Twilight at Blueberry Barrens

  “Like a whole day.” Luke grinned and brushed her lips with his. “You sure you don’t mind if we take your bed, Kate?”

  “I put clean sheets on this morning. I’m happy you’re here.” She went to the cabinet and got down the peanut butter. “At least you’ll have the cookies tomorrow.”

  As Luke headed upstairs Claire got the eggs out of the fridge, then pulled down a bowl from the cupboard. “Okay, dish. I want to know all about the hunky Drake.”

  “I knew that’s why you were staying up!” Kate grinned at her sister. How had they spent so many years apart and yet could read each other this way? “He’s not interested in me other than as a nanny. In fact, I think he was thinking about firing me when this all came out about Uncle Paul and Mom being in jail.”

  Claire paused in the middle of cracking an egg and stared at her. “You’re kidding!”

  “Nope. I told him I wouldn’t blame him if he fired me, and he paused before he told me the job was still mine. I saw the indecision on his face though. He’s worried about the girls. And to be honest, I am too. Paul is very unpredictable.”

  “I don’t think he’d hurt a child.”

  Kate looked at her. “Right. Like he didn’t hurt you at all.”

  Claire put her hand to her mouth. “Well, yes, there’s that. But he was pushed into a corner.”

  “And he’s not now? He’s even more cornered with the cops crawling all over the place trying to send him back to prison. He’s more desperate than he’s ever been.”

  “But he doesn’t need you any longer. He got what he needed.”

  Kate glanced at the jumble of jewelry on the table. “Unless that bag is important too. Maybe this is why he was in the basement.”

  “He would have had to have left it here, and you found it in a field.”

  Kate stirred together the peanut butter and eggs. “I guess that’s true. Unless he thought he might have dropped it here.”

  Claire leaned on the counter and smiled at her. “So what’s Drake like, really? Is he all proper and reserved?”

  “Well, he likes The Princess Bride, so that’s a mark in his favor.”

  “You didn’t make him watch that!”

  “It was his idea.”

  Claire took the spatula and began to mix in the flour. “I knew I liked that guy.”

  * * *

  White clouds floated in a perfect blue sky. No storms today. Kate and Drake got the girls off Kevin’s boat onto the rocky shore west of Mermaid Point, then waved him off. In Drake’s backpack he had binoculars, lunch, swimsuits, and bottles of water. His flyboarding gear was in another bag. Each girl carried a sand bucket and shovel, though this area had more pebbles than sand. The dog was in his element, too, and could hardly be coaxed out of the water.

  “I’ll be back at two,” Kevin called to them.

  Drake waved to show he’d heard him before leading the girls closer to the rock face. He put his hand on Kate’s shoulder, then quickly pulled it back when a wave of attraction hit him. “This was a great idea. I think we all needed a little breather from what’s happened the past week. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a puffin.”

  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.”

  He told himself to shut up and escape with his dignity, but he was never one for playing it safe. “Never been engaged?”

  She shook her head. “I got sick, and what guy was going to be interested in a girl who might die? I mean, what a way to take off the bloom of romance.”

  The thought of her lying lifeless in a casket closed his throat. “But you’re okay now.”

  “I’m also thirty-one.” She shuddered. “It’s hard to even say that out loud. Most of the eligible men have been taken or moved away.”

  “There are always new ones coming into town.” He sat up and took her hand. “Let me take you to dinner one night. I’ll get Dixie to watch the girls.”

  Her fingers closed around his, and her blue eyes were as bright as the sun above until they dimmed as quickly as they’d glowed. She pulled her hand away. “I don’t know, Drake. You might not want to yell at me if we went out. I’d never know where I stood.”

  “I’d make sure you knew. Think about it.”

  She looked down at her hands. “You’re not married either.”

  So she noticed. “Nope. But I’d like to change that someday. A houseful of kids is a happy place. First school and then my career took all my attention. It seemed I had all the time in the world to date and find a life partner. But Heath’s death was a wake-up call for me that I’m not getting any younger. I’m thirty-two.”

  “I’m hardly your type, Drake. I never even finished college, and you’ve got more degrees than a thermometer.” She rose and brushed the debris from her white shorts. “I’d better check on the kids.”

  He stared after her. What had caused her smile to vanish and the frosty glaze in her eyes to appear?

  TWENTY-FOUR

  Kate’s face felt windburned as she mounted the steps to Claire’s house with Jackson. Her sister had finally moved back home two days ago after a report that Paul had been spotted in Canada. Kate felt as upside down as a broken top. She’d been rolling Drake’s invitation around in her head for a couple of days, and she wasn’t sure how to respond.

  Luke answered the doorbell. He wore pajama bottoms with no shirt. “Kate, is everything okay?” He opened the door wide.

  “I’m fine, but I just needed to talk to Claire. Is she still up?” Her face heated. They were newlyweds, so what was she doing barging in without a call at eight o’clock at night?

  “She’s in the kitchen making some chamomile tea. Go on in. I won’t bother the two of you. Hey, Jackson, let’s go throw the Frisbee.” The dog’s ears went up at the word. He loved Frisbee and trotted happily outside with Luke.

  That wonderful man understood. Kate kicked off her sandals and went across the polished floors in her bare feet. She caught the scent of an apple candle and the aroma of something peanut buttery. Claire stood in the kitchen with her back to the open doorway as she filled the bright-red teakettle.

  “Hey, I’ll take some of that.”

  Claire turned with a smile. She wore the pale-blue negligee Kate had gotten her for the bridal shower, and she looked so pretty with her blonde hair spilling onto her shoulders. “This is a surprise.”

  An easel beside the table held a partially finished painting of Drake’s nieces. Kate paused and studied the likenesses. “This is wonderful, Claire.”

  “It’s for you. I’ll have it done in a few days.” She eyed Kate. “Is everything okay?”

  “Your husband just asked me the same thing.” She went to Claire’s new white kitchen table and pulled out a red chair. “Drake asked me out. I haven’t had a chance to tell you, and I was trying to figure it out myself, but I can’t.”

  Claire chuckled and grabbed two mugs from the cupboard. “And that’s the reason for your woebegone expression? That’s wonderful!”

  “He said he wanted a houseful of kids!” Kate put her face in her hands. “I didn’t have the heart to tell him that’s the main reason he wouldn’t want to develop feelings for me. I can’t give him that.”

  “That doesn’t mean he wouldn’t understand. Any man who really loved you wouldn’t let that stop him. Drake seems to be one of those guys who lets things roll off his back. And besides, he already has two girls to raise. That’s a pretty good start on a houseful. It might be enough.”

  Kate shook her head. “I think his biological clock is ticking. The phenomenon doesn’t just happen to women. His brother’s death shook him up.”

  Claire bit her lip. “Give him a chance, Kate. Don’t sell him short. It wouldn’t hurt to go out with him.” She picked up the mugs of tea and went to the table.

  “It might hurt a lot. I’ll be honest, Claire. I’m already halfway in love with him. I’ve gotten to know him so well from watching the girls. He’s a really great guy. Kind, smart, funny. I like being around him, but I keep reminding myself he’ll soon be back in his real world, and a dalliance with someone like me isn’t going to last. It’s already August. They’ll be heading back to Boston the end of the month.”

  Claire stirred sweetener into her tea. “You don’t see yourself clearly, Kate. You let your old illness define you, and it shouldn’t. You have so much more to offer than bearing a child. You’re beautiful and loyal, and you know a lot about so many subjects. Just like your precious puffins.”

  Kate took a sip of the tea and winced when it scalded her tongue. “Can you imagine me in Boston? As a prominent business owner, I’m sure Drake goes to all kinds of social events. I’ve only been to my high school prom. We’re hardly on the same social level.”

  Claire set her tea on the table. “You could hold your own with anyone. Your mother’s attitude toward you scarred you. Get it out of your head. You don’t have to earn love from people, Kate. You try too hard to make people like you. It’s as if you think they will only like you if you’re perfect. If you say the right thing and act the right way. That’s just not true.”

  “I’m afraid,” Kate whispered. “He could really hurt me, Claire.”

  “He could. But I’d go after him and make him pay big-time. I’d stalk him at his big society events and he’d be sorry.” She held Kate’s gaze. “But if you don’t risk pain, you’ll never find true happiness. Remember that line in The Princess Bride? ‘Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.’ ”

  Kate grinned. “We watched that together last week.”

  “I know. That’s when I knew he was right for you.” She sat back and picked up her mug. “Risk it, Kate. Roll the dice. What if God brought Drake here? I mean, look at the sequence of events. He rented your house, he gave you a cushy job, and now he’s asking you out. He’s a good Christian man. Give him a chance.”

  Could Claire be right? Kate would love to believe it. And she was also right about Kate’s scars. Was she going to sit back and let her mother’s treatment ruin her future as well as her past?

  She took another sip of tea. “I’ll say yes. But pray for me, Claire. I’m scared.”

  “I always pray for you. I think God brought Drake in answer to my prayers in the first place. And if I’m right, you have to cook me your Cajun fettuccine. Gluten free, of course.”

  “It’s a deal.” Kate reached over and squeezed her sister’s fingers. “I love you, Claire.” Thank the good Lord he’d brought her sister back into her life.

  * * *

  Drake put the Land Rover into Park and glanced across the seat at Kate. “I hope these questions don’t upset her.”

  The blue tank Kate wore enhanced the blue of her eyes, and he somehow managed to keep from gawking at her legs, impossibly long and tanned in those white shorts. He liked being around her way too much.


  She opened her door, then grabbed the back door handle to open it for the girls. “I don’t see why they would upset her.”

  “There were no prints on the watch and nothing to tie it to your uncle. I have to wonder if kids put it in the pouch.”

  He couldn’t explain his reluctance to talk to Dixie about the watch. There was so much about his aunt that he didn’t know, and he didn’t want any old memories disrupting her mood.

  Kate shut the door behind the girls, who ran toward the house calling for their aunt. Jackson ran at their heels. “They sure love her.”

  “Everyone does.” He went to the back and grabbed the bags of take-out Mexican he’d stopped to get on the way. At least Dixie wouldn’t have to cook lunch for them.

  Dixie stood on the porch with the screen door held wide. She was dressed in her overalls, and her smile looked as unflappable as ever. “Took you long enough. I’m starving.” She sniffed the air as he approached. “Did you get fish tacos like I told you?”

  “Of course. When have I ever disobeyed you?” He brushed a kiss across her powdered cheek. She reeked of her favorite Tabu cologne.

  She stepped aside to let them enter. “Lemonade and coffee are on the table in the kitchen along with plates.”

  “Sure thing.” He went through to the kitchen, and the rest of the group followed.

  The girls chattered to Dixie while they ate, then she gave them chocolate chip cookies and milk to take out to the deck along with bread to feed the ducks. Jackson went with them.

  She settled her round glasses more firmly on her nose. “So, you said there was something you needed to talk to me about. Did you find out more about Heath’s death?”

  “No, it’s not about Heath and Melissa. You heard Paul Mason had escaped from prison?”

  “Oh my, yes. Everyone is on pins and needles about it. I haven’t seen him though, and town gossip says he was reported up near Canada. Claire and Luke went home, so I’d guess that bit of news is accurate.”

  Kate pulled the pouch from her purse and placed it on the table. “I found this in the blueberries near my house. Have you ever seen it?”