Obsidian (8 page)

Shelby searched out the familiar hand and footholds, carefully pulling herself up onto the ledges. A breeze kicked up off the water, brushing against her skin as she settled herself into her usual place, set up high on the ledges and well away from the waves that scared her.

There were no boats and no planes in sight tonight. There was nothing but the wind to make a noise. Shelby settled back against the rocks to wait.

After only twenty minutes, the night air had managed to put a chill deep into her bones. Clouds were moving in fast, making the sheltered cove even darker and erasing the line of the horizon against the night sky.

She was a fool to think that something suspicious had happened. Despite her suspicious mind, nothing ever happened in Chandler. The most they’d ever had to deal with were cut lines and the occasional turf war.

With a sigh, Shelby readied herself to once again make the trek back home. A good nights sleep would help her forget her troubles, especially her problems with her brother.

Her dark mood returned as she thought about Josh. The look on her uncle’s face when he’d returned from searching for her brother had been enough to scare her all over again. Josh’s disappearance had once again brought up all the horrible feelings that Tommy’s death had caused.

Shelby started picking her way back down the ledge, seeking out hand and foot holes in the rock.

What had happened to Tommy had been an accident, a twist of fate that he’d brought on himself. Part of her understood what Josh didn’t. She could see the senselessness and randomness of Tommy’s death. It could easily happen again. Only this time it could be Josh.

As her feet touched the sand again, she heard the sound. The wind was calmer tonight, the sound carrying father and growing clearer as the plane approached.

Shelby crouched down in a crevice of rocks as she listened to the plane draw closer. It was approaching low and from the east just as it had before.

In the darkness, the only distinguishable marking were the small marker lights and the shadowy outline of large landing pontoons.

The plane moved low over the cove before making a sharp turn and heading back again over the open water. A shiver ran through her. She wanted to make sure she watched everything, taking in every note, every detail.

One thing was clear. She hadn’t been imagining she’d seen the other night. There really had been something out there.

The roar of the engines echoing off the rocks deafened her as she strained to hear above it, listening for a splash. The plane circled the cove once more and then headed back out over the water, hugging the shoreline.

Shelby crept down from her hiding place as the sound of the plane died out. She’d hoped to get answers to some of her questions, but there was nothing clear about what she’d seen. Whatever was going on was still a mystery.

The smart thing to do would be to call the Sheriff and let him know what she’d seen. But what could she tell him? She knew nothing more than a suspicious plane had circled the cove. It was probably nothing more then some idiot out practicing his night flying?

Shelby was still mulling over what she’d seen the next morning as Roe and John Henry grumbled about the strange happenings that been witnessing, happenings that she’d discounted as their eccentric ramblings.

As the old men gathered over their morning coffee, there wasn’t a soul who didn’t have an opinion on the odd comings and going. They’d been speculating for weeks, but up until now she’d just credited it to the substantial gossip network running through the harbor.

In a town like Chandler, small things had a tendency to get bigger, as stories were told and retold until they became monumental. She’d never been one to pay much attention to what was being pushed about, but after last night she had to admit that maybe there was something to it this time.

She thought again about mentioning the plane sighting to someone, but to whom? The Sheriff? He’d only suggest she get more sleep and stay off the point at night. She could mention it to her uncle, but right now he was too busy chasing after Josh to worry about her late night sightings.

No, she’d keep her mouth shut and her eyes open. If it happened again she’d tell someone then.

Pushing at the ancient keys of the old manual cash register, Shelby totaled up the order Marianne had asked her to deliver. The elderly, arthritic artist lived in a secluded home out on the point with only her cat for company. Marianne had enough money to hire someone to look after her, but she’d lived alone for so long she refused to call upon anyone for help.

Shelby looked up from the pile of cat food in time to see her newest boarder come striding into the store. He waved a hand in greeting and gave her one of those smiles that set her heart beating faster.

All morning long, she’d tried hard to convince herself that her interest in Jamie Rivard was simple curiosity. It was her imagination at best. But now, seeing him there, larger-than-life, she wasn’t quite sure it was mere curiosity.

“Good morning. I trust you slept well?” She forced a smile and leveled what she hoped was a polite, but disinterested look in his direction. It was a mistake. He wasn’t wearing the sunglasses today, and as he walked toward her she was able to get a good look at his eyes. They were the color of a graying ocean tide with a storm coming, fierce, ominous and powerful.

Shelby had to concentrate to keep her mouth from hanging open and embarrassing her. She really needed to get a life. When she began seeing dating possibilities in her boarders it was a sure sign she needed to make a change. The next thing she knew she’d be after Monroe and John Henry, and both of those old fishermen were in their eighties.

“I missed you this morning. You were already up and gone by the time I got up.”

The tone was intimate, much more so than she was comfortable with. Thank goodness, there was only Monroe and John Henry in the store to overhear. Even if his words were purely casual, the town’s gossip network would make her a branded woman by nightfall. And within a couple of days, they’d have them engaged and on their way to the altar. All, without leaving the confines of their own snug little houses.

“You must get up pretty early to get here and get everything done. It has to be a big job doing all this by yourself.” His voice was a mix of a soft caress and a yawning purr. Goodness, the man could give the maritime broadcast and make it sound sexy.

Shelby did her best to concentrate on setting items on the counter and checking her list.

“I always leave before dawn. We’re busy first thing in the morning and then the wharf business picks up in the afternoon. Most of my work happens before the sun is up.” She finished ringing up the other items and placed them in the bag with the other stuff. Then she placed the bags in a blue plastic box.

Like an idiot, she was doing everything in her power to avoid looking at him and it was unnerving her. She hadn’t felt this kind of attraction for anyone in a very long time and she certainly wasn’t used to the heated feelings that came with the unfamiliar territory. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so out of sorts.

Shelby tried to ignore him as he walked around the store, picking up items here and there. She was being foolish, but she just didn’t know what else to do. She was a capable and responsible woman. For goodness sake, she was a widow with two businesses to run. She didn’t have time to be mooning over a man she’d just met.

“I was just wondering when it is that you do sleep?”

Her heart fluttered as he stopped next to her and leaned over to inspecting a small seagull miniature glued to a piece of driftwood, a tourist trinket. He was close, too close. She could smell his soap and feel him much too close to her.

“Are you keeping tabs on me, Mr. Rivard?” She said stiffly. “I don’t think my sleep patterns are of much concern to you.” Now that sounded huffy. She grimaced a little and fidgeted with the bags and items as she put them into the box. She was beginning to sounds like a crazy old lady.

Setting the last of the item into the box, Shelby began to pick it up when Jamie reached down, swing the box out of her reach and lifting the box by the handles onto the edge of the counter.

But not before she saw the slightest falter in his movements.

The hesitation was nothing more than an unsteady hitch in his rise. She’d been right to suspect that he had some sort of injury. Whatever it was, it appeared he didn’t want to call attention to it.

“I notice a lot of things about you. Including, the late night walk you took last night. It must have been a nice out there. Maybe you’ll allow me to come with you sometime?”

He’d seen her leave? Shelby dared a look at him and saw the twinkle of amusement in his eyes. She looked away, embarrassed as a schoolgirl. What was it about this man that made her alternate between irritation and attraction?

“I don’t think you’d like walking with me, Mr. Rivard. I walk a very brisk pace around the point. I found that it helps to clear my head and help me sleep.”

“I’m not above a good, brisk walk,” he said. “Besides, it’ll help me get a lay of the land around here. You wouldn’t want me to get lost, would you?”

She shook her head. “This is a small town. There’s only one way in and one way out. If you get lost then you have bigger issues then I can help.”

But the reality was that she wasn’t sure she wanted to include him in her walks. Up until lately, those walks had been her saving grace, her chance to try and get her life back together. They offered her peace and calm in a world that wasn’t always so easy. She wasn’t sure she was willing to give that up. Even for a pretty smile.

“Besides, I’m guessing that you won’t be around long enough to be going on any walks with me.”

“Ouch,” he said, smiling at her. “Maybe, or maybe not. We’ll see.”

The man was a master of saying the most with a minimal amount of words.

“Just how long are you going to be here, Mr. Rivard?”

He shrugged, pushing away from his spot against the counter.

“I don’t know. I’ll let you know when I figure it out. Unless, of course, you’re concerned that I’m going to skip out of the rent.”

They both knew that she wasn’t really worried about that.

“No, I think you can be trusted… to pay the rent.”

Her hesitation was enough to emit a laugh from him. “I assure you, I can be trusted.”

Shelby pulled the box back toward her, momentarily catching him off guard as she hoisted it off the counter and headed in the direction of the door. But within seconds, her arms ached from the pull of the box and she regretted her attempt at pride. She was almost to the door when her conscience began nagging. Jamie may be a stranger, but she was raised to be polite.

Balancing the box on crate by the door, Shelby turned, expecting to find Jamie still standing by the counter. Instead, she found herself facing an expanse of white cotton fabric, stretched taught across his broad shoulders. She sighed. They were nice shoulders.

The box started to slide from her hands and she grabbed for it, her fingers fumbling against his as he reached out to help her.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. I was just going to get the door for you.” He stepped around her, opening the door and levering his back against it to hold it open.

“I can I take that for you, if you’d like? It looks heavy.”

He smelled good; too good.

Shelby shook her head as she struggled to hoist the box up to a comfortable level. Having him so close was wreaking havoc on her senses. Her fingers refused to do what she wanted them to do, and her brain was incapable of forming intelligent responses.

“I've got it,” She grumbled. “I just didn’t realize you were behind me. You could scare a person half to death sneaking up on them like that.”

Jamie held open the door wide for her as she stepped out onto the granite steps. Evidently, she’d been cooped up in the store for too long. Her uncle was right, it was time to get a life.

Before she realized his intention he had reached out and taken the box from her.

“Do you mind if I tag along and help you make your delivery? I have some time this morning since I’m not going out on the boat with your uncle until tomorrow.”

“I'm not going far. I'm just taking this out to a lady that lives on the point.”

Jamie stood in front of her, squinting at her in the sunlight. “This an olive branch. I’m offering an apology for the way I acted the other day. Besides, that box is pretty heavy. I think you put rocks in it.” He smiled at her. “Not that I don't have total confidence that you can handle it.”

Maybe he really was trying to make amends. “I guess it is heavier than I thought. If you want to help me take it out to her I’ll treat you to lunch.” She must be a fool. He’d offered help and she’d offered him lunch.

“That's great. I’m starving.”

As if it were the easiest thing in the world, Jamie strode toward the truck with the box in hand and hoisted it over the back of the truck, settling it behind the cab.

Shelby followed along behind him, silently cursing herself. It was just an offer of help, nothing more. She reached for the door handle, but Jamie's hand had already closed over the latch. He pulled open the truck's door for her, ushering her in and closing it behind her. All of this courtesy could go to her head.