufrou pooch.
“I’ll call the fire department,” Hannah shouted.
“Right.” He did not look back as he rounded the corner of the veranda.
Winston’s growl was the only warning he got before he glimpsed the figure silhouetted by the flames. The man was attempting to flee, but the dog had closed his jaws around a pant leg.
Rafe saw Winston’s victim raise the gasoline can in his hands and prepare to smash it down hard on the Schnauzer’s skull.
“Goddamn dog,” Jed yelled.
Rafe slammed into him. The can sailed out onto the grass, away from the flames. Jed went down hard on the wooden boards. He opened dazed, angry eyes. Hatred and rage flared hotter than the crackling fire.
Winston tried to get a better grip on Jed’s leg.
“Let go, Winston.”
The dog released the trouser cuff and looked at Rafe.
“You sonofabitch,” Jed roared. “I had it all planned. Waited all this time. But you had to come back and ruin everything.”
He heaved himself upward, hands stretched out for Rafe’s throat.
Rafe saw the madness in his eyes and moved back out of reach. “It’s over, Jed.”
“Why did you have to come back here and screw up everything? Why, goddamn you?”
“It’s over,” Rafe said again.
In the distance sirens wailed. Winston pranced in agitation and started to bark again. Hannah rounded the corner, the fire extinguisher from the kitchen cupboard in her hands.
“Oh, my God.” She halted at the scene in front of her.
“I had it made until you came back.” Jed’s face crumpled in fury. “Everything was in place. After all these years, everything was in place. And then you came back.”
He launched himself wildly across the short space that separated him from Rafe.
Rafe sidestepped the charge and stuck out one foot. Jed tripped over it and fetched up against the wall of the mansion. He clung there a few seconds and then slid slowly to a sitting position.
When he opened his eyes this time, the rage was gone. In its wake was a bleak awareness of abject failure.
“I had it all planned,” he whispered.
chapter 24
“Winston was the hero of the hour.” Hannah looked proudly at her dog, who was gnawing on a chewing bone. “Thanks to him, the fire damage was minimal. The Willis brothers assured us they could have things in great shape in a couple of weeks.”
“I’d allow more like a couple of months, if I were you,” Mitchell said. “Construction work never gets done on time, especially when the Willis brothers are handling things.”
“Maybe it’s just as well,” Hannah said. “We wanted to make some major modifications to that wing, anyway. We can incorporate them into the repairs.”
“Makes sense.” Mitchell leaned back in his chair and cast an assessing glance the length of the veranda. “Got your work cut out for you here. But I think, in the end, you’ll have yourselves a nice little inn and restaurant.”
“Five stars,” Rafe said. His voice was soft with certainty.
“Don’t doubt it for a minute.” Mitchell chuckled. “Always knew you could do anything you set out to do. Just a matter of applying yourself.”
Hannah grinned. “Gee, what a coincidence. I once told him the same thing.”
Rafe stacked his heels on the railing and took a swallow from the beer bottle in his hand. “How could I miss with both of you telling me what to do with my life?”
“Took you long enough to live up to expectations, but you finally made it.” Mitchell cradled his beer in one fist and squinted into the dying light. “Any more news on Jed Steadman?”
“Just that everything went down pretty much as we figured.” Rafe looked out over the bay. “Except, of course, that Jed is claiming through his lawyer that Kaitlin’s death was an accident.”
“The result of a quarrel over the tapes,” Hannah explained.
“Yeah, yeah,” Mitchell muttered. “Reckon it’s a given he’ll end up facing only a manslaughter charge. But what happened to the tapes?”
“Jed claims they went over the cliff with Kaitlin and were swept out to sea. Says he never even viewed them.”
“Ha.” Mitchell grimaced. “And if you believe that, I’ve got some waterfront property in Arizona I can sell you.”
“I don’t think anyone actually believes his story,” Hannah said slowly. “But if those tapes don’t surface, no one will be able to prove otherwise. The Thornley camp is taking the line that the incident had nothing to do with their man. But there’s a rumor going around that Trevor Thornley met Kaitlin when she worked for his first campaign.”
“Wonder how many copies there are of those tapes,” Mitchell mused.
“Not our problem,” Rafe said. “Thornley’s the one who has to worry about opening a tabloid someday and finding a picture of himself modeling lingerie inside. We’ve got other things to occupy us.”
Mitchell cocked a brow. “Such as?”
“Such as planning a wedding,” Hannah said smoothly.
For a split second Mitchell looked stunned. In the next instant delight exploded across his weathered features. He gave a whoop that made Winston drop his chewing bone, get up from the floor, and pad over to his chair to see what all the excitement was about.
“Well, shoot and damn,” Mitchell said when he finally got his exuberance under control. “I knew you two would get around to doing the right thing. You just needed a little kick in the you-know-where.”
“Don’t know how we could have managed without your help,” Rafe said dryly. “Telling everyone at the post office that Hannah and I were planning to get married was certainly an inspiration for us. Wasn’t it, Hannah?”
“Definitely inspirational,” Hannah said.
Mitchell was clearly having trouble containing his delight. “Least I could do. Wait’ll Sullivan and the rest of those uptight, upright Hartes hear about this. Your family is going to have a combined hissy fit, Hannah.”
Hannah winced. “I expect there will be some fireworks when Rafe and I tell them the good news.”
“Gonna light up the sky,” Mitchell agreed cheerfully. “Sure would like to be there when you spring it on ’em.”
“Forget it,” Rafe muttered. “You’re not going to be anywhere in the vicinity.”
“Ah—”
“Speaking of family reaction,” Hannah said firmly, “I’ll be planning this wedding. I’ve had a certain amount of experience in the field, but I must admit this particular event presents some unique challenges.”
Mitchell chortled. “Worried about a brawl in the church?”
Hannah gave him a repressive look. “I expect some cooperation, restraint, and civilized behavior from everyone. Is that clear?”
“Don’t look at me like that.” Mitchell contrived to appear deeply offended. “We Madisons aren’t going to cause a ruckus.”
“Damn right,” Rafe agreed. “If there’s trouble it won’t start on the Madison side.”
Hannah gave both men a steely look. “It better not finish there, either.”
The wedding was held two months later, in the Eclipse Bay Community Church. Everyone in town was invited, and virtually everyone came. In spite of several ghoulish predictions of carnage, the ceremony went off without a hitch.
Halfway through the reception, which was held at Dreamscape, Mitchell could no longer restr
ain himself. He sought out Sullivan in order to gloat.
He found his old partner and rival on the veranda. Sullivan stood alone near the railing, a glass of champagne in one hand, a cane in the other.
Well, shoot and damn, Mitchell thought. He’s lost as much hair as I have. Seemed like he was taller back in the old days, too. Guess we’ve both shrunk.
Looking at Sullivan was a little like looking into an old mirror. What had he expected? That they would stay young and dynamic forever? At least I’m not the only one here with a cane.
“Hey, Sullivan.” He came to a halt a few paces away. “What do you think of your new grandson-in-law?”
Sullivan turned slowly around to face him. Mitchell relaxed a little. His ex-partner might be showing some wear and tear, but a savvy gleam still burned brightly in his eyes. This was the same man who had fought at his side in a long ago military action that no one except those who had been involved in it even remembered. This was the same man who had saved his life in that miserable jungle and whose life he had saved in return.
This was the same man he had teamed up with to risk everything in a financial gamble that had made them both rich for a while. The same man whose teeth he had tried to knock out in front of Fulton’s Supermarket.
He met Sullivan’s eyes and knew that they were both aware of the truth. The bonds that joined them would never dissolve.
Sullivan glanced down the length of the veranda to where Rafe stood with Hannah. “He’ll do. Always said he had potential.”
“I sure as hell never heard you say that.”
“We haven’t talked much for a long time, Mitch.”
“Nope. Sure haven’t.”
“You did okay by Rafe and Gabe.”
Startled, Mitchell glanced quickly at him and then turned just as swiftly away. “Can’t take all the credit.”
“No, but you can take some of it.”
They stood together for a while, watching the crowd. Mitchell noticed that Sullivan made no effort to walk away.
“Looks like we’re going to be seeing a lot of each other again,” Mitchell offered finally. “I hear you Hartes are big on family gatherings.”