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The dock seemed suspended in space, and she put her hand on Luke’s shoulder to steady herself. This was crazy. She hadn’t bargained on this. The shape of his mouth felt firm against hers.
Crazy. This whole charade was crazy, but at this moment she never wanted it to end. Tenderness and longing swept through her in equal measure with despair.
Chapter Three
Luke frowned at his laptop the next morning. Chloe’s face kept appearing on the computer screen, overlaying the words—soft and vulnerable, with the moonlight turning her skin to ivory.
He was trying to get down his impressions of the Caldwell Island area in a preliminary report. He’d settled in one of the rockers on the porch after breakfast, letting the herd of Caldwells scatter to whatever occupied them. He had to work, not think about Chloe.
That kiss last night had been a mistake. He’d begun by teasing her, but he’d let himself be carried away by the charade. The next moment he was kissing her, and he’d known in an instant he shouldn’t have. You didn’t get involved with people who worked for you. Chloe was too valuable to him as an employee to risk ruining that.
He had to concentrate on the job he’d come here to do. That was his ticket to success. His initial impressions of the island were favorable, but plenty remained to be determined. He’d focus on collecting the data he needed, not on how unexpectedly beautiful Chloe had looked in the moonlight.
“Hey.”
He glanced up, startled to find Chloe next to him, and snapped the laptop shut. He’d have to tell her what he had in mind at some point, but not yet. Chloe, in denim shorts and a T-shirt, looked ready for anything but business.
“Hey, yourself.” He’d already noticed that everyone he met here used that word as a greeting.
She glanced pointedly at the laptop. “Are you ready to go? We have a date with David and Sammy to go dolphin watching, remember?”
Dolphin watching, as in…taking a boat out. The huge breakfast Chloe’s mother had forced on him turned to lead in his stomach. Or maybe it was the grits, gluing everything together. “Why don’t you go without me? I have some work I’d like to get done.”
“Work?” She frowned at the computer. “I thought you were taking the weekend off. What are you working on?”
He didn’t intend to answer that question. “Just keeping up with some reports. I don’t care much for boats.”
Being on the water gives me the shakes. No, he wouldn’t admit that to her. He didn’t like admitting it to himself. His childhood hadn’t included a place like this, and there hadn’t been swimming pools in the back alleys that had been his playground.
“Come on.” She held out her hand. “The Spyhop runs as smooth as silk. Besides, it’s the best way to see the whole area.”
That was the only argument that would get him on a boat. She was offering him the chance to see just what he needed to, in an unobtrusive way. And he couldn’t keep refusing without having Chloe guess that what he really felt was something a lot stronger than reluctance.
“Okay. I’ll put the computer away and be right with you.”
Fifteen minutes later he stood on the dock with Chloe, wishing he’d stuck to his refusal. “Kind of small, isn’t it?”
“The Spyhop? She’s a twenty-six-foot catamaran. You should see the crowd they fit on her later in the summer, when the visitors are here. I’m sorry she’s riding so low, but the channel’s tidal. It’s not hard to get into the boat.”
Chloe stepped from the dock down to a bench seat in the boat, then to the deck, balancing as lightly as if on a stairway instead of a rocking deck. She looked up at him.
“Need a hand?”
Aware of David and Sammy watching from the boat’s cockpit, he shook his head, grasped the post to which the boat was tied and clambered down. Okay, he could do this. Nobody needed to know that his stomach was tied in more knots than the mooring line. With luck, they wouldn’t find any dolphins, making the trip short and uneventful.
David turned the ignition, and the motor roared to life. He waved at Chloe. “Cast off, will you, sugar?” He grinned. “Or don’t you remember how?”
Chloe stuck out her tongue at him, then climbed nimbly over the boat’s railing to perch on the narrow space at the back and lean across to untie the ropes. Luke had to clench his fists to keep from grabbing her. Chloe had probably done this all her life. She wouldn’t thank him for making a big deal of it.
Then the boat started to move, and he clutched the seat and concentrated on not making a fool of himself. Chloe dropped onto the bench next to him and gave him an enquiring look. More to distract himself than because he cared, he nodded to the cockpit.
“I thought Daniel was the one who ran the tours.”
“They both do, but David’s the real expert on the dolphins. His degree is in oceanography, and he’s officially in charge of the dolphin watch for this region.”
“Degree?” He couldn’t help the surprise in his voice. “But I thought—” What had he thought? That they were a bunch of uneducated hicks?
The amusement in Chloe’s gaze said she knew just how surprised he was.
“David knows his stuff, but he doesn’t really like doing the narrative for a boatload of tourists. Daniel does that.” She smiled. “You know how it is in a big family. We each have our roles.”
“I was an only child.” At least, he guessed he’d been. Nobody had stayed around long enough to tell him. “Tell me about it.”
“Well, Daniel’s the oldest, so he always thinks he has to be the boss—”
She wrinkled her nose, something he’d never seen her do in the office. It intrigued him.
“David’s the quiet twin. Miranda is the beautiful one. And Theo, whether he likes it or not, is always going to be the baby.”
He found himself wanting to say that she was just as beautiful as Miranda, and quickly censored that. “And what about Chloe? What is she?”
He thought a faint flush touched her cheeks, but it might have been the sun. “Oh, I guess I’ve always been the tomboy. Having two older brothers does that to you.”
He nodded toward Sammy and spoke under the rumble of the motor. “Where does Sammy fit in?”
She stiffened, as if he implied something with the question.
“Miranda was married briefly when she was eighteen. It didn’t work out.”
Her tone told him further questions weren’t welcome. “Sammy seems to have plenty of family looking out for him.” He recognized, with surprise, a twinge of jealousy. He hadn’t had a father, either, but no one had stepped up to take on responsibility, at least not until he met Reverend Tom and his Fresh Start Mission.
“Yes.” The tension in Chloe relaxed. “What with the twins, my father, my uncle, the cousins—he probably has more male role models than most kids.”
“Lucky boy,” he said, and meant it. The tempo of the motor changed suddenly, and he grasped the seat. “Is something wrong?”
Chloe looked surprised, then shook her head. “We’re just going around the end of the island, into Dolphin Sound. There are a few of the summer houses I told you about, and that’s the yacht club.” She pointed to a covey of glistening white boats, lined up neatly along a dock. “Summer sailors,” she said, as if dismissing them.
Waves slapped against the hull, and a fine spray of water blew in his face. He nearly ducked, but saw Chloe lift her face, smiling.
“Now you can see it.” She leaned forward, sweeping her arm in a broad gesture. “This is Dolphin Sound, between Caldwell Island and the out-islands. Beyond is the ocean.”
Luke drew in a breath. He might not be much of a sailor, but he knew what would draw vacationers to a resort area. Sunlight sparkled on the sound and reflected from the white wings of seagulls. Small islands shimmered on the horizon like Bali Hai, with empty golden beaches and drifts of palmettos.
“It’s beautiful.”
“Cat Island, Bayard Island. Angel Isle.” Her voice softened as she gestured to the most distant of the three. “My favorite.”
Sammy scampered back to them, moving nimbly as the boat danced through the water. He touched Chloe’s arm, then pointed. “Look, Aunt Chloe. They’re here.”
He followed the direction of the boy’s hand, seeing only the gentle swell of the waves. “I don’t—”
A silver crescent broke through the surface of the water, not more than twenty feet from them, describing a glittering arc as the dolphin plunged back beneath the waves. Before he’d caught his breath he saw another, then another.
“Chloe, get the camera,” David shouted. “The whole pod is here.”
Chloe yanked a camera from its case and knelt on the bench seat, snapping as one glistening shape after another wheeled before them. David throttled back, and the boat slowed to a stop, rocking gently.
“Oh, you beauties,” Chloe breathed, leaning out perilously far.
He couldn’t help himself—he had to grab the loop on her denim shorts. “Be careful, or you’ll be swimming with them, like your namesake.”
She glanced back at him, face alight with laughter. “Can’t do that. It’s against the law to swim with wild dolphins now, much as I’d like to.”
David left the wheel to grab a clipboard and jot down notes, murmuring as he did so. “One of the best sightings I’ve had lately. You two brought us luck.”
“Look, Uncle David, that’s Onion for sure.” Sammy bounced next to Chloe on the seat. “It is, I know it!”
“Got it in one, Sammy. You’re a good dolphin watcher.” David reached out to tousle the boy’s dark hair. “Your name will go in the log.”
“You’re really keeping track of them?” Luke glanced at David’s notes, which certainly seemed to be some sort of official report. “Is this your job?”
“Job?” His glasses shielded David’s brown eyes, but Luke couldn’t miss the passion in them. “Not in the sense of being paid for it, that’s for sure. We’re part of the dolphin watch that runs all the way up the coast.”
One of the dolphins balanced on its tail, looking at Luke with enquiring eyes and that perpetual dolphin smile. Luke stared back. “I’d think there would be money in this one way or another.”
David shrugged, not seeming to care. “We make a bit on the dolphin cruises. That’s enough.”
Enough? Luke opened his mouth to argue, then closed it again. It wasn’t his business to talk David into seeing what he had here. If he tried, he’d only emphasize the difference in their values. That would make staying any longer more difficult.
And he had to stay. He’d seen enough today to convince him of that. This place was the perfect site for the next Dalton Resort hotel, and setting that in motion would take more than a brief weekend that was already half over. His mind ticked away with all he had to do. Chloe could—
“She’s always been able to do that,” David said softly.
Luke turned. Chloe leaned over the railing, reaching out toward the dolphin, and the creature lifted from the water as if saying something to her. The curve of her body matched the curve of the dolphin, and the sunlight made both of them glow with a kind of harmony that startled and disturbed him.
It was as if the Chloe he knew back in the office had transmuted into a different being here, one as alive and natural and free as that first Chloe. He didn’t know how he felt about that—but he did know it was going to make their relationship different in ways he couldn’t even imagine.
“Chloe Elizabeth, I hear you brought a young man home for your family to meet.” Her father’s second cousin, Phoebe, squinted across the crowded dining room at Luke. “’Bout time you were settling down. When is the wedding? Not June, I hope. That’s nowhere near enough time for your momma to get ready.”
Chloe nearly choked on a mouthful of shrimp toast. Was that what everyone was thinking? “We’re not ready to set a date yet,” she murmured.
Cousin Phoebe gave her a sharp glance. “That’s not what your gran says. She’s already planning the wedding quilt for you. Asked me to look out some fabric for her, so I said I would. You’d best decide on colors soon, heah?”
The shrimp turned to ashes in Chloe’s mouth. Could this get any worse? If she denied it further than she already had, Cousin Phoebe would be rushing off to Gran with the story. Perhaps she could distract her.
“Cousin Phoebe, is that Aunt June’s daughter over there?”
The sight of another relative she could interrogate always appealed to Phoebe. She veered off, replaced immediately by Gran herself.
“Gran, are you enjoying your party?” Chloe hugged her, feeling a rush of love at the soft, papery cheek next to hers. And feeling, too, a rush of guilt. She shouldn’t be letting Gran and everyone else believe a relationship existed between her and Luke.
Gran patted her cheek. “It’s a good party, Chloe girl. But the best part is that you’re here, and you’ve finally brought a nice young man home with you.” Gran’s eyes twinkled. “Even if I did have to invite him myself.”
The “nice young man” seemed to be the topic of the day with her elderly relatives. Chloe glanced across the room. Luke stood by the window, deep in conversation with her cousin Matt. Matt, a television news reporter who’d come all the way from Egypt for Gran’s birthday, ought to be able to talk about something Luke would understand. She recognized a similarity in them and wondered if Luke would see it—they were both driven, intense, competitive.
“I think he’s having a good time.” She couldn’t actually bring herself to say she was glad Gran had gotten her into this fix. In fact, the truth pressed against her lips, wanting to burst out. If she told Gran all of it, Gran would understand, wouldn’t she? Or would she look at Chloe with disbelief that her granddaughter had behaved this way?
Gran held Chloe’s hand, her gaze fixed on Luke, too. “Maybe one of my grandchildren will finally find a lasting love. I’d started thinking the dolphin ruined that for all of you.”
Chloe blinked. “What are you talking about?”
A faint flush mounted Gran’s cheeks. “’Spose you’ll think it nonsense.”
“You know I’d never think that. But what do you mean? What dolphin?”
“Chloe’s dolphin, child. What else?” Gran’s eyes brightened with tears. “That dolphin carving disappeared from the church, and no Caldwell has been married under it since. It’s not right.”
“Gran, you’re not superstitious, are you?” She’d known Gran mourned the loss of the dolphin that was part of the family heritage, but hadn’t imagined it meant more than that to her. “You don’t really believe that old story!”
Gran looked at her sternly. “Chloe Elizabeth, there are more true things in stories than you can explain. I’m not saying folks can’t have happy marriages even though the dolphin’s not there anymore. Look at your daddy and momma—they’re as much in love as ever. But it seems to me God’s plan got messed up when that dolphin disappeared, and we need to see him back where he belongs.”
Gran had always had a strong streak of the romantic in her, but Chloe hadn’t expected this. She didn’t know what to say.
“Don’t worry about it, Gran. We’ll all find the right someone to love, eventually.” It was the most comforting thing she could think of, though none of the grandchildren had managed a happy ending yet.
“It’s not just that.” The lines in Gran’s face deepened as she looked from Chloe’s father, on one side of the room, to his brother, as far away as he could get and still be in the same room.
The breach between her daddy and Uncle Jefferson had existed long before Chloe was born, an established fact all her life. Everybody on the island knew that Uncle Jeff called Daddy a straitlaced prig and a failure, and that Daddy felt his brother’s ambition had killed off his honor. They kept up a semblance of civility for Gran’s sake, but their feud obviously still hurt her.
“I’m sorry,” she said softly.
“Not much we can do about them, I’m afraid. But as for you young ones—seems to me you’ve found someone to love, dolphin or no, haven’t you.”
“I don’t know. It’s not…not really serious between us—not yet, anyway.”
Gran’s wise old eyes studied Chloe. “Don’t think you can fool me, Chloe Elizabeth.”
Her heart stopped. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, I can see how well the two of you fit together. You care about him, don’t you?”
She couldn’t lie about it with Gran looking at her. “Maybe so. But that doesn’t mean it’s going to be a lifetime love or anything.”
Gran patted her hand. “You just keep in mind that verse I gave you on the day you were baptized. God has plans for you, plans to give you hope and a future. You trust in that, you hear?”
She blinked back tears, thinking of the needlepoint sampler Gran had made—the one that went everywhere with her. “I’ll try.”
“Besides, now that Luke’s here, maybe we can help things along.”
