Gypsy Beach (20 page)

Whatever had frightened her seemed to have
sealed her lips. “Sienna, baby, did I do something you didn’t like?
Just tell me. I want to know. I want you to teach me everything you
want and show me how you want it.” She sure as hell seemed to love
everything he’d done, but maybe he’d gone too far.

“No.” She shook her head against him. “No,
that’s not it at all. Ryan, that was amazing. Please don’t ever
stop doing all of that. No one has ever made me feel so loved and
so sexy. It was incredible.”

Extremely pleased with that reaction, he
kissed the top of her head. “Okay, then tell me whatever it
is.”

A soft sigh bought her a moment longer.

“Tell me, sweetheart. Anything,” he coaxed
again.

“It’s just that you told me what you’ve been
doing the last ten years, and I don’t really want to talk about
what I was doing because most of it was just stupid, but there’s
this one part that I think I might need to tell you.”

“As much as it kills me that we were apart
for so long, I do want to know everything you did, even if you
think it’s stupid.”

“Can I tell you this one part now and maybe
the rest later?”

The pleading edge of her voice tore through
Ryan. He was about to get the answer as to what had happened to
her. If it had frightened her like this, he knew he was about to be
incensed with fury, but he also knew that she needed to say
whatever it was and that he needed to hear it.

He cradled her closer, making certain the she
felt the weight of his embrace and the safety he would always offer
her. Whatever had happened, he would see that it never frightened
her again. He would damn the demons that haunted her back to the
hell where they belonged.

“I’m right here. You tell me whenever you’re
ready.” Trying to give her room to formulate her words and her
story, he ordered himself to wait patiently.

“After I got kicked out of college, I got a
job at a coffee shop in Norfolk, but my mother was constantly
interfering, so I bought my van and headed out after I’d saved up a
little money. I had tons of waitressing jobs and I usually ended up
working in the kitchen, which I really loved. I was determined to
get to California, though. I don’t know why. I guess I just wanted
to go. I kept telling myself that everything would be better there.
I was so stupid.”

“Hey.” Ryan caressed her face with his right
hand. “None of that. You weren’t stupid. We both were just
lost.”

She shrugged out her disbelief. “So, I got a
job at this dive bar outside of L.A. It didn’t pay near enough to
live there. I stayed in my van some and in these gross hotels the
rest of the time.”

Her shuddered disgust daggered his heart. How
could he have let that happen to her?

“Anyway, I finally got hired on at this big
restaurant as a line cook, which was really cool. I loved the work,
and it paid decent. Just before I got an apartment and kind of
settled in, they hired a new executive chef… Ian.” She all but
convulsed in his arms when she said his name.

Ryan held her to him, trying to hide his
hate-filled scowl. Whatever Ian had done, he should beware. If Ryan
ever had the opportunity to locate him, he’d make damn certain that
he knew just what happened to anyone that dared hurt the very
reason for his existence.

“We started dating, kind of. I don’t know. It
was weird. Before I knew it, I was moving into his fancy apartment
in Cota de Cazo.”

Ryan’s body tensed. He tried not to react,
but his biceps and his fists longed to have their say. He worked
his jaw in constant rhythm to keep from booking a flight into LAX
immediately.

“I only lived there a few months, but Ian had
a horrible temper.”

Rage surged through Ryan. He shifted in the
bed to look into her eyes. She wasn’t going to lie to him. “Did he
hurt you, Sienna, because I will kill him if he did.”

She grinned at him and brushed a kiss on his
cheek. “Let’s not add murder to the list of problems we have. I
just got you back. You can’t go to jail now. Besides, he scared me
far more often than he hurt me.”

“Neither is okay,” Ryan growled
vehemently.

“I know. I got out of there really fast. I
swear. But sometimes he would, like, pitch these fits and sort of
tear up his apartment. It was ridiculous and scary. The only reason
I’m telling you this is that it kind of reminded me of what
happened at the Inn.”

“And you think he might’ve followed you here?
That he’s trying to scare you again?” Instinctively, Ryan held her
closer. The idea that Ian had come to Gypsy Beach was actually very
appealing. He would never allow him to be anywhere near Sienna, but
the thought of beating the shit out of the motherfucking asshole
was very satisfying indeed, and locating this idiot in California
would prove difficult; not that he wouldn’t try.

“I never told him about Nana or Gypsy Beach.
It’s stupid for me to worry. I never even told him my last name. I
just can’t figure out anyone else that would have broken in and
done that and then not taken anything. It doesn’t make any sense.
He used to threaten me if I said I was leaving.”

With a few steadying breaths, Ryan managed to
quell his ire. “Listen to me. I will never, ever let anyone hurt
you or frighten you again, Sienna. Never. If Ian is here, I will
find him, and I will make certain that he is incapable of scaring
anyone ever again. Okay?”

Palpable relief softened her body against
his.

“I love you. I have always loved you. I will
always love you, and I will always take care of you.”

His vows were met with another sweet kiss.
“Do you think it could be him?”

Ryan debated. “I don’t know, sweetheart. How
long ago did you leave him?”

“Way over a year, now.”

“Did he show up anywhere else after you
left?”

“Well, I had to quit my job, obviously, since
he was my boss. So, I just disappeared the way I always had. I
never looked back. But about six months ago, he got in touch with
my stepdad, asking about me. I never told mom or Richard what he
did. I just begged them not to tell him anything. They agreed never
to speak to him again.” Another shiver quaked through her body.

“I’ve got you, baby.” He continued to soothe
her. “And we’re going to figure out what is going on with all of
this. I will always keep you safe.”

“Well, would you look at what the cat spit up
this morning,” Molly huffed as she jerked her head towards the
parking lot as Mac cracked eggs in a bowl to start the breakfast
shift.

He rolled his eyes. “What’s he doing out
here?”

Before Molly could make another retort,
Robert Upton the third, resident seat holder at the County Clerk’s
Office, slithered into the shop. His polyester pants appeared to be
consuming the clip-on tie he’d methodically affixed to his
collar.

“Well, Bobby, what brings you out to Gypsy
Beach? They get themselves a new paperweight down at courthouse? We
ain’t hiring,” Molly sniped.

Mac couldn’t quite hide his grin. Her temper
always lit his fire.

Upton shuddered. The word ‘gypsy’ generally
had that effect. “Must you call it that? When I’m elected County
Clerk, I’m going to get the name changed to Robert Upton Beach
after my great-granddaddy who rightfully owned this land before the
likes of you claimed it.”

“Uh huh.” Molly toyed with the fly she was
effectively webbing. “And when will that be, Bobby, baby?” she
cooed. “You thinking your twelfth run will be the charm?”

“Ruth Cooper cursed the election and you know
it!” Upton’s temper flared quickly. It always did.

Mac smirked and came to stand beside his
beautiful wife. She’d been a fiery red-head in her day. The blaze
hadn’t subsided as her hair had grayed.

“Thought you didn’t believe in Gypsy curses,
Upton? You sound a little frustrated though. Might have a salve in
the back that’ll help you relax.”

“I do not want any of your witchcraft snake
oil, Montgomery. I’m here to see if you’ve heard anything about
what happened at the Inn a few days ago?”

“The Inn?” Molly lost a little of her steam.
They hadn’t heard anything, and they hadn’t seen Ryan or Sienna
since they’d taken off for Atlanta.

As if on cue, Mac grinned. He pointed out to
a large, custom Suburban that was pulling in the parking lot with
Georgia plates. “Well, there comes the owner of the Inn there. Why
don’t you talk to them?”

Mac was delighted to see that Ryan had one
arm wrapped around Sienna and the other carrying what must’ve been
his pretty little girl. She did look like her Daddy, and both of
the girls appeared to be delighted to be in the arms of Ryan
McNamara.

They entered the shop with only eyes for each
other. Mac cleared his throat, shaking them from their mutual
adoration. “Ryan, Sienna, this here’s Robert Upton.”

“The third.” Upton puffed up like a
self-inflating toad.

Mac rolled his eyes. “He’s here asking about
The Inn. Everything okay down there?”

“I’m extremely worried about the crime here
on the beach. It’s been one thing after another for the last sixty
years. I intend to do something about it.”

“Crime?” Sienna’s gasp startled Mac. She
sounded so much like Ruth.

“There hasn’t been any crime here, ever. Did
the Sheriff’s office contact you?” Ryan bared down on Upton.

The kid appeared to have taken all of the
blows life had dealt him and assembled them into a fierce
determination and protectiveness of what was his. Mac was extremely
impressed.

Upton’s fevered face displayed a hint of
panic as he took in Ryan’s bulging biceps and the might of his
anger. “You spoke to the Sheriff?” he demanded.

“Well, hey there, sweet girl.” Molly held her
hands out to Ryan’s little girl. “What’s your name?”

“Evie Grace McNamara,” she supplied in a
timid peal.

“Well, Evie Grace McNamara, how would you
like to come with me and help me stir up these eggs?”

She turned to her father. “May I please go
stir the eggs with her?”

“Sure, baby.”

Ryan handed Evie to Molly and turned back to
Upton. “Yes, we spoke to the sheriff. Vandalism is a crime. Not
that what we did is any of your business.”

“Was anything taken?”

“Not that we can tell.” Sienna was studying
Upton, debating telling him more.

“Upton, this is none of your nevermind. Go on
back to the courthouse. Surely there’s somebody there that you
haven’t annoyed the piddle out of yet today,” Mac ordered. It was
always best to keep Upton off of Gypsy Beach. His prejudices were
legendary, birthed from his father and his grandfather. None of
them were interested in hearing any voice other than their own.

“If anything else happens, you’ll let me
know?” Upton insisted.

“You keep telling yourself that.” Mac all but
shoved him back out the front doors.

“Why is he interested in what happened at the
Inn?” Ryan managed to quell his irritation into a more respectful
tone for Mac.

“He’s been trying to shut down every business
on this beach that he thinks has any kind of Gypsy heritage. Wants
to change the name and everything. He’s building a case for his
next campaign. Swears when he’s elected Clerk that he’ll put us all
outta business and enforce stricter regulations on the waterfront.
He got his panties in a wad a few years back when some girls were
sunbathing sans bikini tops. Lord, you’d think he was a nursing
newborn the way he squawked when he saw them. Made a fool of
his-self. He’s one of those unfortunate people that wants so badly
to be admired that he’ll go to any lengths to show his ass hoping
somebody’ll stroke it. Pardon my French, Sienna.”

Ryan and Sienna were both laughing and didn’t
seem to mind Mac’s telling them like it was. They settled in, and
Mac and Molly fed them a feast, all while falling in love with
Ryan’s baby girl. Mac was very pleased that little Evie seemed
almost as taken with Sienna as her daddy was. There was a family in
the making if he’d ever seen one.

The lumber and tools Ryan had ordered
arrived, and Sienna had taken Evie to the Pender county library to
spend some time, so he could rebuild the decks.

He missed both of them, but was pleased that
they seemed excited to spend the morning together. Keeping up with
Evie was slowing down his work on the Inn, but he wanted to spend
as much time with her as he possibly could. He was still trying to
make up for the last decade that he’d had to survive without
Sienna.

After methodically photographing everything
in the Inn that he planned to replace, he allowed the scent of the
heartwood cedar to draw him in. He settled into the thwack, thwack,
thwack of the nailgun’s airy pop and the vibrations of the
compressor flowing through his arms. He removed his shirt and wiped
his brow as he laid another board and continued his rhythmic work.
He allowed the pride and the gratification that always came over
him when he was building to drown out the mounting worry that had
taken up permanent residence in his gut.

The shrill ring of his cell phone effectively
ended his momentary reprieve. His stomach churned as he answered.
“How bad is it?”

“I’m on my way up there.” John’s reply did
nothing to calm him.

“That bad, huh?”

“Not sure yet. I’ve been brushing up on the
North Carolina books. They’re a little different that Georgia, but
I got an old friend of mine to agree to co-represent you with me.
He subpoenaed Roby’s deed and any record of payments made over the
years from Sienna’s grandmother.

“Apparently, she paid him cash occasionally,
but there were several years no payment was made, or no legal
payment was made. That makes the whole thing worse. I want to see
the deed, but if it’s dated before the deed Sienna was given a
month ago, which I’m sure it is, then we have a problem.