Twilight at Blueberry Barrens (15 page)

She went quiet for a long moment. “He showed up here one night. He was livid. It was right after he'd found out.”

Drake rubbed his forehead. It wasn't what he'd wanted to hear. “You think he could have harmed Melissa?”

She gave a tiny sob. “Oh, Drake, I've agonized over this, but I think he was angry enough that if he'd had a gun, he might have shot her. The betrayal was so horrible.”

His fingers were numb from gripping the phone so tightly. “I still can't believe Melissa would get close to a man like that.”

“I know, but some women are drawn to that bad boy. I think Melissa thought she could help him leave his life of crime. There was talk of eventually moving to Australia and putting his crimes behind him. I'm sorry, Drake. I loved her. She was like a sister.”

“Thanks for your help, Olivia. I'll be in touch.” He ended the call and told Kate what he'd learned. “She thinks Heath might have been capable of hurting Melissa.”

Her blue eyes held tears, and she took his hand. “Does this change anything for you?”

He gripped her fingers and shook his head. “I still don't believe it.” But his words held no conviction, even to his own ears.

K
ate's steps dragged as she went home after a full day. She'd enjoyed the girls, then Drake had invited her to watch a movie again. Though the wise thing would have been to say no, she agreed. Her head was full of all the questions about the deaths on the cliffs, as well as her uncle's intentions.

It was nine by the time she entered her yard, and her steps quickened when she recognized Luke's truck in the drive. Claire and Luke sat on the porch swing in the dark. Claire wore khaki shorts and a cute orange top and was cuddled against Luke.

Jackson ran past her to leap onto their laps. “You big moose.” Luke laughed and scooted over to make room.

Kate disarmed the alarm and opened the door. “Why didn't you call me? I would have come right down.”

“We were enjoying the gorgeous night. A little late, aren't you?” Claire's voice held amusement.

Kate's cheeks heated as she entered the house with them on her heels. “We watched a movie after the girls went to bed.”

“Hmm.”

At Claire's noncommittal noise, Kate turned and shook her head. “What's that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing.” A dimple came and went in Claire's cheek. “Just
glad you're enjoying yourself.” She went ahead of Kate to the kitchen and headed for the coffeepot. “We came to crash in your spare room. The hotel didn't have a room tonight because of the festival, and I'm not quite ready to go back to our place.” Jackson followed her. He loved her nearly as much as he loved Kate.

“Of course! But you and Luke can have my bedroom. I like the smaller bed in the spare.”

“I told her you'd say that,” Luke said.

Kate handed Claire the bag of coffee beans. “You should have called me.”

“Well, I did, but I got your voice mail.”

Kate frowned and reached for the purse she'd slung onto the back of a chair. As she dug out her phone, she saw the pouch Jackson had found and pulled it out too. The phone showed two missed calls. “I accidentally had it silenced. Sorry.”

“What's that?” Luke gestured to the pouch.

“Jackson found it in the field this morning. I don't know who lost it.” Turning it over in her hands, she examined it more closely.

Who would have dropped it in the middle of her blueberry field?

She opened the pouch and dumped the contents out on the table. “It seems to just be jewelry and watches. A few hair items. It's like some woman lost her travel bag, but the blueberry field seemed an odd place to be carrying it.”

Luke came to her side and went through the jumble of items. “Some of this looks old. This watch looks like an antique.” He showed her a delicate gold watch with a jewelry-style band.

“See if there's anything on the back.” Claire flipped on the coffeepot and came to peruse the items with them.

Kate leaned closer to look when Luke rolled it over. “It reads
Dixie
on the back. The only Dixie I know is Drake's aunt.” This was getting more and more strange. “I'll go talk to her tomorrow and see if this happens to be hers. Maybe all these things are hers. Maybe there was money inside or valuable coins. It's hard to say.” A hint of blue caught her eye, and she picked up a pair of earrings. “I have some just like these.”

Claire frowned. “Are you sure these aren't yours? When did you last see yours?”

Kate thought back. “I was going to wear them to church on Sunday and couldn't find them. I thought maybe I'd taken them off in the car or left them somewhere.” She looked at the earrings more closely. “One of mine has a scratch on the inside of the stone.” Her pulse kicked when she saw the same scratch. “I-I think these might be mine. Could someone have found them?”

“Or maybe this belongs to Paul, and he took them when he was here in the house,” Luke said.

The aroma of coffee began to fill the kitchen, and Kate didn't want to think about danger any longer. For just a little while she wanted to sit with her family and forget the events of the past weeks. “I'm going to whip up some gluten-free peanut butter cookies, Luke. Your favorite.”

He yawned and put down the watch. “Honestly, I just want to crash.”

Claire's gaze met Kate's. “You go on up to bed, honey. I'm going to stay up and talk with Kate for a while. I haven't seen her in forever.”

“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.”