Dragon Warrior (Midnight Bay) (27 page)

Two other fishermen started toward Trace’s boat, but William stepped into their path. “I believe this is a family matter, gentlemen,” he said softly, making sure his tone spoke for him. “What say we let them work this out between themselves?”

While Trace was busy glaring at Maddy, Rick took another swing at him, this time catching the man square in the jaw. “Run, Maddy!” Rick screamed, reaching down and shoving a large coil of rope toward Trace’s feet as he staggered backward again.

“Rick, come on!”

“I’m right behind you, sis!” he cried, grabbing another coil of rope and throwing it at Trace as he tried to catch his balance.

Maddy scrambled onto the dock and started running toward the ramp, but spotted William and ran to him instead. “Omigod! Do something!” she cried when she looked back and saw Trace had her brother cornered against the wheelhouse. She tugged on William’s sleeve, pulling and then pushing him toward the boat. “You have to save Rick!”

William spun her around so her back was to him and wrapped his arms around her to stop her from going to save her brother herself.

“William!” she cried, stamping a foot. “You promised to be my strong arm!”

“I only promised to save you, not your brother,” he said. He gave her a squeeze when she started struggling, and leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Take a moment to see what’s happening, Madeline. Ye already have a strong arm coming to your rescue. Did ye not notice how your brother put himself between you and Trace? Let him be your hero, Maddy, instead of you always being his.”

She stopped struggling. “But Trace could really hurt him,” she whispered, watching the two men face off against each other.

“Do ye honestly believe your brother’s punch could have connected if your cousin hadn’t allowed it?”

She sucked in a surprised breath. “He
let
Rick hit him?”

“And do ye not think that with his training, Huntsman didn’t see your intention to push him in the water before you even decided to do it?”

“But why?” she asked, turning to look up at him.

“Because he loves you and your brother, lass. You’re looking at the problem between you and Rick from
your
perspective, Maddy, where Trace sees both sides. Rick isn’t a little boy anymore, and your cousin is trying to point that out to you.”

She went limp in his arms, and William saw her shoulders slump.

“Decide, Madeline,” he whispered against her hair, “if ye want to be Rick’s mother or a sister he can look to for support.”

She took a shuddering breath, and William opened his arms when he felt her spine stiffen. He watched her walk back down the dock to the boat.

“Leave him alone, Trace.”

Huntsman turned to her and folded his arms over his chest. “Give me one good reason why I should let him get away with punching me.”

“Because if you beat him up, you’ll be fishing all by yourself.”

Trace shrugged. “I’m going to be fishing alone in another week, anyway, when he heads off to college.”

William watched Maddy glance toward Rick, then hold out the envelope to Trace. “He changed his mind and isn’t going, because he wants to fish like our dad did.”

Trace took the envelope from her and spread open the top, but instead of pulling the letter out, he glared up at her. “Isn’t it against the law to open other people’s mail?”

Maddy clasped her hands behind her back. “I guess I forgot. But I’m pretty sure I’ll remember to never open his mail again.”

Trace rubbed his jaw, squinting up at her. “I don’t know. He did sucker-punch me—twice. And if I let him get away with it, my reputation will be shot.”

She snorted at that. And then she sighed and looked over at Rick. “I’m sorry for not listening to you and for pushing you to go to college. It was my dream, not yours.” She looked back at Trace. “You’re allowed
one
free punch if you feel you need to save face, but you can’t punch Rick.”

Trace’s eyes widened, and he took a step back. “You expect me to punch
you
?”

“William, will you let Trace punch me?” she called back over her shoulder, not even bothering to look at him.

“No, Madeline.”

Still looking at Trace, she shrugged. “William keeps insisting on protecting me, so I guess you’ll have to punch him instead.”

William choked back a bark of laughter, wanting both to kiss Madeline and to throw her into the harbor. But he sobered right fast when Trace leaped onto the dock and headed toward him.

Huntsman stopped in front of him, his eyes shining with amusement, and held out his hand. “Here, I believe every strong arm needs a token from his lady,” he said, handing him Maddy’s braid of hair. Trace turned to his cousin. “If you don’t mind, Peeps, I’m going to take a rain check on the free punch and save it for when you
really
piss me off. Come on, Killkenny,” he said, heading up the ramp. “I need to get some dry clothes out of my truck. And rumor has it there’s a madman racing through the streets of Midnight Bay on a motorcycle all hours of the day and night, and I don’t know if you’re aware of it, but I have a thing for fast bikes myself.”

William looked back to see that Maddy was already standing in the boat, wrapped up in Rick’s arms, softly weeping. He smiled at the realization she would be seeing her brother quite differently from now on, and followed Trace up the ramp.

“When did ye learn the boy didn’t want to go to college?” he asked, moving up beside Trace.

“That night we had dinner at Maddy’s, when I hunted him down and we had a little talk. He told me he’d saved up enough money working for an old fisherman all through high school to put a down payment on his own boat. His dad, actually, is the one who started the savings account with him about a year before he died.”

Trace opened the door to his pickup and started stripping right there in the parking lot, using the door to block anyone’s view. “Neither of them told Maddy or Patricia, because both women were determined the boy would go to college. And then, after their father died, Rick said he never told Maddy about the money because he was afraid she’d make him use it for tuition.”

“Rick truly prefers fishing?” William asked.

“He’s a completely different person when he’s on the water. Hell, you’d think he’d hatched out of a lobster trap. He’s sharp and confident and so damned focused it’s scary. And he knows the industry better than most thirty-year veterans. I’ve actually been making a profit since he came onboard.”

William glanced back toward the dock and saw Maddy and Rick sitting on the stern, simply talking.

“I’ve been waiting for Peeps to explode for days now,” Trace continued, pulling a dry shirt down over his chest. “But her cutting her hair and effectively neutralizing my threat,” he said with a chuckle, “well, I sure as hell didn’t see that coming.” He shot William a grin. “Any more than I anticipated she’d let you take the fall for her.”

William returned his grin. “That one blindsided me as well.” He looked down at her wet braid in his hand. “Though not nearly as much as her cutting her hair.”

Trace sat inside the open door to pull off his boots. “I’m guessing the new hairdo had more to do with you than with me. So, what are you two lovebirds up to this weekend?” he asked, tossing his wet boots into the back bed of the truck. “Sarah’s with Billy, so that leaves Maddy free for the next two days.”

William gazed toward the dock again. “I’m not sure, actually. After what happened the other night, I have a feeling even suggesting we
go parking
in my truck is out of the question, much less up on the bluff at my house site.”

Trace straightened from slipping into a dry pair of jeans and started threading his wet belt through the loops. “Well Christ, Killkenny, that’s why they invented
motels
.”

Chapter Eighteen

“Y
ou reserved us a cabin at Seashore Hideaway?” Maddy whispered, sinking down in her seat as she glanced around.

William frowned over at her. “Is there a problem?” he asked, looking at the office and then at the cabins scattered in a grove of tall oaks down by the ocean. “Trace said this was a clean, well-run establishment.”

“You asked Trace to recommend a
motel
?” she squeaked, her face turning bright pink as she looked at him in horror.

“Nay, he’s the one who suggested I bring ye to a motel, seeing how going parking no longer appears to be an option for us. What in hell’s the matter, Madeline? I thought you’d be pleased to have a nice bed instead of an old cloth on the ground.”

“But . . . but . . .” She waved toward the office even as she sank farther in her seat. “Samuel’s daughter owns Seashore Hideaway. If she sees me here with you, she’ll tell Samuel, and then everyone at the nursing home will know we . . . that you and I are . . . wait, you
told
Trace we’re having an affair?”

William dropped his head onto the steering wheel with a groan. “Christ’s teeth, I don’t think I’ve ever had so much trouble getting a lass out of her underpants,” he muttered. Keeping his head on the wheel, he turned just enough to glare at her. “Maddy, darling,” he said softly, not even caring if she heard the edge in his voice, “what do ye suggest we do, then? Because I’m still
hanging
.”

Her eyes widened, her lips forming a perfect O.

William straightened with a heavy sigh and reached to start the truck.

Maddy covered his hand. “We’ll stay here,” she said huskily.

“I don’t want to embarrass you to your residents.” He smiled tightly. “I believe I’ve done quite enough of that already.”

“You can go in and register while I wait in the truck,” she said, still holding her hand over his. “Just make up a fictitious name for me and tell them I’m . . . your wife,” she finished, her blush kicking up another notch.

“Are ye sure?”

“Yes, William, I’m sure.” She gave him a slow smile. “And you don’t have to worry about getting me out of my panties, because I’m not wearing any.”

He sucked in a breath as his gaze snapped to her lap. “I’m glad ye didn’t tell me that earlier,” he growled thickly, “or there wouldn’t have been a mailbox left standing between here and Midnight Bay.”

She laughed at that, though a bit nervously, and pushed on his shoulder. “Go register. I’ll just stay here and hide,” she said, sinking back down in her seat.

Not giving her time to change her mind—or find another problem—William bolted from the truck and practically ran to the office. But he hesitated at the door. He’d been counting on Madeline to help him register, as he wasn’t quite sure what was expected, not having dared to ask Mabel how one went about renting a place to spend a weekend of debauchery with a good friend of her daughter’s.

He looked back at the truck and saw just the top of Maddy’s head peeking at him, and waved at her and then walked inside. “I called this afternoon and reserved one of your cabins,” he said to the woman behind the counter—who did look a bit like Samuel.

“Your name, please?” she asked, giving him a smile and then tapping a few keys on her computer.

“William Killkenny.”

She glanced at him in surprise. “William Killkenny? Would you happen to be the gentleman my father’s been telling me about? Samuel Keating? He lives at the River Run Nursing Home over in Midnight Bay.”

William inwardly groaned even as he smiled at the woman. “I’m sorry; I don’t know anyone named Keating. It must be another William Killkenny you’re referring to.”

She shrugged and hit a few more keys on the computer, and then held out her hand. “If you’ll just give me your credit card, I’ll run it through and give you your key. The reservation says you asked for two nights. Is that correct?”

“I don’t have a credit card. I intend to pay with cash.”

She blinked at him and dropped her hand. “Oh. Okay. Then I’ll have to see your driver’s license, Mr. Killkenny. The law requires I photocopy it, and keep it on file.”

William reached in his back pocket, took out his wallet, and handed her the piece of paper they’d given him when he’d taken his written test.

She took it with a frown. “This is a learner’s permit.”

“I’ve only just recently moved here from Ireland.”

Still frowning, she walked over to a machine on the side counter, slapped the paper onto a piece of glass, and pushed a button that made a bright light come on.

“This says you live in Midnight Bay,” she said, reading his permit as she walked back with it and the piece of paper the machine had spit out. She looked at him again. “That’s quite a coincidence, there being two William Killkennys in Midnight Bay.”

He merely shrugged, saying nothing.

She handed him back his permit and shot him what appeared to be a secretive smile. “We don’t have many locals who stay here, at least not for two . . . whole nights.”

William felt beads of sweat break out on his forehead. Why in hell did everything have to be so bloody difficult in this century? For chrissakes, all he wanted to do was bury himself in Madeline’s softness. “The friends I’ve been staying with have company, and I offered to give up my bed,” he said tightly.