Gloria's Legacy

Robin Alexander

Intaglio Publications (2011)

In the third installment of the series, Hayden and Adrienne have decided to take the next step in their relationship—motherhood. Adrienne embraces the challenges that pregnancy presents, Hayden…not so much.

To convolute matters, a strange guest has arrived at the inn alone. Along with her baggage, she carries two secrets that bring disruption and danger to the island paradise.

Gloria’s Legacy

By

Robin Alexander

Gloria’s Legacy

© 2011 by Robin Alexander

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

ISBN 13: 978-1-935216-30-8

First Printing: 2011

This Trade Paperback Is Published By

Intaglio Publications

Walker, LA USA

www.intagliopub.com

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

_______________________________________________

Credits

Executive Editor: Tara Young

Cover design by: Tiger Graphics

DEDICATION

For the Rose with a golden heart.

And my grandmother, who is now living the high life. She celebrated my triumphs and loved me the most when I fell flat on my face.

Acknowledgments

I’d like to thank my daughter. My experience with her made writing this book much easier. I fell in love with her the minute I saw the positive sign on the pregnancy test.

Becky, who loves me even though I really am Hayden and spend a lot of time with my foot in my mouth surrounded by a lot of broken crap. Like Adrienne, she didn’t freak out when I changed the bathroom faucet using gardening tools. That new faucet works like a freaking charm!

Kate, my business partner, who helps me chase snakes out of the backyard and films the ordeal because no one would ever believe us otherwise.

Diane King, who read through this book and kindly pointed out where I missed the boat.

Ah, and Tara, my editor…you give praise when I do something well, and when I screw up…you are brutal! I love you so much!

Prologue

Oh, you’re back. Want to hear more of my story? Well, belly up to the bar and I’ll make you a drink. Mai tai perhaps? My repertoire for mixing drinks has expanded to more than just rum and Coke, which was the only thing I could concoct before coming to Cat Island.

What’s that you say? I look tired? That’s me—Hayden the haggard. Why, you ask? Because I’m pregnant…Well, not me, but the love of my life is carrying my child. Don’t look at me like that. You know perfectly well in this day and age that two women can have a baby. I know, I know. You still want to know how.

As you know, Adrienne has an odd gift. Occasionally, she can hear the thoughts of others, which is something she’s not particularly fond of. It’s something she’s lived with all her life and didn’t want our child to be saddled with it. So one of my eggs was inseminated by an anonymous donor, and she is carrying our child. And that, boys and girls, is how two women can make a baby. Well, one of many ways.

So why am I so exhausted if Adrienne is the one doing all the work? Because I’m on back and foot rub duty constantly. I’m the one who runs out all hours of the night to fetch snacks. I’m the one who has worked with the builders to put the finishing touches on our new home.

I’m not complaining. Staying busy has kept me sane throughout the pregnancy. But now that Adrienne is in the middle of the eighth month, things are slowing down. And that’s why I look so crappy, really. I’m scared to death.

Chapter One

“I’m restless, Aunt G. My shoulders and the back of my neck hurt constantly. When I dream, they’re usually bizarre or nightmarish. I can’t remember how long it’s been since I’ve quit smoking, but I crave cigarettes more than chocolate.” I pulled a weed that was growing close to Aunt Gloria’s tombstone and toyed with it. “How’re you today? A little stiff?” I laughed at my own joke, knowing Gloria would appreciate it.

When I first came to the island, Iris, the cook, told me that she felt Gloria’s spirit all around us. I scoffed at the notion. But Iris had been right when she said that living on the island changes you. I did feel the presence of my aunt, especially at her gravesite where I came to sit and talk about whatever was on my mind.

“Jeff’s jealous. Being the oldest of us two, he figured he and Wanda would be the ones to have the first Tate grandchild. They’ve tried but no luck. Maybe the world isn’t ready for a miniature Jeff.” I tossed the weed behind me and stretched out my legs. “Maybe the world isn’t ready for a miniature Hayden, either, but it’s coming and soon.”

I quieted and listened for a response I knew wasn’t coming. Gloria had been full of smart-assed quips in her day. I imagined hearing her say something like, “’Bout damn time. I’m not getting any younger. Ha! Ain’t getting any older, either. I’m dead.” All I heard was the wind blowing through the trees and the scrub brush surrounding me.

“Never saw myself as a parent, though I can see Adrienne as the perfect mom. She’s grounded, sensible, and patient. She’s had to be those things for me because I’m certainly not. Having a child is going to force me to grow up, and I’m not sure I want to.”

I laughed as I imagined Gloria’s response—“Should’ve thought about all that before you gave up an egg.”

“Adrienne wants a family—with me. I couldn’t deny her that. Making her happy makes me happy. Oh, G.” I sighed. “I love that woman so much. The inn was a wonderful present, but the best gift you’ve ever given me was Adrienne.” I got up on my knees and laid a hand on Gloria’s headstone. “I don’t know if you have any pull up there, but please put in a good word for Adrienne. I need her, and life wouldn’t be the same without her.”

I stood and brushed off the back of my shorts. “I’ve got some work to do now, so put in a good word for me, too. I know God has a sense of humor. Ask Him to go easy on me.” I turned to walk away but looked back over my shoulder. “Oh, Iris wants you to put in a word for her, too. She wants rain. Her herb garden is wilting.”

*******

“What are you doing?”

I looked down at Adrienne from my perch on the ladder and smiled. “I’m thatching the roof.”

“Honey,” she began patiently. “We have staff we pay to do this sort of thing.”

“I know, but I thought I’d help. We’re in between guests and I’m bored.” I climbed up another rung on the ladder and slowly moved onto a part of the roof that was braced. I heard Adrienne inhale deeply as I did. “This cottage leaked during the last storm. Looks like a bird or something has been burrowing right here.”

“I heard it say crack.” Adrienne moved from foot to foot as she watched me.

“The bird?”

“No, the roof.”

She looked so cute staring up at me all pregnant and ready to pop. The baby bump was protruding through her teal sundress. She was glowing just like they say pregnant women do. Maybe it was all the prenatal vitamins or all the juice she drank, but her skin and auburn hair were absolutely radiant.

“I don’t hear it saying ‘crack.’ I hear it saying ‘get this damn bird nest out of my thatching.’” I grinned as I pushed my materials closer to the weak spot.

“Don’t go any farther.” Adrienne looked angry when I peeked over the roof at her. “Don’t do it.”

“I am.”

“No. I said no.” Adrienne was pacing back and forth now.

“Yes, a little farther. I can almost reach—” The roof said crack. I froze and wondered if I had gotten off the beam. In those few seconds while I debated moving right or left, the roof made the decision for me. As it gave way and I began to fall, I saw our new house off in the distance. We were so close to moving in. I vaguely wondered how much this little trip would set us back.

The thatching, a bird’s nest, and I rained down inside the cottage. The thatching and the nest landed on the bed and I on the floor about six inches away. As I lay there trying to draw breath back into my lungs, I heard Adrienne say, “And now the roof says boom.”

And then it all went black.

*******

“You’re an idiot.” I opened my eyes slowly. The face of Shelby, the island doctor, was inches from mine. She was broad-shouldered with hair that was so blond it was almost white and stood off her head in spikes. She reminded me of a Norwegian wrestler, and she was equally as strong. “Don’t move anything.” I nodded, and she grabbed my chin. “I said don’t move.”

Under Shelby’s direction, a group of our employees scooted me onto a hard wooden board. Shelby went to work fastening straps until I was immobile. She’d put two rolled-up sheets on either side of my head and half grinned when she put a piece of tape across my forehead. It rested firmly on my eyebrows.

Adrienne’s worried face appeared above me, then Iris’s. She looked pissed. “I’m okay,” I said with a smile.

“Better hope you are, girlie,” Iris said between clenched teeth. “’Cause if you’re not, you will be when I’m finished with you.”

“I must be hurt because that made no sense at all.” I looked back at Shelby. “Are we ready to go yet?”

I was taken to the clinic and x-rayed. Once Shelby was satisfied that I hadn’t broken anything, she freed me from the board that made me ache more than the fall. “I’d like to thank you for the fine job you did on my eyebrows.” I rubbed my forehead, hoping that they were still there. “I couldn’t help but notice that you seemed to derive some sick pleasure in ripping the tape off.”

Shelby and Iris were on either side of me and started yelling the minute I sat up. “What were you thinking?” Shelby demanded.

“Stupid girlie!” Iris jabbed me in the arm with her finger.

“Don’t you ever stop and think before you do something?” Shelby asked.

Iris opened her mouth to continue the verbal assault when Adrienne stepped in. “All right, ladies. I think she gets the point.”

I reached into the back of my shorts and pulled out a piece of straw that was poking me in the ass and held it up. “In more ways than one.” I grinned at Adrienne, hoping she’d get the joke. If she did, she wasn’t laughing.

“Can I take her home now, Shelby?” Adrienne asked with a look that said I wasn’t even close to being out of the woods with her.

“Yes, but you’re on concussion watch for the next twenty-four hours. Look for disorientation,” Shelby grinned, “which might be difficult since we’re talking about Hayden.”

I laughed, hoping to dispel some of the tension in the room. It trailed off when no one else joined me.

“Someone is going to have to wake her up every hour tonight,” Shelby continued. “Get her up, make her walk around, and have her answer questions like her full name and the date. If she’s unable, I’ll need to be contacted immediately.”

“I’ll do it,” Iris said irritably. “Adrienne needs her rest.”

I paled at the thought of having to share a bed with Iris. I’d heard her snore and had no doubt she’d suck the roof down on us both.

Adrienne waved her off. “No, Iris, I have to get up nearly every hour anyway to go to the bathroom.”

“I want you both to take it easy for the next couple of days.” Shelby shot me a look when I opened my mouth to protest. “I know you’re moving tomorrow, but you have a ton of help. Sit back and supervise.”

I hopped off the table with gusto to show that I was fine. I was of course wrong but managed to fake a confident smile. I’d cry later when no one was around. “Thanks for patching me up, Shelby.”

Adrienne gave Shelby a hug while Iris gave me the “you’re so gonna get it when we get outside” look. I’d seen it used on her son Teddy often, so I did what he always did—shrugged and grinned.

I headed straight for the driver’s seat of the golf cart that Adrienne and Iris had followed us to the clinic with. We called it a golf cart because it did sort of look like one, but it was more of an all-terrain vehicle that would go as fast as our Jeep. I knew this because when no one was looking and I had some room, I’d push it to the limit. But as of late, I was on “don’t do anything stupid” restriction, so I didn’t share that tidbit with anyone.

As I climbed in, Adrienne appeared at my side, and the look on her face said, “I’m driving, don’t you dare argue.” I scooted over and bumped into Iris.

“I hate riding in the middle. Let me get into the back.”

“No,” Adrienne and Iris said in unison.

We’d barely gotten out of the parking lot when Iris went to gnawing on my ass again. “Pregnant women do not climb on roofs, Hayden.”

“I’m not pregnant.”

Iris elbowed me in the ribs. “You might not be carrying dat baby, but you are expecting one.” Iris’s Caribbean accent was more pronounced when she was upset or angry. On an anger scale of one to ten, I would’ve given her a twenty because of the way she was gripping the bar just above our heads. “Adrienne needs you to be in one piece.”

“I’ll tell you what. If I don’t find a way to burn off this nervous energy, nothing on this island will be in one piece.” My stupidity was more pronounced when I was upset or angry. Iris elbowed me in the ribs again, causing me to grunt.

“Are you hurting?” Adrienne asked calmly.

“I wasn’t until Iris started jabbing.” She rammed me again for ratting on her. “And what Shelby said is total bullshit. I don’t have a concussion, not even a slight headache. She just wants me to be made miserable for the next twenty-four hours.”

“She’s the doctor, and what she says goes.” Adrienne looked at me. “That’s what you’ve been telling me for almost nine months.”

By the time we pulled up at the bar, I was feeling stiff from the fall and Iris’s abuse. Most of our employees were gathered inside finishing up lunch. They at least seemed happy to see me in one piece.

Jacob, our lead maintenance man, approached me with a smile. “If you wanted a skylight installed, you should’ve mentioned it. There are easier ways to make the hole.” Everyone in the bar roared with laughter.

I smiled wryly. “Any chance we can have it repaired before the guests arrive day after tomorrow?”

“Won’t be a problem. We’ll get to work on it right after we finish…the other holes you made.”

Peals of laughter went around the bar again as I looked at the golf cart-sized hole in the half wall of the bar. There was a matching one on the opposite side of the room. Backing up was never my strong suit. Fortunately, no one was hurt except for a table and two chairs that died a grisly death. “Thanks, Jacob.”

I joined Adrienne at a table and watched as everyone filed out to repair my recent modifications to the inn. “If you would’ve gone a little more to the left, you would’ve taken out a brace, then we could’ve remodeled the whole bar,” Adrienne said before taking a sip of her tea.

I laughed at what I thought was a joke, but Adrienne wasn’t smiling.

I slumped down in my seat and watched as Jacob and his crew worked. If the inn had a heartbeat, the bar was it. Open on three sides, it allowed the breeze to blow in off the water and keep us cool without air conditioning. The back of the building housed the kitchen and dining room, which was Iris’s domain.

In addition to being a couple, Adrienne and I were the owners of this small inn hidden away on Cat Island in the Bahamas. My Aunt Gloria started the business, and upon her passing, she left her half to me. It didn’t take me long to fall in love with her business partner, Adrienne. Until last Christmas, Iris had been our cook; our gift to her was part ownership. We loved her like family, and it seemed only right to make her a part of the business that was thriving despite the recession in the States.

Aunt Gloria loved people…in spurts. When she opened the inn, she devised a unique plan that most business-minded people would consider foolish. For two weeks, the inn would have guests for an all-inclusive stay, then be closed for five days afterward. The first two days of the off time were used to prep for the next round of guests, and the remaining time was for relaxation. It was a good deal for us, guests and staff alike, so we kept on with the tradition.

“Thank God we don’t have guests all the time.” Iris sat in the chair next to me and sighed loudly. “Because we need the extra time to repair all of Hayden’s mishaps.”

“You’re a riot today.”

“And you’re a mule-headed child with the grace of one,” she retorted.

Adrienne raised both hands. “Enough. You two are giving me a headache.” She took another sip of her tea. “Are we ready for the arrival of the guests?”

Iris nodded. “All the food arrived today, and the bar is stocked.”

“The cottages are ready…except for the one I…remodeled.”

“Good.” Adrienne sighed. “Now all we have to do is move into the house tomorrow.”

Iris patted Adrienne’s hand. “Don’t you worry about that. We have plenty of help, so all you have to do is sit back and tell us where you want your things.” She looked at me as she stood up. “Both of you, doctor’s orders.”

“Hayden, we’ve talked about you toning it down,” Adrienne said as Iris walked away to bark orders at the repair crew. “No climbing—”

“No running, skipping, jumping.” I held up my hands. “I got it. No living life as normal until our child is grown with a family of its own, then of course, I’ll be too old.” Adrienne glared at me. I slumped farther down into my chair. “Sorry, I’m just frustrated.”

She reached over and took my hand. “You scared me half to death today. When you lost consciousness, I thought you were seriously hurt.”

“It knocked the breath out of me. I think I just passed out.” I stared down at our hands and watched as Adrienne rubbed my palm with her thumb. “I’m really sorry about scaring you. I just wanted to do something useful.”

“Being pregnant isn’t a piece of cake, but sometimes I think it’s harder on you.” Adrienne tugged my hand, and I looked up at her. She smiled. “You worry too much about me and the baby and not enough about yourself.” She raised my hand to her lips and kissed it. “I think the average person’s brain runs on four different tracks, and yours, my love, runs on forty-seven. That’s why you’re so…”

“Goofy.”

Adrienne laughed. “I was going to say accident prone.” Her expression grew serious. “I need you right now, whole and healthy.”

*******

I enjoyed a catnap as much as any other…cat, but being forced to do so made me cranky. Because of my trip through the roof, I was relegated to a chaise lounge on the patio behind the bar. Activity was all around me as our crew finished prepping the inn, but I could only sit and watch. It pissed me off.

Adrienne sat beside me thumbing through yet another baby catalog. She held it up. “Look at this, it’s so cute.”

I glanced at the picture she was pointing at and saw a baby dressed in a sock monkey outfit. “That’s child abuse. The mother should be shot, or worse, made to wear that monkey suit in public.”

Adrienne sighed and began thumbing away again.

I hated looking at baby catalogs. Baby clothes, baby towels with little ears, baby shoes, baby, baby, baby. Looking at those things was like watching the weather when a hurricane was approaching. It seemed like it took forever for it to arrive, and all the while, there were ominous warnings. Just before it made landfall, I wanted to run outside and yell, “Bring it on already, so I can begin picking up the pieces. Hurricane baby’s approach was even slower, and I had no doubt when it made landfall that life would never be the same.

Now don’t get me wrong, I was excited about the birth of our child, but just like a hurricane, I had no idea how it would affect me. Would it plow me over and forever change the landscape of my life, or would it make a few changes I could adapt to? It didn’t help to know that the child Adrienne was carrying was a Tate, and we tended to tear up a lot of shit.

When I was nine or ten, I overheard my mother giving advice to a pregnant friend. I’d never heard my mother utter one word of profanity before then. She told the woman, “Consider all your shit broken until they go away to college. There’s not one thing in this house that has not been cracked, dented, or outright destroyed.”

I smiled as I thought of the great washing machine disaster of seventy-eight. Dad had bought Mom a top-of-the-line washer and dryer. I never truly understood why she was so proud of them. It wasn’t like she was going to drag out the dryer whenever her friends came for coffee, but she wiped the machines down with a wet cloth like they were made of marble.

The gold lettering on the front of the washer caught Jeff’s eye the minute they were brought in. He pulled me to the side and quietly explained that there was real gold beneath the letters. If we could get them off, we could turn them in like we did with soda bottles and get a lot more than a nickel apiece. That’s all I needed to hear.

Late that night as Jeff took a butter knife to the letters, I tried to figure out how many candy bars I could get with a million bucks because Jeff was certain that we’d get twice that much for the solid gold letters. As I stood watch, I envisioned myself riding a new mini-bike, with Randy Sandifer’s pet raccoon on the back, tail flapping in the wind. Surely, he’d part with Bandit for a thousand dollars.

The next morning, we awoke to a scream. Not a frightened scream, but a guttural cry of anguish and white hot anger. Even though Jeff assured Mom that he’d buy her six pairs of washers and dryers with the money we got from the supposed gold, she was still mighty pissed off. It certainly didn’t help that he’d dented and scratched the washer to remove the letters, which broke into pieces.

“What’re you thinking about?” Adrienne asked suddenly.

“Tearing up Mom’s new washer.”

Adrienne looked at me oddly for a second. “I was getting a mental picture of a raccoon and a mini-bike.”

*******

That night, I lay in our bed and listened to Adrienne’s steady breathing and occasional groan. The only way she could be comfortable was to lie on her side with a pillow between her legs. Cuddling was out of the question. Part of me missed it just being Adrienne and me. The child wasn’t even here, and it had come between us like a bubble barrier that kept us from being physically close.

I wondered what my role would be. Adrienne was the mom, and so far, she handled it like a pro. She read aloud to the baby bump and rubbed it constantly. She’d been the one to order all the safety latches for the cabinets, and she’d washed all the blankets and crib accoutrements with special detergent. She adapted to all the changes in our life naturally.

I, on the other hand, had no idea what a receiving blanket was really used for. The Diaper Genie Adrienne was so excited about was a mystery to me. I’d read the baby books and still was clueless. I admired Adrienne’s ability to meet all the change head-on. I felt like I was flapping in the breeze behind it.

I stretched and threw an arm over my head. Everything was changing. The next day, we’d leave the cottage I’d come to know as home. Cramped as it was, I’d miss the sitting area and our tiny porch. Adrienne and I couldn’t turn around without bumping into each other, but that was a nice thing. Now we’d be in a house with actual rooms and lots and lots of space between us.

*******

“Hayden, wake up.”

I opened one eye and looked at Adrienne, then at the clock. I’d barely been asleep for thirty minutes. “You’re not serious.”

“I am.” Adrienne switched on the bedside lamp. “Get up.”

I hoped that she’d give up this charade after a couple of times, but she did not. On the fourth wakeup, I was losing patience. “For the love of Mike, Pete, and Uncle Earl, I’m fine!”

“Hmm, I don’t know any of those people. Should I call Shelby?” Adrienne switched on that damn lamp again.

“Yes, call her and tell her I see pink elephants, that I think I’m Elvis, and I think those Hawaiian shirts she wears are totally hot!” I threw the covers over my head. “Thank you very much, good night.”

Adrienne poked at me. “You have to get up and walk around.”

I groaned as I threw back the covers and followed her to the bathroom. “Do you really get up this often during the night?” I paced back and forth in front of the bathroom.

“Even if the baby wasn’t putting pressure on my bladder, all the juice Iris has me drinking makes my eyeballs float. Pineapple, papaya, orange, tomato. Sometimes she mixes them all together, makes me sick.”

I listened to her flush, then wash her hands. She held on to me as we walked back to the bed. “I’m sorry you have to suffer like this, honey.” I fluffed her pillow.

Adrienne groaned as she climbed into bed and made herself comfortable. “It’s good practice for us both. I imagine the baby will keep us up a lot for the first month or so.”

After she woke me up another three times, I wondered what we were thinking when we decided to have a child. Who in their right mind would want to carry around an extra seven or eight pounds of hitchhiker, pee every thirty seconds, and wake up all hours of the night to feed something that is going to piss and shit in their pants for over a year?

I looked down at my cat Saber who was watching me with one open green eye. “What were you thinking making all those litters before we got you fixed? Didn’t you know you’d have to clean a dozen kitten butts?”

Chapter Two

I dodged Iris in our new kitchen that was separated from the living room by a bar and watched as Jacob and a few others brought in the first of two new sofas. Their voices echoed off the bare walls and high ceilings. Another pair came behind them and unrolled a new rug across our hardwood floors. Everything was new. What furniture Adrienne and I shared was compact, perfect for a cottage, but not a house. Nothing felt the same, and the “new” smell of it all made me feel anxious, so I retreated.

From the deck, I watched a steady procession of people hauling in boxes. Saber rode on one looking like the king he thought he was. Two of his offspring followed behind with curious stares. Adrienne was directing from her spot on the sofa. Iris was supervising the unpacking. I turned and looked out over the water; for me, that was the highlight of the new place. We’d designed the back of the house to be nearly all glass, so we could look out on the ocean from every room. The sight soothed my troubled mind.

“Happy to be finally settling in?”

I turned with a smile at the familiar voice as Colie joined me at the railing. Iris’s husband was a policeman on the island. His skin black as coal stood out against the white of his button-down shirt, reminding me of why his mother dubbed him Colie. “I should feel settled, but I don’t,” I admitted. “I know it sounds silly, but I’m going to miss our cottage.”

“Life certainly won’t be the same when the baby gets here.”

“It isn’t the same now.” I turned again and squinted against the reflection of the sun off the water.

“No, but you’re going to be fine, Hayden. You wait and see.”

“You can be confident for the both of us.” I folded my arms. “I don’t know anything about raising children. I’m a walking disaster area. Our baby will probably be in its teens before I’m allowed to hold it.”

“You do well with Teddy. You’re his favorite aunt.”

I smiled thinking of my six-year-old buddy who Iris and Colie adopted. “I’m his playmate, not a parent.”

“That’s what we are, playmates who protect and guide. This child is blessed with two mothers that will be excellent parents with plenty of family to help.” Colie smiled when I glanced at him. “We’ll be right here for whatever you need.”

As if on cue, Teddy skipped onto the deck and tugged on my shorts. “Aunt Hayden, play fuzzy bunny with me.”

Colie gave my shoulder a squeeze before leaving us.

I knelt down and took the bag of marshmallows Teddy was holding. “How do we play fuzzy bunny? Do we build a bunny with these?”

He shook his head. “Tear open the bag, please.” I did as he asked, and he reached in and took a marshmallow. “You put one in your mouth and say fuzzy bunny, and you keep doing it until they pop out, but you lose if that happens.”

I found it hard to narrow my eyes at him. He looked so cute with the Mohawk he had to have after seeing it on TV. “Well, Spike, is this going to be like the time you convinced me to put the Mentos in the Coke? It took a long time for me to get all that sticky out of my hair.”

He giggled and shook his head. “I like it when you call me Spike.” He held up a marshmallow. I opened my mouth, and he stuffed it in. “Now say fuzzy bunny.”

“Fuzzy bunny.” He stuffed one in his mouth and did the same. “I’ve got a big mouth, you’re gonna lose this one.” I opened again, and he stuffed another in. “Fuzzy bunny.”

“Don’t swallow,” he said before stuffing another one in his mouth. He giggled before saying, “fowey bowey.”

I had the marshmallows stuffed in my cheeks. It was amazing how slimy they became when they were covered with spit. “I guess I can’t chew them, either.” He shook his head and stuffed another marshmallow in my mouth. “Fussy boney.”

Teddy put a hand over his mouth when he was tempted to laugh. Then slowly, he stuffed another marshmallow in. “Fowey—” A slimy marshmallow shot out of his mouth and landed on my foot. He squealed with laughter as the rest followed suit.

“Why when we pway a gwame I ooways get stwicky?” I asked, trying to keep the marshmallows from slipping past my lips.

“See how many.” Teddy stuffed another one in my mouth.

“Fuggy buggy.” I tried not to laugh as my cheeks bulged. I could barely keep them in when he stuffed in another. “Fu—” They all shot out of my mouth rapid fire and stuck to the superhero on his shirt.

“Eww, Aunt Hayden.” We were both laughing when Iris and Adrienne walked onto the deck.

“Wanna kiss us, Aunt Adrienne?” I asked. “We’re sweet.”

“Too sweet for me.” Adrienne ruffled Teddy’s spikey hair. “I’m on a low-sugar diet.” She leaned down and kissed us both on the head anyway.

“You’re a sticky mess.” Iris, who was obviously prepared, produced a wet washcloth and wiped Teddy down. When she approached me, I backed away.

“I’ll go clean myself up.” I pointed to the cloth. “That’s covered with fuzzy bunny spit.”

*******

The smell of barbecue wafted on the breeze, but I couldn’t be distracted by the delicious aroma. I was on a mission. I belly crawled through the sand with the gun gripped tightly in my hand. The enemy was close by…I could smell the marshmallows…on his breath. My move was daring. I’d left the safety of my fort constructed with cardboard boxes to invade his. I was in stealth mode as I slithered around the side of his fort, the element of surprise in my favor. He was busy collecting rubber bands. I’d have him before he had a chance to re—.

“Ow, damn!” The rubber band that hit my ear was like a bee sting. I could hear Iris’s chastisement for my use of profanity over Teddy’s laughter. I flopped over on the ground as Teddy quickly reloaded and hit me again on the leg. “Okay, okay, truce. You win.” I dropped my weapon in surrender.

Teddy remained behind to play in the forts we made from the boxes used in our move as I limped into the bar. Adrienne took one look at me and shook her head. “You lost, didn’t you?”

I tucked my hair behind my ear. “Is it still there?”

Adrienne looked at me sympathetically. “It’s red but still intact. She gave my ear a kiss, daring to get close to my grimy body. “I love the kid in you.” She pressed her forehead to mine. “I hope this baby is just like you.”

“Careful what you wish for, my love. We’ll have to keep it in a rubber room until it’s forty if it has the goofy Tate gene.”

Adrienne stroked my cheek. “Do you regret not finding out what the sex is?”

“No, do you?”

I watched as she ran her hands over her belly. “Sometimes, but I want to be surprised.” She took my hands and placed them on her stomach. “Someone is making their presence known.”

I grinned as I felt kicks and flutters. “I think it’s trying to tell us something. Wait…the kicks are becoming more methodical, Morse code maybe…get…me…outta…here…it’s…dark.”

Adrienne grinned. “Anything else?”

“Send…down…more…barbecue…and…a…Wii.”

“Yep,” Adrienne said with a nod, “gonna be just like you.”

“Mom says I was a good baby. The trouble didn’t start until I became mobile and started talking. Her happiest and saddest day was when I moved out. She said things mysteriously stopped breaking then.”

Adrienne laughed softly. The baby seemed to respond to it and became more active under my hands. “I want this baby to look just like you,” she said, looking at me. “I want it to have those same blue eyes and wavy brown hair. I want to see you when I look at our child.”

“Let’s just hope that the sperm donor was sure-footed.” I led Adrienne to a chair and had her sit. “Look at this place. It’s a child’s playtime paradise.”

The house was set up on pilings with a lush thicket growing behind it that sloped over a small hill that gave way to the water. It was perfect for building clubhouses and playing hide and seek, which Teddy and I did often. There was enough of a clearing on the other side of our new home to accommodate a patio and a sandy area for a swing set.

“Don’t start the patio until after the baby comes.” Adrienne looked up at me. “I’d like a break from the construction for a while, and I want to help.”

“Tiptoeing through my mind again?”

She nodded. “The swing set is a wonderful idea.”

“Are you happy, my love?” I tucked a strand of hair behind her hear and stroked her face.

“Extremely.” She took my hand and kissed my palm. “It’ll feel like home to you soon, too.”

*******

Just before dusk, Iris and I agreed to follow Teddy out to his new clubhouse. We laughed as he ran ahead of us to make sure everything was up to par. “I bet we’re gonna have to climb through a lot of brush.”

“Naturally,” Iris said with a grin.

Colie and Iris’s children from previous marriages were grown when Teddy came into their lives. They were expecting to be grandparents soon, not parents themselves when they adopted the child I considered my nephew. A string of circumstances put Teddy in their path, and being the loving souls they were, they took him in joyfully.

“Is it difficult having the responsibility of a young child at your age?” I asked.

Iris shot me a glance. “Are you implying that I’m old?”

“I’m not implying at all. You’re as old as dirt.”

Iris swatted me on the butt with a laugh. “I certainly wasn’t looking to add another to my brood, but he’s a blessing just the same.” She looped her arm through mine. “Being a parent makes you young again.”

“I was thinking just the opposite.”

Iris nodded. “I did, too. I was only seventeen when my first arrived. I thought my life was over now that I had such a big responsibility. Life did change, but it was far from over.” Iris squeezed my arm. “Children make us remember things we’ve outgrown. Christmas, Easter, and the tooth fairy. You relive it all through them.”

The tooth fairy, I’d forgotten about her ass. I got a quarter as a kid, but with inflation, I had no doubt I’d be hiding gold bricks under a pillow someday.

Teddy popped out of the scrub brush and grabbed me by the hand. “It’s here, Aunt Hayden, come see.”

I grinned at Iris as he pulled me into the thicket. Momma Iris followed dutifully.

As clubhouses go, Teddy had made a fine one under an overhang of brush. The walls and floor were comprised of the cardboard boxes he’d nabbed before we burned the rest. He’d taken a marker and adorned the walls with drawings. Teddy pointed to a few toys in the corner. “That’s my booty.”

I grabbed his arm and spun him around. “This is your booty right here.” He giggled when I pinched it.

“I’m a pirate, and that’s my trash.” He pointed to the toys.

“Oh, you mean your stash. Cool, very cool. Where’s your parrot? All pirates have parrots that ride on their shoulders.”

Teddy looked at Iris. “Mom, can I have a parrot? I’ll pull weeds for it.”

Iris smiled at him lovingly. “We’ll see.” She looked at me and said under her breath, “Thanks a lot, girl.”

“Look at this.” Teddy grabbed me by the sleeve and made me crawl to where he’d punched a hole in one of the boxes. “I can see if anyone is outside.”

I looked through the hole while thinking about what Iris had said. I’d long forgotten about clubhouses and the excitement of building one. I’d also forgotten about being called in for dinner and having to leave my creation. I was reminded about how I’d fret all night that Jeff would find it before I could get out the next morning. The muscles in my tiny stomach would tighten as I thought about having to fight him to reclaim my fort. Before long, I found myself caught up in Teddy’s excitement.

“We need to build a lookout tower so you can see approaching ships just in case you want to raid them. I’ll bet Jacob has some wood lying around that we can use.”

“You’re gonna help me?” Teddy asked excitedly.

“Of course, nobody climbs a tree better than me.”

“Construction will have to wait until the morning,” Iris interrupted.

I balked as much as Teddy did, but in the end, we agreed to meet the next morning and begin work on the lookout perch.

*******

I clutched Adrienne’s hand against my chest and listened to her steady breathing along with the waves lapping at the shoreline. Pops and creaks met my ears as the house settled in the cool of the night. Everything smelled so new, and our bed was much firmer than the one in the cottage. I couldn’t sleep.

Like a ghost, I roamed the hall. Adrienne had been “nesting” again and had plugged in a nightlight in the nursery. The room was bathed in soft light. I leaned against the doorjamb surveying all the accoutrements the baby had accumulated and it wasn’t even here yet.

My mind jumped ahead, and I envisioned the changes the room would go through as infant grew to child, then to teenager. Would the walls be covered with posters of the latest teen idol or some sports hero? Would there be hamsters or fish? Dear God, I hoped it wouldn’t be reptiles. My skin crawled at the thought.

“Maybe a bird?”

I turned and looked at Adrienne who had crept up on me. She smiled and ran her fingers through my hair. “We’ll veto any reptile requests.”

“We have veto power?”

“Oh, yes,” she said with a nod. “We can say no, and I imagine we’ll do it often.” Adrienne took my hand and led me down the hall toward the kitchen. “I’ll make you some tea. It’ll help you sleep.”

“Can we put rum or bourbon in it?” I asked, thinking tea wasn’t going to do the trick.

“Let’s try the tea first.” Adrienne switched the stove light on and filled the kettle as I took a seat at the bar. “Is the bed too firm?”

“Yes, but I’ll get used to that. I think I’m having trouble because it’s just different.”

Adrienne leaned against the counter and took my hand in hers. “Regrets?”

“Some,” I said, knowing I couldn’t lie to her. “I miss the coziness of the cottage. Some of my sweetest memories were made there.”

“We’ll make new memories here.”

“You promise?” I looked deep into her green eyes.

She smiled and squeezed my hand. “I promise.”

I drank the tea Adrienne made for us, and surprisingly, it did relax me. We climbed back into bed, and I reclaimed Adrienne’s hand and held it to my chest.

“Now imagine this,” she said softly. “You’re walking through knee-deep snow. It’s dark except for the moonlight reflecting off the land around you and a tiny dot of light coming from a cabin window. You smell the smoke coming from the chimney. Inside is a roaring fire in the fireplace and a warm blanket waiting on you.”

I never got to hear if I made it to the cabin or not.

Chapter Three

“The nail might go through the board if you actually hit it on the head.”

Teddy threw down the board in frustration. “I can’t, Aunt Hayden. I just can’t.”

“Can I show you a trick?”

“Momma says it’s ‘may I.’” Teddy sounded so deflated as he looked at the two-by-four that he’d beaten dents into.

“May I then?” I held my hand out for the hammer. Teddy handed it to me and put his hands on his little hips with a huff.

“It’s easier if you start the nail when the board is on the ground.” I beat the nail in until a fraction of it protruded from the back of the board. “Now you’re ready to put it on the tree. I’ll hold it, you pound it. If you hit me, I’m going to knock you out when I stop crying.”

Teddy chuckled, and with surprising strength, he hammered the nail in.

“Excellent work. Now put three more nails in while I get the rest of the ladder boards ready.” I took the other hammer and pushed a nail through the remaining planks that would be our ladder. Once Teddy and I had them nailed to the tree, I climbed up between two limbs and prepared to lay the frame for the lookout perch.

“Momma says you’re not supposed to climb anymore.” Teddy stared up at me.

“It’s not that high. I’ll be okay. Besides, how does she expect us to build a lookout if we don’t climb?” I didn’t wait for the answer. “Now hand me that long board that I laid next to the tree.” Teddy did as I asked, and I easily attached them to the tree limb. “Okay, I’m ready for the next one.”

“Next what?”

I looked up, and Teddy was perched on a branch alongside me. “How’re you going to hand me anything if you’re in the tree, too?”

Before he could answer, the end of the board appeared in front of us both. I looked down at Adrienne and grinned. “Thanks, honey.”

“Don’t thank me. I’m debating on whether I should hit you with it now or after you fall.”

“I’m not gonna fall, and if I did, it’s not that high.” I took the board and nailed it into place while Teddy and Adrienne watched. “If you’ll be so kind as to throw me that rope, Adrienne, I’ll pull the plywood up and we’ll attach the platform.”

Adrienne reluctantly complied, and I pulled the piece up. Teddy and I moved it into position, then I nailed it to the frame. I took the rope we’d used to bring up the plywood and looped it over a limb a few feet higher than the perch. Once I had it secured, I smiled at Teddy triumphantly. “Now you have two ways to get down. You can climb down the ladder when you have plenty of time, but if you need to escape fast, you swing out on the rope.”

Teddy was thrilled but had too much slack in the rope as he prepared to make his first swing.

“Hold up,” I said. “Let me show you how to do this.”

“No, Hayden.” Adrienne shook her head. “And Teddy should ask Iris or Colie before he tries it.”

“It’s not that high, honey.” I reached up high on the rope and launched myself before Adrienne could say any more. I hooped and hollered as I swung out over the brush before sailing back to the platform. Instead of landing, I gave myself a soft push to slow the momentum.

“So how do you get down?” Teddy asked.

“You have to wait until you slow down, then you just let go like this.” But there were two problems. I hadn’t slowed enough, and I let go before I’d cleared the brush…

Teddy waded into the thicket where I lay tangled. “I think I’ll just use the ladder from now on, Aunt Hayden.”

*******

“Oh, it’s not that high.” Adrienne removed the last of the small sticks that I’d impaled the back of my thigh with. “No, you certainly did not fall. You flung yourself into a briar patch.” I didn’t say anything as she went to work on my hand with the tweezers. “What will you do for a finale? Throw yourself into a wood chipper or try to force your head down the garbage disposal?”

“I rented a cannon. I’m going to see if I can shoot myself to Nassau so I don’t have to listen to the fussing.” I saw the corner of Adrienne’s mouth twitch, and I knew she wanted to laugh. “You have to admit that I stuck the landing…or maybe the landing stuck me.”

She tossed the tweezers onto the counter and grabbed a bottle of peroxide. “I would’ve done it, too,” Adrienne admitted with a smile. “It looked like fun.”

“Our kid is gonna love that swing.”

The smile dropped from Adrienne’s face. “I’m gonna start praying for a bookworm.”

*******

“Welcome to Fantasy Island.” Adrienne shot me a sideways glance as the van with our guests pulled in front of the inn. “Don’t act like you haven’t always wanted to say that, missy.”

“You say it every time,” Iris muttered, then put on a cheery face.

We greeted the guests as they climbed from the van. The porters quickly removed their luggage and began taking it to the assigned cottages. Iris and her crew had prepared a magnificent spread of seafood and barbecue. Adrienne and I waited until everyone was seated with heaping plates before we began our well-rehearsed speech.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” I began because I’d lost the coin toss and was the unlucky one to make the introductions. Adrienne’s hand slipped into mine as everyone gave us their attention. “I’m Hayden, and the lovely lady next to me is my partner in business and in love, Adrienne. The Bahamian goddess behind the bar is Iris. We are your hostesses. As you enjoy your lunch, our porters are delivering your luggage to the cottages that will be home for the next week.

“Directly behind where you all are seated is the dining room where we serve dinner each night at seven. Breakfast is served at seven here in the bar and lunch is at noon. Snacks and beverages are available anytime the bar is open, which is from sunrise until two in the morning.”

Adrienne spoke up and gave me a break. “If you’ve looked over our Web site or brochure, you already know there are many things to do on Cat Island in addition to basking in the sun. But just in case you didn’t,” Adrienne said with a smile. “There’s kayaking, canoeing, snorkeling, tours of Mount Alvernia, and the island. Please see us or any member of our staff, and we’ll be happy to make the arrangements. Now that we have that out of the way, please enjoy your stay.”

A couple got Adrienne’s attention with questions. I watched as she took a seat at their table. In a matter of minutes, they were telling her all about their travels, and soon their life story would unfold. My love had that effect on people—a quality I admired and unfortunately did not possess.

I relieved Iris at the bar and started mixing drinks while she went back to supervise the kitchen. I looked at our guests wondering which ones would be a demanding pain in the ass and who would be the life of the party. All of them seemed to usually fit in one category or the other. But by the end of their stay, we’d hate to see most of them go. They were the only reminders of what life used to be like before we escaped and took up residence on the primitive island.

The majority of our clientele was gay and lesbian, but there was an occasional straight couple or individual who would find their way to our tiny slice of heaven. Whatever preconceived notions about us were soon dispelled, and they began to see us and the rest of the guests as human beings, not gay or lesbian, black or white. That was just the magic of the inn and the island.

It did always strike me odd to see someone traveling alone. I guess that’s why I was drawn to the lanky blond woman sitting away from the others. She’d take a couple of bites of food and pick up the sketch pad that she kept close by. Her gaze moved over each guest, then she’d focus her attention on the pad. An artist, I thought idly. I put her in the rare category of guests who had sought us out for solitude.

The two women who appeared to be holding Adrienne hostage would be the demanding type. I could hear their conversation above all others and learned that they were avid travelers who had just taken up birding. I figured they were in their mid- to late sixties. The louder of the two was BJ, and her partner who couldn’t seem to get a word in edgewise unless she raised her voice, which she did often, was Audrey.

There were only two men in the group. I’d heard them introduce themselves as Bobby and Alex to Iris. Two women shared a table with them, but I hadn’t heard either of them speak. Mainly, because BJ was drowning out that side of the room with bird calls that she’d recently learned.

I loaded up a tray of mai tais and sighed as I made my way to the tables. I chose the one in the far corner first. “Ladies, can I interest either of you in a drink?” The two had been conversing quietly and seemed surprised by the interruption.

“Far be it from me to refuse alcohol.” One smiled up at me with soft brown eyes beneath light brown wavy hair.

I set a drink in front of her. “Welcome to Gloria’s Inn. I’m Hayden, which you probably already know from our greeting.”

“I’m Jess Silvio, and this is my partner, Leslie Barrett.”

“Nice to meet you both. So, Leslie, how about a mai tai?”

“May as well,” she said politely.

“Where are y’all from?” I asked as I set down the drink.

“Davenport, Iowa,” Leslie croaked out after taking a sip of her drink. “This is our first trip to the Caribbean.”

I glanced over at the artist. Our gazes met for a brief second before she started sketching something on her pad.

“Well, I hope your stay here is memorable, and hopefully, you’ll want to come back. Please let me know if we can arrange anything for you.” I picked up their empty glasses. “When you’re ready to go to your cottage, I’ll be happy to show you the way.”

The artist glanced up from her sketch pad as I approached and set it facedown on the table. “Would you like a mai tai?” I asked.

“I’m Kristen Waverly, and no thank you. I don’t drink all that often.”

“Nice to meet you—”

“Would you show me to my cottage now, please?”

I was taken aback by her directness. “Sure, I’ll just go set this tray down.” I took it back to the bar and told Adrienne that I’d be back soon. She glanced over at Kristen for a second as an odd expression crossed her face.

Kristen followed me through the courtyard before I led her through the labyrinth of trails. “Is it safe here?” she asked as she looked around nervously.

“Very. It appears to be secluded with all the foliage, but someone is always close by.” I smiled at her as a lizard scurried across the path in front of us. “The wildlife is part of our security staff, too.”

She clutched her sketch pad close to her chest and didn’t smile or laugh at my joke. “So the people in the bar are the only ones who’ll be staying here this week. You won’t have any more guests arriving?”

“That’s it, but if you’re looking for…social interaction, some of the other inns have bars that attract a lot of the locals.”

“No,” she said after a minute. “I just like to know who’s around me. That’s why I chose your inn.” She cleared her throat. “Traveling alone, I feel like I have to be on guard.”

I opened the door to her cottage and looked around to make sure everything was as it should be. “That makes perfect sense to me. If you need anything at all, regardless of the hour, just pick up the phone and dial zero.” I handed her the key. “You’re safe here.”

She opened her mouth to say something and sighed instead. “Thank you.”

I didn’t have Adrienne’s gift of being able to hear a person’s thoughts, but as I walked away, I got the distinct feeling that Kristen was hiding from something or someone.

Chapter Four

The baby looked just like me except it was bald, another Tate trait. She was pissed as she waved her spoon wildly and screamed at the top of her lungs. I screamed just as loudly for Adrienne. She didn’t come to my rescue. The baby beat the tray of the highchair furiously with a spoon.

“Is this what you want?” I cried as I held up a bottle. The angry baby shook her head and screamed louder. “This?” I held up a jar of baby food. Again, wrong answer. The wailing grew louder. I held up a stuffed rabbit. “This?” The screaming grew louder still, and the glass in the windows began to fissure.

I felt desperate as I opened every cabinet and every drawer. Nothing pleased the screaming child. She beat the tray keeping her in the highchair until it split in two. It was getting loose. She climbed down and started to crawl toward me. Her moves were jerky like the monsters in horror movies. I tried to run, but my legs felt like they were full of lead. I dropped to the floor and started to crawl backward as the monster baby drew closer.

“I have no idea what you want!” Tiny hands grasped my legs. I watched in horror as it climbed up my body and grabbed fistfuls of my shirt. “What do you want?” I screamed.

“I want my mommy!”

I awoke with a gasp and nearly jumped out of bed when I heard Adrienne say, “What is it, baby?”

Baby. The word broke me out in a cold sweat as I recalled the angry face in my nightmare. “Bad dream.” I flinched when Adrienne’s hand came to rest in the middle of my chest. She rubbed smoothing circles until I calmed.

“Want to talk about it?” she asked sleepily.

“It was nothing, sweetheart. Go back to sleep.” I didn’t want to analyze what the dream meant.

*******

“Wake up, love.”

Adrienne’s fingers ran through my hair and massaged my scalp. I opened one eye and could see the sun barely breaking over the horizon.

“Why so early?” I mumbled into the pillow.

“We should get in the habit. The baby will probably have us up much earlier.”

I opened both eyes. The baby. “Actually, we should be getting as much sleep as we can because we aren’t going to get a good night’s sleep for the next forty years.”

Adrienne chuckled softly. “I made coffee. We can sit out on the deck and watch the sun rise.”

That was enough to get me moving. As of late, time with Adrienne alone had been sparse and would be even more so when our bundle of…joy arrived. I pulled on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. Adrienne had already gone out to the deck, but she’d poured me a cup of steaming coffee and left it on the counter for me to pour a ton of cream and sugar into.

I joined her on the swing and draped an arm over her shoulder. She leaned against me and rested the side of her head against my cheek. It felt so good, so perfect.

“Last round of guests before the baby gets here. Are you excited?”

“Scared shitless.”

“I know.” Adrienne faced me and ran her fingers over my cheek. “Everything is going to be fine. I’m going to be fine. Women have babies every day in the worst of conditions.”

“I know.” But that didn’t make me feel any better. “I’m going to worry until the baby is here and you’re out of the hospital.”

Adrienne smiled. “I’d be the same way if it was you, but then again, I’m a pro at worrying about you.”

“I’ll try to behave until the baby gets here. What’s your take on the guests?” I asked, changing the subject.

“I think BJ and Audrey are going to be a handful. BJ barks orders like a drill sergeant and expects them to be followed. She has an adventure planned for every day of their visit, which I don’t think Audrey is too hip on, but she’ll go along with whatever BJ says. The other guests are pretty laid back and will probably entertain themselves.”

“What about Kristen?”

Adrienne’s eyes narrowed for a second. “I don’t really know about her.”

“Haven’t been privy to any of her thoughts?”

Adrienne averted her gaze. “No.”

“Are you lying?” I asked in a teasing tone.

Adrienne shook her head. “I haven’t heard anything, but…I…I don’t know. I just have an uneasy feeling about her.”

Adrienne and I had been the recipients of unwanted attention from guests occasionally, Adrienne more often than I. Iris says it’s because I have an “unapproachable” look about me. I wondered if Adrienne figured since Kristen was traveling alone she might be willing to look past that in my case. “I think she’s running from something, maybe a bad breakup. She strikes me as someone who just wants to be alone.”

“Maybe so.” Adrienne took the last sip of her coffee. “That was good. I wish I could have another cup.”

“That’s all you get, girlie.” I did my best imitation of Iris’s accent. “Too much caffeine is not good for dey momma or dey baby.” For Adrienne’s sake, I drank the rest of the coffee she’d made. Between the sugar and caffeine, I was raring to go.

By the time I’d showered and dressed, Adrienne was out cold on the couch. I stood for a minute or two watching her sleep on her side with a pillow tucked beneath the baby bump. Her bum-around-the-house clothes consisted of an oversized pair of blue boxer shorts and a Philadelphia Eagles football jersey just to spite the Saints fan in me. With a whispered “love you,” I quietly sneaked out of the house to begin the day’s chores.

First on the list was to apply flea preventive to Saber and his brood. I didn’t want fleas invading our carpet in the bedrooms. The younger cats hadn’t learned to hate it yet, so catching them was easy. I applied the smelly oil and sent each one on their way while pretending not to notice Saber, who was watching beneath the shade of a tree. When I approached him, the fuzzy orange bastard darted into the foliage.

“You’re not bringing fleas and ticks into the house, cat,” I yelled after him as I charged into the brush. “Come back and take it like a cat man.” Saber would get a good lead on me and stop while looking over his shoulder. As soon as I got close, he’d dart off again. When he made it to the trail leading to the inn, he got overconfident and failed to anticipate my dive. I snagged one leg and his tail as I rolled onto the ground. Saber and I were screaming when Kristen appeared above us.

“What on earth are you doing?” she asked.

I rolled up on my knees and pinned Saber to the ground. He growled and put his teeth on my arm in warning, though I knew he wouldn’t really bite. “Feral cat is a delicacy on the island. It’s what’s for dinner.”

“If I thought you were serious, I’d kick you.”

I squirted the preventive onto Saber’s neck and let him go. He shot off like an orange rocket. I figured I wouldn’t see him for a day or two until he calmed down. Then again, he might’ve been planning an assault on another bra of mine. I found pieces of the last one all over the grounds of the inn. I stood and brushed myself off. “Looking for inspiration?”

Kristen looked at me oddly, then down at her sketch pad. “Oh, no, I was just exploring.”

I can respect and empathize with those who enjoy their alone time, but there was something about Kristen that screamed to me that she did not really want to be by herself. “Is there anything in particular you want to see?”

Her brow rose.

“That sounded bad.” I could feel the blood rushing to my face. “What I meant to say was, would you like a guide on your exploration?”

She smiled slightly. “I really don’t care to leave the inn, although I think I’d like to see the monastery ruins one day.”

“I’m about to do my rounds. Would you like to join me?”

“Sure,” Kristen said with a genuine smile.

I started walking the trail to the bluff, and she fell in step beside me. “It’s nice to have company. As of late, Adrienne doesn’t feel like doing a whole lot of walking. We used to stroll the grounds every morning together.”

“You live and work together. That must get stressful at times.”

“Only when I do something stupid,” I said with a smile. “When I mess up, it tends to be big. Often there’s an injury and property damage. My latest stunt was falling through the roof of a cottage.”

“Does Adrienne ever have any mishaps?”

The smile dropped from my face. “Never. It makes me sick. Adrienne is the total antithesis of me. Sure-footed, her moves are smooth and calculated like a cat. I don’t think I’ve ever heard her put her foot in her mouth.” I looked at Kristen. “I meant that figuratively, not physically.”

“Yes, I know,” she said with a nod.

“Hopefully, Adrienne will begin to rub off on me, but it hasn’t happened yet.”

Kristen looked at the thick foliage growing on either side of the path as though she expected something to leap out at us. “I guess by the time I learn my way through all the trails, it’ll be time to go home.”

I stopped walking. “Do you hear the water?”

Kristen nodded.

“Turn your back to it and look over the tops of the banana trees. See the roof?”

Kristen did as I instructed. “Yes, I see it.”

“That’s the bar. If you ever get turned around, you can always find it. There are signs at every intersection of the trails that will point you in the right direction, too.”

We started walking again and arrived at the bluff overlooking the beach. Beyond lay clear blue water. Kristen inhaled sharply. “This is spectacular. I’ve never seen anything like it. Then again, I haven’t traveled much.” She glanced at me. “It must be mundane to you by now and you think me silly for being so taken aback.”

I shook my head. “No, this is never mundane to me. I’m awestruck every time it comes into view. The sand is almost pink here, and when it meets the blue of the water, it’s breathtaking to me. Some days, I can hardly believe I call it home.”

“How long have you lived here?” Kristen asked as we headed down the trail to the beach.

“A few years now. I’m from New Orleans originally. I miss drive-thru junk food, movie theaters, and believe it or not, fall and winter. If I start to miss it too much, I go back home for a week or so, then I’m screaming to get back here.”

We descended the steps to the beach and kicked off our sandals when we reached the sand. I looked over at Kristen, who had tucked her sketch pad beneath her arm. “Where do you live?”

“Texas.”

“You don’t have the accent.”

“I’m not a Texan. I moved there for school.”

She didn’t elaborate, and a polite soul wouldn’t push…I did, though. “Where in Texas?”

“San Antonio. Are there public schools here?”

“There are schools, but our child will be home-schooled. Iris, our business partner, has a son she home-schools. “He’s six, and he’s reading and writing. If you have the time to work with them, you can get amazing results. What are you studying?”

“Nothing that’s going to make me rich.”

I stopped and looked at Kristen. “You’re not comfortable talking about yourself, are you?”

“Trust me,” Kristen said with a slight smile, “my life isn’t all that interesting. Frankly, I’d rather hear about yours.”

I returned the smile. “Point taken.”

I checked the ice chests to make sure we had plenty of water and soda. Some of our guests were already occupying the beach chairs, and they looked content. Normally, I would’ve headed to the bar to see if Iris needed anything, but that day, I deviated and walked the strand of beach that would come out behind our house.

I regaled Kristen with stories of Lusca, a creature that locals believed inhabited the blue holes found on Bahamian islands. Lusca caught the blame for everything from missing bottles of booze to horses and cows and occasionally a person. Like the islanders, I had come to believe that something did live in those holes, perhaps a shark or two washed on the tide through the cave systems that connected the holes to the sea. Folklore or not, people and things went into the holes and were never seen again. When Iris was in a foul mood, she often suggested I swim there, so I could solve the mystery…dear God, I loved that woman.

“Superstitions abound on this island, makes for great stories around a beach campfire at night. Ol’ Iris can spin a yarn when she’s in the mood.”

“Are you superstitious, Hayden?”

I came to a stop where the vegetation grew to the water’s edge. “I didn’t used to be…actually, it’s more than being superstitious. This island changes you. It did me. I have more respect for the beliefs of others. Their faith has an energy of its own.” I scratched my chin, feeling suddenly silly. “I guess what I’m trying to say is I’m more open-minded these days.”

Kristen reminded me of Teddy as she stood there with the wind whipping her hair around her face. When Teddy had secrets, he often shared them with me. I’d come to notice when his brow was furrowed and he had that distant look in his eyes he wanted to admit something. The last time he shared, he admitted to dying Iris’s white cat green with Jell-O mix. Kristen had that same look, but I was fairly certain it was far more serious than making a cat look like a leprechaun.

“Hayden…I’ve got a headache. Do you mind if I cut my tour short?”

“Not at all. We have several different types of pain relievers at the bar. I can run up and get you something if you’d like.”

“No.” Kristen shook her head and smiled weakly. “I’ve enjoyed our chat. See you later.”

I watched as she turned and trekked across the beach. I’d learned over the past few years to entertain our guests, even if I didn’t particularly care for their personalities. Unlike Adrienne and even Iris, I kept my distance and didn’t allow myself to get close. With Kristen, however, I felt something different. I wanted her trust, and I wanted her to confide in me the secret that seemed to torment her so.

*******

“Iris, I’m hungry.”

Wordlessly, she slid a plate of conch fritters toward me.

“I’m not that damn hungry. Hell will freeze over before I eat a giant slug.” I barged around the counter intent on raiding one of the big refrigerators and was stopped with a hand in the center of my chest.

“It’s an hour before lunch, girlie. Did you not eat the breakfast I sent over this morning?”

“Iris,” I whined. “There’s no salt in it. I need a break from the pregnant woman diet.” She grabbed a banana off the counter and slapped it into my hand. “I could eat a bear ass end first, a banana ain’t gonna cut it.”

She made a face. “Where do you come up with the expressions you use?”

“It’s a gift. Now give me that bag of ginger snaps you have hidden in the pantry. I want milk, too.”

“Get it yourself, bossy girl.”

Yes, victory! I knew if I pushed Iris’s buttons, she’d let me into the sacred land known as the kitchen.

“My bones are talking, Hayden.”

I looked back over my shoulder as I reached into the pantry. “Ya know, you never say which bones do the talking. Is it the ribs, shoulder blades…assbone?”

“I’m serious, girl.” Iris followed me to the fridge where I poured myself a giant glass of milk, then she tailed me to the dining room where I took a seat at the big table. “Da bones say dere’s a storm coming to the island.”

And out popped the island accent. I knew she was serious then. “Are you speaking figuratively, or are we talking about a hurricane because The Weather Channel isn’t showing anything.”

Iris scowled. If there was one thing I loved, it was taunting Iris, and she gave as good as she got. She intimidated me when I first came to the island whipping out that accent like a sword. It didn’t take me long to figure out that Iris had loved me like her own before I ever came to Cat Island. She’d watched me grow up in the pictures I’d sent to Aunt Gloria. And Aunt G entertained Iris and Adrienne with my exploits.

Iris’s skin wasn’t anywhere near as dark as Colie’s, but rather a rich brown. Her black hair was long and curly, and lately, she’d taken to twisting and clamping it to the back of her head with an alligator clip. She was fond of wearing brightly colored shirts, and she was sporting a yellow button down.

“Dis storm is of human making. Joy, fear, and danger swirl in its depths.”

I wanted to comment on her poetic rendering but bit my tongue instead. She was dead serious, and something told me not to take her lightly. “I do wish your bones were more explicit.”

“I’m telling you, dere’s trouble coming. How much more information do you need?”

Icy fingers gripped the back of my neck. “Does this have anything to do with Adrienne and the baby?”

“No.” Iris shook her head. “No, not at all. Dis is different.”

I rolled my eyes. “You can’t tell me something like this and be vague. It makes my butt pucker.”

Iris made a face at my choice of words. “I don’t have the gift Adrienne has, I just get feelings in my bones.” Iris pointed at me. “Be warned.” She left me to my snack, and once the milk was gone, so was I.

Chapter Five

Adrienne’s body was hot and wet beneath mine. The taste of her was still on my tongue. Her fingers were entwined with mine, and her hot breath was against my ear as I ground into her, feeling our wetness comingle. All the sweet sensation seemed to gather in the pit of my stomach. The muscles there began to constrict, I was so close. And then I heard it—a loud wailing baby cry. My eyes flew open, and Adrienne was staring at me with a smile.

“Must’ve been some dream. You were humping the bed,” she said casually with her head propped in her hand.

I flopped over onto my back and released a frustrated groan through gritted teeth.

“The really sad part is I can’t help you in your present state, and we don’t have time for a shower. Iris called a little while ago, and she’s short-handed for breakfast. Christina had to stay home with a sick child, and Naomi isn’t feeling well herself.”

“I’ll go.” I toyed with a lock of Adrienne’s hair. “You stay here and relax.”

“Iris said the same thing, but I can handle picking up a few dirty dishes and pouring a glass of juice or two. Frankly, I’m tired of relaxing.”

“Okay, you go and I’ll stay here.”

Adrienne gave me a playful shove, and I rolled out of bed, thinking I should take a long swim after breakfast. I doubted even that would quell my frustration.

*******

The guests were atwitter as they ate and talked about their plans for the day. Iris and I worked doubly hard to keep Adrienne from doing too much. She took the hint and sat at one of the tables where a few guests were discussing their tour of the island.

Kristen was off to herself again at a table that was well away from everyone else. Her sketch pad was conspicuously missing, replaced by a book that she only pretended to read. I caught her a few times looking around, but when our gazes met, she feigned interest in the book.

When the guests had finished their breakfast and were loaded in the vans, Adrienne and Iris took cups of coffee and went to the patio behind the bar. Adrienne had a new baby things catalog, so I waved off their invitation to join them. I swept up and walked over to Kristen’s table. “You’re not fooling me with that book.”

She looked up at me. “Why is that?”

“Because you’re looking at everything but it.”

Kristen blushed. “I wasn’t really in the mood for conversation.”

“Would you like me to leave you alone?”

She pursed her lips and sighed. “No. I like your company, and I know you’re not going to ask things other people would.”

I pulled out a chair and sat. “What would other people ask?” I shrugged. “I need to know, so I don’t ask those things.”

A hint of a smile flickered across her face. “Things like, why are you traveling alone? Why do you hang around the inn? Why don’t you join us on our tour?”

“I see,” I said with a nod. “So you’re basically saying those topics are off the table, and the only one who is going to be asking questions is you.”

“You catch on quick.” Kristen raised her glass. “I like that.”

“So…how’re you enjoying the weather here?”

Kristen laughed for the first time and seemed to relax a bit. “How does your partner put up with you?”

“I ask myself that every day, but she acts like she enjoys me.”

“You’re going to be parents soon.” Kristen tossed the book aside and leaned back in her chair. “I imagine y’all are really excited.”

I propped my chin in my hand. “We are.”

Kristen’s brows rose as she cocked her head to the side.

I didn’t know why, but for some reason, I trusted her. “I’m scared. Scared of failing as a parent, scared of something happening to Adrienne. I’m getting really tired of being…scared.”

“You really love her, don’t you?”

I averted my gaze. “It’s funny. I keep thinking our relationship is going to get stale like they tend to do, but every day I wake up and look into those green eyes, I feel like I did the minute we met. When she looks at me, I feel cherished, truly loved, and appreciated. I’ve never felt that way before about anyone.”

“You look at her that way, too. It’s very obvious that you two are very taken with each other.”

I smiled, feeling sort of embarrassed for opening up so easily.

“This place is magical,” Kristen said suddenly as she gazed out at the foliage surrounding the bar. “Have you ever gone in search of something and…you’re not really sure what you’re looking for?”

I shook my head to the contrary and said, “yes.” The question confused me.

Kristen furrowed her brow and laughed. “When I decided I wanted to go somewhere, I went on the Net. There are a million places to go, and I wanted to visit someplace cold with snow. The Caribbean was the farthest thing from my mind, and I accidentally hit a link that took me to the Bahamas and ultimately led me here.” She smiled and looked away again. “I knew without going past the homepage of your Web site that this was it. This was where I needed to be. Do you think that’s strange?” Kristen looked back at me.

“No, because our homepage rocks.” I chuckled when Kristen rolled her eyes. “I know what you mean. Sometimes you just know. That reminds me of the motto I want to add to the site. ‘Say no to snow, come here and have a beer.”’

Kristen wrinkled her nose in response, then grew serious. “You said yesterday that living here has made you respect the beliefs of others. I believe that everything we do has a purpose, even the most innocuous things. But this…coming here makes me feel like…” Kristen gestured as her jaw worked. “The reason is as big as what motivated me to leave home.”

“You say that like you have no intention of going back.”

Kristen narrowed her eyes. “Now that’s a question, Hayden, cleverly disguised, but a question nonetheless.”

“An observation,” I said, wagging a finger.

“An observation that begs for a response,” Kristen said with a smile as she stood. “A response that you will not get right now.”

“Retreat, retreat,” I chided as Kristen walked away. “I enjoyed talking to you, though.”

Kristen stopped just before she rounded the corner. “Me too.”

*******

“Baby, check this out,” Adrienne said as I walked into the courtyard.

I saw the baby magazine and groaned inwardly as I wondered what had her so excited. A girl can only look at so many cute outfits, diaper bags, and playpens before she blows a gasket. I took a seat beside Adrienne, and she laid the magazine across my lap. “Oh, my God, how much is this? We have to have one regardless of whether it’s a boy or girl.”

It was the coolest bed I’d ever seen. It looked like a bunk bed made into a tree. Long branches protruded from the head and footboards, one end had a ladder, the other a coat rack. The foliage of the tree was plastic and enclosed one side of the bed. It was full of cubby holes, which I assumed were for stuffed animals…maybe a slingshot, which I favored. Beneath the bed was a clubhouse with real opening doors and a desk on one side and a dresser on the other.

I looked at Adrienne. “Do these come in queen or kind size?”

“I wish.” Adrienne took the magazine back and creased the page. “I wonder how hard it would be to put together.”

“Who cares? We have a maintenance staff that could have this up in a heartbeat.” I grabbed the magazine back. “I could play in this for hours. Let’s order it right now.” I looked over at Iris. “Teddy should have one of these, too.”

“Do you see how fast that child is growing? If I ordered it today, he’d be too big for it by the time it arrived.” Iris shook her head and laughed. “You just want him to have it so you can play in it.”

“Well, yeah.” I slapped the page. “Let’s order it now. They might not have any when the baby is big enough for it.”

“Where will we store it?” Adrienne asked.

“We’ll put it up in the living room. That way, we can play with it until the baby is ready.”

Iris stood with a laugh and cupped Adrienne’s face in her hands. “Ah, my love, you have two children to raise now.”

“You’re gonna wanna play in it, too,” I called out to Iris’s retreating backside. I laughed evilly. “And I’m not gonna let her.”

“How is Kristen?” Adrienne asked.

“Were you privy to our conversation?”

“I could hear your thoughts, but not hers.” Adrienne shifted with a groan. “My back was doing most of the talking. It’s not happy whether I sit or lay. So what’s her story?”

I shrugged. “I have no idea. She’s not hip on answering questions. She thinks there was some sort of special reason why she chose this place to visit. She just doesn’t know what that is.”

Adrienne looked thoughtful for a moment, then yawned. “What were we talking about?”

“Nap time. We were discussing how I was going to rub your back before you ride into sleepy town.”

*******

The evening was especially cool with a nice breeze, so dinner was served in the bar that evening. Again, Kristen sat alone, but this time, she had her sketch pad. Her eyes were fixed on Adrienne as her hand moved over the paper. She seemed to be unaware that there was anyone else around as she sketched furiously. I glanced back at Adrienne, who appeared oblivious to Kristen’s fixation. Curiosity got the better of me, and I strolled casually toward the kitchen in hopes of catching a glimpse of Kristen’s handiwork. But as I passed her table, she turned a page in her pad and feigned interest in the foliage.

I grabbed a plate and filled it with a few pieces of pineapple and barbecued pork before returning to Kristen’s table. “My short tour of the grounds yesterday must’ve inspired you. I think I saw smoke coming off your pencil.”

“People inspire me.” She took a sip of her drink and drummed her fingers on the table with a smirk on her face.

I waited for her to invite me to join her, but she didn’t. Instead, she studied my face as if she were sketching it in her mind. I knew she didn’t want me looking at her drawings, which had my curiosity piqued, so I planted my ass in the chair across from her and smiled.

She carefully opened her sketch pad to a fresh page and began to draw. My face appeared in a matter of seconds. I was in awe at how quickly she had drawn me and was about to say so when she added a pair of cat ears and whiskers. Above my head, she drew a large question mark. “You remind me of a cat, Hayden, extremely curious and,” she grinned, “sneaky.”

“Ah, you are right about the curious part, but sneaky? I’m way too clumsy to be stealth.”

“Stealth and sneaky aren’t always the same thing. I know this, though. You aren’t going to leave me alone until I let you see the rest of my sketches.” Kristen smiled like Adrienne does when she’s been privy to my thoughts. It made my skin crawl. “I make my living sketching caricatures of people on the Riverwalk. What sets me apart from others is that my drawings tend to…expose my subjects’ personalities acutely.” Kristen took another sip of her drink and studied me while I digested her admission.

“Like a mind reader?”

She nodded. “You could put it that way. I like to think I’m proficient in sizing people up.”

“A few minutes ago, you seemed to be sizing Adrienne up.”

“I’m not quite ready to show you that one. It’s still a work in progress. She’s a lovely soul, isn’t she?” Kristen raised a finger. “Before you start to worry that I’m interested in either of you for anything more than a subject, be assured I’m not. I didn’t come here looking for romance.”

I leaned up on my elbows. “You know, we can’t keep meeting up like this. People will talk when they’re both allowed to ask questions.”

She smiled briefly and began to fidget. “I think I’m ready to trust you. I need to tell someone…someone should know.”

The ominous tone her voice took on made the muscles in my stomach tense. “Is it something nefarious? Because I have to be honest, Iris is married to a policeman. He’s here a lot, so this isn’t the perfect hideout.” I had flashbacks of Hank, our former handyman who had hid out on the island from the drug lords he’d stolen money from.

Kristen shook her head emphatically. “I haven’t committed any crimes, but you may not want me here after I tell you.”

“Okay.” I held up my hands. “Let’s not mince words here. Just bust out with it.” I wished I had a drink.

I watched as she thumbed through her pad. She turned it around, giving me full view of a man I didn’t recognize, but the drawing gave me chills. The eyes that stared back at me were cold and hard, his mouth twisted in a sardonic smile. He was evil personified as though she’d drawn Satan himself.

Kristen tapped the page with her pencil. “I saw this man having coffee one day, and the compulsion to draw him came over me so strongly that I couldn’t resist.” She shook her head. “He didn’t look like this at all. Just a nondescript guy that no one would really notice in a crowd. Maybe he noticed me staring at him, but he walked right over, and before I realized he could see what I was doing, he’d gotten a good look at my sketches.”

A cold feeling swept through me. I wasn’t sure I wanted her to continue, but she did anyway.

“After that day, he was at the Walk anytime I was, and one day, I saw him outside of my apartment building. I’ve started waking up at night with the urge—need—to draw, and it’s him every time.” I swallowed hard as she turned the page. He stared back at me and in his hand appeared to be a clump of hair. Above him lay a faceless woman who was dismembered. “I know it sounds insane, but I think he’s killed someone, and…I think he knows I know. I think that’s why he follows me.”

Our gazes met just as BJ and Audrey appeared next to the table. Kristen quickly closed her pad. “We’re interested in doing some birding tomorrow. Iris said we should see you about that,” BJ said.

Iris winked when I shot her a glance. Of course, it did make the most sense that I take them. On the first full day, most of our guests hit the ground running, eager to see the sights. Both of our vans would no doubt be in use, and I seriously doubted that we’d fill up a van of birders.

“Um, sure,” I said with an uneasy smile. “I know a few places where birds hang out.”

BJ clapped her hands together. “Excellent. We’ll be ready at six sharp.”

“That early? Shouldn’t we give the birds time to wake up? Maybe ruffle their feathers a bit?”

BJ looked taken aback, then slapped me on the shoulder. “You’re a funny kid.” She and Audrey walked off, and I turned back to Kristen.

“What makes you so sure this guy is a killer? He might’ve seen your drawings and been shocked. Maybe he’s just curious as to why you’d draw such a thing.”

Kristen frowned and turned to a fresh page in her sketch book. “Think about something from your past.” She stared at me for a long time, then her hand began to move across the paper.

As a kid, I idolized my older brother, and despite his protests, I followed him and his friends nearly everywhere they went. Their favorite game to play was cowboys and Indians, and if you were very brave, you got to be an Indian. I fashioned myself a headdress using purple feathers out of a boa my mother had worn during Mardi Gras one year, hoping to be accepted as an Indian by my brother’s tribe.

To my extreme disappointment, the headdress was mocked and laughed at. My brother being the tool he was challenged me to climb to the top of a live oak tree and fetch a squirrel egg. Unfortunately, I was too young and dumb to realize that squirrels didn’t lay eggs, but I accepted the challenge anyway to earn my status as an Indian.

I didn’t get nervous until I’d climbed way out on a bough where the nest seemed to be a mile from the trunk of the tree. Jeff tried calling me back, but I was determined to get my egg. When I looked beyond the foliage, I thought I could see all of New Orleans, and that was when the panic set in. I wasn’t the only one panicking, either. A squirrel sprang out of the nest and leapt to a higher branch where she began making an awful racket. Jeff warned me not to get any closer, that she’d bite, and that’s when I began making my own racket.

The fireman who came up on a ladder was really nice, and he kindly explained that squirrels didn’t lay eggs. By the time he got me on the ground, I had a case of the flaming red ass. The firemen were all trained in first aid, but they could do nothing for Jeff, except give him a bag of ice to hold on his crotch. My foot ached for a week.

And that was exactly what Kristen sketched. Frame by frame, she told a story I’d forgotten all about until then. I’d never told Adrienne or anyone about that incident. My jaw sagged as I looked at Kristen.

“Perhaps I was being a bit vague when I said I was proficient in sizing people up,” she said with a shy smile.

“No shit. I don’t suppose you advertised this when you hung out your shingle as a sketch artist.”

“Of course not,” Kristen said. “I know if a person loves flowers when I draw them, so I surround my subject with flowers or antique cars or whatever their passion is. My customers have no qualms about shelling out twenty-five bucks a pop. And I can pop out as many as four sketches an hour on a good day.”

“Do you have to touch them to get your impressions?”

“I only need to look at them. That’s why I was able to draw him.” She pointed down at the guy surrounded by bodies of women.

“Why are his victims faceless then?”

Kristen rubbed the back of her neck. “I’ve thought a lot about that. I think it’s because they’re dead and I can’t tap into their energy.” She looked like a frightened child when I gazed back up at her. “You understand now, why I’ve been so paranoid.”

I nodded and thought back on our earlier conversation. She was drawn to our island to hide out. I wondered if we were some sort of cosmic magnet for those needing refuge.

“I thought talking about this would give me some sort of relief, but it’s given me another headache. I’m going to turn in now unless you have any questions.”

“No, no questions.” I jumped when she snapped her pad closed. “You’re safe here, Kristen.”

She looked at me sadly and walked away.

Chapter Six

“You’re keeping something from me,” Adrienne said that evening when we were walking back to the house. “I hear that song you sing about doughnuts in my mind, and that usually means you’re trying to block me.” Adrienne began to sing, “Doughnuts, doughnuts, so very bad for my butt. They make me flabby, but when I eat them, I’m oh so happy.”

“I’m PMSing, and you know when I do that, I’m preoccupied with bad food.”

Adrienne squeezed my hand. “Tell me about Kristen.”

I groaned. “Your ability is so frustrating at times. Can’t you let me shield you from something just this once?”

“No.” Adrienne shook her head. “We’ve never done that, so let’s not start now. Out with it.”

I told her everything I knew while watching her facial expression carefully. She didn’t seem surprised in the least. “Did you already know?”

Adrienne shook her head. “Everything’s so random right now. I can’t make much sense out of what I’m hearing. I wish I had a better handle on it, but I don’t.”

“You hear me singing about doughnuts, though.”

Adrienne smiled and bumped my hip with hers. “I’m close to you, baby. We’re connected.”

“I think we should change our Web site and brochures. We should say something like, ‘Are you hiding from the law? Suspected killers? If so, please don’t come here.’ None of the other inns have to deal with shit like this. Angela Lansbury has come to our inn, but instead of Murder She Wrote, it’s Murder She Sketched.”

Adrienne sighed and rubbed her back with her free hand. “Well, the reasonable side of me wants to say that Kristen has an overactive imagination and is jumping to conclusions. But with my odd ability, I can’t be so quick to disbelieve.”

“And don’t you find that odd? She claims to have some psychic link with a murderer and she comes here. It’s like…”

“It’s like one gift sought out another,” Adrienne said.

*******

That night as we slept, I got a reprieve from sex and baby dreams. Instead, I saw the face of the man Kristen had drawn in a swirl of black clouds that drew closer no matter how fast I ran. Kristen was in my dreams, too, popping up in different places dressed in a costume in the shape of a key.

I was up before Adrienne and the sun.

I went to the bar expecting to find Kristen at breakfast, but there was no sign of her. Her cottage was empty, too, so I strolled down the path to the bluff that overlooked our beach and found her sitting atop a cropping of rocks. She held her sketch pad tightly to her chest as she stared out over the water.

“Feel like finishing our conversation?” I asked, startling her.

“Do you think I’m insane?” She looked up at me.

There was a time I would’ve said, yes, but after living with Adrienne, my mind was open to all sorts of possibilities. “No. No, I don’t.”

Kristen flipped open her pad and handed it to me. “He’s coming.”

A tiny whimper escaped me when I looked at the evil figure standing in an airport with ticket in hand. “Did you see him when you caught your flight?”

“No, and I was paranoid. I looked over my shoulder a million times. I even intentionally missed my flight and caught another one just in case he was following. I thought that might throw him if he was tailing me.”

“Did you tell anyone you were coming here? Someone who might’ve slipped up and tipped him off?”

“Abby, my ex, but I didn’t tell her why I was leaving.” Kristen bit her lip. “She wouldn’t discuss my whereabouts with a stranger.”

“Any chance you could draw his plane ticket to confirm where he was going for sure?”

Kristen looked thoughtful for a moment and shook her head. “I don’t know how to explain it, but I just know he’s coming…here.” She looked down at her hands in her lap. “Why are you so willing to believe me?”

I wasn’t about to let Adrienne’s cat out of the bag. She was very guarded about her ability. “It’s like you just said, ‘I just know.’”

“I’m scared.” Kristen hung her head. “Look at the rest of my sketches.”

I took a seat and began thumbing through them. There was me as a cat. A couple of the guests all looking joyful. I laughed at the one of Iris. There was a huge heart on her chest, and she had at least a dozen hands. And then there was—him. Pages and pages of his face, his evil deep-set eyes and a different woman—body—that had been brutalized. It nauseated me to look at them. I stifled a gasp when I turned to Adrienne’s page. Her drawing wasn’t a caricature like me, Iris, and the other guests. It was a gorgeous sketch that captured her beauty. Above her head were clouds like I’d seen in cartoons when the character was having an internal thought. There were dozens of them, but they were all empty.

“It’s like one gift sought out another,” Kristen said softly.

I looked up at her wondering if she’d overheard the conversation I’d had with Adrienne the previous evening.

“There’s something special about her, too, isn’t there?”

“She’s very special.” I didn’t elaborate.

Kristen sighed. “She’s lucky to have you.”

“What about you? Did you leave someone behind other than the ex?”

Kristen shook her head. “My other half hasn’t come to me yet, but she’s out there. Call me a romantic fool, but I’ll know her when I see her.”

“Look, why don’t you let me talk to Colie, Iris’s husband, about this? He’s very open-minded, and maybe he can help us out.”

“Us,” Kristen said as she looked at me. “You have a baby on the way. I need to get out of here, maybe find another island to hide on.”

Sadly, I wanted to agree with her, but something inside of me knew I couldn’t. I wasn’t sure why a total stranger was reaching out to me, and what mystified me more was my willingness to let her. “Safety in numbers. We know nearly everyone on this island, and we’ll all do what we can to protect you.”

Kristen looked away as she released a small sob. “Thank you.”

*******

“Houston, we have a problem.”

Iris looked at me in alarm. “Adrienne?” She clutched her chest.

“No, I’m sorry I startled you.”

“Evil, girl, just evil. What is it then? Did you drive through another wall? Fall through another roof? Burn down the laundry cottage again?”

“We both know that list can go on for days, and for the record, I didn’t burn it down completely.” Iris looked at me suspiciously as she sliced vegetables for the evening meal. “Is Colie home?”

She crossed herself. “Did you kill someone, girl?”

“Knock it off. I need to talk to him about a problem one of the guests might be having.”

“Might be.” Iris chewed on that statement as her eyes narrowed.

“I’d rather tell you both at the same time, so I don’t repeat myself. Where’s your husband?”

“He’s at the house. Call him.”

I went into the bar and made the call. After I explained that it was official business, he agreed to leave Teddy with the sitter. In less than fifteen minutes, he and Iris were sitting at one of the tables waiting for me to explain myself. After I’d recounted everything I knew and they had looked over the sketch pad, they sat quietly digesting it all.

“I cannot arrest a man based on drawings, unless of course, Kristen physically witnessed the crimes,” Colie said finally. “Do you believe this woman to be sane?”

Iris rolled her eyes. “You’re asking Hayden to determine the sanity of another?”

“You’re still mad at me for falling through the roof of that cottage, aren’t you? You’ve been busting my chops ever since.”

Iris glared at me in response. “You take too many chances. I took it in stride before, but now you have a baby to think about.”

“I promised Adrienne that I’d play it safe, so you can relax.” Iris rolled her eyes again, and I reared up to launch a tirade.

Colie put his hand on my arm. “Let’s keep our minds on the business at hand. What does Adrienne have to say about this young woman?”

I let out a long breath. “She is inclined to believe her. What would it hurt to take Kristen at her word? If we dismiss her claims, she could get hurt, and it’d be our fault.”

Colie nodded. “Then I’ll make a copy of her drawings and keep an eye out for this man.”

“Well, he doesn’t actually look like that,” I said. “The drawings are her perception of him. I can have her do something that is more to his likeness. What do we do if he actually shows up on the island?”

“We keep her hidden until we can figure out how to handle this.” Colie held up his hands. “That’s all I can say for now.” He stood and stretched the kinks out of his back. “Not everyone is the real deal like Adrienne,” Colie said before walking away.

“He’s not taking this seriously.”

“I am,” Iris said. “And he will when the storm comes.”

Chapter Seven

Birding isn’t for everyone, and I realized with a quickness that it wasn’t for me. Audrey, BJ, and I had hiked up a mangrove trail for what felt like miles. Light on their feet, they were only carrying binoculars, a camera, and a bird book. I was saddled with a backpack cooler like a pack mule. After an hour, I smelled like one, too.

BJ came to an abrupt stop that caused me to nearly run over Audrey. “Quiet,” she said as she held up a hand. “I see an olive capped warbler.”

Audrey and I stayed put as BJ moved off the trail to get a better look. “That’s not a warbler,” Audrey whispered. “She cheats and logs birds that we have most definitely not seen, but you can’t tell her that.”

I wanted to say, Well, hell, let’s just mark off the rest of the birds on the list and call it a day. I set the pack down quietly and took a seat next to it. I passed Audrey a bottle of water before downing one myself.

“Cat Island is an interesting name,” Audrey said. “What’s the story behind that?”

I grinned. “When I first came here, Iris told me that snakes and rats stowed away on slave ships that came to the island, so they had to import cats to control them. Cats took over the island, and that’s how it got its name. I always wondered why she laughed at me when I told guests that story. Adrienne was kind enough to enlighten me and explained that a pirate named Arthur Catt first discovered the island, hence the name.”

Audrey pulled a dainty kerchief out of her shirt pocket and dabbed at her brow. “We passed some ruins on the way in, and the driver told us they were old plantations. He said they grew cotton, pineapples, and something called sisal. I have no idea what that is.”

“It’s a plant used to make rope. You should take one of the tours. They’re very interesting.”

Audrey looked over her shoulder at BJ who was moving deeper into the thicket. Her silver hair was the only thing visible. “Lately, BJ has found it impossible to be still for even a minute. I’m sure we’ll have to scour the entire island.” She dabbed at her face with the cloth again. “She isn’t adjusting to retirement very well, and it’s making me crazy. I just want to relax, you know?”

I nodded.

“I suggested the birding,” Audrey said with a sigh. “I thought it was something we could both enjoy. BJ would be outdoors, and we could relax and watch the birds fly by. But she had to take it to the next level. Common birds in our area weren’t enough. We needed to catalog exotic birds that others in our community couldn’t brag about. We’ve been to Hell and back searching for birds, and when I say Hell, I mean we really went to a place named exactly that.”

Hell made me think of Kristen’s drawings and the thing that had no doubt crawled out of that pit. What a garish nightmare. I felt so sorry for the woman hiding at our inn. Then I thought about Iris’s bones and what they had to say. It all gave me chills in the midday heat.

“Are you okay?” Audrey asked.

I looked back at her, and she was staring at me in concern. “Sure,” I said with a fake smile.

BJ came back out onto the trail. “What’re you gals sitting down for? Let’s move.”

I felt sorry for Audrey, too, and even sorrier for myself as I hefted the pack onto my shoulders. We tramped down the trail for another hour, then Audrey talked BJ into birding from the Jeep. I was itching to get back to the inn and see if Colie had seen the man Kristen had drawn. She’d produced a sketch the previous evening, and Colie had circulated copies to those we trusted to be discreet. I’d spent half the day hauling BJ and Audrey around, stopping for every bird that had crossed our path. A couple of times, I “accidentally” blew the horn because I couldn’t bear watching another bird sit on a tree limb.

“Tell me, is there kite boarding on the island?” BJ asked when we had stopped at the beach so she could chase down a poor gull.

At first, I was tempted to say no, but then an evil thought crossed my mind as I saw BJ being blown out to sea.

Audrey’s eyes grew wide, and she shook her head until BJ looked at her.

“There are some people on the island that do it, but I don’t believe there are any rentals yet.” I winked at Audrey when her shoulders sagged in relief.

“Well, look at that.” BJ had spotted some sort of water fowl and moved slowly down the beach to get a closer look.

“Thank you,” Audrey said quietly. “I don’t mind the hiking for birds, but to be honest, she’s killing me. BJ never had a midlife crisis, but I think she’s having a late-life one now. On our last trip, she pleaded and cajoled me into going zip-lining with her. Do you have any idea how fast those things go?” Audrey asked aghast. “It took me a week to get my voice back.” She stabbed a finger in my chest. “If she suggests anything more than a sightseeing trip, I’m depending on you to tell her no.”

“I’ll make a deal with you. If we don’t make any more bird stops on the way back to the inn, I won’t suggest zip-lining down Mount Alvernia.”

*******

Adrienne was in the bar finishing up an afternoon snack when I returned. “Any word from Colie?” I poured myself a glass of tea.

“No, not yet.” Adrienne pushed half a sandwich in front of me when I sat. “Please eat that,” she said in a whisper. “Iris is stuffing me.”

“I’ll gladly take your leftovers. She’s trying to starve me. This morning, she gave me a plate with one orange slice on it.”

We both looked up when Kristen walked in with her sketch pad clutched to her chest. “Join us,” Adrienne said politely.

“Thank you.” Kristen took a seat, and instead of asking if we had any news on her guy, she asked to play a game.

The polite smile remained on Adrienne’s face, but I saw a quick flash of annoyance before she nodded. “Sure.”

Kristen tore a fresh sheet of paper from her pad, folded it in half, and slid it over to me along with a pencil. “Write a word, anything that comes to mind, but don’t let me or Adrienne see it. When you’re done, fold the paper again and pass it to me.” Adrienne and I exchanged glances, and she nodded once more. I scribbled my word and did as instructed. Kristen opened the paper and looked at it before asking Adrienne. “What does it—”

“Doughnut.”

Kristen didn’t appear surprised and passed the paper back to me. “How about a sentence this time?”

Adrienne smiled at me as I thought for a minute. I wrote a line and passed it back to Kristen, who looked at Adrienne expectantly.

“It says, ‘The little shit is on to us.’”

“I’m sorry,” Kristen said. “I know I’m being nosy and pushy, but since I’ve come to the island, I’ve only really been able to draw two people, the man and you,” she said to Adrienne. “My hand moves of its own volition. I don’t feel like I have any control over the images it creates anymore.”

“How many people know of your ability?” Adrienne asked.

“Aside from you, Hayden, and the police officer here, no one but my parents. I’ve learned the hard way to keep it a secret.”

“Then I presume you’ll respect the fact that I wish to keep mine a secret, as well,” Adrienne said with an expression that made Kristen shrink back a little.

“Absolutely.” Kristen nodded emphatically, making her ponytail bounce. She looked like a small child. “Please talk to me about it. I’ve never met anyone I could relate to.”

I understood Adrienne’s reticence around Kristen then. It peeved me that Adrienne had confronted me about holding things back, and she had done exactly that with me. But before my anger could take root, Adrienne looked at me and said, “I wasn’t sure she had me figured out until she sat down just now, Hayden.”

“Good save, love. I was about to start composing a new doughnut song with a really repetitive and grating chorus.”

“Do your parents have the gift, too?” Kristen asked as she fidgeted. “What about siblings?”

Adrienne shrugged. “I’m adopted, so I have no idea. What about yours?”

“No to both. I have one younger brother who has been tested and shows no sign of it.”

“Tested?” I said. “By whom?”

Kristen was literally bouncing in her seat as the information began to pour out of her like a fountain. “When I was in kindergarten, my teacher told us to draw anything we wanted to, so I drew her. She was crying, and a tiny baby was floating in the clouds above her. She pulled me to the side and asked me what it meant. I explained that she was sad because her baby had to go to heaven. She asked me to draw more things, so I drew a picture of the girl that sat next to me and her mom and dad with a black line between them and a house on either side of the line. When my teacher asked what it meant, I told her that Amanda’s parents were going to live in separate houses. No one knew about their separation, not even Amanda, but her mother had told my teacher.”

Kristen leaned back in her chair and folded her arms. “I don’t really remember what happened next, but I think my teacher must’ve said something to someone at school because two men came to our house a week later. They wanted to run tests. My mother hit the roof, but my father agreed to it. They took me away to some sort of facility, and all I did was draw for hours. I wasn’t allowed to go out and play, and I only saw my mom and dad for dinner each night.” She smiled wryly. “I may’ve been young, but I was not stupid. I stopped drawing the things I saw in my mind and drew bunnies and kittens instead.”

“So they let you go back home then?” I asked.

Kristen nodded. “My mom called it a fluke, and we really didn’t discuss it after that, nor did I draw. It wasn’t until I got to high school that I began sketching, then I kept them to myself.”

I was confounded. “But you do this for a living.”

Kristen looked at me sheepishly. “I make extra money drawing caricatures, insightful caricatures for people on the street. My parents have been supporting me while I pursued an art history degree.”

“So I take it they don’t know you’re here?” Adrienne said.

“No.” Kristen shook her head. “I could never tell them about this. I’ve tried to talk to my mom about what happened when I was in kindergarten, and she gets way too upset. I’ve approached it a dozen different ways, but she shuts me down, and my father pretends he doesn’t remember much about it.”

“Are you certain your mother doesn’t possess the same ability or some form of it?” Adrienne asked.

“I had the same suspicion, but it doesn’t come out in my drawings of her. I asked my aunt about it when she visited once, and she gave me the oddest answer. She said, ‘It’s best to leave the insanity in our family buried where it belongs.’ She’d suffered a nervous breakdown when she was young, and my mother told me she was…unstable, so I didn’t put much credence into what she said.” Kristen sighed and looked at Adrienne. “Please tell me your story.”

Adrienne rubbed her protruding belly and stared off into the distance. “There’s not a lot to tell. I discovered my ability in my teens. I think the first time I recognized it was in school while taking a test I had not studied for. I remember staring at the questions in front of me and knowing that I was going to flunk. My best friend was sitting next to me, and I could hear her reading the questions as if they were aloud, but the room was silent. And then came the answers in the same voice, so I wrote them on my paper.” Adrienne smiled. “I got an A.”

I’d never had this conversation with Adrienne. It had always been a sensitive subject, so I didn’t press, but to hear her tell it had me enthralled.

“Sometimes at home, I’d answer questions before my mom or dad voiced them.” Her face turned solemn. “I could hear them comparing me to my younger sister, whom they had after they adopted me. They tried not to show favoritism, but it was always there. It drove a wedge between us, and I pulled away emotionally to cope.” She smiled sadly. “We became virtual strangers after I left home. Gloria, Hayden’s aunt, was the first person I trusted with my secret, and she made me feel accepted.” Adrienne looked at me with love in her eyes. “Hayden is the one who really bears the burden of it with me.”

“It’s not a burden, sweetie, unless I’m contemplating something bad.”

Chapter Eight

A baby’s laughter filled the house as I walked down the hall toward the nursery. A dirty diaper folded in on itself shot out into the hallway. I stopped in my tracks as the stench formed an impenetrable wall between me and it. Soon another joined it, then they started shooting out like they were coming from a machine gun. I looked around for something to gather them into, but they kept coming. The mountain grew higher. I jerked open the closet door, and they rained down on me like a rockslide.

I screamed for Adrienne, but she didn’t come. The laughter grew louder. The diapers were coming even faster and filled the hallway top to bottom. I turned to run from the avalanche, but my legs moved like they were in slow motion. I rode a wave of stinky diapers unable to stop the tide. They quickly surrounded me and forced me against the window. I watched in horror as it began to crack.

“Hayden, honey, wake up.” Adrienne’s hand was in the center of my chest. I took a deep gasping breath as I opened my eyes. “It was a bad dream, that’s all.”

“Oh, Adrienne, it was bad.” I sat up and wiped at the sweat on my face. “The baby was trying to kill me with diapers.” A soft snort gave way to a chuckle, then a laugh. She pulled me down to lay beside her.

“This baby will love you.” She put my hand on her stomach. “It’s so little. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

“Little?” Adrienne’s stomach was huge, and I often wondered if she was carrying a litter. “You’re all baby, honey.”

“Your mom said you were only seven pounds ten ounces. That’s not all that big…of course, I have no way of knowing what I weighed.”

“Your adoptive parents had to have had some sort of documentation. Didn’t they ever tell you?”

“I don’t remember,” Adrienne said softly.

I rolled onto my side and took her hand in mine. “Was it hard talking to Kristen today about your past?” She was quiet for a moment. I wished I could see her face.

“Not really. It was kind of exciting. I don’t feel so alone anymore.” Though I knew what she meant, her comment stung. I felt her fingers against my cheek. “Let me rephrase that. I feel less of a freak now that I know someone else can sort of do what I do.”

“You’re not a freak. Well, you can get freaky between the sheets, but you’re not that kind of freak.” I smiled when my response got a chuckle.

Adrienne sighed. “It seems like forever since we’ve gotten freaky. I miss those marathons we used to have.”

“And now, we’re gonna have to wait until the baby grows up and moves out before we do it again…shit, we’ll be ninety. Don’t expect me to still be able to do the acrobatic stunts then.”

“We’ll just have to be creative and quieter.”

“But I love those coyote howls you do.”

“Baby, that’s you.”

“Oh, yeah,” I said with a laugh.

Adrienne yawned. “Can we sleep again now?”

“What? Just the mention of sex makes you sleepy? I’m so screwed.” Adrienne didn’t respond, and a minute later, I heard the steady rhythm of sleep breathing.

*******

Normally, when guests are at the inn, Adrienne and I hustle to take care of all their needs outside of meals, which were Iris’s domain. However, with Adrienne in the last weeks of her pregnancy, Iris had mobilized our staff to handle things in our stead. I greatly appreciated not having to shoulder the demands, but I missed not having something to distract me. Adrienne didn’t sleep well at night and took catnaps throughout the day, and this left me with free time on my hands, which frankly, was dangerous.

We’d gone down for breakfast, then watched as some of the guests went to the beach and the rest boarded the van to tour the monastery ruins at Mount Alvernia. I walked Adrienne back to the house where she curled up on the couch and went to sleep. It was time to bug Colie. Cellular signals left a lot to be desired on the island, and he did not answer his phone, so I paid a visit to Kristen.

I found her again on the bluff looking out over the water with a pensive expression on her face. “You weren’t at breakfast this morning. Did you draw again last night?”

She shook her head. “I didn’t draw at all. Nothing came to me. I think my mind was too clouded by the conversation I had with you and Adrienne yesterday. It made me think about things.”

“Like what?” I took a seat on a rock beside her.

“My Aunt Elaine’s comment about the family insanity.” Kristen cocked her head to the side and looked at me. “That statement really got into my craw yesterday, so I called her this morning. We didn’t talk long because I kept losing the signal on my phone, but the conversation left me with more questions than answers.”

“What’d she say?”

“She sounded weird. She kept asking me where I was and what I was doing here. I lied and told her I was on vacation with friends. She didn’t sound like she believed me. I asked her what she meant when she made the comment about the insanity, and she said it was time I knew the truth. Then I lost my signal.”

“You called her back, right?”

“I did, but I couldn’t keep a signal long enough to talk.”

“That’s all you talked about? You didn’t tell her what’s going on?”

Kristen shook her head.

I grabbed her by the arm. “We’re going to the bar, and you’re gonna call her again.” The hair on the back of my neck prickled, and my insides quivered. I had no idea why I was so convinced that an important piece of the puzzle lay with her aunt.

I handed Kristen the phone when we got to the bar, and as she dialed, Colie walked in with a worried expression on his face. “I need to talk to her.” He nodded in Kristen’s direction.

“As soon as she gets off the phone. Any news?”

Colie held up his cell phone, and there was a picture of a man getting off a stump jumper plane. He held up Kristen’s drawing for me to compare the two. Though the picture was taken at a distance, there was a striking resemblance.

“She’s not answering,” Kristen said as she walked up. I heard her gasp as she looked at Colie’s phone. Her face turned ashen, and I didn’t have to ask if it was the guy. Kristen fell into a chair and rocked back and forth. Colie and I exchanged worried glances. “That’s him,” she said shakily. “He’s here.”

“Ms. Waverly,” Colie said in his official tone. “You never met this man before the day you saw him on the Riverwalk?”

“No.” Kristen shook her head and met Colie’s intense stare with one of her own. Seconds ticked by before either of them spoke.

“Do you know his name?” Colie watched her intently.

“We never spoke. He walked over to me while I was busy drawing. I was focused on the image I was creating.” Kristen shivered but kept her eyes on Colie’s. “When I looked up, he was thumbing through my things. I snatched my sketches away from him and I ran.”

Few people could get away with lying to Colie. I’d tried on a couple of occasions just to see if I could, but he always got me. I’d always thought that Adrienne had helped him in my case, but Colie was an expert on reading body language.

Kristen was nervous, that much was obvious. But her gaze did not dart back and forth. She didn’t fidget under his scrutiny.

Colie nodded and exhaled loudly. “Hayden, have a seat.” He sat, as well. I have a contact at the American FBI. I’ll send him the sketches, but until I hear back from him, my hands are tied. I can’t arrest this man based on what we have to go on.” Colie tapped his phone, bringing back the picture of Kristen’s nightmare. “This man is staying at The Cove, but we still have to keep you out of sight,” he said to Kristen. “That means no going into town or leaving the inn for any reason. I think it’s best that you stay with me and Iris and separate yourself from the other guests.”

“She can stay with us. We have an extra room, and Adrienne would enjoy the company.”

Colie chewed his lip for a second and nodded. “I’ll have some of my friends stand watch.”

Colie’s “friends” were just that. They had no training in law enforcement, but they had helped out before when we had trouble at the inn. Anyone who didn’t belong here would not get through, and I took comfort in that.

“We’ll have to lie to the rest of the guests,” Colie continued. “Mention in front of them at dinner that you took Kristen back to the airport. That way, if our guy questions any of them in town, he’ll think Kristen has left.”

“But what if he leaves? We can’t let him leave the island now that he’s here.” I paled at the thought of him killing someone else.

“I’ll take care of that. But your job, Hayden, is to keep Kristen hidden.”

I heard scratching and looked over at Kristen. Her hand was moving across a page as she stared off into the distance. A woman’s face gradually began to take shape.

“Do you know this woman?” Colie asked Kristen excitedly.

Kristen blinked and looked down at the pad. “No,” she said, sounding bewildered.

Colie gently took the book from Kristen’s hands and studied the sketch for a moment. “This woman is traveling with him.”

*******

Kristen was shaking like a leaf as she gathered up her things from her cottage. She was stuffing her toiletries into a bag when she stopped, and I heard a tiny whimper escape her. I put a hand to hers. “Go sit down. I’ll do this.” She walked mechanically from the bathroom while I finished packing her things. I found her standing by the door holding her suitcase when I came out. “You’re not alone, honey. You’re among friends who’ll protect you.” She took a shaky breath and nodded.

We loaded her things into the golf cart, and I sped off, hoping that we wouldn’t run into any of the guests coming in off the beach. When we pulled up in front of the house, Adrienne was watching us from the porch. From the look on her face, I knew she had been in my brain. She confirmed my suspicions when she wrapped Kristen in her arms and led her into the house.

“I’ve already straightened up the guest room, love. Would you put her things inside?” Adrienne moved Kristen toward the couch.

When I came back into the living room, I heard Kristen saying, “This is really real. He’s here.”

I watched as Adrienne gently stroked Kristen’s tear-soaked hair from her face. She had such a loving way about her that it stunned me. I sat and watched them, marveling at how Adrienne could take a perfect stranger into her arms and make her feel comfortable. “You can stay with us as long as you need to,” she said. “Nothing will happen to you, I promise.”

Our house phone rang, and I got up to answer it. An automated phone service requested I confirm our appointment with the obstetrician the next day. I followed the prompts and hung up, anxious to hear more of what Kristen had to say.

“I feel like such a burden,” she was saying. “I’ve invaded your lives and brought a killer into your midst.”

“We’ve dealt with killers before.” I waved a hand like it was a common occurrence. “You’ve come to the right place.” Kristen looked up at me like I was insane.

“It’s a long story. We’ll explain later,” Adrienne said with a smile. “But Hayden’s right. You’re exactly where you should be.”

The phone rang again, and this time when I answered, it was Iris. “Meet me outside,” she said and hung up.

“Be right back. Iris wants me.” I went downstairs and looked around. Iris emerged from the bushes holding her iron skillet. “We should just trade that thing in and get you a gun.”

She waved it menacingly. “Dis skillet saved your life, girlie. Don’t make jokes. Is the girl okay?”

“Adrienne’s upstairs rocking her like a baby. She’s fine.”

Iris toyed with a lock of my hair and smoothed it against my shoulder. “I love you, you know.”

I smiled. “Yes, I know. You wouldn’t get as mad at me if you didn’t.”

She smiled, too, then turned serious. “Take no chances dis time. Adrienne needs you, we need you. My bones are talking. Dey say dis is going to be bad. Dis man is the storm. He causes terrible damage wherever he goes.”

My bones didn’t speak to me like Iris’s did. My bladder did, though, and I wanted to wet myself when I heard the tone of her voice. “No chances dis—this time.”

Iris nodded. “Colie has people on the way. Some are already here. Dey will stay out of sight and watch closely. I’ll bring dinner up when it’s time.”

She turned to go, and I caught her by the arm. “You promise me not to take chances, either. Teddy needs you, and I really need you. You’re like a mom to me.”

Iris grinned. “I’m too young to be your momma, but if I were, I’d have eaten you at birth like the wild animals do their young.”

“You say the sweetest things sometimes. It’s no wonder I love you so much.”

She gave me a tight hug and headed down the trail. My heart leapt into my throat when a huge black man suddenly appeared behind her and kept pace. I looked around and another dark face moved from behind a tree. “Hello, Hayden.” He waved and smiled.

“Well, hey, Odis, good to see you.” Colie’s people moved fast, and I felt the chill bumps that Iris’s chat evoked begin to fade.

Chapter Nine

“Why are you dressed like that?”

Kristen looked at me as though I were an idiot. “I’m a key.”

“To what?”

She shrugged. “Even I don’t know the answer to that.” She giggled and pointed to my stomach.

I looked down and realized it was as big as Adrienne’s. “Oh, no, this is all wrong.”

“You’re pregnant,” Kristen said in a sing-song voice and danced in a circle.

“I am not.”

“Bun in the oven.”

“Stop it. Adrienne is pregnant, not me.”

“Knocked up.”

I felt around my stomach, trying to decide if it was real or not when Kristen gasped. I followed her gaze to the horizon and felt my chest tighten. A dark cloud blocked out the sun as it raced toward us. I clutched my stomach as I began to run as if I could somehow protect the baby inside.

Someone put a hand to my head. “Where are you running off to?” It was Adrienne’s voice.

I awoke breathless and looked at her, then ran my hands over my stomach.

“You kicked all the sheets and blankets onto the floor. Wherever you were going, you were in a big hurry.”

I didn’t bother to share the details of my dream as we showered. As the warm water hit me in the face, the dream drifted into the deeper recesses of my mind. And that’s where I wanted it to stay.

*******

Kristen looked like a child whose mother was leaving her when Adrienne climbed into the Jeep with me that morning for our trip to the doctor. We couldn’t take her with us and risk Alvin Stinslin catching sight of her. Colie had done research and put a name to the terror who had besieged us. I expected his name to be Satan or something along those lines. Alvin Stinslin didn’t seem to match the dark heart of a killer.

“We won’t be gone long,” Adrienne said to Kristen, who stood with Iris. Two men stood behind them, and I knew they were safe. For good measure, Colie instructed Odis to chauffer us to the airstrip and accompany us to Nassau where we’d visit the doctor. He seemed to be thrilled with the duty. He’d sported a wide grin since greeting us.

He didn’t seem comfortable, however, with going inside the doctor’s office when we arrived and opted to wait outside. I think I made him and Adrienne nervous with my fidgeting. Every time we went to the doctor, I got a little crazy. I knew it was silly, but I was so afraid she was going to tell us something was wrong, and on that day, she did.

“Have you ever noticed that these kind of look like a toucan?” I held up a plastic speculum.

“Quit digging in the cabinets and sit down,” Adrienne said with a half grin.

I turned on a light and shined it in her face. “Where were you nine months ago?”

“At a clinic getting inseminated, and as I recall, you dug around in their things, too. You’re gonna get into trouble when Dr. Sonjay comes in.”

“I’m gonna make you a chicken.” I grabbed a rubber glove and was blowing it up when Dr. Sonjay walked in. She glanced at me and shook her head like she fully expected me to be doing something stupid.

“Adrienne, your blood pressure is just a bit higher than normal,” Dr. Sonjay said as she went over her chart.

Adrienne shot me a look before saying, “Business at the inn has been stressful lately.” I started to do a nervous dance. “I think if you checked Hayden’s, it would be higher than mine at the moment.”

Dr. Sonjay smiled at me. “Calm down, Hayden. This isn’t anything uncommon. It just means Adrienne needs to change her habits until the baby arrives.”

“What does that mean?” I asked as blood pounded in my ears.

“It means she needs to stay off her feet.” Dr. Sonjay focused her attention on Adrienne as I squirmed. “I’m not saying complete bed rest, but you need to stay home and relax. I’ll have Shelby monitor your blood pressure more often. Have you made your reservations yet? July twelfth is fast approaching. ”

The plan was to stay in Nassau a week before the due date. Adrienne and I were in agreement that we didn’t want her to go into labor on the island and have to endure a boat or plane trip to Nassau possibly in the middle of the night. Depending on the condition of the baby, Dr. Sonjay would consider inducing labor on or after the twelfth.

“Reservations have been made, and the family has wrapped up their travel plans.” I squeezed Adrienne’s hand.

She looked up at me and smiled indulgently. “Everything is going to be fine, love.”

“Is everything going to be fine?” I looked at Dr. Sonjay. “Because…I’m getting a little…oh, stomach not good.”

Dr. Sonjay took me by the arm and made me sit. I was panting like a dog, and she had me put my head between my knees. “Hayden, this is a very common issue with pregnant women.”

“No disrespect, Doc, but I don’t give a rat’s ass. I should be putting her in the hospital, not sitting here staring at my crotch.”

“Oh, Hayden,” Adrienne said with a laugh. “We read about this in our books. Dr. Sonjay is right. It’s not uncommon.”

“Common or not, I don’t have to like it.”

It took a while before my blood pressure returned to normal. My mind raced through all sorts of horrifying scenarios, Adrienne having a heart attack or stroke, the baby coming out with an extra hand. It was awful. What was even more pathetic was I looked like the patient instead of Adrienne. We walked out of the doctor’s office with me leaning on her for support.

“Let’s find Odis and get something to eat,” Adrienne said as she looked around for our escort.

Odis came sprinting from across the street and slowed his stride when he got a look at me. “What’s wrong?”

“Hayden needs to eat.” She patted me on the back. “Let’s walk down to the café on the corner.”

“You heard Dr. Sonjay. You have to stay off your feet.” I looked at Odis. “Will you carry her?”

“Hayden Marie Tate, get a grip.” Adrienne grabbed me by the arm and half dragged me to the café.

“Oh, listen to you, you’re not a mom yet, and you’re whipping out the middle names just like one.”

“I’m gonna start whipping on something, and it’s not going to be your middle name.” Adrienne shook her head at me. “Get control of yourself because at the moment, you’re the cause of my blood pressure issue.”

I squared my shoulders. “All right, I’m calm.” But when we got to the café, I started barking out orders to the other patrons. “Step aside, people, pregnant woman coming through. Get that purse out of the walkway, and you with the water, get over here.”

Adrienne sank into a chair and hid her face behind a hand.

*******

Shelby and her partner, Myra, met us at the bar when we returned. Shelby had already been apprised of the situation by Dr. Sonjay, and of course, had told Iris. Iris was on Adrienne like a cheap suit. She pushed a cup of orange juice into Adrienne’s hand and ushered her into the cart.

I leaned in and kissed her. “I’ll be home soon. We can catch up on all the movies we’ve been wanting to see, and I’ll bet Kristen will be eager to have you back.” Adrienne nodded and Iris took off.

Adrienne had been playing it cool since we left Dr. Sonjay’s office, probably more for my sake. I could tell by her expression that she was as rattled as I was. Though she had been exhausted the last few weeks, I knew she didn’t look forward to lying around, but she’d do whatever she had to to keep our baby healthy.

“Iris told us about what’s been going on with the guest and the guy that’s after her,” Myra said when I rejoined them. “That’s got to be weighing heavily on Adrienne’s mind.”

“She seems to have gotten very attached to Kristen virtually overnight. She’s a sweet kid, and we’re all worried about her.” I looked at Shelby and Myra. “And I’m scared shitless about it all.”

Shelby cuffed me on the arm and nearly knocked me out of my chair. “The baby is fine and so is Adrienne, but you look like shit.”

I did. I’d looked at myself in the mirror that morning and was dismayed to see dark circles under my eyes. Between Adrienne getting up every hour to go to the bathroom and the baby dreams, I wasn’t getting a whole lot of sleep. It impaired my coping mechanisms, and I found myself wanting to hole up somewhere and cry my eyes out.

Myra reached over and put her hand atop mine. “What can I do to help you?”

To my horror, my eyes began to burn and a tear slid down my cheek. A whimpering cry escaped my lips and added to my misery. I put my hands to my face. “I’ve become such a boob.”

“You’re not a boob,” Myra said sweetly. “You’re coping with a lot right now. I’d be exactly the same if I were in your shoes, and so would Shelby.”

I glanced at Shelby, who was looking at Myra, her expression clearly conveyed, “The hell I would. Hayden is a boob.”

I couldn’t stop myself, though. I started sniffling and rattling off all sorts of personal information. “During the first trimester, Adrienne was an animal. I used to sneak away during the day and nap in a hammock on the beach. We were having drunk monkey sex nearly every night. I think I got dehydrated once, and now I’m in sex camel mode. Adrienne’s got it all stored up in her hump, and I’m in the celibate desert.”

Myra looked intrigued, and Shelby looked as though she wanted to be anywhere but there.

“And now, Kristen is drawing pictures of dead women, and the guy who did it is on the island. Adrienne’s blood pressure is too high, and she’s gotta lay low, and I really, really want a pack of cigarettes and a bottle of bourbon!”

“I can give you something for anxiety and—”

“No, Shelby. I appreciate it, but no.” I blew my nose on a napkin. “I feel better now that I’ve had an explosion. I can’t have anything dulling my senses right now. I have to be sharp.”

Myra squeezed my shoulder. “Remember how you used to tear up banana trees when you quit smoking?” She smiled when I nodded. “I’ll bet they’re all grown back in by now. You could vent that way.”

I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand. “A banana tree ass whipping would be good right now. There’s a patch of sturdy ones growing in the woods not far from the house. Maybe I’ll maim a few on the way home.”

Shelby rolled her eyes and shrugged. “What’s wrong with a few deep breathing exercises? Why must you tear up a tree?”

“Oh, hush, Shelby,” Myra said. “They grow like weeds. There’s nothing wrong with pruning a few.”

I was about to explain how the trunks were mushy, perfect for pounding and kicking, when BJ walked up. “Hayden, did you check into the kite boarding like I asked?”

Audrey stood just behind her, threatening me with her gaze.

“BJ, I explained that though there are kite boarders on the island, no one rents them. The winds around the island are strong, and unless you know what you’re doing, you can be whipped into something or dragged—”

“Let me tell you something, lady,” BJ said with a hand on her hip. “We paid good money to come here. I expect good service. I’ve laid low many a concierge and resort manager for less.”

I breathed in deeply and spoke calmly. “Nowhere in our brochure or Web site do we offer kite boarding. I’ll gladly arrange any of the other activities that we offer, but as far as the boarding goes, you’re out of luck.” I smiled and hoped for BJ’s safety that she didn’t press her point because I was envisioning her as a banana tree.

Audrey ushered an indignant BJ away from our table. I looked at Myra and Shelby. “Now if you’ll excuse me, there’s a banana tree out there with BJ’s name on it.”

Chapter Ten

“I want food!” the baby said, looking up at me from the crib.

“How’re you talking? You’re not supposed to do that for a while.”

The baby sneered, revealing toothless gums. “I want food.” She pointed at my chest with a stubby finger.

I looked down bewildered. “Oh, no, there’s no dairy farm here, little missy. You’ve got the wrong momma. How ’bout a hamburger, a juicy steak?”

The baby shouted angrily, “You’re not my momma.”

I woke myself saying, “But I am your momma.” Adrienne’s side of the bed was empty, and sunlight streamed through the blinds. I got up mad and mumbling back at the dream baby. “I am your momma. I helped festoon that room of yours, personally picked out half the stuffed animals.” I went into the bathroom and turned on the water for my shower. “And if you think you’re gonna talk to me that way, you’ve got another thing coming, shorty.” I froze as I recalled my mother saying the same thing to me minus the shorty. “Oh, dear God, the baby isn’t even here, and I’m quoting my mother.”

*******

I stood in the kitchen drinking a cup of coffee as I watched Adrienne and Kristen eat breakfast on the deck. For Adrienne—for both of them actually—it had to be extremely gratifying to talk to someone who could relate to their unique abilities. It went beyond that, though, and I wasn’t sure if either of them realized it. Outside of their gifts, they had a lot in common and not just the simple things like shared interests. They reasoned and reacted to things similarly, almost like twins.

I jumped when the phone rang. Iris sounded agitated. “Hayden, come to the bar right now, alone.” Before I could ask what the deal was, she hung up, an irritating habit that grated my frail nerves.

“Iris needs me at the bar for something.” I kissed Adrienne. “I’ll be back soon.” Before I knew what I was doing, I’d kissed Kristen on the top of the head when I passed her. I looked back at Adrienne bewildered, but she was smiling in that way that said, “you make me love you.”

The first person I noticed when I walked into the bar was Iris. Her eyes were big as saucers. “Oh, Hayden, dere’s…she…” Iris crossed herself and stepped out of my way, giving me a full view of a woman sitting at one of our tables. My jaw sagged. “She asked to speak to the owner. She’s looking for Kristen,” Iris said excitedly.

I found it difficult to approach the table where she sat sipping a glass of water. My knees felt rubbery as my eyes tried to convince my brain of what I was seeing—Adrienne, a much older version, but Adrienne nonetheless.

“May…I help you?” I leaned on a chair for support.

She scanned my face for a moment before she spoke, and when I heard her voice, it sounded so much like Adrienne’s, I was forced to sit. “My niece called me from this inn a few days ago.” She nodded toward Iris, who pretended to be doing something at the bar. “The lady told me that she’s no longer here.” Her eyes narrowed slightly. “Hayden, you and I know this isn’t true.”

“Wh-who is your niece?”

I watched as a single eyebrow rose. “Her name is Kristen Waverly, and I’m Elaine Vaughn, her aunt.”

I gnawed the inside of my cheek unsure of how to proceed. The resemblance to Adrienne made me immediately want to trust her, but I wasn’t ready to admit we were hiding Kristen and why. “Ms. Waverly did stay here, but she’s no longer a guest at the inn,” I said, choosing my words carefully.

Elaine laughed lightly then, and I fought the urge to gasp at the familiar lilt of it. “She may not be staying at the inn proper, but she is here.” Her expression changed in an instant. “And she’s in trouble.”

“Did she tell you that?” I feigned concern, but she saw easily through my ruse.

“I’d like to see my niece right now, or I’ll turn this place upside down until I find her.”

“Iris, is Colie available?” I asked loudly.

Iris spun around at my question. “I’ll call him now.”

I looked back at Elaine. “Would you excuse me for a minute?”

I found Iris in the kitchen, and when she finished with the phone, I called the house. Kristen answered. “What is your aunt’s name?” I asked without preamble.

“Elaine Vaughn.”

“How long has it been since you’ve seen her?” I asked, trying to keep irritation and anxiety out of my voice.

Kristen was silent for a moment. “Maybe my freshman year in high school. She and my mom…they weren’t close, but we talk every now and then. Why?”

I looked at Iris. “How long before Colie gets here?”

“He said ten minutes.”

I put the phone back up to my ear. “Is Adrienne taking her morning nap?”

“Yes,” Kristen said with a tone of bewilderment.

“Meet me at the cottage you originally stayed at in ten minutes, and come alone.” I employed Iris’s habit and hung up before she could ask more.

“What if one of the guests sees her?” Iris asked. “Nearly all of dem are at the beach today.”

“Would you go and make sure that doesn’t happen?”

Iris nodded and started to walk away before turning on one heel. “Dat woman…I thought she was Adrienne for a second. Do you think…”

I shook my head. “I can’t go there. I can’t let that thought take root in my mind. I’ve been singing about doughnuts in my head since the minute I saw her. Thank God Adrienne is asleep.”

I walked back into the bar as casually as I could. “Can I get you something besides water? Coffee, maybe?”

“No, thank you.” Elaine watched me closely as I sat back down.

“Colie is a policeman. I’ve asked him to join us.”

Elaine’s eyes widened for a moment, then she tilted her head to the side. “Does he have my niece?”

“I have your niece, but when she confirms that you are indeed who you say you are, I’d like him present.”

“Who is she hiding from and why?”

“She’ll explain that when she meets you. How did you know my name?”

That single brow rose again. “I’ll tell you when I see my niece.”

I drummed my fingers on the table not knowing what to say. She stared back at me. “Where are you from?”

“Georgia.”

“Directly north of Florida.” Adrienne lived in Florida all her life, and I found it interesting that Elaine lived so close.

Elaine looked at me oddly. “Yes,” she said as though I were an idiot. She looked past me at Colie when he walked in.

I stood. “Colie, this is Elaine Vaughn. She claims to be Kristen’s aunt.” His expression looked much like Iris’s when he noticed Elaine. He looked back at me with wide eyes. “I called Kristen, and she confirmed that her aunt’s name is Elaine Vaughn, but I wanted you to be present for the reunion. Kristen is with Iris at one of the cottages.”

Colie smiled disarmingly. “May I see some identification, please?” Elaine narrowed her eyes as she reached into her purse and produced a wallet. She opened it and pulled out her driver’s license, which she handed him along with her passport. Colie looked at them for a moment and nodded. “Hayden, lead the way.”

None of us said a word as we walked back to the cottage. Colie was in the lead, and I followed Elaine, sizing her up. She wasn’t as tall as Adrienne. Her starched teal blouse was tucked into a pair of crisp white capri pants. Her sandals and belt matched the blouse. The entire outfit was color coordinated, a habit that Adrienne shared.

When we arrived at the cottage, Colie paused and asked me to go in first, putting Elaine between the two of us. Kristen looked at me expectantly, then smiled when I stepped out of the way and Elaine stepped into the room. The hug they exchanged was awkward, distant as if done more out of obligation than genuine happiness to be reunited. “What are you doing here?” Kristen asked as she released her.

“I have a lot to explain, but for now, I can tell you that my intuition is a bit more acute than the average person. I know there’s something going on, and I needed to see you.”

“So do you read minds, or do you discern things by drawing like Kristen does?” I asked pointedly, drawing Elaine’s attention. “We’re intimately acquainted with those types of gifts here. At least the people present in this room are.”

Elaine looked annoyed for a second, then slightly relieved. “I hear things.” She looked back at Kristen. “I should’ve told you long ago, but my sister wouldn’t allow it.”

“So you’re like Adrienne then?” Kristen said. Elaine looked at her oddly, and my heart seized. “She’s Hayden’s partner. She has the same ability.”

“How much do you know about Kristen’s situation?” Colie asked, changing the subject.

I sank down in a chair next to Iris. It was too much of a coincidence that Elaine and Adrienne looked and sounded so much alike. That they had the same ability confirmed my suspicions.

Elaine sat on the corner of the bed. “I know she’s hiding from someone, someone dangerous. That’s why I’m here.”

Colie and Kristen took turns bringing Elaine up to speed. When they had finished, she looked as shaken as I did, but for different reasons, I supposed. I had no idea how accurate her gift was. Adrienne’s seemed to be intermittent. She’d never been able to completely harness her ability. When our lives were on an even keel and there weren’t many distractions, she could focus and often catch the thoughts of those around her. She could also pick up bits and pieces of our guests’ inner thoughts, sometimes before they even got to the island.

“Where are you staying, Ms. Vaughn?” Colie asked.

“At a place called The Cove.” She looked stunned when we all gasped.

“That’s where Alvin Stinslin is staying,” Colie said. “We’ll need to relocate you.”

“She could stay here,” Kristen said. “Right here in this cottage since I’m saying at your place.”

I wanted to slap her over backward. Kristen could draw a killer, and she figured out Adrienne’s gift, but she failed to see the big picture sitting right in front of her. I looked over at Iris not knowing what to say. She stared back at me just as blankly. “There’s a complication…I’m not sure how to handle it just yet.” Iris and Colie exchanged knowing glances, but Kristen looked at me doe-eyed. I lost my patience.

I pointed to Elaine. “Look at her closely, Kristen. Who does she remind you of?”

Kristen scrunched up her face and looked between us for a moment.

“How does she not get it?” I clenched my fists. “Look at her! She looks just like Adrienne. They have the same damn gift!”

Apparently, blond moments are a factual thing. Kristen looked stupefied, then backed up with her hand over her forehead. “Oh, my…God. There’s just no way.”

Elaine looked positively flummoxed. I softened my tone. “Sorry to get personal, but I need to know if you gave a baby up for adoption.”

“Excuse me?” Elaine’s face flushed red. “Why would you ask such a—” Elaine wrapped her arms around herself and stared at the floor.

“Elaine, she’s thirty-four. Do the numbers add up?” I persisted. I watched as she clamped her eyes shut and took a deep trembling breath. Iris put a hand to my arm and stilled me before I grabbed Elaine and started shaking answers out of her. I wasn’t sure why I was so riled up. I suppose it was my need to protect Adrienne from the shock of it all.

Kristen sat on the bed and laid a hand on Elaine’s shoulder. “Did you have a baby?”

“Yes.” It came out on a whisper before Elaine grabbed a lock of her own hair and started twirling it around her finger.

Colie, the more analytical of us all, spoke up. “There is a chance that it could very well be coincidence.”

Iris huffed. “Look at her, Colie. She looks and sounds just like Adrienne, and she has the gift.”

No one could refute that.

“She’s going to wake up from her nap, and that brain of hers is gonna start ticking.” I got up and started pacing.

“Oh, her blood pressure,” Iris said with a groan.

“Is she ill?” Elaine looked up at me.

“She’s pregnant,” everyone in the room said at once.

Elaine looked as though we had all taken a turn bitch-slapping her. She had that bewildered overwhelmed look that I’d seen on Adrienne, and my heart melted. I didn’t need DNA tests or blood work to know she was most certainly Adrienne’s mother. “I’m sorry, Elaine. On our visit to the doctor yesterday, we found out that Adrienne’s blood pressure was sort of high. I guess I’m a bit overly protective. Adrienne is adopted, she’s never met her birth parents. And you…you look and sound just like her. I can’t agree with Colie on this one. It can’t be a coincidence, especially with you both having the same ability.”

“Someone should check on Adrienne,” Iris said.

I wanted to go but knew I couldn’t. Adrienne would take one look at me and know something was wrong without getting in my head. She’d figure out Iris and Kristen in a heartbeat, too. “Colie, would you do it?” I asked.

“Certainly.” He backed out of the room quickly, probably relieved to escape the drama.

Elaine was pale and trembling when I looked back at her. “I need a drink. Iris, why don’t you come with me to the bar and let’s let Elaine and Kristen talk?”

Chapter Eleven

I made myself a giant rum and Coke while Iris grabbed a few bottles of water and one bottle of wine. She uncorked it and set two glasses on a tray. “I’ll be right back. They probably need something for their nerves, too.”

“I’ll wait for you in the kitchen. I don’t want to see anyone right now.” I took my glass and went straight to one of the big freezers. With a bag of frozen peas against my forehead, I stood in the quiet kitchen and wondered what the hell I was going to do. I started mentally ticking off the points.

Adrienne’s probable real birth mother was on the island and presently at our inn.

There was a guy we were fairly certain was a killer on the island, as well, and he was after Kristen, Adrienne’s cousin…Oh my God, cousin.

And now, Adrienne’s mother was directly in the path of the killer, too.

Hell, we all were.

And in the middle of this shit storm, the love of my life was carrying our child, and she wasn’t doing so hot.

“Shit.” I covered my entire face with the bag of peas.

Iris walked in with a tall drink of her own. She rarely imbibed, but today, she was making an exception. I marveled that she had taken the time to add an umbrella to her glass. She took a long healthy sip. “Hayden, you have to tell her. Dere’s no way we can keep dis a secret.”

“I know, but I don’t know what it’s going to do to her.”

Iris shook her head. “Dat woman is Adrienne’s mother, I know it down in my bones. She even moves like Adrienne.”

“My life has become an article straight out of the National Enquirer. Right now, on this island are three women with some sort of psychic ability. And to top it off, they’re probably all related.” I smacked my forehead with the bag of peas. “And let’s not forget that there’s some nutcase with his sights set on one of them.”

“Dis is bad.” Iris nearly caved in her cheeks as she sucked through her straw.

“I have often wished that she couldn’t hear my thoughts, but today I wish it more than ever.”

“You have to tell her before she begins to hear it on her own. Can you imagine the shock?”

I tossed the peas back into the freezer and gulped down half my drink.

“Do you want me to go with you?” Iris pulled out her straw and did the same.

“Did you honestly think I was going to say no?”

*******

By the time I got to the steps of the house, I had a buzz and no plan.

“Just say it from dey hip.” Iris climbed the steps behind me. “Don’t beat in the bush, just say it.”

“It’s ‘beat around the bush.’”

“Dat’s what I said, girl.”

Adrienne was on the couch when we walked in. Colie sat across from her in a chair. They both smiled at us, but Adrienne’s faltered when she looked at me. “What’s wrong? I’ve been hearing nothing but doughnut songs since Colie woke me. And where’s Kristen?”

Adrienne made room for me as I sat on the couch. “Kristen’s fine. She’s with her aunt who has come to be with her.”

“Then why do you look so troubled, and what’s with the internal doughnut monologue?”

“It’s the aunt.” I stalled for time, hoping something brilliant would come to me. “I just want to prepare you before you meet her.”

“She looks just like you, and she has the gift,” Iris blurted out. She shrugged when I glared at her. “You were taking all day.”

“Have you been drinking?” Colie asked Iris.

“Yes…a lot.”

“Iris?” Adrienne looked at her in shock. “During the day?”

“Dat woman, she’s—”

I cleared my throat and silenced Iris. This was no time to be blunt. I had to be careful in my dissemination of information. Too much at one time could be upsetting. I took Adrienne’s hand in mine. “We think Kristen might be your cousin and Elaine is your mother.”

Adrienne leaned in close and sniffed. “Have you been drinking?”

“A lot.” I nodded. “But we’ve all seen her, and we all think…”

“My mother,” Adrienne said. “You’ve met a woman who looks like me and you think she’s my birth mother?”

I nodded. Adrienne looked at Colie, and he shrugged, leaving me and Iris to look like drunken lunatics. “I know it sounds crazy, but you’d have to see her to understand.”

“Okay, well, let me have a look at her,” Adrienne said as though she were humoring us.

I’d been so concerned about how Adrienne might react that I didn’t consider that Elaine might not want to see her. Adrienne zeroed in on that thought and narrowed her eyes. “Where is she?”

“At the cottage that Kristen stayed in. They’re talking.”

“Let me get this straight. You left Kristen alone with her?” Adrienne said.

“They’re not completely alone,” Colie cut in. “I have my people all over the grounds.”

Adrienne relaxed. “Well, invite them over.”

“We’ll go and see if dere ready.” Iris motioned for Colie to follow her.

When the door closed behind them, Adrienne’s expression was a mix of disbelief and humor. “Love, this is a little crazy even for you. This woman might favor me, but how can you believe she’s my mother?”

“Like I said, you have to see her. She has the same ability you do, and she did admit that she gave a child up for adoption.” I tucked a strand of hair behind Adrienne’s ear. “Are you all right?”

“Of course I am. I’m just wondering if you’ve all lost your minds. What did you drink?”

“Rum and Coke, but that was after I met Elaine. Iris was so rattled that she drank one, too.”

This gave Adrienne pause. Her smile slowly dissipated.

“What if this woman really is your mother?”

“I don’t know,” Adrienne said with a slight shake of her head. “I suppose I’d have a lot of questions if she actually was. I have to admit, I have wondered what it would be like to meet my birth parents.”

“Did you ever try to find out who they were?”

“No, I guess I thought that if they really cared, they’d look for me. I was afraid that if I found them, they might not want to have anything to do with me. That alone kept me from doing anything.”

“What if they or she has been thinking the same thing, and that’s why she didn’t try to find you?”

Adrienne smiled and stroked my cheek. “That’s a sweet notion.”

Iris and Colie stayed gone for a while, and I began to assume the worst when I heard footsteps on the stairs. Iris’s head popped through the door. “Dere here.”

Adrienne and I stood, unsure of how to behave. Iris stepped on through with Colie behind her. Kristen was next, then Elaine. All eyes in the room were on her and Adrienne.

“Ah…Elaine, this is my partner, Adrienne,” I said when no one spoke.

Adrienne blinked for a second, then smiled slightly. “Well, I see what all the fuss is about now. It’s nice to meet you, Elaine.”

Elaine inhaled sharply. “It’s nice to meet you, too.”

No one moved a muscle.

“Umm…why don’t you come in and sit down?” I said. Iris tugged Colie down into a chair. She perched on the arm, and Kristen took a seat on the floor.

Elaine shook her head slightly. “This is so…very awkward. I can’t believe what I’m seeing. I…I don’t know what to say.”

“I say we should be leaving.” Colie stood despite Iris’s protests. “We should give you some time to get acquainted.” Iris looked miffed as he led her toward the door.

I wanted to say we were all family and there was no reason to leave, but I wasn’t sure it was my place. Adrienne probably would’ve said the same thing, but she was in a stare-down with Elaine. Iris broke the spell when she kissed Adrienne on the cheek. “Call me if you need me, child.”

Adrienne looked at her wide-eyed and nodded. I took Adrienne by the hand and led her to the couch where she sat. “Please sit down, Elaine. Can I get you something to drink? Water, coffee, bourbon?” I asked nervously.

“No, thank you.” She took a seat on the edge of a chair and looked like she was ready to bolt at any second. “We do…look a lot alike.”

“Hayden says you gave a baby up for adoption?” Adrienne’s voice had a dreamlike quality to it.

Elaine nodded. “Thirty-four years ago. She was born May twenty-ninth.”

I watched as Adrienne closed her eyes and opened them slowly. “Do you mind if I ask why?”

“It was very complicated back then.” Elaine looked at me. “Hayden, if you don’t mind, I’d like to take you up on that offer of water, please.”

“Sure.” I got up and went into the kitchen. Looking back over the room while I opened a bottle and poured it into a glass, I was struck by the spectacle. Adrienne’s and Elaine’s profiles looked so much alike they could’ve been twins. Kristen sat quietly as she tried to take it all in.

“He was my first and only love. We we’re both seventeen.” Elaine’s hands shook as she accepted the glass I gave her. “Thank you.” She took a sip and cleared her throat. “He dropped out of school and took a job when he found out I was pregnant. We were going to be married, but he was killed in a car accident before we ever had the chance. I found myself faced with raising a baby alone with no means to support myself or…my child. My family was very poor, and I had…” Elaine put a finger to her lips and took a deep breath. “I…was going through so many things then, and I was convinced that the baby would’ve been better off with someone else.”

“Is that why you had a nervous breakdown?” Kristen asked.

Elaine looked taken aback by the question and sighed. “Yes. I just needed time to get myself straight. I didn’t look at my ability as a gift, but rather an affliction. All the voices in my head.” Elaine pressed a trembling finger to her temple. “I thought something was wrong with me. I thought I was unfit to raise a child.”

Adrienne ran a hand over her stomach, her expression a mix of empathy and bewilderment.

“You have it, too,” Elaine said as she gazed at Adrienne’s protruding belly. “I thought it was just me. I never dreamed that I would…pass this…on.” She looked at Adrienne with trepidation. “Is your birthday May twenty-ninth?” Elaine set her glass on the table with a thud when Adrienne nodded. “Dear God.”

“So it is you then,” Adrienne said. “You’re my…birth mother.”

Elaine smiled weakly. “Everything appears to be pointing in that direction. I suppose we could have some tests run to confirm.”

Adrienne’s expression was puzzling. I wasn’t sure what was going through her mind, but before I could ponder it further, the phone rang. Colie was cool, but there was an edge. “Stinslin is on the move. He’s rented a scooter and has been to two of the other inns already. We think he may be headed our way.”

“I’ll meet you at the bar.” I hung up and met Adrienne’s curious gaze. “Colie says Stinslin is headed our way. I’m going to the bar to meet him.”

“I’m going with you.” With effort, Adrienne got to her feet before I could stop her.

“No, stay here with Kristen. I’ll go see what he’s up to.”

“Hayden, I can help. I can get into his brain. It’ll give us a leg up.”

I grabbed Adrienne gently by the shoulders. “I know you don’t want to be reminded of this, but you have to lay low. Besides, it’s a stressful situation, and you don’t need any more of that in your life right now.”

“I could go with you.”

Adrienne and I turned and looked at Elaine who was standing, as well. I looked back at Adrienne and shrugged. “That could work.”

Adrienne sighed in resignation. “You promised you wouldn’t do anything dangerous. Just see what he’s up to and leave the rest to Colie, okay?”

I kissed her softly and gave her my promise. Elaine followed me out the door, but I waited to speak until we were on the path together. “Adrienne’s ability is hit and miss. Is yours the same?”

“There are a lot of variables. If I’m preoccupied, the voices are only whispers. You have to understand that I hear them all the time. Unless I’m paying close attention, it’s all background noise. If I can touch him, the link will be stronger. Nothing big, just a handshake or I could accidentally bump into him.”

“We’re gonna have to play this one by ear. Colie says he visited the two other inns. That tells me he’s actively looking for Kristen. If we can keep him occupied, he won’t be able to approach the other guests if they’re in the bar.”

When we arrived, Colie was in street clothes. Jacob was there, too, sitting by himself. He smiled and nodded as I walked in. “What’s the word?” I asked Colie.

“He’s definitely coming here. I have people watching him now. Bill at the Bayside said he showed him a picture of a young blond woman. He claimed she was his sister and is missing.”

“Sly son of a bitch.” I grimaced. “Sorry, Elaine.”

“I was thinking sly bastard,” she said as she looked around.

There were only two guests in the bar, Bobby and Alex, and from the looks of it, they were putting the finishing touches on a late lunch. Iris walked out of the kitchen with her skillet and set it on the bar before joining the group. “Iris, you can’t hit him yet.”

“Just a precaution,” she said.

We all looked at one another when a sound of a scooter met our ears. “Honey, you and Hayden just act normally. Treat him as you would anyone else coming to the inn,” Colie said. “Elaine and I will sit at the bar.”

We broke from the huddle with our game plan. Iris checked on Bobby and Alex while I moved behind the bar and mixed drinks for Elaine and Colie. The repugnant little bastard pulled up dressed in a pair of Bermuda shorts and button-down short-sleeved shirt. I was expecting him to be dressed in black covered with tattoos depicting some horrifying scene, but Satan personified looked like any other tourist.

“Hello, how are you today?” I called out. Stinslin’s gaze darted around the room as he made his way to the bar. “I hope you’re not looking for a room. I’m afraid we’re booked at the moment.” I smiled and wiped away a water ring on the bar.

“Are you the proprietor?” He took a seat.

“I am unless you’re selling something.” I thrust out my hand. “Hayden Tate.” My stomach roiled when my skin came in contact with his. I pointed to Elaine. “This is Elaine, my mother-in-law.” He gripped her hand daintily and smiled. It made me sick.

I put an empty glass on the bar. “What can I get you Mr.…?”

“Waverly, Ronnie Waverly,” he said. “Jack Daniels and Coke if you got it.”

“That we do.” I mixed the drink and waved off the cash he’d pulled from his pocket. “We’re all-inclusive here. I can’t make change, it’s on the house.” And I hope it gives you the screaming shits.

“Thank you kindly.” He tipped the glass in my direction, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a picture. I knew it was going to be of Kristen, but I was expecting to see a shot of her that maybe he’d taken with a phone. Kristen was standing arm in arm with a nice-looking young woman. They were both smiling for the camera. Stinslin tapped Kristen’s image. “This is my little sister. I’m hoping you’ll be able to tell me that you’ve seen her.”

I stared at it long and hard, wondering how he’d managed to get his hands on a photograph that obviously belonged to Kristen or someone she knew. “She looks like a girl that stayed here briefly.” I decided not to lie because if he did get past me to one of the guests, they’d more than likely contradict my story.

“How long ago was that?” Stinslin asked.

I shrugged. “A few days ago, I think. We don’t normally book shorts stays, but I made an exception. As I recall, she was a pretty sweet kid.”

“Did she say where she was headed?”

None of your business, needle dick. I shrugged again. “I don’t think this island is what she had in mind. The younger crowd is more interested in a place with a real nightlife. Nassau has the casinos and clubs.”

I glanced at Elaine as Stinslin tucked the picture back into his breast pocket. She was poised, but she was fidgeting with a strand of her hair the way Adrienne does when she’s nervous.

“Was she traveling alone?” Stinslin asked before taking a healthy swallow of his drink.

“I heard her talking on her cell phone one morning,” Elaine said. “It sounded to me like she was planning to meet up with someone.”

I smiled at Elaine. She was getting into the act.

I mixed another Jack and Coke and slid it over to Stinslin. “You look like you need another one, buddy. My baby sister ran off and married the wrong guy, too.”

The sorry bastard’s eyes actually misted. “She’s all I got left in this world. Our parents died when we were young.” He rubbed his face with the back of his hand. “We had a fight, and she took off.”

You ass-licking, slimy weasel. I ought to grab Iris’s skillet and beat you into a puddle. Elaine coughed, then cleared her throat. Apparently, her gift was kicking in because she looked at me and blinked a couple of times. I continued to act a part in his bullshit drama. “Well, Ron, you’re among friends here. I cry my heart out some nights over my kid sister. The guy she just had to have was all flash on the outside, but behind the façade, just plain evil.”

Stinslin finished off the first drink, picked up the second, and made an impressive dent in it. He exhaled loudly as he set the glass down. “I was so happy when a guy at the airport told me he’d seen her and that she was staying here. I guess I’m a day late and a sister short.” He smiled at his play on words. “The funny thing is that he told me he flew her in, and he hasn’t seen her since. So I went down to the marina and asked around. There’s only two boats that take people as far as Nassau, and they haven’t seen her, either. That tells me she’s still here.”

I glanced at Iris’s iron skillet still sitting on the end of the bar, then at the empty table where Bobby and Alex had been sitting. The idea was becoming more appealing by the second. When I glanced at Elaine, her eyes were huge.

“You’re discounting the private fishing charters. When I’ve had to get off the island in a hurry, I paid some of them a few extra bucks and they took me,” Elaine said with a sympathetic tone after she recovered from obviously hearing my inner ponderings. “And then there’s whomever she was talking to on the phone. They may’ve come for her.”

Stinslin’s face darkened for a split second, and in that moment, I saw the animal that Kristen had depicted. He inhaled loudly. “I suppose that’s a possibility.” He tossed back the remainder of his drink. “Nice place you have here. I like it. Everything is so spread out. I’m staying at The Cove, and it feels like we’re all on top of each other, no privacy.”

For what, prick? Need extra space to knock off a few more women? I glanced at the skillet, wondering if there was a way I could accidently drop it on his head. A concussion might keep him out of the loop for a few days.

Elaine cleared her throat and took a sip of her drink.

“We do have a lot of privacy here, but don’t let that fool you. We take the safety of our guests very seriously, and there’s always someone watching out for them.” I topped off Stinslin’s drink.

“Where are you from, Mr. Waverly?” Colie asked.

“It’s Ron, you make me feel old as,” Stinslin motioned with his hand as if he were trying to recall something, “as the Hermitage. I’d like to have a look at that place. Maybe if I find Kristen, we can go together.” He stood and downed his drink. “I thank you folks kindly for the information. You can find me at The Cove for the next few days, so if any of you hear anything or run across her, please let me know.”

“Will do,” I said with a smile. “Good luck and take care of yourself.”

We all sat quietly until he drove off.

I looked at Colie. “I think you rattled him when you asked where he was from.”

Iris walked over to the bar with a scowl. “He’s a very convincing liar. I would’ve believed him if I didn’t already know about him.”

“He doesn’t believe us,” Elaine said after a minute or two. “He spoke to a woman named…BJ, and she said she thought she saw Kristen here yesterday.”

“Kristen was at our place yesterday. There’s no way—shit.” I pounded my hand on the bar. “BJ and Audrey are birders. I bet they tramped through the brush near the house. They probably spotted Kristen on the deck. I’m going home.” I grabbed Iris’s skillet and took off through the brush before anyone could stop me.

By the time I got to the stairs of the house, Iris, Colie, and Elaine pulled up in the cart. Colie’s men stepped out of the tree line and assured us they hadn’t seen anyone, but that didn’t stop me, Iris, or Elaine from charging up the stairs to see for ourselves.

Adrienne looked stunned as I bolted through the door and pulled her into my arms. I couldn’t touch or look at her enough. She took my hands in hers. “What’s wrong?”

I smiled sheepishly. “I just needed to know you were okay.”

I looked over at Kristen who was wrapped up in Elaine’s arms. Elaine was watching Adrienne and me with an odd expression on her face.

“Did you meet him?” Adrienne asked.

“We did.” I took a calming breath but jumped when Colie opened the door.

“Elaine, can you tell us what his plans are now?” he asked as he walked into the room. Colie was all business, but I knew he was as nervous as we all were.

“Let me think.” Elaine took a seat on the end of the couch, and Kristen sat on the floor beside her. The room went silent as we waited. “He’s going to use the woman he’s traveling with. She believes his story.”

“Anything else?” Colie asked patiently.

“No, I’m sorry. That’s all I have at the moment.” Elaine looked disappointed with herself.

“What you’ve given us so far is a great help.” Colie smiled at her. “It’s a mixed blessing. We know he’s going to continue to look for Kristen. That means he’ll stay on the island where we can watch him.”

Iris picked up her skillet where I’d dropped it on the floor and waved it. “I want to stop him. What if the FBI can’t help us? What den?”

“I’m not discounting what Kristen has revealed, but I can’t arrest him on that alone.” Colie draped an arm around Iris. “I must have something conclusive, something that will stand up in a court of law.”

All heads in the room turned to Kristen when we heard the familiar scratching of pencil against paper. She tore off the sheet and handed it to Colie. “We may have that conclusive evidence you seek soon if he’s not stopped.”

Colie passed me the sketch. Adrienne leaned into me as we gazed at it. Stinslin was standing behind his traveling companion, his face a dark mask of hostility while his victim looked on oblivious to the danger.

Chapter Twelve

Our home had become a crowded fortress. Inside, Kristen and Elaine shared the guest room after one of Colie’s people collected Elaine’s things from The Cove. Teddy slept in a tent we erected in the living room using sheets. Iris and Colie bunked on the sofa sleeper. Outside, the inn was crawling with Colie’s “people.” Their home had become command central with our protectors taking turns resting between shifts.

The majority of the people on the island knew Adrienne and me well and thought of us as family. Most of them had been touched in some way by Aunt Gloria, who had been considered a saint in the eyes of many before she died. One thing was for sure, the people of Cat Island protected their own, and we had no doubt that if Stinslin tried to get anywhere near the house, we’d never see him again. I should’ve found comfort in that, but it troubled me that someone we cared for would have blood on his hands.

“Are you feeling better now?” I lay spread out on the bed, and Adrienne was rubbing my feet.

“This is kind of backward, you know. I’m supposed to be taking care of you, not the other way around,” I said.

“It makes me feel better, useful to do something for you.” Adrienne frowned. “I feel like a lame duck.”

“You’re a hot duck. I’d love to ruffle your tail feathers.”

Adrienne cocked her head to the side. “You’re still interested in my feathers? They’re kinda fluffy right now.”

I sat up. “Even if you weren’t the most beautiful woman I have ever known, I’d still want you because of the woman you are. And just for the record, you are smoking hot right now. So flop down and gimme those feet.”

Adrienne giggled as she lay down and I took a foot in my hand, then sighed while I kneaded the flesh just beneath her toes. “I miss having a physical connection with you. We snuggle and rub each other’s feet, well, mostly you rub my feet. But sometimes I ache to feel your naked body pressed against mine.”

Her words sent shivers up my spine. “I miss it, too, but I have no doubt that the first chance we get, we’ll make up for lost time.”

“I wonder what Elaine thinks about us. You think she approves of our relationship?”

I kneaded into the arch of Adrienne’s foot and was gratified with a groan of pure pleasure. “You can’t get into her head?”

“No.” Adrienne yawned. “I don’t try. This day has been so overwhelming that I haven’t been able to be quiet enough to listen if I wanted to.” She pulled a pillow beneath her head. “This is a subject I shouldn’t have brought up. It still feels too much like a dream, and if I let my mind…”

And Adrienne was asleep. I lay down with her foot in the center of my chest and let my mind wander. Elaine’s arrival did seem like a dream that occurred days ago, not hours. The situation with Stinslin had eclipsed everything and made it all seem even more surreal. Across the hall were Adrienne’s cousin and birth mother, and I still couldn’t believe it.

I knew Adrienne wasn’t taking it in stride. She was on mental overload, worrying about the baby, worrying about Kristen and the safety of all she loved. I supposed if she hadn’t had all that to contend with, she would’ve totally freaked out upon discovering Elaine. Perhaps the timing was some cosmic joke or maybe divine intervention, I thought as I felt sleep coming but was too tired to switch off the light.

*******

The room was filled with a baby’s laughter, but I couldn’t find the child anywhere. The more I searched, the louder the laughter became. A shadow moved overhead, and I looked up in horror as the diaper-clad infant crawled all over the ceiling. “How the hell did you get up there?” I blinked and the baby was gone, but the laughter remained. “Where are you now?”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement. The baby was standing on the counter wearing a tool belt. I watched in amazement as it took out a screwdriver and began loosening the screws on one of the cabinet hinges. “Oh, don’t do—” Before the words came out of my mouth, the cabinet door swung by one screw, then crashed to the ground. “What are you—part gremlin?”

I spun in the direction of laughter, and the baby was now on the entertainment center. It looked at me with a grin as it slid a tiny hammer from the tool belt that I noticed then was covered in pink elephants. The baby began hammering away on the DVD player, and I watched in amazement as pieces went flying.

“Adrienne!” She didn’t answer.

“Now look, baby, you can’t go around tearing everything up.” It stopped annihilating the DVD player and popped a tiny thumb in its mouth. The cherubic face looked so sweet that I couldn’t help but smile. Slowly, I approached. “Give the hammer to mommy,” I said sweetly. And it did right in the jaw.

“Ow, shit!” I awoke to the kick that Adrienne had delivered to my chin.

“Was that you?” She sat up awkwardly as she tried to rub her own foot.

I grunted in response.

“I’m sorry. I was having a bad dream.” Adrienne scooted toward me and checked for damage.

“Were you a donkey in your dream?” My jaw throbbed.

“No, I was trying to get away from a butterfly.”

“You kicked a butterfly?”

Adrienne’s eyes went wide. “It was an evil butterfly. Oh, Hayden, it was awful with big teeth and talons.”

I opened my mouth wide to make sure I still could. “I was dreaming about the baby, and it was wearing a tool belt. That child was tearing up the place with a tiny hammer. I think I would’ve preferred the butterfly dream.”

Adrienne chuckled. “Well, it is your child.”

I helped Adrienne build her pillow nest to support her belly and another between her knees. After I had her all tucked in, I switched off the light. Adrienne took my hand and held it to her chest. “I’m sorry I hurt you,” she whispered, “but the butterfly was really bad.”

*******

The next morning, I awoke to a ruckus in the kitchen. Adrienne’s side of the bed was empty, and I could smell coffee brewing. I took a quick shower and dressed. When I wandered into the living room, it looked like we were hosting a convention.

Iris had some of our staff bring in breakfast. There were trays of fruit, toast, eggs, and bacon. Colie was in the living room with his laptop on his knees and a phone pressed to his ear. Iris was trying to talk Adrienne into eating oatmeal, and I wasn’t about to be drafted into that war. “Good morning, my love,” I said to Adrienne as I poured myself a cup of coffee.

Iris whirled around, and before she could open her mouth, I put up my hand. “I’m not getting into this battle. Yes, oatmeal is good for you, and yes, my love is a grown woman and can decide for herself what she wants to eat. That’s all I have to offer.”

I spied Elaine on the deck alone, then glanced back at Adrienne, who gave me a slight nod and a smile. “Good morning, Elaine.” I walked onto the deck and took a seat in the swing.

She turned from the railing where she was looking out over the ocean and smiled briefly. “Good morning. Thank you for inviting me into your home.” I studied her as she moved to a chaise lounge nearby. Her finger and toenails were painted a pale shade of iridescent pink. She wore a white tunic-style top over a stylish pair of olive green capri pants. Her clothes were crisp and clean, and she sat with a grace that would cause the least amount of wrinkles. She and Adrienne might’ve lived a lifetime apart, but they were so much alike, it was amazing.

“Did you sleep well?” I asked.

“No, but it was not because of the bed or Kristen’s snoring. I was restless. I think I may’ve woken her a few times. She’s still sleeping.”

“I can’t imagine what you must be feeling right now,” I said after a sip of coffee. “I figure you packed a bag with the intent of finding your niece, and now you find yourself on an island with a suspected murderer and a daughter you thought you’d never see again.”

“I’ve never seen her, never even held her.” Elaine grabbed a lock of her auburn hair and began twirling it around her finger. “There were complications. I was hemorrhaging. They took me into surgery, and the next day when I awoke…she was gone.” Elaine glanced at me, searching my face for judgment. “I told myself it was better that way. She deserved more than I could give her then.”

“I’m not like Adrienne. She always has a knack of saying the right thing at just the right time. I don’t know how to be comforting.”

“I’m inclined to disagree.” Elaine set her cup on the table. “You have a good heart, and you’re fiercely protective of Adrienne. I find that very comforting.”

“Does our relationship bother you?” I asked bluntly, then bit my lip. Tact wasn’t my strong suit until I was fully awake…well, tact simply wasn’t my strong suit, period.

Elaine shook her head. “You love each other. That’s all that matters. Even if I did disapprove, what right would I have to assert my opinion?”

She had a point there. “If you weren’t sort of stuck in this situation, would you have stayed anyway after meeting Adrienne?”

“Absolutely, unless it made her uncomfortable.” She looked at me like that notion hadn’t occurred. “I want very much to get to know Adrienne, but if my presence causes her any undue stress, I’ll find another place to stay. I would like to remain on the island, though, at least until I know Kristen is safe.”

“She hasn’t said anything along those lines. I think she’s in shock right now.”

Elaine’s eyebrows rose, and she sighed. “I can certainly relate to that. That’s why I said a quick good morning and came out here. I want to talk if she’s up to it, but I’m not going to try to push.”

“I’m sure she appreciates that.”

Colie walked onto the deck with a piece of bacon in one hand and a coffee cup in the other. “Ladies, may I interrupt?”

“No, because you’ve come out here with only one piece of bacon,” I said, smiling up at him.

“My apologies.”

I called after Colie as he retreated. “I was joking.” I looked back at Elaine. “I hope you’re hungry because I bet you a hundred bucks he’s gonna come back out here with a heaping plate.”

Elaine looked past my shoulder and grinned. “I’m glad I didn’t take that bet.”

Colie put a plate on the table in front of us piled high with food. “I’ve asked Kristen to stay indoors and off the deck today.”

“I figured that was coming. Poor kid, this has got to be torture for her.” I grabbed a slice of bacon after Elaine had taken a piece of toast. “Let’s just find this guy and whip his ass until he confesses.”

“Hayden,” Colie began. “Everyone is—”

“Innocent if they have money, and if they’re broke, they’re screwed.”

“Put your cynicism aside, girl, and listen.” Colie shot me the look he gave Teddy when he dared to get mouthy. “I’m not taking anything away from Kristen’s or anybody’s ability, but she could be wrong. She told me that she’s not always a hundred percent.”

“Well, I’d be inclined to agree with you if Stinslin hadn’t shown up with a picture of Kristen and a trumped-up story. Which leads me to my next point—how did he get his hands on that photo?”

Colie rubbed his chin. “I’m concerned with that, as well. I’d like to check on a couple of things before we bring that up to Kristen.”

“You suspect he’s been in her home,” Elaine said. “How will you confirm that suspicion?”

“Iris gave me her address. I’ll make some calls to see if perhaps a break-in was reported.” Colie downed the rest of his coffee and prepared to leave. “My people are all over the inn, some are dressed as employees. They are loyal and diligent, but they are not trained professionals.” He narrowed his gaze on me. “Please use common sense and take extra precaution.”

I turned to Elaine when Colie left us. “Are you hearing anything? Do you know how Stinslin got his hands on that photo?”

Elaine shook her head sadly. “I came out here this morning and tried to focus on him, but I didn’t get anything. My thoughts are a jumble as you can imagine.”

“Yes, I know exactly what you mean.” I turned and looked up at Adrienne. She smiled before she leaned down to kiss me. “I ate the oatmeal, no thanks to you,” she said as she tugged on the front of my T-shirt playfully.

“I said you were an adult and could choose for yourself.”

“Do you remember the time you had the flu?” Adrienne raised a brow. Arguing with Iris over food was futile. She honestly believed that all ills could be cured with fruit, protein, and God help us all, cayenne pepper.

“Good morning, Elaine,” Adrienne said. “I apologize for not speaking to you sooner, but I was being held hostage.”

“Think nothing of it. I didn’t want to…crowd you, so I just came out here.” Elaine reached up and grabbed a lock of her hair that she began twirling around her finger.

“Have you always done that?” Adrienne pointed at the obvious nervous habit.

Elaine dropped her hands in her lap. “Yes, since I was a little girl. My mother said I started doing it as soon as she broke me from sucking my thumb.”

“I have dozens of questions if you don’t mind.” Adrienne settled in closer to me, making it obvious that I was to stay put.

“I’ll tell you anything you want to know.” Elaine smiled nervously for a second and reached for the lock of hair that had begun to curl before realizing and tucked her hands under her legs.

Adrienne wrapped an arm around mine to further root me. “Where are you from and do you still live there now?”

“I grew up in Richmond Hill, Georgia, but I moved to Brookhaven just north of Atlanta. I own a store that sells craft supplies and decorating odds and ends. My hobby is sculpting.” Elaine shrugged. “I’m not really all that good at it, but it passes the time.”

“Did you ever marry, if you don’t mind me asking?”

They were insufferably polite. If I’d have been in Adrienne’s shoes, I would’ve gone right to the heart of the matter and demanded to know why she hadn’t sought me out. To my surprise, they both looked at me as if I’d said what was going through my head aloud. I scooted farther down in my seat. “I guess the volume on my inner dialogue is turned up really loud.”

Elaine cleared her throat. “It’s an honest question, Hayden. I believe Adrienne was getting around to it, though.” She looked at Adrienne. “May I answer it now?”

Adrienne nodded and pinched the inside of my arm.

“To say that I’ve lived every day of my life wondering how and where you were sounds trite, but it’s the truth. There are two sides to our family—those who possess special abilities and those who do not. Those who do not refuse to accept it. I think maybe because they’re afraid that their innermost secrets will be revealed. Then it could come down to simple jealousy. Regardless, I was made to feel like I was insane, or worse, unnatural.”

Elaine reclaimed the lock of her hair and began twirling it around her finger. “I don’t know from whom I inherited it. My mother would never say, but when I admitted that I had been hearing things, she didn’t seemed surprised, just disappointed and angry. She said our family had a history of mental illness and that I had succumbed to the curse. I grew up thinking I had mental problems and my mother treated me so. My sister led a normal life going to proms and dating boys, and I was kept away from everyone. My escape came when I met a tall spindly boy in the woods behind our home. His name was Ben Bishop.” Elaine smiled sadly.

“My father,” Adrienne said.

Elaine nodded. “We met one day when he sneaked onto our property to fish. He’d come every afternoon with a fishing pole slung over his shoulder. Then one day he left the pole behind, and I knew he was coming just to see me.” Elaine sighed. “I fell head over heels in love with him and him with me. I never told him I could hear his thoughts, but they were so sweet. While everyone our age was going to movies and dances, we spent our time out at the pond unchaperoned, and I got pregnant.”

Elaine lifted her chin and met our gazes. “That was the first time I stood up to my parents, my mother in particular. I told her I was keeping my baby, and Ben and I were getting married. He was killed a week later in a car accident, going into town for his first day of work.”

“I’m so sorry,” I said. I was sorry for Elaine’s loss, and Adrienne’s, too, as she learned about the father she would never know.

Elaine looked away. “I was six months pregnant then. I couldn’t get a job because my mother didn’t want me in town in my ‘condition.’ I had no means of support apart from them, and they could barely afford to feed and clothe me and my sister. At the time, I was financially and I thought mentally unfit, so when the time came,” Elaine looked at Adrienne, “I let you go. My breakdown followed shortly after. I’d lost everything, and I just…didn’t want to go on.” Elaine’s hands trembled slightly as she struggled to keep them in her lap.

Adrienne and I sat in stunned silence as we absorbed the details.

“My overdose was unsuccessful, as you can see, and when I got out of the hospital, I was sent to live with a family friend. She and her husband were childless, and I guess they sort of adopted me. I never told them about my ability, nor did my mother, so they treated me like you would any other seventeen-year-old. I finished high school, and because of them, I was able to go to college.”

“What did you study?” Adrienne asked.

“Psychology,” Elaine said with a grin. “You would think being able to hear a person’s thoughts would be a huge benefit in that line of work, but for me, it was just too much. I was so deep into my patients’ minds that I began to take on some of their illnesses, so I retired early.” She smiled slightly at Adrienne. “I still haven’t answered your question, but I wanted you to know the background.”

Adrienne nodded. “That’s okay.”

“Once I was on my feet financially and had accepted that I was not insane, you were around fifteen. I started and stopped searches often, and one day, I reluctantly accepted that you had lived all this time without me and might not have even known I existed. As bad as I wanted to know you, I thought it wrong to invade your life, so I decided to wait until you were an adult. And I talked myself out of it again. To be perfectly honest, I was afraid…and I still am.”

Adrienne was unconsciously rubbing her stomach the entire time. “I know,” she said softly.

Neither of them spoke a word, and it made me uncomfortable. When Teddy burst onto the deck with the cordless phone and handed it to me, I sighed internally with relief.

“Hayden, the woman traveling with Stinslin is Anna Harris, and she’s headed your way. Stinslin is on the move, as well, and I’m covering him. You’re going to have to handle Anna alone.”

“I’ve got her, Colie, no problem. The woman that’s traveling with Stinslin is on the way over here,” I said when I put down the phone. “I need to go to the bar.”

“I can go this time, Hayden.” Adrienne was adamant. “This isn’t Stinslin, and there’s plenty of people around to protect us.”

“What if we both go?” Elaine offered. “Two heads are better than one, especially when they can…” She looked at Adrienne. “Do what we do.”

Iris stayed behind with Teddy and Kristen while we took the cart to the bar. By the time we got there, all the guests were at the beach or on an outing. “This is good. Big-mouth BJ isn’t around.”

“I’m sure she didn’t mean any harm, love.” Adrienne squeezed my hand. “BJ probably fell for the story and thought she was being helpful. And we can’t lose sight of the fact Anna is a potential victim.”

“So, Hayden, how do we handle this?” Elaine asked. “Do we sit at the bar like we did the last time?”

I hadn’t thought that far ahead. “I guess so. I just don’t want it to appear like we’re waiting for her. We were at the bar when Stinslin came. They might compare notes.”

Adrienne grabbed me and Elaine by the arms when we heard a car coming up the drive. “You two go into the dining room. I’ll meet her alone at first. It may put her more at ease.”

I reluctantly followed Adrienne’s instruction, but I peeked around the corner just to make sure it was Anna instead of Stinslin. Adrienne pulled a clipboard from under the bar and pretended to be taking inventory as Anna stepped out of a rental car.

“Hello, may I help you?” Adrienne said in a friendly tone.

“Yes, I’m staying at The Cove right now, but I’ve been looking at some of the inns for next year’s vacation. I was hoping someone might give me a tour.”

“Little liar,” I said under my breath.

“She thinks she’s helping Stinslin find his sister,” Elaine whispered. “In her mind, she’s lying for a noble cause.”

Anna Harris looked like she was in her early to mid-forties. She was a plain-looking woman except for her flaming red hair that looked natural to me. I was forced to step out of my hiding place when her darting gaze caught me before I could duck. Elaine followed my lead.

“Ah, Hayden, you saved me from having to yell. This is…” Adrienne raised her eyebrows, and the woman smiled at us.

“I’m Anna Harris.”

“Nice to meet you, Anna.” Elaine put out her hand. “I’m Elaine.”

Smooth, I thought as they briefly clasped hands.

“Are you the innkeeper?” Anna asked.

“Oh, no, I’m Hayden’s…mother-in-law.”

Adrienne shot me a glance, and I smiled.

Elaine stepped aside. “This is Hayden. She’s the owner.”

“Excellent. I’m planning next year’s vacation, and I was hoping to take a look around. I’m staying at The Cove right now, and it really is lovely, but I thought it might be interesting to see other places.”

The impish side of me wanted to make her dance. Yes, I knew that she’d believed a lie, but I still couldn’t help but feel threatened by her in a way. I pointed to Adrienne. “My wife will be happy to discuss rates and availability. It’s actually her forte.” I suppressed a giggle as her jaw fell slack for half a second. “Our clientele is mostly gay and lesbian, but we don’t discriminate. I just thought it was something you should know beforehand.”

“Well…thank you,” she said politely. She gestured with her hands nervously. “I’m very open-minded.”

Adrienne came from behind the bar and joined us. “Would you like to have a look around before we discuss specifics?”

I wanted to laugh outright when Anna’s eyes widened upon seeing Adrienne’s protruding belly. “Sweetie, you should let me take Anna on the tour. Give your feet a rest.”

Adrienne rubbed her lower back, something she’d been doing a lot lately. “I’ll take you up on that.”

“Follow me then, Anna.” I took her first to the dining room and explained that the bar was where we served breakfast and lunch. Then we took to the paths that led to the cottages. I hoped we wouldn’t encounter BJ and Audrey. I was fairly certain that any of the other guests would offer a simple hello and keep going, but BJ was a talker, and she’d most certainly start yapping if prompted.

“I’d show you the interior of one of our cottages, but they’re all occupied at the moment. I’ll give you a brochure that has views of each one.” I walked along slowly. “We operate sort of like a cruise ship. Your two-week stay is all inclusive, but unlike a ship, all drinks—alcohol and non—are included.”

Anna wasn’t listening to a word I was saying. Her gaze darted back and forth. It was so obvious that she was looking for someone. “Do you live on the premises?”

“We do, but our home is private. As you can imagine, we have very little time to ourselves, so you can understand that our home is off-limits. Should you need anything, you can always call the desk, and we or some of our staff will assist you day or night.”

“Is that water I hear?” She looked toward the trail that led to the bluff.

“Yes, it is.” I started down the trail. “I think our beach is one of the prettiest on the island.”

She gasped when the water came into view. “This is absolutely gorgeous.” Her voice trailed off as she looked down on the few guests who were sunning. None of them even came close to matching Kristen’s description. “It’s not all that crowded. They must all be in their cottages sleeping off the free booze,” she said with a smile.

“Not this group. We have some kayakers and deep-sea fishermen with us now. They hit the ground running right after breakfast.”

“Is this more like a couples resort?”

I nodded. “That’s what we tend to attract. There’s not a lot here for children or young people looking for nightlife beyond a campfire on the beach.”

Anna seemed to consider this for a moment. “So if I decided I wanted to come alone, I’d be sort of the odd woman out.”

“Some singles do come here, but not often. We had a young woman visit recently, but it really wasn’t her cup of tea.” I shrugged. “I don’t normally give refunds, but I made an exception in her case. She hadn’t done her homework and booked her stay on impulse.” I turned and started walking slowly back toward the bar hoping she’d follow. “Cat Island, as I’m sure you’ve learned, isn’t for everyone. If you want to bask in the sun and explore an island that is not humming with tourists, then this is heaven.”

Anna grabbed me by the arm and pulled me to a stop. “I need to be honest with you. I’m really looking for a missing woman who I believe stayed here recently. She’s the sister of...the man I’m dating.”

“Ah, he came here yesterday.” I raised my brows. “Ronnie something?”

She looked confused for a second, then shook it off. Apparently, Stinslin didn’t bother to disclose that he used an assumed name.

“I know you told him she left, but we met a woman who claimed she was staying here. She said she saw her at your house. I’m not trying to cause trouble. I just want to find her.”

“Anna, we have friends who visit us often. She probably saw one of them and mistook her for your boyfriend’s sister.” I found myself lying as much as she had. “The girl he showed me a picture of left, and I have no idea where she went. If he’s that concerned, I’d suggest talking to the police.”

“No, he doesn’t want to do that. He doesn’t suspect foul play. He just wants to find his little sister.”

“Then I’d suggest letting her come home on her own time. She’s an adult and she’s free to go where she wants.” I bit my lip, unsure of whether I should play the next card. “Do you think it’s strange that he’s come all this way looking for her and she obviously doesn’t want to be found? I could understand it if she were underage, but like I said, she’s a grown woman.”

Anna looked as though she’d already considered this. “He said they’ve never been apart, and her behavior is odd. Kristen’s never done anything this impulsive.”

I started walking again. “She’s probably already home. You and your boyfriend should relax and enjoy the vacation.”

Anna didn’t say anything else as I led her back to the bar. I could tell that she truly wanted to help, and it made me feel sorry for her. Part of me wanted to grab her by the front of her shirt and tell her she was traveling with a murderer. But how would I validate that? Show her some drawings? At times, I had my doubts about what Kristen was sketching out, but she had been on the mark when she said Stinslin was coming. And even creepier, she drew the woman who now walked behind me before ever laying an eye on her. The thought that Kristen was making the whole thing up and was being pursued by a jilted lover did cross my mind, but I believed that Adrienne or Elaine would’ve caught that.

When we arrived at the bar, Elaine and Adrienne were sporting twin looks of guilt. “I’m afraid you have a flat on your car.” Elaine pointed to the front tire on the driver’s side.

Adrienne piped up. “I hope you don’t mind, but I looked at your rental agreement and called the agency. They don’t have anyone who can come right away.” Adrienne squeezed my upper arm like I had some bulging bicep. “Honey, do you think you could change it for her?”

“Um, sure.” I had no idea what they were up to, but I went out to the car with Adrienne while Elaine fixed a grateful Anna a drink.

“Work slowly, sweetie.” Adrienne kept her back to Anna. “She’s finished her errand, and he has no more use for her. Elaine and I heard his thoughts. We can’t let her go back to him.”

I opened the trunk of the car shielding us from Anna’s gaze. “Okay, so what do we do now? Tell her what we suspect? We can’t kidnap her.”

“Colie’s working on something at his end. He asked us to buy him some time.”

I looked down at the spare and grinned. It was in worse shape than the flat that Adrienne and Elaine caused. “Well, she isn’t going anywhere on this. I’ll show it to her and she can wait on someone from the rental place.”

Adrienne looked a bit sheepish and shrugged. “It’s gonna be a long wait because I didn’t call them.”

“You little liar,” I said as if I hadn’t been doing exactly the same thing.

“Hey, it if saves lives and keeps you out of the doughnuts, then all’s fair.”

Chapter Thirteen

The hour we spent with Anna was hard. The more we talked, the more anxious we all felt. Adrienne and Elaine were winding already curly locks of hair around their fingers and I paced.

Anna was a nice woman who admitted to meeting Stinslin a week before traveling with him. What he lacked in looks must’ve been made up in charm because she was smitten. Stinslin had hinted at marriage, and that was all she needed to hear. “We connect, you know?” Anna said, gesturing with her hands. “We have a lot of common interests. It’s so unlike my relationship with my ex-husband.”

I’d listened to her sing his praises until I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs that she was next on his list of things to do. A couple of times I almost did but received twin warning glances from Adrienne and Elaine. “Do you have children, Anna?”

“Two,” she said proudly and pulled her wallet from her purse. “My son Jason is seventeen.” She pointed to a picture of a dark-haired boy who looked nothing like her. “And this is Tonya. She’ll be sixteen next month.”

I looked down at the red-haired girl and swallowed hard. If we let Stinslin go on with his plans, the kids Anna was showing us would never see their mother again. Adrienne looked away and covered her mouth with her hand, while Elaine complimented Anna’s beautiful children.

The phone rang, and when I answered, I was relieved to hear Colie’s voice. “We have a plan,” he said calmly. “Stinslin is in the bar at The Cove, and the bartender is serving him doubles. Whit’s wife is keeping him company, and she’s coming on strong. If you can get Anna here in the next thirty minutes, Connie is going to put on a real show.” Colie sighed. “We’re hoping the display might cause a fight between Anna and Stinslin.”

“That’s it?” I tried to remain calm, but the edge to my voice made Anna look at me. “Look, Rex, the lady has already been waiting for an hour.”

“What?” Colie sounded bewildered.

“I’m going to take her back to The Cove, but you better make this right with her. She needs to be taken care of. Are we on the same page here?”

“We are now. I won’t let her out of my sight.” Colie hung up without another word.

“Yeah, well, your service is lousy.” I hung up the phone and shook my head. “Anna, I’m going to take you back to The Cove. “Rex’s Rentals doesn’t have another car, and no one is available to come and get you.”

“I hate to be a bother.” Anna looked embarrassed. “I could call my boyfriend. He’s rented a scooter.”

“It’s no problem at all, I assure you,” I said with a smile. “I have to run a few errands in town anyway.”

“I’ll go with you,” Adrienne said as she tried to stand.

“No, my love, you’re on bed rest. You and Elaine relax. I’ll be home soon.”

Adrienne’s glare had me ushering Anna quickly to the Jeep.

Connie and Whit Majors ran The Cove, and Connie was one of the most voluptuous women I’d ever seen. In her mid-forties, she had the body of a thirty-year-old and was proud to show it off. If Stinslin didn’t respond to her advances, he was either gay or already dead. I had no idea what Colie told them to get them to go along with this harebrained scheme, but I hoped and prayed it would work.

As we walked into the bar, Connie planted one on Stinslin, who after a second of surprise returned her kiss wholeheartedly. My heart sank into the pit of my stomach when I heard Anna’s gasp, then soft whimper. We stood in the doorway watching the scene unfold as Whit stormed in from the other side, grabbed Connie, and pushed her behind him. Stinslin shrank back, and Whit began screaming in his face.

“You had your hand on her ass twice today!” He stabbed Stinslin in the chest with his finger before pointing to the bartender. “And he heard you propositioning her outright. Don’t offend me further by pretending not to know what I’m talking about.” Whit grabbed Stinslin by the front of his shirt and hoisted him until they were eye to eye. “Your stay here is over,” he said before shoving Stinslin halfway across the bar.

“Anna.” I put a hand to her arm. “Maybe we should step outside until this is over.”

Stunned, Anna turned and looked at me. Her face and neck were brighter red than her hair.

“Anna,” Stinslin said as he staggered toward her, but Colie appeared before he could get close.

“Is this the man?” Colie asked Whit when he grabbed his arm.

“Yeah, that’s him. He’s harassed just about every woman that’s come in today. The guy’s got a problem.”

“Let’s step outside, sir.” Colie pulled him toward the door. Stinslin looked back at Anna helplessly.

“They’re lying.” He shook his head as he staggered backward. “Anna, don’t believe—” Colie pulled him through the door before he could utter another word.

“Wait.” I put a hand to Anna’s arm as she went after them. “Let him talk to the policeman for a few minutes. Maybe he can clear things up.”

A woman whom I recognized as an islander was standing next to us. “Maybe he can talk his way out of jail as easily as he talked his way into my bed this afternoon.” She shook her head sadly. “I always pick the players,” she said as she walked off.

Anna sank into a chair; my heart broke for her. “I’m so sorry.” I meant it. I was truly sorry that she’d put her hopes in a killer and that we couldn’t tell her the truth.

She looked up at me with deep hurt showing in her eyes. “I’d like to go home. Do you think there’s a way I can get off the island this evening?”

*******

I had assured Anna she was doing the right thing at least a dozen times as I watched her board the plane with a slump in her shoulders. She was disillusioned and broken-hearted, but she was going back to her children alive, and that’s how I assuaged my conscience.

I met Colie at the ramshackle building that was his office and holding pen. We stood in the parking lot so we could chat candidly. “How’d you get the Majors and everyone else to act in that performance?”

“I told them he was a suspect in a murder investigation, and we needed to separate him from Anna for her safety. Whit agreed but only if Stinslin left The Cove.” Colie sighed. “This presents a problem. The owners of the Bayside don’t want him, either. It’s not right to pawn him off on the others.”

“Well, he sure as shit isn’t staying at our place.” I planted my hands on my hips. “He’s got a room right now, and that’s where he needs to stay.”

“Hayden, I can’t hold him indefinitely on public drunkenness and being disorderly.”

“What about your FBI guy? What’s taking so long?”

“We have nothing for them to work with,” Colie said impatiently. “If I come out and say I believe Stinslin has committed multiple murders according to some drawings, they’ll dismiss anything else I say.”

“Come on, the feds have used psychics in their investigations before. Fax the guy Kristen’s sketches and let them see if they have any victims that resemble the drawings.”

Colie rubbed at the back of his neck. “I already have, and I’m still awaiting a response. We have to be patient.”

*******

Patient. The word bounced around in my head as my butt bounced around on the seat of the Jeep. Stress and anxiety coalesced into one big ball of pain in the pit of my stomach. We’d gotten Anna off the island. But what would we do if Stinslin gave up on his search for Kristen and went home, as well? Would he seek Anna out again? Or would he pick a new victim on the island while we waited on someone else to realize what we knew? The answer was simple. We would have to keep him on the island…with my loved ones and hope that he wouldn’t strike again.

Chapter Fourteen

It was after dark when I pulled up at the house. We’ll get good sleep tonight with Stinslin behind bars, I thought as I wearily climbed the stairs. Adrienne, Elaine, and Kristen looked at me with knowing glances. I didn’t have to explain what happened with Anna. They already knew.

“Iris brought you dinner,” Kristen said as she stood. “Would you like me to warm it for you?”

“That would be great, thanks,” I said tiredly as I leaned down and kissed Adrienne’s brow. “How’re you feeling, my love?”

“I’m great, the baby is great.” She rubbed her stomach and smiled up at me. “You should eat and go to bed. You look exhausted.”

“I will do exactly that, but I have to throw in a shower first.” Kristen put my plate on the table next to Teddy where he sat scribbling something into a notebook. He smiled at me as I took a seat next to him. “What ya working on, Theodore?”

“I didn’t finish all my school work today,” he said loudly, then lowered his voice when he addressed me. “I have to write a stupid story.”

I couldn’t imagine being home-schooled by Iris. The mental picture of Iris standing over me waving her skillet while I wrote furiously gave me chills. But Teddy’s head wasn’t sporting any dents, so I figured she was doing a fine job. “What’s the paper about?” I asked before stabbing at a piece of brisket.

“Shrimp, it’s what I had for dinner.” Teddy looked at my plate. “You never eat the shrimp or crabs.”

“There’s a reason for that.” I lowered my voice and leaned close to him. “Fish and other sea creatures know if you eat them. I don’t want them smelling their relatives on me when I swim, they might—”

“Hayden Marie Tate,” Adrienne said with a laugh from her spot on the couch. “Tell him the truth.”

“I don’t like seafood,” I said loudly, but then lowered my voice when I turned my attention back to Teddy. “And I don’t want the fish to chew my toes off.”

Teddy chuckled. “Momma says you’re crazy and not to believe a word you say.”

“Well, your momma’s the one that’s—”

Adrienne interrupted again. “Two words for you, love—iron skillet.”

I laughed and said to Teddy, “Read me what you have so far.”

Teddy cleared his throat. “Shrimp live in the sea. They live on the bottom of the sea. They eat, poop, and pee all in the same place.” He looked up at me with a grin. “I made that part rhyme. I like to eat them anyway. They are best when they are fried with French fries. But I will eat them, too, if they are boiled. This is where it gets exciting,” Teddy said with his brows raised. “You’re gonna like this.”

I giggled at the slight lisp when he said “this.”

He cleared his throat again. “Shrimp are tough, too, and they like to war with the other shrimp. They carry tiny guns, and when another shrimp comes into their town, they have a shootout.”

“Oh, you’re right,” I said with a nod. “This is getting exciting.”

Teddy shot me a satisfied grin and continued. “One day, a bad shrimp came to town, and the sheriff shrimp had to have a shootout with him. Before the bad shrimp could raise his gun, the sheriff shot his ass off.”

“Teddy!” I had to turn away before he saw me laugh.

“That’s your fault, Hayden!” Adrienne exclaimed. She too was doing her best not to laugh. Elaine hid her face behind a magazine.

“Teddy, honey, you can’t say ass. You should change that to butt.”

“What’s wrong with ass?” Teddy looked innocent. “You said it was a donkey.”

“You’re right, an ass is a donkey. Now apply that to what you wrote. The sheriff shot his donkey off. See, it doesn’t make sense.”

I shot Adrienne one of my “I think I’m brilliant” looks.

“But you said the other day that you would beat my ass if I went into the water without you.” Teddy raised his small hands. “I don’t have a donkey.”

Teddy and I locked gazes, and a tiny smile tickled the side of his lip. I pointed at him. “You know exactly what you’re doing, you little…stinker.” I cuffed him upside the head playfully. “Erase that before your mom sees it, or she’ll skin us both.”

After dinner, I toyed with the idea of going down to the beach for a swim. I thought the exercise would take the edge off, and Adrienne would enjoy a cool evening walk on the beach. But she and Elaine had gone onto the deck, and I didn’t want to interrupt their conversation. I sighed loudly and leaned against the kitchen counter.

“When you’re stressed, a fine line appears between your brows,” Kristen said as she joined me. “It’s been like that for a few days now.”

“You know exactly what I mean when I say I feel like I’m in an eternal holding pattern.”

Kristen nodded. “Waiting and waiting. Aunt Elaine has been good to talk to, we’ve really bonded.” Kristen looked at the pair on the deck. “I despise Stinslin for the things he’s done and the way he threatens me, but as sick as this sounds, I do owe him for one thing. I would’ve never met Adrienne, nor would I have developed a relationship with my aunt.” She leaned against the counter next to me and folded her arms. “I love them both, and for the first time in my life, I feel normal.”

“You’re Adrienne’s cousin.” I shook my head. “I still have a hard time believing this. I had a couple of dreams about you dressed as a key. It makes sense now…hey, I might have a gift, too.”

“Or you’re more insightful than you give yourself credit for.”

We were both quiet for a moment, then Kristen said, “Remember our talk at the bar that day? It seems like months ago now, but I told you I was drawn here and I believed it was for a reason.”

“One gift seeks out another,” I said with a weary smile. “What will you do when Stinslin is finally put away?”

Kristin raised a brow just like her aunt and cousin. “I haven’t given it much thought.”

I wanted to tell her she was welcome to stay on with us, but I needed to know Adrienne’s feelings on that first.

“I’m going to take life one day at a time right now. It’s the only way I can keep my sanity.” Kristen pushed off the cabinet and gave me a quick hug. “Please tell Adrienne I said good night.”

I watched her go and realized that I’d gotten attached to the little fart.

*******

It started out as a gentle pressure just above my hip bone. I turned my head and opened my eyes. The baby lay on its side facing me. Beyond it lay Adrienne sound asleep.

“Move,” the baby whispered.

“I’m on the edge of the bed as it is. Where do you want me to go?”

The baby smiled back at me toothlessly and kicked me in the side, sending me to the floor.

“Ow, damn!”

The lamp beside the bed switched on, and Adrienne appeared above me. “Baby, I’m so sorry.”

“Was it the evil butterfly again?” I rubbed my throbbing elbow.

“No.” Adrienne made a face. “A garden gnome.”

I pulled myself up and crawled back into bed. “Garden gnomes, butterflies. Maybe you’re eating too much salad before bedtime.”

Adrienne took my hand and kissed my fingers before rubbing it against her cheek. “What does salad have to do with it?”

“I dunno.” I yawned and felt sleep returning quickly. “Gnomes and butterflies are outdoor things, so is salad.” Adrienne’s laugh sounded far away…

“Hayden, the baby has got the cart.” Iris pointed toward the window.

“What do you mean the baby’s got the cart? It’s a baby.” I was walking as fast as I could to the window, but I felt like I was moving in slow motion.

Before my eyes, Iris morphed into Teddy. “The baby said ass.” He threw back his head and laughed as he pointed to the window.

I had to pull back gauzy curtains to look out. “Ew, who the hell put these in here?” I lost interest in the drapery when the cart flew by. Though it could not reach the pedals, the baby had the cart going full throttle. It squealed with laughter whenever it ran over something, spreading broken pieces in the wake of the cart. I watched in horror as my favorite sunglasses became shards.

I looked toward the doorway, and as I did, it shrank off in the distance. “Hey, baby!” I banged on the window. “Stop the cart.”

The baby looked at me, and I swear it flipped me off. Teddy had morphed into Iris again, and she was standing next to me shaking her head. “That is definitely your child.”

I resumed banging on the glass window as the baby made another pass close to the house. “Did you hear me? I said stop that cart!” But the baby never slowed, and more and more of our things were crushed under the wheels and spit out in flakes.

“Adrienne!”

“I’m right here. Shh, you’ll wake the whole house.”

I sat straight up, expecting to see the baby tearing through the room on the cart, but all was quiet. I looked at the clock. It was four in the morning. One hour had passed since Adrienne kicked me out of bed. I flopped back down, and Adrienne said, “I want ice cream.”

*******

Adrienne and I giggled as we descended the staircase hand in hand. When we got to the bottom, we looked back up to see if anyone had noticed our escape. “Kristen sleeps like the dead. Did you hear her snoring?”

“It runs in the family, darling.” I took her hand and pulled her toward the cart.

“I want to walk.” Adrienne dug her heels in and pulled me to a stop. “We used to walk the grounds late at night, remember?”

“I’m game if you’re up to it.” We headed down the trail with the peaceful knowledge that Stinslin was behind bars for the night. The inn and surrounding grounds felt like ours again, like home, safe and secure.

Adrienne was picking up on my thoughts. “Let’s not talk about Stinslin. For just a few hours, let’s pretend he doesn’t exist.”

“Agreed. So what did you, Elaine, and Kristen do while I was gone with Anna?” I looked at Adrienne as I posed the question and was pleased to see a slight smile.

“I really like Elaine. We had some one-on-one time after you left. Talking with her is like talking to an old friend. She makes me feel comfortable.” Adrienne pulled us to a stop. “I can’t bring myself to call her ‘mom.’ Whenever I consider it, I get anxious. I don’t know how she’ll feel about that, and I don’t know how I really feel about it.”

“Don’t you hear her thoughts?”

We began walking again. “I hate to admit this, but I got a little nosy and tried. I couldn’t get anything. She admitted to doing the same thing. She thinks that subconsciously we’re not willing to go there yet.”

“I suppose it makes sense. What about Kristen’s?”

“Elaine and I can hear her very clearly. She’s terrified, and Stinslin is all she can think of. We’ve tried distracting her, but she can’t concentrate on anything else.” Adrienne exhaled loudly. “Okay, we’re getting back on Stinslin. Let’s pick another topic.”

I pulled a key from my pocket and unlocked the kitchen. “The only thing we need to be talking about right now is what we want with our ice cream.”

Adrienne had eaten healthy since the moment we started trying to get pregnant, so I made no comment when she piled her bowl high with bananas, ice cream, and chocolate fudge. My own bowl looked much the same, but I added half a jar of maraschino cherries. We giggled as we took our hedonistic delights to one of the tables in the bar that faced east so we could watch the sun rise.

“Walking and eating ice cream at four in the morning. You’re such a rebel,” I teased. “What will you do next—cut short a nap?”

Adrienne’s response was to steal a spoonful of cherries. “I don’t think Dr. Sonjay meant for me to be totally bedridden. Besides, my lower back feels a hundred percent better after our stroll. This is so good,” she said before her expression turned serious. “I’ve considered myself lucky since the day you came into my life, but I haven’t realized just how amazing you are until I talked to Elaine. She’s lived her whole life alone, unable to find a love that matched my father’s. It’s difficult for us to find someone because of what we can do. Hearing another person’s thoughts is often painful.” She waved her spoon at me. “I know when you’re aggravated with me before it even shows on your face, but I also know you love me with all that you are. I have something special in you, and my talks with Elaine have really reminded me of that.”

“I’m glad to know that you realize how freaking fantastic I am,” I said with a grin.

“You are fantastic.”

“No. Freaking fantastic. There’s a distinction.”

Adrienne leaned over and smacked me on the lips. “You’re freaking crazy. I’ve been thinking about something,” Adrienne said as she turned serious. “I want to change my name.”

I sat up straight. “To what—Vaughn? That doesn’t have a ring to it at all. Adrienne Vaughn.” Those eyes that so easily telegraphed love sent another message. Idiot.

“I want my last name to be Tate. I want to legally change it, so we’ll all have the same last name.”

“Adrienne Tate,” I said softly, loving the way it rolled off my tongue. “Let’s start the process today.”

She kissed me again. “Which brings us to the baby’s name. We still haven’t come up with anything.”

“For a boy, I like Drew. And hey, if it’s a girl, it can still be Drew.”

“I know you love the Saints, but we are not naming our child after the quarterback. Now be serious.”

I was. “Okay, what are your choices?” I asked, still holding out for Drew.

“I like Aidan for a boy’s name. It’s kind of a combination of our names.”

I did like the sound of it. “And for a girl, are you going to suggest Haydrienne? I may have to veto that, but Drewden or Haydrew does sound appealing. Oh! What about Breesden?”

Adrienne rolled her eyes. “What about Kaia?” She held her hand up to stop me. “Don’t say Kaia Drew, or I will kill you.” She shot me a saucy grin. “Like my rhyme?”

“Did you just pull that out of thin air or your a—”

Adrienne stuffed a cherry into my mouth. “It’s Hawaiian and means child of the water. I think it’s appropriate considering we live on an island.”

“I like it. I think that’s a keeper.”

Adrienne nodded. “Okay, start thinking about middle names, and Drew cannot be one of them.” She opened her mouth to say something else but stopped. I watched as her eyes narrowed for a second, then she said, “Hair.”

“What?”

Adrienne grabbed my arm. “He keeps trophies. Locks of hair from the women he’s killed. That’s why in Kristen’s drawing, he’s holding a lock of hair.”

I was taken aback at the sudden change of topics. “Stinslin?”

“Yes.” Adrienne nodded as she stared off into the distance. “Red, his victims all have red hair.”

“Are you hearing this now?” I asked as chill bumps covered my body and made my scalp tingle.

“He’s awake.” Adrienne put a hand to her forehead. “He…” She growled in frustration. “I lost it.”

“It’s okay.” I took her hand in mine. “The thing about the hair, that’s good.”

A line formed across Adrienne’s brow. “We can’t let him leave this island. He’ll kill again. We both know this.” She looked down at our joined hands. “I know that you doubt sometimes. Colie does, too.”

I had no choice but to be honest. Lying to Adrienne was an impossibility for me. “I…just…sometimes I wish I could believe that Kristen is wrong, even though in my gut I know she’s not.”

“Why do you want to believe she’s wrong?” Adrienne asked, though I suspected she knew the answer.

“It’s like you said, we can’t let him leave the island. Without proof, Colie can’t legally hold him here.”

“And you’re afraid that someone will…make him disappear.” Adrienne looked at me warily.

“If it was self-defense, I’d have no problem, but most of the islanders are our friends and are very protective. Colie’s inner circle is privy to just about everything we know…” I sighed. “You know if he managed to sneak onto the grounds and they caught him, he’d turn up missing.”

Adrienne nodded, her expression grim.

“Would you…would you be okay with that?” I asked, hoping she wouldn’t say yes. Stinslin was a monster, but could we in good conscience allow someone to exact their own form of justice?

Adrienne exhaled and rubbed her stomach. “I have a lot at stake here. You, the baby, Kristen, and…Elaine. Not to mention everyone else we consider family. I’m not going to mince words. I’d sleep a lot better knowing he was at the bottom of a blue hole.”

Frankly, I would, too, but I could not fathom the unthinkable unless he put one of us in obvious danger. “We need one piece of tangible evidence and we’ve got him—legally.” I shook my head. “I don’t like the idea of you hearing his thoughts. You have enough stress to deal with. I wish Elaine or Kristen could come up with something.”

Adrienne cocked her head to the side. “What I just said bothered you.”

I looked down at the table. “Adrienne, my own thoughts bother me. Sometimes, I wonder if he made it onto the grounds and I had a weapon in my hand if I could take him out. Could I pull the trigger?” I began tearing the stems off the cherries. “Could you?”

“Yes,” she said without the slightest hesitation. “If Stinslin were on our property, he would be here for one reason alone and fair game.”

“He’s not a buck or a bear,” I said angrily. “As vile as he is, we’re not allowed to kill him. If we do that, we’re criminals in the eyes of the law.”

Adrienne pushed her bowl away and took my hand. “No one is lining up to kill him, honey. What I’m saying is if he comes here, we will do what we have to, to defend ourselves.”

“I believe all our friends, Colie’s people, feel the same, and that’s exactly what would happen. They would become judge, jury, and executioner. What if someone did do exactly that? We’d have to keep it a secret. A horrible secret that we’d all have to live with, and what about Colie? He has an obligation to uphold the law. Could we expect him to keep that secret, as well? It’s all just a jumbled mess.”

Adrienne stroked the back of my hand with her thumb. “I understand what you’re saying, and to an extent, I agree. But, honey, I have family here, you and the baby, Iris and her family, and now, Elaine and Kristen.” Adrienne exhaled in frustration. “I have it all, and I want to protect it.”

And so did I, so why was I so ambivalent? Why was I so torn and everyone else seemed so resolved? A few years ago, Colie would’ve had to lock me up to keep from hunting Stinslin down and putting a bullet in his ass.

Adrienne tapped into my thoughts easily. “You’re not the same woman you were when you came here. We all pick on you about the decisions you make, but you’re not rash anymore, just clumsy.” She smiled. “Honestly, I think you’re worried about what you would do more than anyone else. I know you love me and our family here, but you’re more cautious about your decisions because you have a baby on the way.”

And she was right. I’d kill or die to protect Adrienne and my loved ones, but leaving her behind to raise our child alone scared me. I’d never felt so vulnerable in my life.

“We weren’t supposed to get on this topic,” Adrienne said. “There are three of us who have insight. Maybe that’ll keep us one step ahead. It has so far.”

“No more talk of Stinslin tonight. Let’s get out of here before Iris comes in for breakfast. She won’t be happy that we violated her kitchen.”

Chapter Fifteen

“You violated my kitchen.” Iris stabbed me in the chest with her finger. “I found cherry stems on the counter, and you have the key.” All the staff in the bar made a hasty retreat.

“Adrienne has a key, too.” I grinned and backed up.

“She’s carrying a baby. I can’t beat on her. You can take the beating for the both of you.”

I held up a finger. “Go easy on me. Adrienne doesn’t want me hurt. Have you seen Colie this morning?” I asked, knowing he stayed at the jail to keep watch on Stinslin.

“He came in for breakfast and went back to the house for a shower.” Iris picked up an empty glass from one of the tables. “He wants to meet with you here, so don’t run off.”

Despite Iris’s protest, I helped her and one of our staff members clean up after breakfast. Most of our guests were exploring the island with the exception of BJ and Audrey, who ordered breakfast in their cottage. When Colie arrived, we had the bar to ourselves.

“Stinslin is free. I had to let him go.” Colie watched my face carefully. I assumed he was waiting for me to explode.

“I know you couldn’t keep him indefinitely. Did you ask him if he planned to leave?”

Colie seemed somewhat relieved by my calm demeanor. “I had Odis take his things from The Cove. Whit packed his belongings up and had them in the office. He was very serious about Stinslin not returning.” He grinned. “I set him up at Allain Crenshaw’s cabin. Allain gave Stinslin a better rate than he was getting at The Cove.”

“Well, he’s going to do one of two things—leave or try to find Kristen.”

Colie shot me a worried glance. “In his drunken ramblings, he said he knew she was on the island, and he wasn’t leaving without her.”

My stomach twisted into knots. “Adrienne heard something this morning. She said Stinslin was thinking about his trophies. He keeps a lock of hair from his victims, and they’re all red.”

Colie tapped his temple with his index finger as he thought. “It may help. I spoke with Kristen’s landlord this morning. There are no signs of a break-in at her apartment. That puts me back at square one on the picture and how he got his hands on it. I’ve put off talking to Kristen about it.” Colie shook his head and sighed. “She’s been under so much pressure, I didn’t want to add to it by telling her I thought her home might’ve been ransacked.”

A cold chill ran down my spine. “Maybe the picture belonged to the other woman in it. Do you want me to ask her who the woman is?”

“Hayden.” Someone put a hand on my shoulder. I frowned when I realized it was BJ. “Audrey and I would like to go birding this morning. Iris says all the drivers are booked with excursions.”

I was trying to come up with an unlucky soul I could bribe into taking them when Colie said, “Take them, Hayden. Use the time to relax. We have everything under control.” He smiled at me when he noticed the glare I was sending his way. What he was really saying was, Let me do my job and you do yours.

“Good, we’ll be ready in thirty minutes,” BJ said as she sauntered off.

“There aren’t enough banana trees on this island to keep you safe from my wrath, Colie. You’ll pay for this one.” I continued to glare at him as he stood with a grin.

“Enjoy your day.”

*******

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing out loud as I watched BJ’s head bobbing in the backseat. I never slacked up when I left the pavement, and the Jeep skidded across the sand and into the woods. Her complaints bounced off me as I took us up the trail that ran near Crenshaw’s cabin. BJ and Audrey could watch birds and I’d watch Stinslin.

“Are you intentionally trying to realign my spine?” BJ asked as I pulled to a stop.

“Not at all. If I go any slower, we’ll sink into the sand.” BJ didn’t buy my lie and huffed as she grabbed her binoculars and a bottle of water.

“I’m not as stealthy as you and Audrey. I’ll stay with the Jeep, so I don’t scare your birds away.”

“Good idea.” BJ stalked up the trail with Audrey fluttering behind like a butterfly.

I chuckled as I pulled out my own pair of binoculars and found Crenshaw’s cabin. There was no movement at all. Stinslin was probably sleeping off his hangover. He obviously didn’t sleep very well in lockup, especially if Adrienne was hearing his thoughts before sunrise. I watched the cabin and surrounding area for a while and grew bored.

I didn’t know what I hoped to find, but I thought if I could just see him, I’d feel better. Knowing he was in the cabin and not stalking my home would be a comfort. I made my way slowly through the thicket and down the slight hill, hoping to get a closer look. My cell phone went off in my breast pocket and nearly gave me a heart attack. The ID said it was my home phone. “Shit, I’m so busted,” I said aloud and pressed the button to ignore the call. If I was going to get an ass chewing, I’d make it worth my while.

I tried singing the lime in a coconut song in my mind to block Adrienne from my thoughts but couldn’t remember the lyrics, so I made my own. You put the lime on the doughnut and smear it all around. You take a bite of the doughnut, it takes away your frown. My phone rang again. I groaned before I answered.

“What are you doing?”

“I took BJ and Audrey on a birding trip, remember?” I said, thinking I was talking to Adrienne.

“You promised Adrienne that you wouldn’t do anything foolish.”

“Elaine?”

“Yes.”

“Dear God, you sound just like her.” I wondered for a second why Adrienne wasn’t the one calling. “Is she okay?”

“Yes, she’s sleeping, and you’re a lousy lyricist.”

“You cut me deep, Elaine. I thought we were—”

“Hayden, he’s watching you. I hear his thoughts.”

I peered around a tree and saw a small opening in the blinds snap shut. It gave me chills from the top of my head down to my toes. “Well, thank God I have cell reception, I might’ve—”

“I know.” Elaine cleared her throat. “Please get out of there. He thinks you’ve lied to him. What if he tries to use you to get to Kristen?”

“I’d never let that happen. He’d have to kill me first.”

“I know that, too, and that’s exactly the point. Find BJ and Audrey and get out of there. And, Hayden, call me when you’re safely on the road.”

I laughed softly as I backtracked up the hill. “You’ll know when I’m on the road, you don’t need me to call.”

“Do it anyway. I’m a hair’s breadth away from calling in reinforcements, and that will entail waking Adrienne.”

“Elaine, you play dirty just like your…Adrienne.”

She chuckled softly. “Be safe. I’m—”

I lost my signal. I made my way quickly through the brush looking over my shoulder for Stinslin, expecting to see him pop up at any moment. When I arrived at the Jeep, I blew the horn a few times to catch the attention of BJ and Audrey. After five minutes of waiting, neither showed. I glanced down at my phone and noticed with disdain that I still had no signal.

“Figures, I traipse downhill into the forest and get reception, but on top of a hill where I should at least get something, I have nothing,” I said aloud, hoping my own voice would calm my nerves. I stared warily down the trail where I’d last seen BJ and Audrey. I didn’t bother trying to be quiet. I yelled their names at the top of my lungs not caring who heard. I didn’t want Stinslin to think I was alone if he hadn’t noticed.

I’d walked a quarter of a mile in thick brush wondering where two retirees had found the strength to make the hike. Neither one responded to my calls. I filled my lungs prepared to yell again when a familiar figure stepped from behind a tree. My blood ran cold.

“Well, hello there…Hayden, is it?” Stinslin asked. He rubbed at the stubble growing along his jaw. “I’m terrible with names.”

“So it’s you renting the Crenshaw place?” I asked as nonchalantly as I could. “Allain told me he rented it, but I thought you were staying at The Cove.”

Stinslin swatted at something biting his arm. “You were at The Cove last night. You know I’m not welcome there anymore.” He looked up at me with cold eyes. “I suspect you know a lot of things. You play it cool, though,” he said with a smile that quickly faded. “I know she’s here, and I won’t leave without her.”

“Whit is a hothead. He says a lot of things he doesn’t mean. I didn’t realize he really put you out.” I backed up a step pretending to swat at a bug and looked desperately for something to defend myself with. I felt like Stinslin could hear my thoughts as clearly as Adrienne often did.

“You seem nervous. Do I put you ill at ease?” he asked with that same sickening smile.

“Not at all. I have two missing guests that went birding earlier.” I pulled my phone from my pocket. “I should call someone. They’re older. They could’ve succumbed to the heat.”

I jumped when he moved in and grabbed my arm. “You don’t have to do that. I’ll help you look.” Stinslin removed his hand when I stared down at it. “I understand all too well what it’s like to be missing someone.”

I wanted to say don’t try that bullshit line on me anymore, but I bit my tongue instead. “I’m sure you do.” I still had no signal, but Stinslin didn’t know that.

I watched as he moved deeper into the brush and turned to look at me. “Aren’t you coming?”

I stalled, hoping that BJ or Audrey would show. “The girl in the picture with your sister, the one you showed me a few days ago, she looks familiar. Who is she?”

Stinslin looked momentarily surprised by the question. “A friend of Kristen’s.”

I shrugged. “I could swear I’ve seen her somewhere before, maybe she stayed at the inn once.”

“Perhaps.” Stinslin seemed to grow impatient. “Are you coming or not?”

I couldn’t will my legs to move—my body refused to cooperate. My jaw started working as he looked at me oddly. “I hear something.”

In the distance, I could hear BJ bitching up a storm. She grated my nerves, but I’d never been so happy to see and hear her as she and Audrey appeared in a clearing nearby.

“You scared the birds away with that damn horn.” Even at a distance, I could see how red BJ’s face was, and I was fairly certain it wasn’t from exertion. She was pointing and winding up for a full-blown tirade when she spotted Stinslin. “Did you find your sister, young man?” she asked as she approached.

“Not yet, but I’m pretty certain she’s still on the island.” He shot me a glance. “I’ll find her, don’t you worry.”

BJ set her fiery gaze on me. “What is your problem?”

“Adrienne isn’t feeling well. I need to get back to the inn now. I’ll have someone take you back out this afternoon.”

“Don’t bother,” BJ said hotly as she stomped past me.

“Thanks for you offer of…help,” I said to Stinslin. I turned to follow BJ and Audrey, and Stinslin’s parting shot made my blood turn to ice again.

“I’m certain I’ll see you again real soon.”

Chapter Sixteen

For a break from BJ’s incessant bitching, I called Elaine and let her know we were safely on the road. As I spoke to her, I had that same sensation I often did with Adrienne—I was repeating what she already knew. The second I snapped my phone shut, BJ began her tirade anew. “I’ve not seen one Bahama yellow throat, only gulls and an occasional Caribbean coot.”

Takes a coot to know a coot, I thought as BJ’s rant faded into the background. Perhaps, I was developing some sort of sixth sense, but I had the feeling that Elaine was more in tune with her gift than her offspring. It was the subtle narrowing of her eyes when I found myself thinking of ways to push Stinslin into making a move so Colie would arrest him. There were also times when I’d find myself worrying about Adrienne and the stress she was under, and I’d catch Elaine looking at me with a compassionate gaze. The thought of having two people easily privy to my thoughts was unnerving and irritating.

“Are you ignoring me?” BJ shouted from the backseat.

We’d had our share of hard-to-please guests. I’d begun to pride myself in keeping a cool head, but that changed when BJ hit the back of my seat. I pulled the Jeep onto the shoulder of the road and killed the engine. Audrey appeared to slide down in the passenger’s seat when she got a look at my face.

“Five-star resorts have often failed to meet my expectations. I don’t know why on Earth I picked this hole-in-the-wall place. I should’ve known that you couldn’t provide the kind of service I expect.” BJ folded her arms and looked out over the water, shaking her head. “It’s my fault, really. It’s what I get for giving the little gals a chance.”

“I’m very curious about the big guys you’ve patronized,” I said calmly. “Do they capitulate to all your demands? Cater to your every whim until they make it right in your eyes?”

BJ looked back at me with a smug expression. “Always.”

“Well then, it gives me great pleasure to inform you that we ‘little gals’ handle things differently. When we get back to the inn, pack your things, and I’ll have someone take you anywhere you want to go on this island as long as I don’t have to hear or see you. And if I can’t pay some poor fool enough money to put up with you for that long, I’ll do it myself, but I’ll strap your ass to the hood like a deer to avoid having to listen to you.”

BJ’s jaw sagged as a flush trailed from the collar of her shirt and moved quickly up her face.

“And, BJ, the reason you haven’t seen any birds? They hate you.” I turned before I started laughing maniacally and reached for the keys in the ignition.

“No one has ever put me out!” BJ boomed from the backseat. But before I could utter a snide comment, Audrey, the diminutive silent partner…lost her mind.

“Yes, they have!” she screamed in a high-pitched, anger-infused voice. “We have been tossed out of so many places I’ve lost count.”

I had no idea what BJ looked like, but I was fairly certain she looked a lot like me—jaw agape, eyes wide.

Audrey ripped off her seat belt, turned in her seat, and got up on her knees. She pointed, yelled, and banged on the headrest for what I figured was five minutes before ending with, “I don’t know what the hell is going on with you lately, but you are mean and completely out of control. I’m tired of it, you hear? Tired of it!” The last part was said in a pitch so high it made my ears hurt.

Part of me wanted to laugh, and the other part was simply too afraid, especially when Audrey turned her gaze on me. Breathing heavily with a wild-eyed expression that I’d only seen in werewolf movies, she said to me, “We only have a day left here, and I do not want to stay anywhere else, and there will not be any more tirades. Do you hear me?”

My eyes nearly crossed as I looked at her shaking finger a hair’s breadth from my nose. “Yes, ma’am.”

The rest of the ride was made in silence.

*******

When we arrived at the inn, BJ got out of the Jeep and marched like a sulking child back to her cottage. I watched Audrey saddle up to the bar and order a double bourbon on the rocks.

“Hayden, the water line to the big ice maker is clogged, and Jacob is in town. Can you take a look at it?” Iris asked before I could retreat.

“Sure.” I grabbed a wrench and went to work, but before I was halfway through with that project, Naomi, who was covering the bar, told me that we were low on vodka and of course, bourbon, and she was unable to find Iris, who had disappeared. So I stopped what I was doing and went to the storeroom and stocked the bar. My water line fix that should’ve taken twenty minutes took an hour.

As I left the bar in hopes of going home, I felt the day’s tension building behind my eyes and in my neck. The list of “shit that went wrong” suddenly felt like a heavy sack on my shoulders, and inside was BJ, Stinslin, and Adrienne’s blood pressure, and new family, although helpful, added to the stress. And in a matter of days, my family would show up for the birth of our baby. So when one of our staff crossed my path on the trail and told me that a laundry washer had finally given up the ghost, I cracked.

A breath slowly escaped me and ended with a guttural growl. The poor woman looked as though she wasn’t sure whether she wanted to run or cry, so I did both for her. I took off in a dead run with one destination in mind—a clump of banana trees that had escaped my previous wrath.

I hit the largest of the group running full blast. The impact nearly sent the soft trunk over with me hanging on to it like a monkey, cussing, kicking, and punching. It retaliated by spraying me with some sort of goo, but I was undaunted. I was ripping at leaves, and bananas were flying when Iris walked up.

“Hayden, you want to talk about it, girl?”

“Not right now,” I grunted out as I pummeled the tree.

“Carry on then,” she said as she went on her merry way.

“Frickin’ serial killer on my island!” I kicked the stalk a good one. “Crazy baby dreams—no sleep, no sex.” I punched the tree three times. “Psychic in-laws!” I ripped a leaf. “And BJ and BJ and BJ,” I screamed as I ended with a volley of kicks and punches. The birds I was certain that BJ had wanted to see flew out of the brush in droves.

Exhausted, I dropped into a pile of leaves. “Can I just have one issue at a time?” I yelled up to the sky. “Why do they all have to come in a six-pack?”

“Aunt Hayden, are you all right?”

I looked up at Teddy and wiped my eyes. “Um, sure. Just taking a break. Why do you smell so bad?” My gaze followed the rope he was holding. I turned over onto my belly and came face to face with a goat. “Where did you get that?”

Teddy looked proud. “Mr. Jacob gave him to me for helping with a project. His name is Gibbs.” Teddy jerked a thumb at Odis, who was leaning against a tree. “Mr. Odis is allergic, and he can’t help me give Gibbs a bath.”

“And you’d like me to help you.” I added Gibbs to my list of gripes.

“Yes, ma’am.”

I could never refuse Teddy anything, so I followed behind him and smelly Gibbs to his house. Odis, our protector, trailed behind us with a grin. When we arrived, Teddy handed me the rope and dashed into the house, returning a minute or two later with a bottle of shampoo.

“Lavender, huh,” I said as he handed me the bottle. “He’ll be the envy of all the other goats.”

Teddy assigned me to lather duty, and he had the enviable position of hose operator. I expected a fight when Gibbs got the hose, but he looked unfazed as Teddy soaked him down. I applied a liberal amount of shampoo and worked Gibbs’s back into a lather.

“Okay, I think he’s ready for a rinse.”

Teddy looked at me with his brow furrowed. “You have to get his tummy.” He lowered his voice. “And his privates.”

I drew the line at goat nuts. “I’ll do his belly, but he’s gonna have to wash his own…stuff.”

“Aunt Hayden, that’s where he stinks the most.”

“And how would you know that? Did you put your face down there?” A thought struck me, and I looked around for Iris. “Did your momma put you up to this?”

Teddy shook his head. “She doesn’t know. If I make him smell good, she’ll let me keep him.”

Even if the goat’s ass was gold-plated, I doubted that Iris would let Teddy keep him. I looked up at Teddy for a second and caved. “Okay.”

“Get his booty hole, too.”

“All right now, boy, you’re pushing it. I’ll do his…private things, but you’re doing the booty hole if this is gonna be your goat.” I was hoping he’d think the task was too gross and give stink-ass Gibbs back to Jacob.

Teddy exhaled and squared his little shoulders. “Okay, gimme some soap please.”

I squirted a glob into his hand and stifled a laugh as he lifted the goat’s tail. I went to work on the belly and chest, hoping that would suffice, but Teddy was watching me closely. I grimaced as I made a swipe across Gibbs’s balls. He stopped chomping on one of Iris’s plants and looked back at me. “Trust me, sport, it was much more enjoyable for you.” Gibbs snorted and went back to munching.

“Teddy, if you ever doubted my love for you…well, you should know now that I do,” I said as he rinsed Gibbs.

*******

When I walked into the house, Elaine and Kristen looked alarmed at my appearance. Adrienne did not. “Banana trees again, love?” she asked from where they had her tucked in on the couch.

“A few,” I admitted sheepishly, “and I…washed a goat.”

Adrienne’s eyebrow arched.

I held up my hands. “I touched goat testicles with these.”

Adrienne made a face. “I was going to ask you to help me up.” Elaine did instead. “I’ll start the water for your shower.”

Neither Elaine nor Kristen said anything as they watched me slink down the hall. Adrienne had the water running as I walked into the bathroom. She patted my face before she unbuttoned my shirt. “Do you know what I look forward to the most right now?”

“Sleeping on your stomach? Moving around without an entourage constantly reminding you to get off your feet? Seeing your private parts without looking in a mirror? Eating whatever—”

Adrienne put a finger to my lips. “Taking a shower with you and spending some time alone together.”

“How are we going to do that?” I asked grumpily as I pulled off my shorts.

“It’s a surprise.”

*******

I felt a little better after our shower. Adrienne seemed especially excited as she dressed. She took my hand as we left the bedroom and led me toward the door.

“Where are we going? You’re supposed to be taking it easy.”

Adrienne grinned back at me. “I talked to Dr. Sonjay, and she said a simple excursion would be good for me.”

Slowly, we descended the stairs. Adrienne had to stop twice and catch her breath but insisted that she was all right. “My back is killing me from lying on that couch all the time,” she said as I helped her into the cart.

I followed her directions and drove down a fresh-cut trail running through the brush behind the house. “Who did this?”

“Jacob. He’s been a bit bored with his guard duties, so I took him up on his offer.”

“Which was?” I then looked to where Adrienne was pointing. Jacob had cleared all the way down to a thin strip of beach. He’d left the overhang that provided a natural canopy. Beneath were two hammocks tied to posts that Jacob must’ve spent hours pounding into the ground to make the perfect height for a pregnant woman to safely get in and out of. Iris had to have been involved in the project, as well. Between the hammocks was a table with a tray of fruit and what appeared to be a pitcher of lemonade.

Adrienne beamed as she gestured to it all. “Our own private beach.”

“Oh, honey!” I wanted to cry as I took in our little haven. “This is…this…is definitely worth a goat.” I knew then what project Teddy was talking about.

“It’s just ours.” Adrienne took my hand and tugged me toward the hammocks. “No one knows about it but Jacob, Teddy, and Iris. And unless you’re on the water really looking for it, no one will notice.”

My joy was cut short as I thought about Stinslin.

“Jacob is close by, and there are others.” Adrienne leaned in close. “No love-making right now.” She rubbed at her lower back. “Not that I could anyway.”

I kissed her softly and stroked her face. “Later, we’ll go up and take a long bath in that giant tub of ours. Maybe that’ll help.” We strolled over to the hammocks, and I helped Adrienne into the one with a few extra pillows—more evidence of Iris’s participation.

After I poured us both a glass of lemonade, I stretched out with a sigh. “This more than makes up for my morning with BJ and Audrey.”

“Iris said you took them birding.” Adrienne smiled at me sympathetically. “Where did you take them?”

My mind began screaming, doughnuts, think of doughnuts, as my mouth sagged. One of Adrienne’s brows shot up, and I began to stammer. “A trail…in the woods. They didn’t see anything, though. I made way too much noise. BJ went totally bat shit crazy on me. Pretty day, isn’t it? Nice breeze and—”

“What trail?”

It was too late. I was screwed. Adrienne got that faraway look in her eyes as my brain began confessing in between songs of doughnuts.

She slammed her glass on the table between us, sending the lemonade pitcher flying. “The one by Crenshaw’s cabin! Hayden, you promised.”

“Now look.” That was all I got out as Adrienne began rocking back and forth like a turtle trying to right itself. Before I could get to her, she’d spun her hammock so far sideways that it dropped her into the sand with a thud.

I scrambled to help her, but she swatted angrily at me. “I’m so sick of being hemmed up in that house while you wander around obviously mindless.” She allowed me to help her to her feet, then slapped at my hands. “Colie is the policeman, not you.” Adrienne stomped toward the cart with me following behind none too closely. She climbed into the driver’s seat and didn’t wait for me as she threw it into reverse. “I need a partner! Not someone I’m going to have to raise right along with this baby.”

I ran alongside the cart and jumped in. Jacob had thought about everything but a turnaround, and we were heading up the trail backward as Adrienne went into a full-blown tirade that rivaled every one I’d ever had.

“Baby, listen.”

Adrienne slammed on the brakes and bounced me off the plastic dashboard. “Don’t you ‘baby’ me,” she yelled as she pointed a finger in my face. “I know you’ve been under stress, I get that. But have you considered what it’s like for me? I’ve been confined to a couch while you keep secrets from me. Kept company by a cousin and a…woman who is probably my long-lost mother. I have to keep guard over every thought and think about everything I say.”

“Well, welcome to my world,” I shouted as my own temper flared. “That’s every day for me, minus the couch, which frankly is sounding really good right now. If you or Elaine is not eavesdropping on my every thought, then Ms. Sketch-a-lot is drawing up pictures.”

“And it’s a good damn thing,” Adrienne shouted over me. “It takes the whole island to watch over you. If you’re not falling through something, you’re running over it. And don’t get me started on—”

Adrienne had taken advantage of a wide spot in the trail and whipped the cart around. She never noticed me fly into the brush. I lay there listening to her as she drove on without me still screaming at the top of her lungs. “You’re so worried about him coming here, yet you go right to where he’s staying. I was just telling you this morning how much you’ve changed, then you do something like this. You—where the hell are you?”

It took me a minute or two to disentangle myself from the viney undergrowth, and as I stepped out onto the trail, Adrienne pulled alongside me.

“Did you jump out?”

“No, Mario Andretti, you tossed me out!” I pulled a thorn from my shirt and tossed it aside.

“Get back in here.” Adrienne pointed at the passenger’s seat when I didn’t budge. “I said—” Her words trailed off in a long wheeze. I watched as her hands shook slightly and fell from the wheel. “Hayden…I think…I think my water just broke.”

“What water?”

Adrienne glared at me.

“No, no, no.” I ran around to the driver’s side and clutched her shoulder. “The baby probably just kicked your bladder. It’s not time.”

“I don’t think this child gives a rat’s ass about our time table.” Adrienne grabbed her back and clamped her eyes shut. “I didn’t just wet my pants. It’s not like that.” She grunted in pain. “I think I’m in labor.”

I yelled at Adrienne and the baby. “No! This is not how this is supposed to go. We have a plan, and this is not it. Dr. Sonjay said first babies often go beyond the due date.” I leaned down and yelled at Adrienne’s stomach. “It’s not time, you hear me? Whatever you’re doing in there, cut it out. You’re not supposed to do this until we get to Nassau, so just chill.”

Adrienne reached up and grabbed my face. “One of us has to stay calm. I need that to be you because I really want to freak out right now,” she said with a sob.

“Okway,” I said against her palm, and she released me. “Scoot over,” I said as calmly as I could. I looked down at the wet seat when she moved.

“You touched goat testicles earlier, and you’re going to take issue with this?” Adrienne ground out.

I jumped in and took off, marveling at how short the drive went going down and how long it seemed going back up. “I’m sorry I freaked about the wet seat. We’ve shared bodily fluids before. I don’t know what got into me. Although, I’m not really sure what’s in a baby sack.”

Adrienne grunted again and clutched at her stomach. I began to panic. By the time I crested the hill, I sounded like a siren. “Iris! Iris! Iris.” I wheeled right past our house and headed for Iris’s. She’d know what to do. But then it hit me—what if Iris was at the inn instead? I grabbed Adrienne’s shirt and made a hard U-turn as I headed back to our house. “Elaine! Elaine! Elaine!” But Elaine had had only one child and she’d never gotten to hold it. Iris would be better, so I grabbed Adrienne and made another turn.

I blazed a trail toward the inn just as Elaine came racing down the stairs. She, Kristen, Jacob, and a few others who had heard me screaming chased after the cart as I continued to scream at the top of my lungs and drive in circles.

Finally, Adrienne reached over and grabbed my arm, making me stop. Through her teeth, she hissed, “Oh. My. God. Really? This is calm?”

This gave Elaine the opportunity to catch us along with everyone else. “She’s in…the baby is…I need.”

Before Elaine could fully connect the dots, Iris burst through the brush like she was on fire. She took one look at Adrienne and shoved me from the driver’s seat, and I was left with the others to run behind the cart.

Chapter Seventeen

“Help me get her on the table.” Shelby’s voice was calm and authoritative. Everyone else had been sent into the waiting room with the exception of Iris, Elaine, and me. Myra was furiously scrubbing her hands in the sink like she’d been through this a million times, but I knew she hadn’t. There was no hospital, no trained staff, just us to help.

Shelby stripped away Adrienne’s shorts and underwear. We all watched her facial expressions as she examined Adrienne. Shelby’s eyes widened for a second, then she released a breath. “We’re having a baby right now. There’s no time to try to transfer her to Nassau and no time to wait on Dr. Sonjay.”

“What?” I looked at Iris in horror. “This isn’t how it’s supposed to happen.” I shook my head in disbelief. “This can’t be real. I didn’t even get the bubblegum cigars.” I looked back at Shelby. “Don’t get me wrong, you’re great at patching me up and you helped deliver that pig a while back, but this is different.”

“Hayden, I know what I’m doing,” Shelby said as she began gathering up things that looked scary. “You have to calm down.”

I pointed at my chest. “This is calm! Did you see a curly tail down there? This is not a pig, it’s Adrienne!”

Iris dragged me off into the corner and began to gnaw my ass. “This is a natural thing, girl.” She shook me hard to make sure I was paying attention. “Adrienne is going to be fine. The baby is going to be fine.”

I looked at Adrienne, who was in obvious pain. She looked so helpless and afraid. “But she’s my baby.”

“Then be strong for her.” Iris’s fingers dug into my arms. “This is your time. You have to step up and be there for her. If you’re scared, she’s going to be even more scared. Get over there and be her rock.”

I didn’t feel like a rock, more like spaghetti actually. My knees were weak. I felt like I was going to throw up and wet my pants at the same time. But I sucked in a deep breath and let out a whimper that only Iris could hear, then…I stepped up…well, sort of. “Iris is right. Pigs have babies all the time.”

Adrienne stopped gasping and looked up at me. “What?”

“What I meant to say is this is a natural thing. People and pigs, dogs and cats, they have babies all the time. I mean, look at Gibbs.”

“Who the hell is Gibbs?” Myra asked.

“Lord, child, shut up,” Iris said and crossed herself. “Be silently strong.”

“I thought I’d be in a hospital,” Adrienne said, “with drugs, and…I wouldn’t feel a thing after a while.” She shook her head. “Oh, Hayden, I don’t know if I can do this.”

“Yes, you can.” The words came out so calm I almost didn’t recognize them as my own. “Truth be known, you’re the stronger of us two. You’ve carried this baby for nine months. It’s almost over now. You just have to be tough a little while longer. I’ll be right here with you.” I looked at Elaine and Iris. “We all will.”

“Adrienne, honey, here’s what’s going to happen,” Shelby said. “Dr Sonjay is on her way, but I expect the baby to be here sooner. Once he or she arrives, we’ll transport you and the baby to Nassau just to be on the safe side. But for now, there are some things you’re going to have to do.”

I felt detached as Shelby quickly ran through breathing and pushing techniques. We’d already been through a course just in case this sort of thing happened, but I’d never believed it would. I thought I’d be holding Adrienne’s hand, and in the other, I’d have a video camera. Adrienne would get the epidural and after a few painless—well, I hoped—pushes, we’d have a baby. That was not to be.

Adrienne whimpered and cried as the first few strong contractions hit, but when they began in earnest, she screamed. I felt cruel for urging her to push. Her face turned deep red and almost purple as she did. Veins popped out across her forehead and in her neck, and I thought she’d surely explode. When she was given a reprieve and allowed to lie back, tears streamed out of her eyes and sweat covered her brow. Elaine and I were on either side clutching her hands. Iris stood behind the head of the bed, praying softly and stroking Adrienne’s forehead with a cloth.

I’d seen the videos. Adrienne was reacting just like the women in them acted, but this was different. This was my heart, my love, screaming out in agony, and it was almost more than I could bear.

“You’re amazing, baby.” I leaned down and kissed her lips. “I love you.”

“I love you, too, Hayden, but get out of my face.”

“That’s normal,” Iris said with a reassuring smile.

“When I said I wanted to do this, you should’ve talked me out of it,” Adrienne said between gritted teeth. “Was your head the size of a watermelon?”

I looked back at Iris. “And that’s normal, too?”

She nodded. “Unfortunately.”

“Time to push, Adrienne. Come on, you can do it,” Shelby coaxed.

“Ow, son of a bitch!”

Unlike me, Adrienne didn’t suffer from a chronic case of the potty mouth, but she was making an exception.

“Mother fuaaaggghhh.” And she was up again straining with everything she had. Her entire body shook with the exertion. I watched in awe. Had it been me, I too would’ve been cussing everyone in the room and would’ve probably kicked the instrument tray for good measure, but Adrienne pushed on.

“I’m sorry, so sorry, Hayden,” Adrienne said with tears streaming from her eyes. “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. I’m just…”

“I know, sweetie. It’s okay.”

“Oh, son of a bitch! My shit down there is never going to be the same.” Adrienne snarled at me. “Your fault, all your fault.”

It was like something out of The Exorcist. The only thing missing was the pea soup.

We all cheered Adrienne on when it was time to push, but when she dropped back onto the bed gasping and crying, I found myself doing the same. I would’ve preferred her cuss me up and down, but when she clutched my hand and begged me to make it all stop, I just broke down.

Elaine knelt near Adrienne’s ear and whispered softly. Adrienne closed her eyes and calmed, but when it came time to push again, I heard Adrienne say, “Momma, I can’t.”

It struck me hard in the chest. She sounded so pitiful, so weak and scared. I think it struck Elaine just as hard but for other reasons. It was the first time Adrienne had called her that.

Shelby’s confident voice persuaded Adrienne again, and she pushed with all she had. She was weaker then and couldn’t push as much as Shelby wanted. Adrienne fell back on the bed, her chest heaving.

“I’m sorry I was an ass. I’m sorry I wouldn’t sit in the wet spot,” I blurted out, and Adrienne smiled up at me through her tears, our argument forgotten. “I love you so much, and I’m so proud of you.”

“One more big one, Adrienne,” Shelby said. “One more time, and it’ll all be over. Give it all you’ve got.”

The bones in my hand felt like they were all being tied together in a knot as Adrienne gripped it. She clamped her eyes shut, and with a scream that pierced my ears…it was done. I could hear Myra talking excitedly, Elaine and Iris crying in joy, but I couldn’t take my eyes off Adrienne. She sank back with relief and exhaustion, pulling me with her. Her arms shook as they held me, and I found that mine were shaking nearly as much.

“Want to meet the one who’s been causing all the trouble?” I heard Myra say. I stood up straight and turned to look at Myra as she laid this tiny burrito-blanket creature into Adrienne’s arms. Adrienne wept, and I stared at the cone-shaped head. “Seven-pound eight-ounce baby girl.” Myra rubbed my shoulder. “Looks just like you.”

“Congratulations, she’s beautiful,” Shelby said with a relieved smile.

Adrienne looked up at me in wonder. “A girl,” she said dreamily.

Myra was snapping pictures. Iris and Elaine were crying and cooing. I could hear cheers coming from the hallway as I sank down into a chair. Shelby was explaining that she needed to do a few things for Adrienne, then the baby was put into my arms.

I looked down into that scrunched-up little face and saw myself. All the misgivings, all the selfish thoughts about this tiny little thing coming between Adrienne and me floated away. And confusion about my place went with it. I was a mom. In my arms screaming angrily was our daughter. “What about Kaia Elaine?” I asked in a whisper.

“Kaia Elaine Tate,” Adrienne said. “Perfect.”

Elaine pressed shaking hands to her chest as tears rained down her face. “I’ve never been so honored.” She leaned down and kissed Adrienne on the brow.

I looked back at Adrienne, who gazed at Kaia and me with tears in her eyes. I loved her more at that moment than I ever thought I had. She had given me—us—the greatest gift.

Chapter Eighteen

The gift cried anytime she wasn’t attached to Adrienne’s breast, and even then, she mewled her displeasure at being made to wait. It wasn’t odd to hear babies crying in the maternity ward at the hospital, but I knew Kaia’s cry even before they brought her into the room. I’d had to be the heavy and ask the nurse to take Kaia to the nursery so Adrienne could get at least a few hours of sleep. But when I was sure that Adrienne was in deep slumber, I’d sneak down there just to look at that tiny bundle.

I made plans. I’d teach her to swim and snorkel, and we could look at the fish together. We’d collect shells on the beach, eat hot dogs by a campfire. I’d get her that treehouse bed, and we’d pretend to live in the jungle. I’d read to her my favorite kid book, Where The Wild Things Are. And at night, Adrienne and I would tuck her into bed with a hug and a kiss. So much to do.

And one day…I leaned my forehead against the glass. I’d have to let her go and be an adult. “Don’t grow up too fast, baby girl. We have a lifetime of things to share.”

*******

“Have you slept at all?” Adrienne asked as she fed the baby later in the room.

I smiled wearily. “We’re parents. We’re not supposed to sleep.”

“Have you eaten anything?”

I shook my head. “Too excited to be hungry.”

Adrienne smiled. “I bet they have doughnuts in the cafeteria.”

“Are you trying to run me out of here?” I asked after a yawn.

“Everyone is taking care of me, but no one is taking care of you.”

“Mom and Dad will be here this afternoon. Mom will baby me.”

Adrienne chuckled. “That she will.”

“You should’ve heard them when I told them the baby was already here. Mom started screaming, which scared the shit out of Dad, then he started screaming. From the way they reacted on the phone, I’m sort of glad they weren’t here for the birth.”

Kaia released the breast she was working on and began fussing.

“What happened?” I asked. “Did you run dry?”

“I think she’s wet.” Adrienne stuck a finger into the leg of Kaia’s diaper.

“Did you just stick your finger in there? Isn’t there a better way of doing that?”

Adrienne nodded. “There is, but I’m sore, and I want to move as little as possible. And yes, she’s wet.”

I squared my shoulders. “Okay, it’s time for me to handle this. I’ll call the nurse.”

Adrienne looked up at me in disbelief.

“I’m joking. Pfft, I can change a diaper.” I took Kaia gently from Adrienne’s arms, gathered up a fresh diaper, and some of the cleaning cloths. Kaia was pissed when I laid her at the foot of the bed. I dodged tiny kicking feet and broke the seal on the diaper. In my opinion, I was handling it like a pro when something that looked like black sludge came out of her butt.

“Oh, my God, Adrienne, when did you eat roofing tar?”

Adrienne began to laugh, then winced. “The first poo is supposed to look like that. You read the book with me.”

I wiped and wiped, but the more I did, the more it looked like I’d cleaned her with a melting Hershey bar. “Yeah, well, they forgot to mention that you’d need some sort of degreaser to clean her up with.” I was surrounded by soiled wipes by the time Kaia’s butt was pink again. Just as I slid the new diaper beneath her, she peed on it, and I had to start over. “You’re really setting a precedent here, kid.”

Clean and dry, Kaia went back to feeding. I washed my hands, then Adrienne’s. This too displeased Kaia.

Adrienne grunted and squirmed until she was on one side of the bed. “Get in.”

“I can’t get in there.” I shook my head and put my hands on my hips. “I won’t.

“Please.” Adrienne looked up at me beseechingly. “I want us all three to be together and you need a nap.”

“Just for a minute.” I kicked off my shoes and climbed onto the very edge of the bed, careful not to bump my girls.

Adrienne let out a contented sigh. “Now close your eyes…just for a minute.”

And I did.

*******

I awoke sometime later staring into the face of Dr. Sonjay. She looked amused. Kaia was in a crib next to the bed sleeping soundly.

“I understand you came through the labor remarkably well,” Dr. Sonjay said with a smile.

“Yes, and I couldn’t help but notice that I wasn’t offered any pain meds when we arrived at the hospital.”

“I’m afraid we had to give those all to Adrienne, but I do have good news. You’ll be going home tomorrow. I wanted to tell you myself since I was unable to make the delivery.”

“Shelby did great, didn’t she?” Adrienne said.

Dr. Sonjay nodded. “I wouldn’t have done it any better myself. Hopefully, next time you’ll be where we can give an epidural.”

Adrienne nudged me. “Hayden will be having the next one.”

“Hayden will not. There aren’t enough epidurals or pain meds on the planet. You’d have to knock me out the minute I conceived and wake me after the baby arrived.”

Dr. Sonjay grinned. “Yes, well, that’s a discussion for later. Please let me know if you need anything at all.”

We watched her go, then I turned to Adrienne. “Shouldn’t we wait and see what Kaia’s gonna do to us before we consider having another one?”

“I was joking.” Adrienne grinned, then turned serious. “I’m hungry, and I don’t want any more hospital food.”

“Excellent.” I hopped out of bed and slipped on my shoes. “What can I get for you?”

“I want a fried chicken sandwich, not grilled, fried, and I want a large order of fries with a Coke.”

“Wow, I’m impressed.” I found a pen and made a list, so I wouldn’t forget anything.

“I also want a bear claw, no wait. I want a package of those little chocolate doughnuts.”

“Oh, baby, you’re talking my lingo. I think I’m starting to get turned on.” I jotted the doughnuts on my list.

“And I want a chocolate milk.”

“Damn, girl. You’re making me downright hot.”

“Did you witness the trauma I went through yesterday?” Adrienne asked. “No talk of sex for a long time.”

I nodded. “Okay, I’ll be right back.” I turned just as I got to the door. “When you say a long time…how long is that actually?” I dodged a pillow and went on my hunt for food.

*******

Mom and Dad arrived that evening. I stood ready to receive hugs and congratulations when Mom came sweeping into the room. Instead of a hug, I got her purse as she made a beeline for Adrienne. Dad handed me a gift bag and did exactly the same. They were kissing all over Adrienne and telling her how proud of her they were like I wasn’t even in the room.

Then Mom got a hold of Kaia. Oh, the tears and cooing! Kaia, who normally screamed when I held her, lay silently in my mother’s arms, probably too stunned to utter a peep. Then Dad was holding her and Mom was hovering and telling him everything he was doing wrong.

“I’ve held a baby before, Margaret,” he protested. “Actually, two.”

“Speaking of.” I pointed at myself.

“Oh, Hayden.” Mom pulled me in for a quick hug. “Now tell me, how did you decide on the name Kaia?”

“It’s Hawaiian. It means water baby or something like that.” I shrugged. “Anyway, we liked it.”

Mom nodded. “And Elaine for the middle name?”

“Kaia Margaret didn’t have a ring to it.” I shot a glance at Adrienne.

“Actually, that’s my mother’s name.” Adrienne came to my rescue, “which is something we should tell you about before we get to the island.”

Dad piped up. “I thought you were going to name her Drew.”

“We liked Kaia better.” I avoided Adrienne’s gaze. “Mom, have a seat.”

Mom complied after she had plucked Kaia from Dad’s arms.

I wasn’t sure how to begin, so I just blurted it all out. “Elaine is Adrienne’s birth mother. She’s staying with us at the inn.”

Mom looked surprised and turned to Adrienne. “I didn’t know your knew your birth mother.”

“I didn’t until recently.” Adrienne looked back at me, putting the explanation ball in my court.

The whole sordid story about Stinslin and how Elaine and Kristen came to the island poured out. When I was done, Mom and Dad exchanged glances.

“So you’re telling me that this man is still on the island and roaming free?” Mom said.

“We have guards posted at the inn, and Colie is keeping a close eye on Stinslin until his contact with the feds can tie him to the crimes.” It seemed so simple to me, but as I explained it to my parents, it began to sound like some psychic version of Murder She Wrote. “We’re certain this guy is what Kristen claims he is. He’s come to the inn already looking for her.”

“So let me get this straight. You’re going to take Adrienne and the baby back to the island with what you believe is a killer on the loose?”

“It’s our home, and we’re safe there,” Adrienne said. “We have protection.”

“I’ve come to understand why you want to live in such a remote place,” Mom began calmly as she looked at me and Adrienne. “But now you have a child—”

“Which would be no safer in New Orleans, Margaret,” Dad interjected. “But this is a sticky situation. We could put you up in a hotel here in Nassau until Colie gets everything under control.”

“With all due respect, I’m going home.” Adrienne’s voice was firm, and none of us was willing to argue.

Chapter Nineteen

The next day was pandemonium. A storm was approaching, and we were rushed to get back to the island. This was, of course, another arguing point that my mother seized upon. While it wasn’t a hurricane, it was a tropical depression and due to cross near the island. Being residents of New Orleans, my parents weren’t hip on weathering anything more than a thunderstorm.

Our house had been built to withstand a category five hurricane, but there was no way in hell I was going to ride a storm out in it. But a strafing by a tropical depression that would pass on the opposite of the island was doable. We’d weathered many. Unfortunately, it meant a lot of work.

When we arrived home, we were welcomed with a festive greeting. Kaia was the belle of the ball and actually seemed to accept her new digs. Even though she’d slept on the ride home, she didn’t protest when she was put down for a nap in her new baby bed.

Adrienne and I stood wrapped in each other’s arms watching her as she slept. “I tried to imagine what it would be like to see a baby in that bed.” Adrienne sighed and rested her head against mine. “She’s home, we’re home…and I can see my toes.”

“I can tell you this now, even when Hank had a knife to my throat, I wasn’t as scared as I was watching you in that clinic. I knew Shelby was capable, but still, I felt so helpless, and you were hurting so bad.”

Adrienne held me as tight as she could manage. “We came through it, though, together. You were right by my side where I needed you.” Adrienne kissed me. “I really am sorry about the fight we had and for screaming at you during the delivery.”

“Sweetie, you don’t have to apologize for any of that.”

“The birth didn’t go according to any of our plans, but I’d like to think back on it and not remember telling you I wanted to bounce your uterus like a ball.”

“But you didn’t say that.”

“I didn’t?” Adrienne scratched her head. “I guess I just thought it then.” She smiled and shrugged.

“Maybe you should lie down for a while.”

Adrienne nodded. “I will, but I want to talk to Iris first.” She grabbed the baby monitor, and I followed with one last look at Kaia to assure myself that I hadn’t dreamed the whole thing.

Iris was sitting at the bar checking off a list while everyone else gathered in the living room with coffee. She glanced up at us and grinned. “I have it all under control.”

We knew the drill. The same scenario had played out often since I’d come to live on the island. Adrienne and Iris had dealt with it so many times they could handle it all in their sleep. But then, we didn’t have a killer prowling the island.

“Has the staff moved the furniture out of the cottages?” Adrienne asked.

“They’re doing that now,” Iris said. “Fortunately, the storm didn’t cut the guests’ trip short, and we don’t have to give refunds. We saw them off yesterday.” Iris tapped her pen on the board. “The generators are gassed up and have been tested. Jacob will keep a close eye on them if we lose power.”

The last storm we had weathered blew the thatching and roof material off of every cottage at the inn. Because we moved the furniture, we didn’t lose any of it, but the cleanup and repairs took weeks. We also lost a freezer full of food because someone—me—hooked up the generator improperly.

“Then we’re all set,” Adrienne said with a relieved sigh and joined the others on the sofa.

I put a hand on Iris’s arm when she made a move to join them. “Hey, thanks for taking care of everything. Adrienne, me, the inn, all of it. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Iris grinned. “Pray you never do, child.”

As we joined the rest of our family, I heard Colie offering their guest room to my mom and dad.

“Oh, no, that’s not fair.” Elaine moved out of her place in the corner where she’d been silently listening. “You should stay here with Hayden and Adrienne. Kristen and I can go to your place.” Elaine looked at Iris. “That is, if you don’t mind.”

“Oh, no,” Mom protested. “Blake and I will stay right here on the sofa sleeper. Elaine, you and I can take turns getting up with the baby.”

Adrienne watched the exchange, then spoke up. “I have to get up anyway to feed her.”

Mom’s eyes sparkled as she clapped her hands together. “No, sweetheart, you don’t.” She grabbed a package wrapped in brightly covered paper emblazoned with baby bottles and pacifiers. “We never did have time to have a baby shower like we planned. Now’s the perfect time.”

Dad and Colie groaned, and so did I.

Unbeknownst to me, although judging by the look on Adrienne’s face, she knew Iris and Mom had been working together on a secret import operation. Mom was shipping gifts, and Iris had been stockpiling them in lieu of the baby shower. As the gifts started piling up around where we sat, we learned that Iris had coordinated for Elaine and Kristen, as well. One of our staff had gone to Nassau and made purchases for them. Boxes and bags surrounded the couch and covered the coffee table. A cake was set up on the kitchen table, and more coffee began to brew. It was hell.

I watched longingly as Dad and Colie retreated to the deck with beers in hand, while I tried to ooh and ahh over diapers and cute little outfits. I fought the urge to laugh as Adrienne tried to make sense of the breast pump that Mom was so excited about.

“You can express your breast milk through this, and we can store it in the fridge,” Mom explained. “That way, you can get a good night’s sleep, and Elaine and I can take care of the baby.”

“Oh, honey, now you can express yourself,” I said softly when everyone was ogling an outfit.

She leaned in close. “Let’s take the baby and sneak back to Nassau.”

*******

Adrienne stayed long enough to have a piece of cake, then Kaia saved her by demanding to be fed. I grabbed a beer and sneaked onto the deck with the two traitors who left me to suffer.

“What’s the news?” I asked Colie. I knew by his expression that something was up, and it had nothing to do with his distaste for the baby shower.

“I was just telling your father we had a break in the Stinslin case.”

I took a seat with a feeling of trepidation, afraid the news was going to be good and bad.

“The young woman in the picture with Kristen was found dead in her apartment. My contact sent me a picture of her, and I verified that it was the same woman in the photo. Tyler Hernandez, my contact, and another FBI agent are on the way to the island, but they may be delayed by the storm in getting here.”

“Colie, I love you, and I mean no disrespect, but why the hell are you sitting here and not arresting Stinslin?”

He averted his gaze and scrubbed at his face. “One of my people tried to detain him and he got away.”

“Has he left the island?” I nearly shouted.

“No, he’s still here. I have all the means of escape sealed. The storm further assisted me in keeping the fishing charters clear of the island.”

I hadn’t noticed until that moment that Colie’s normally pressed shirt was covered in sweat stains, and his pants and shoes were dirty. “You’ve combed the island and you can’t find him.”

Colie nodded. “I’ve called the mainland. I was able to get a few extra officers to assist. They’re still searching with locals. I’ll go back out later, but I wanted to come by and tell you what was going on.”

I started ripping at the label on my beer. “Does Kristen know about her friend?”

Colie shook his head. “We haven’t told her anything, and she hasn’t been drawing anything, either. Iris seems to think that she’s been preoccupied with Adrienne and the baby.”

“Does Elaine know?”

“Yes,” she said softly as she came up behind me. “I heard it going through Iris’s mind today.” She took a seat next to me. “I think Kristen has been so focused on Stinslin that she might’ve missed what happened to Abby. One of us should tell her before she figures it out on her own.” Elaine looked at my father and smiled. “Yes, Blake, I really do read minds, and thank you kindly for the compliment.”

My dad looked stunned as he blinked rapidly.

“Perhaps when everything calms down this evening, you and Elaine could talk to Kristen. I know it takes away from your homecoming, but I believe it should come from one of you,” Colie said.

I nodded. “I need to talk to Adrienne first, then we’ll all talk to Kristen.”

Colie stood slowly and laid a hand on Dad’s shoulder. “Blake has a weapon.” Colie grinned. “I’m not sure how he procured it, but he’ll stay on guard here. I also have people around the grounds.”

I looked up at Colie. “Are they armed, as well?”

He winked at me. “I cannot deputize anyone, but if they’ve managed to arm themselves, I know nothing about it.”

Elaine slipped back inside, leaving Dad and me alone on the deck after Colie left. His face held a slight flush. “What compliment did you pay Elaine?”

“I thought that if Adrienne aged as well as her mother did, she was always going to be beautiful.”

“Cheers to that.” I tapped my bottle with his and took a small sip before pushing it away. I didn’t want anything dulling my senses any more than my exhaustion. “You used to be a pretty decent marksman.”

Dad smiled. “I still am, honey.”

Chapter Twenty

Adrienne’s eyes were filled with tears when I walked into the bathroom and found her leaning against the sink. “Honey, are you all right?”

She nodded and sank into my arms. “I know about Abby. I heard your thoughts. Kristen told me a lot about her, and even though they’re no longer together, there are a lot of feelings there. Kristen is going to blame herself for Abby’s death because she’s the last person she visited before coming here.”

“I don’t think we should put this off for very long. That’s one picture we don’t want her to draw.”

Adrienne washed her face, blew her nose, and followed me into the kitchen. Elaine nodded as we walked in, and I knew she knew it was time. Kristen was helping Iris and Mom put the dishes away when I spoke up. “Hey, Kristen, why don’t you come sit down? I’d like to talk to you about something.”

We all tried to keep our expressions neutral, but by the time we all sat, Kristen was fidgeting. “What is it?” she asked.

Elaine put an arm around Kristen’s shoulders. “I don’t know how to say this without it coming out brusque,” Elaine began.

“Just say it,” Kristen said, becoming more agitated by the second.

Elaine exhaled a soft breath. “I’m sorry, sweetie, but Abby is—”

The rest never escaped Elaine’s lips. Kristen let out a wail that awoke Kaia.

I put a hand on Adrienne’s arm. “I’ll go, stay with your cousin.” Adrienne reluctantly nodded, and I went down the hall to the nursery as Mom settled next to Adrienne and rubbed her shoulders.

I picked Kaia up and sat in the rocking chair. “It’s okay, my little love.” I held her tiny body against mine and rocked back and forth until she quieted. I’d read that babies really can’t see clearly, just blurry shapes, so the sound of your voice, your touch are what they respond to. I tried to calm myself and talk softly about the things in her room, describing stuffed animals and how when she slept they crawled into bed with her and licked her head, hence the cowlicks in what hair she did have. She stared back at me as though she understood every word, then eventually fell back to sleep.

I had no experience with babies other than what I’d read in books. I’d never held one until they handed Kaia to me two days before, but it seemed like the most natural thing in the world to wrap her in my arms and snuggle her little body against mine. I knew that one day soon she’d test my patience and make me say stupid things like my mom said to me. I’m going to tear your butt up, or I’m gonna snatch a knot in your head if you don’t straighten up. But for now, my bundle of love made me feel peaceful and calm, even though an emotional storm raged just outside the nursery door.

*******

After I tucked Kaia into her bed, I went into the kitchen and found Adrienne, Mom, and Iris talking quietly. All looked as though they had been crying. Elaine and Kristen had retired to their room.

“How’s she doing?”

“She’s distraught,” Adrienne said.

“I gave her one of my muscle relaxers. It should help her relax and sleep.”

“Mom, those things would knock a horse on its ass. I hope you gave her half.” She’d given me one when I pulled a muscle, and I slept for two days.

“Hayden, you have dark circles under your eyes, and Adrienne should’ve been to bed hours ago.” Mom got up and handed me the breast pump. “I’ve cleaned it, now take it into your bedroom and see if Adrienne can pump out some milk. That way, you both can get a full night’s sleep.”

Adrienne didn’t look so sure as she stared at the contraption.

“Come on, Adrienne, let’s see if we can milk you.” I gave her a hand up.

“My boobs are already sore,” Adrienne said once I closed the door to our room. “I don’t think I can use that thing.”

The case alone looked scary, big and black with zippers all over, kinda like something a sniper would pack around. I opened several compartments and pulled out the instruction booklet. It seemed pretty cut and dried to me. “It says to relax and think about the baby. Also, you need to stimulate your nipples. I can do that part.”

Adrienne climbed up on the bed and glared at me. “Get anywhere near my nipples right now, and it’s on, and I don’t mean in a good way.”

I pulled out the two sucky things and inspected them. They certainly didn’t look complicated. “The lactation nurse said your milk was flowing well. You might not have any problems whipping out a gallon or two.”

“I’m not a cow.” Adrienne propped herself on the pillows.

“I’ll try it first, and if it hurts even in the slightest, I’ll be honest.”

Adrienne rolled her eyes and gestured toward the milker. “Have at it.”

I looked at the settings and felt if I were going to give her an accurate report, I should start at the highest level first. I set everything up and lifted my shirt. Adrienne watched in amusement as I stuck it to my stomach and pulled it away with a grin. “Nothing. See, no hickeys or bite marks.”

Adrienne rolled her eyes. “The skin of your stomach is not as sensitive as my breasts right now.”

“I’d stick it on my boob, but mine make rum not milk, and that’s just not good for the baby.”

“Stick on your mouth then,” Adrienne said with a smirk.

“Is that your way of telling me to shut up?” I pressed the phalange thing to my face. “Luke, I am—”

Adrienne burst out laughing and flipped the switch. That machine…made for something as soft as a breast grabbed my bottom lip, folded and sucked until my eyes crossed. I was so stunned that I failed to react when it relaxed for a second, then clamped down again. Adrienne’s eyes went round as she started yelling, “shit, shit, shit,” and slapped at the switch.

“Hayden Marie, what the hell are you doing?”

I looked up at Mom and Elaine with the pump affixed to my face.

“Are you insane?” My mother walked over to the bed.

“It tried to eat my face,” I said with a gasp. “Is my lip still there?”

Adrienne, my love, my heart, collapsed onto the bed in a hysterical fit of laughter.

“We thought Adrienne was hurting,” Elaine said as she stifled a laugh. “I’m sorry we barged in without knocking.”

“This is for Adrienne and the baby.” Mom snatched the pump thing out of my hands. Adrienne and I looked at each other like two scolded children fighting the urge to laugh.

“Better check it, Mom,” I said seriously. “I think it may’ve sucked out the milk I had for breakfast.”

Mom ignored me and focused on Adrienne. “You never try anything out on the highest setting. This really is something helpful, and it will allow Hayden to feed and bond with the baby, too.”

Mom was good. She had Adrienne at the word bond.

“Okay,” she said with a sigh. “I’ll try it.”

“The key is to relax, and I imagine that you won’t be able to do that with us watching you.” Mom handed Adrienne the two pumps. “Elaine and I will leave you alone. If you need anything, send Hayden to get us.”

After they left, Adrienne looked at me. “I need a minute to relax.”

“Okay, I’ll be right back.” Quietly, I slipped into the nursery and grabbed the onesie we’d had Kaia dressed in earlier. When I returned to the bedroom, Adrienne was massaging her breasts.

“It’s supposed to help the milk production,” she said, “and no, you can’t help.”

Dejected and rejected, I sat on the edge of the bed and watched. Adrienne exhaled a slow breath and switched on the pump. I watched in nervous anticipation as she slowly pressed the cups to her breasts. “Is it okay? Does it hurt?”

She winced. “Do you have short-term memory?”

My lip was still throbbing. “Dumb question. I’m not seeing any liquid in there.”

“We’ll give it a few more minutes,” Adrienne said with a grunt.

“You’re supposed to think of the baby. The book said it would help if you smelled her.” I thrust the onesie under her nose, and she looked at me like I was insane. Forty-five minutes later, Adrienne produced an ounce.

“Damn, no wonder Kaia’s fussy.” I held up the container and looked at the fluid inside. “Are you dehydrated?”

“My boobs hurt, everything below my belly button hurts, and I’m exhausted.” Adrienne yawned. “Let me get some sleep and you can milk me in the morning.”

*******

Morning came early for Adrienne. Kaia awoke a little after one. She’d already drained the bottle in a previous feeding and was demanding more. I watched out of one eye since it was the only one I could keep open as Adrienne nursed Kaia. The baby would fall asleep, and Adrienne would pull her away from her breast. The second that happened, Kaia woke and demanded to be put right back. This went on for what seemed like hours. We were no sooner asleep when the process had to be repeated.

“Why are you up?” my mother asked when I staggered into the kitchen at nine the next morning…or same morning. I was so weary, I wasn’t sure if a week had passed.

I rubbed my eyes and followed the smell of coffee until I found the pot. “I wanted to know if there was an update from Colie.”

“No word yet.” Elaine took me by the arm and led me to the table. “I’ll make your coffee. What do you take in it?”

“Three sugars, two creams.”

“Hayden Marie.” My mother looked repulsed.

“They’re big cups, Mom. I’m really having a teaspoon and a half with one cream per cup if you consider the size.” I looked over at Dad, who was lying on the couch. Kaia was sleeping comfortably on his chest. She looked like a peanut in contrast to his big body.

“Where’s Kristen?” I asked when I noticed she wasn’t around.

“Still asleep,” Elaine said. “We stayed up pretty late, then the pill your mother gave her kicked in. I imagine she’ll sleep in today. Did Adrienne get any rest last night?” Elaine set my coffee on the table.

“Not much. When I got out of bed, she didn’t move. I had to check to see if she was still breathing.”

“She had a long day yesterday, poor darling.” Mom reached over and patted me on the arm. “You really should skip the coffee and go back to bed. There’s no guests to tend to.”

Kaia vetoed that notion. I pushed my coffee aside and walked over to Dad, who was trying to console the tiny breast milk junkie. “Look here, boobaholic,” I said in a baby voice as I picked her up, “you’re draining your mommy dry. How about a biscuit instead?”

She stopped crying and looked at me as though she was considering it, then she scrunched up her face and let out a wail that sent me directly to Adrienne.

Adrienne sat up bleary-eyed when I came into the room and smiled the minute she set eyes on our baby. “Come here, baby girl,” she cooed as she took Kaia into her arms.

I watched them in wonder. Kaia quieted except for a few growls as she nursed. I was fairly certain she was expressing her displeasure at how long it took me to get her to food. Adrienne ran her palm softly over the top of Kaia’s head and murmured a response to each little growl.

“I offered her biscuits, and she promptly told me where I could stuff them. I think she may already be full of attitude.”

“Just like her mother.” Adrienne grinned. She stopped stroking Kaia long enough to point to her forehead. “Kiss me here. I haven’t brushed my teeth yet.”

“I don’t care.” I leaned in and kissed her lips.

“I missed you.”

I patted the bed. “I was here beside you all night.”

“I know. There’s so much going on in our lives right now. I just feel anchored when I’m with you, safe.”

“All this commotion will be over soon, and it’ll just be us. The three of us will settle into a routine, and everything will feel normal again.” I grinned at Kaia’s tiny toes and toyed with one. “If Kristen is interested in staying on here, would you object?”

Adrienne melted. “I would love that. I’d like to have Elaine, well, Mom, stay on, too, but she has responsibilities back home.”

I’d gotten so used to Elaine being around that it hadn’t struck me that she’d be going home.

“I don’t want to talk about either of them leaving right now. Let’s just enjoy their company until the time comes.” Adrienne released a sigh and stroked the arm of Kaia, who had fallen asleep with a nipple in her mouth.

“I hate to bring up an ugly subject, but are you hearing anything from Stinslin?”

Adrienne shook her head. “Neither Mom nor I can hear Stinslin, at least not enough to know where he’s hiding. This island is small, and he’ll be caught soon whether we hear him or not.”

“Kristen might be able to sketch when she wakes up,” I said hopefully. “That is, if she can function. Mom’s pills are brutal.”

There was a soft knock on the door. A second later, it opened, and Iris stepped in with a breakfast tray. “I thought momma might be hungry.”

“Oh, momma is.” I eyed the cinnamon roll and bacon.

Iris shot me a look as she set the tray on Adrienne’s bedside table. “You can go into the kitchen, girl.”

“All that talk about me being a parent, too. All the crap I took about not considering myself pregnant when Adrienne was, but yet I’m not the momma now? I washed a goat for you, Iris, and this is how you treat me?”

“Dat’s your goat, missy.” Iris waved a finger at me. “He ate up all my hibiscus. And when your company leaves, you need to come get your cat who has moved into my house and pooped in my potted plants.”

I stretched out on the bed with a sigh. “Ah, Saber. I can always count on him to do the dirty work. Did his kids follow him over?”

“Oh, yes,” Iris said with a scowl. “They’ve been doing their fertilizing in what is left of my flower beds.”

Adrienne sighed happily after taking a bite of her cinnamon roll. “This is just like old times. I eat the goodies while you two trade barbs. And look, Kaia’s sleeping right through it all.”

Iris and I looked at the baby and smiled. “Have you heard anything from Colie?”

Iris shook her head and took a seat on the bed. She grabbed the TV remote and switched it on to the weather. “It’s getting dark outside. I need to take one last look around before the rains come.”

“I’ll do it. You take a break.”

Iris smiled back at me. “I was hoping you would volunteer. You’re running low on soda.”

“For you, love.” Adrienne handed me the other half of her roll. “I shouldn’t eat any more of this.”

In two bites, the rest of the roll was gone. I shot Iris a grin, though my cheeks were stuffed.

“Just so you know, girlie, Gibbs licked that side of the roll.”

*******

“It’s been so long since we’ve done this.”

Adrienne relaxed against me. The feel of her slick skin against mine made my heart flutter. “Take advantage of it while you can because Kaia, the hollow leg, will wake again soon and demand her fifth breakfast.”

“Whose idea was it to install this giant tub anyway?”

“I believe it was yours, my love,” I said with a smile.

“Oh, yeah, I’m brilliant, and I’m so, so sleepy.”

I washed her back, arms, and neck. Everything else was sore and off-limits, but I didn’t mind. Just the intimate connection of taking a bath together was enough to carry me for a while. I kissed the side of her cheek. “Thank you.”

“For what? You just did half of the washing,” Adrienne said with a chuckle.

“For our baby. I just never dreamed she would be so amazing or that I’d love her so much.” The catch in my voice made Adrienne sit up and look at me.

“I should be thanking you. I know you agreed to start a family because I wanted it so much.”

“I didn’t think I was ready, I didn’t know what to expect.” I felt my eyes welling with tears, so I cupped my hands and splashed water on my face. “Now I’m…I’ve never been so happy except for the day I met you.”

Slowly, Adrienne turned sideways in the tub and caressed my face as a tear slipped down her cheek.

“Look at us, we’re total mush balls,” I said with a laugh. “And now, I have to get out of this tub and look at our offspring. She’s not even talking, and she has complete control over me.”

*******

Adrienne stood wrapped in my arms as we watched Kaia sleep. I could’ve stood there for hours, but I felt Adrienne lean farther into me, and I knew she was about to drop like a sack of rocks. I led her back to our bedroom and tucked her in with a kiss. “I hope you get to sleep for a little while before the little one wakes up.”

Adrienne reached over and took my hand. “Stay close today, okay?”

“Of course. As much as I can.”

Adrienne was asleep before I left our bedroom to make last-minute rounds before the storm. Dad offered to go along with me and make sure all the hatches were battened down, but I asked him to stay behind and watch over my girls. I knew Colie had people very close to the house. I saw many of them as I took the trail to the bar, but I wanted to be alone. Frankly, I was talked out. I loved my family and was growing to love Adrienne’s, but their presence had become overwhelming, especially with all of them virtually in my armpits.

Chapter Twenty-one

I went to the bar first and looked in the dining room, which was piled with furniture since it was one of the most stable structures at the inn. The weatherproof tables and chairs in the bar had been lashed down, and I figured they would be fine. According to the last weather report I heard, we could expect some wind but mostly rain. I doubted seriously that anything was going to fly off.

Next on my to-do list were the cottages. I inspected each one. Anything that could be damaged by rain if the roof was blown off had been removed. I visited the one Adrienne and I had known as home last. A melancholy wave of homesickness washed over me as I stepped inside. I imagined that I heard the echo of Adrienne’s laughter or her sigh when we’d made love countless times there. I smiled as I thought about her, and I wanted to go home to all the chaos and hold her in my arms.

Dark clouds had gathered overhead while I made my rounds, and as I stepped out of our old cottage, the rain began to seriously fall. I was two steps into the trail home when I remembered we were out of soda at the house. I turned and sprinted to the bar, and just as I arrived, a car pulled directly in front. Wiper blades swished back and forth obscuring the driver, but a familiar female voice called to me.

As I warily approached, I recognized BJ. I almost turned and walked off without hearing what she had to say, but the worried expression on her face drew me closer. “What are you still doing here and why are you out in this weather?” I asked as the rain pelted me.

“Get in, Hayden.” BJ’s eyes were huge as she regarded me. “Get in,” she repeated as I stood there staring at her. A shiny silver cylinder protruded from the back of her neck. I followed it to the hand that held the weapon. “Please, Hayden.”

I walked slowly around the front of the car wondering if I ran if Stinslin would shoot her. With sickening resignation in the pit of my stomach, I knew he would, then he’d come for me. Adrienne’s face as she looked up at me that morning flashed through my mind. “Stay close,” she had said. My hand shook as I reached for the door handle, and I thought of Kaia and how snuggly she felt in my arms that morning. I prayed that when I left them, I wasn’t saying goodbye for the last time.

“Close the door,” BJ said shakily as I sat.

I did as she directed and turned to look at Stinslin. He was grinning from ear to ear.

The shiny barrel of the gun moved from BJ’s neck and was pointed directly at my face. “Where is she?” he asked.

“If you blow my head off, you’ll never know.” My voice quavered when I spoke, and it was obvious to everyone in the car that I was scared shitless.

Stinslin moved the gun back to BJ’s head. “But if I blow hers off, it won’t matter. Maybe then you’ll understand just how serious I am.”

BJ released an explosive shuddering breath but said nothing.

I steeled myself and looked Stinslin in the eye. “She’s been under your nose the whole time. Whit’s been keeping her at The Cove. But here’s the deal. He won’t give her to you, so you need me. I won’t give you jack shit if you shoot BJ.”

Stinslin tapped BJ on the jaw with the gun. “Drive.” He turned his cold gaze back to me. “If she’s not there, I’ll gut you while you’re still alive.”

“She’ll be there.” My mind was racing a million miles an hour to formulate a plan. We could go to The Cove and I could get Whit to call for help, but that would leave BJ at Stinslin’s mercy. Stinslin must’ve been thinking along the same lines.

“When we get close, you call her. Tell her to come outside, meet you at the car.”

I chanced a look at Stinslin. I knew it was futile to try to talk our way out of the situation, but I couldn’t help but try. “Why do you want her anyway?”

“She’s the reason the police are looking for me.”

“Then quit stalking her,” I said, playing dumb. “She doesn’t want to be with you and you’re blowing this all out of proportion with that gun.”

“Just shut up and turn around,” he said as a bead of sweat trickled down the side of his face.

Stinslin was scared, I’d decided. Despite his tough guy routine, he was shaking like a leaf. I tried to weigh my options. I could surprise him and go for the gun, but there was a fifty-fifty chance that one of us in the front seat would be shot. My brain went into panic mode, and I couldn’t formulate a plausible plan. So I tried diplomacy. “You’re an asshole.”

The car swerved as BJ whipped her head around to look at me. “Are you insane? Don’t taunt a man with a gun.”

All the coiled-up tension that the banana trees couldn’t take erupted out of me like a volcano, and I was on a roll. “No! I’m not insane, I’m pissed off. This is my home.” I pounded my chest in fury. “And it seems like every psychopath on the planet is drawn here. I’m not one to believe in karma, but I’d like to know what the hell I’ve done in my life to become a refuge for nutcases!” I looked over my shoulder and glared at Stinslin. Like BJ, he looked at me incredulously.

“If you’d embezzled funds from a bank or one of the oil companies that has been draining us all dry with smiles on their faces, I might’ve given you a pat on the back. But no, you—” My roll went too far.

Stinslin sat up a little straighter and aimed the gun at my face. “Finish that sentence.”

“Smooth, little girl, real smooth. Now you’ve signed our death warrants.” BJ’s face became even paler.

“He has a gun pointed at our heads, BJ. Do you think he’s gonna drop us off with a handshake when he gets what he wants?”

“Did you see them?” Stinslin demanded.

“Didn’t you just tell me to shut up?”

Stinslin put the barrel of the gun to my forehead. His voice was low and cold. “I asked you a question.”

“What does it matter? You’re not going to let either of us out of this alive.”

His nostrils flared as he exhaled. “You’re trying to distract me. Pull that cell phone out of your shirt pocket and call Kristen. Tell her to meet you around back near the Dumpsters. Tell her you need all the sketches, it’s important.”

BJ cleared her throat. “So she’s not his sister?”

“No, bird brain, he’s a liar and a killer, and he wants to silence Kristen. Have you not been paying attention?” I pulled the phone from my pocket and dialed the marina, knowing I’d go to voice mail.

Rain hammered the windshield so loudly that I hadn’t noticed the unfastened seat belt alarm. BJ never took her hands off the wheel nor did she look at me. “Please put on your belt, Hayden, that chime is shattering my already frayed nerves.”

She accelerated a bit more when I had clipped myself in. I watched as one hand slipped from the wheel and lay on the seat between us. BJ ticked off her fingers as though she were counting. She glanced at me, and though I didn’t know what the hell she was trying to indicate, I kept my expression neutral. Again, she began counting off, slowly this time, and it hit me what she was about to do. I grabbed the door handle and tried to expel all the air from my lungs as her little finger popped up.

BJ stomped the gas as the car left the roadway. The sedan plunged into the soft shoulder and went up on its nose. I saw grass and sand coming up to meet me fast just before the airbag exploded in my face. I had no idea how many times we flipped, but on one of the rotations, Stinslin flew past me, then I felt the weight of him on my chest, then he was gone again.

The car finally came to rest upright. The roof was caved in around me. The only sign of BJ was a limp hand dangling inches above the floorboard. Blood streamed off the unmoving fingertips. Panic seized me when I realized my only escape was the broken-out windshield. The crawl space would’ve been a challenge on a good day, but every inch of my body felt like it had been shredded and was on fire.

“I feel, that’s good,” I said aloud just to see if I could make a sound. Rain pounded on and in the car. If Stinslin was still alive, he wasn’t making a peep.

I started with my toes first. It hurt, but they did wiggle. Slowly and methodically, I moved everything, and even though it sent blinding pain through my body, I was grateful that my limbs still worked. Blood dripped onto my hand as I looked down at the seat belt and unclipped it. I said a silent prayer of thanks that I didn’t feel any numbness as I moved my neck.

I took as deep of a breath as I could manage and prepared myself to move. But as I slowly leaned forward, a hand grabbed my shoulder. The reaction was instantaneous, rage surged through me. Stinslin had survived and was going to finish off what was left of me. “You sorry son of a bitch,” I said through clenched teeth and sprayed the dashboard inches from my face with blood.

“Hayden, it’s me, Jacob.”

“Jacob.” I repeated the name a few times just to make myself believe it.

“I’m going to let down your seat,” he said as I felt him tugging at something. Slowly, it moved backward, and I looked into his dark eyes with relief. “Are you pinned?”

“I don’t think so.”

He nodded as he studied my face. “I’m going to pull you out. There’s a strong smell of gas. I’m afraid the car might blow.”

Panic gripped me anew at this revelation. I started pushing frantically with my feet as he pulled. Jacob dragged me a few feet from the car and sat me gently on the sand. Elaine came into view, her face pale and drawn.

“Colie and the others are on the way,” she said. “It won’t be long.”

“BJ.” I gripped Elaine’s arm. “You have to help BJ. She’s still in the car.”

“Stay still.” Elaine ran around the other side of the car where Jacob was already working with a tire iron.

The car was smashed top, front, and back. There was no sign of Stinslin. If he had managed to be thrown in the backseat, he would’ve been visible from my vantage point because the rear of the sedan was torn open like a tin can. I tried to put weight on my right arm to pivot and get up on my knees, pain that had been barely tolerable became blinding. I gasped for breath, then tried the left. I was sobbing and nauseated by the time I got to my knees. Gingerly, I stood, feeling like the world was swirling around me.

Rain fell on my face as I closed my eyes to get my bearings. I could hear Jacob and Elaine yelling back and forth as they tried to free BJ. I staggered past the mangled car unnoticed and looked for Stinslin. He’d come to rest between two boulders, and except for his right leg that was in an unnatural shape and bloody face, he looked as though he were simply watching the spectacle with calm detachment.

I finally understood how my level-headed Adrienne could consider taking justice into her hands. It wasn’t because Stinslin would’ve most certainly killed BJ and me. A switch had been hit in me the minute Kaia was put into my arms. Though I felt the same way for Adrienne and my loved ones, I felt an even stronger need to protect that innocent child, my child. The women Stinslin had murdered were someone’s children, too, and I had decided that I’d make sure he would pay in full. I knelt with a cry and picked up a rock the size of a grapefruit. My stomach roiled as I straightened, but I took the last few steps with murderous intent.

Stinslin looked at the rock in my hand, then his gaze trailed up to my face. “What’s that for?” he asked before coughing.

“For Kristen, for Abby, for my family, and all the women and families you destroyed. I don’t want to see you in court. I don’t want my taxes paying for your health care, your stay in prison.” The fear in his eyes gave me great satisfaction. If I’d had the strength, I would’ve pretended to throw the rock at his face a few times just to see him flinch. I raised the rock above Stinslin’s head. He blinked rapidly as his reflexes told him to run, but his body failed to heed the command. “I’m going to bash your skull in and no one will ever know.”

“They didn’t suffer…none of them…I was merciful.”

It was my turn to blink rapidly. “And your point is?”

“Hayden.”

Elaine’s voice was close. It sounded so much like Adrienne, I almost cried for wanting to be in her arms. I couldn’t turn and look at her. I knew I would lose my nerve.

“Hayden,” she repeated calmly. “No one would blame you for doing this. You have a good heart, though, and I think you’d come to regret this.”

“Go back and help Jacob.” I stared into Stinslin’s eyes.

“Hayden, don’t do this.”

“He was after your niece, and you’re a mother. Surely, you understand the need to protect.”

Elaine stepped directly in front of me. Her hand rose slowly and stroked the side of my cheek. “Right now, I’m protecting my daughters and granddaughter.” She pushed the rock from my grasp, and it landed in the sand with a thud. “He’s going to die, anyway. Look at the front of his shirt.”

Elaine moved beside me, and I sagged against her. I had not noticed the protrusion just above his waist. He looked down, as well, then back up at me in horror.

“A fitting end for a vampire, though when you were impaled, the stake missed your heart.” I laughed mirthlessly. “Guess it’s gonna take a while for you to die.”

I felt Elaine’s arms at my hips steadying me. Then I felt another pair and looked into an unfamiliar face. “I have medical training,” he said before everything went dark.

Chapter Twenty-two

“Hayden…Hayden…Hayden.”

I could hear the voice, but as I got closer to it, pain filled my head and body. I wanted to retreat into the darkness where I couldn’t feel a thing.

“My baby…my baby.”

It was Mom’s voice. I opened my eyes and looked into her tear-streaked face.

“Hayden Tate,” an unfamiliar male voice said. “Can you hear me?”

I closed my eyes until I heard her voice. It seemed to be miles away and called me from the blackness that I craved to take refuge in. My eyelids felt heavy as I lifted them again. Adrienne was fighting against the arms that held her. I watched as she reached toward me, and I thought I said, “Let her come,” but the words never passed my lips. And though I fought it, the blackness came, and I was helpless but to give in to it.

*******

“…and then there was the time you ran into the dishwasher. That was your second concussion. It was the old kind that you had to pull across the kitchen and hook up to the sink. I don’t know why I bothered with that thing. It would have been less time to just wash the dishes. But anyway, you were running through the house like a wild animal. I opened my mouth to yell, ‘stop running,’ and you blasted into the kitchen and ran slap into the side of the washer. I swear I saw your eyes cross before you hit the floor.”

It was Mom’s voice. I couldn’t understand why she was at a crash site talking about dishwashers.

“I think the third one happened when you tried to jump off the house with an umbrella. I blame Disney and Mary Poppins for that. Tom and Jerry were the worst, though. Your brother thought he was Tom and you were Jerry. I caught him banging you on the head with a toy hammer. It’s no wonder you’re so accident prone. Your poor head has always taken a beating.”

I opened one eye, and the brightness of the room made my head ache, but the rest of me felt pretty good as long as I didn’t move or breathe. “Adrienne, Kaia?”

Mom appeared above me smiling but sporting red eyes with dark circles beneath them. “They’re fine. We couldn’t bring the baby into the hospital, so they’re staying at a hotel nearby. Adrienne comes in every hour to check on you.”

“Water.” Mom raised the head of the bed slightly so I could sip from a straw. I lay back wondering if I’d ever move without the sensation of razors in my side and back. “BJ?”

Mom smiled. “She made it. She had to have surgery, but she’s stable in intensive care.” Mom toyed with a lock of my hair. “I’m afraid to touch you. You’ve managed to bang up nearly every inch of your body. There’s a nasty cut above your eyebrow and you have some broken ribs on your right side. The rest of you is either bruised or stitched. And you have another concussion.” Mom raised her hands and shrugged. “Other than that, you’re just fine.”

“Don’t make me laugh, it hurts.”

Mom grinned. “I’ll try to behave. The smile slipped from her face. “I’ve been in so many hospitals with you, Hayden, but this time, I swear, took years off of me.” She swallowed. “I saw you before they flew you here. I was so afraid, and Adrienne was inconsolable.”

“I’m okay now, though.”

Mom smiled, though her bottom lip was trembling.

“And Stinslin?”

The smile vanished from her face. “He’s dead, honey. He won’t hurt anyone else.”

I felt the air rush out of my lungs and my side throb. It was news I wanted to hear, but when it was delivered, I felt hollow. Somewhere, his parents were grieving and probably horrified to know what their child had done.

“They…uh…found things in his house, hair and...” Mom cleared her throat and gripped her chin. “Families will have closure now.”

I couldn’t bear to hear anything else. “Will you call Adrienne?”

“Absolutely.”

*******

Soft kisses covered my face. I knew it was Adrienne before I opened my eyes. I knew those lips, and her scent filled my senses and eased my pain. “I didn’t go looking for Stinslin,” I said as I opened my eyes. “I had no choice.”

“I know.” Adrienne’s lip quivered as she ran her fingertips across my cheek. “None of that is important now, only that you’re here.”

“Will it be important later? Because if you’re going to fuss at me, I want to be heavily medicated.”

Adrienne laughed despite her tears. 

“I’m ready to go home with you and Kaia. Can you spring me out of here?”

Adrienne pursed her lips. “Not today, love, but soon.” She sniffed and wiped at her eyes. “I hate not being able to stay in here with you.”

“I have to touch you.” Slowly, I raised my good hand, and Adrienne pressed her cheek into it. “You have to be mommy to our girl, and my mommy will mother me. Although…I did awaken to her talking about antique dishwashers. She may be getting into my pain meds.”

Adrienne smiled and rubbed her cheek against my palm.

“I was going to kill him.”

Adrienne opened her eyes.

“He couldn’t move and I was going to—” A lump so big formed in my throat that I could barely speak. “Elaine stopped me.”

Adrienne sniffed as fresh tears filled her eyes. “Let’s not talk about that right now.”

“No, I have to. I have to confess, so I’ll stop feeling so damn guilty.” My head started to pound. “Why do I feel that way? He deserved it, right?”

“I don’t think you would’ve done it even if Elaine hadn’t been there.” Adrienne wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “As much as he deserved to die, I don’t believe you had it in you to make that final blow.”

I felt exhaustion sweep over me. I blinked to stay awake.

“Sleep now, my love, we’ll be going home soon,” Adrienne said as the light began to dim.

My last thought before I drifted off was of Adrienne and me one day taking Kaia for her first swim at the beach. And that…Adrienne was wrong.

Chapter Twenty-three

“Adrienne, there’s a spot on the ceiling. How’d that get there?”

She stood on the bed and looked at where I was pointing. “I think that’s a spider.

“A what?”

“A spider.” Adrienne wiggled her fingers. “You know those things with all the legs.”

“I deeply resent your use of sarcasm while a deadly arachnid is dangling directly above me.”

Adrienne put her hands on her hips and looked down at me. “You’re a whiny patient, my love.”

“Regardless, me or the crawly thing has to go. Either you kill it or grab me by the foot and drag my ass out of here.”

“You can walk, you know,” Adrienne said as she climbed down from the bed.

“You’re gonna see me run if that thing moves.”

“For the love of Pete, Mike, and Uncle Earl.” Iris came marching into the bedroom with a broom. With one swipe, the spider was gone.

“I can’t rest until its body is found. I have to know it’s dead.”

Iris grimaced and waved the broom at me.

A week and a half in bed had worn my patience thin. Being trapped indoors, even in my own home, was something I couldn’t tolerate. I had no idea how Adrienne had coped when she’d been sent to the couch for all those days. “I need to get out.”

“I think that’s a great idea,” Adrienne said. “I can set you up with extra pillows on a chaise lounge. The fresh air will do you good.”

“I mean, I want to go see BJ.”

Adrienne looked at Iris, who shrugged. “I don’t know, love. That’s a long trip and I’m not sure you’re up for it.”

“I’ll take Drew and a pain pill.”

Adrienne cast a doubtful look at Drew, a small pillow I’d drawn a face on when boredom overtook me. I’d been inspired by Wilson in Castaway. 

“BJ’s going home soon, and I want a chance to thank her in person. Please, Adrienne.”

She shrugged. “Okay, if you think you’re up for it.”

Who knew that taking a short trip without the baby was such an ordeal? Adrienne had to express enough breast milk to supply Kaia while we were gone. The baby had to be cooed over, assured we’d be back soon and we were already missing her, and that was just me. Adrienne had to have her turn. In all, it took us three hours to leave the house, and both of us were nearly in tears. But Mom and Elaine convinced us that Adrienne and I needed our time together and that we should take advantage of their help while they were around. So we did with very heavy hearts.

“Ow.”

Adrienne looked over at me as I squirmed in the passenger’s seat. “Are you sure you can make this trip?”

“Yes. Ow.” The roads on Cat Island were rough to say the least, but until you have a few broken ribs, you don’t have a firm grasp on how bad they are. “Ow, it only hurts when you hit a bump. Aside from that, I feel really good.”

“You’re stoned. Your eyes look like two marbles.” Adrienne looked down at the pillow protecting my ribs and chuckled at my attempt to draw a Saints jersey. “Congratulations, honey, you finally got to name something Drew.”

“Drew, I’ll be so blue if I ever lose you,” I sang.

Adrienne put a hand over my mouth. “No, baby, no.”

*******

The roads in Nassau were better, and the cab driver was very sympathetic to my plight. He did his best to dodge potholes. Adrienne rode next to me with my hand clasped in hers. She’d nearly rubbed a hole in the back of it with her thumb when I asked, “Thinking about the baby?”

She turned to me and smiled. “Busted.”

“I’m thinking about her, too. I feel like we left of a piece of us behind.”

“We did.” Adrienne smiled, raised my hand to her lips, and kissed it. “You got up three times last night and went into the nursery.”

“I had to look at her, touch her. I’m sorry I woke you up.”

Adrienne shrugged. “It’s okay. I do it in between feedings, too.”

I thought of Elaine then. I wondered how she felt watching her daughter and granddaughter.

“We’ve had a lot of time to talk,” Adrienne said suddenly, privy to my thoughts. “Especially when you were in the hospital.” Adrienne released me and twirled a strand of her hair around her finger. “We’ve been thrown together with no time to really dwell on how significant this is, but the turmoil has formed a bond between us.”

“Can you hear her thoughts?”

Adrienne shook her head. “No, and it’s the weirdest thing. She can’t hear mine, either. It’s almost as though we cancel each other out. Your thoughts come through loud and clear. Ela—Mom,” Adrienne smiled slightly, “I’m still getting used to calling her that. Mom heard your thoughts the day you were getting into the car with BJ and Stinslin. Your dad had gone for a walk down the new trail, and there was no time to get him, so she ran to the bar where she met up with Jacob. He’d seen the car pull up, but you were gone before he was able to get to you.”

“That’s how they got to us so fast,” I said as I remembered Jacob’s hand on my shoulder. “Poor little Kaia, she doesn’t stand a chance with you and her grandmother able to get into her mind.”

“I’m sure you’ll teach her to sing about doughnuts when she’s plotting something.” Adrienne rolled her eyes.

“Let’s have another baby. No, let’s have four. We’ll have them close together, so they can be playmates.”

Adrienne looked at me wide-eyed. “I distinctly remember you saying we should wait and see what this baby was going to do to us before we talk about having another one.”

“Yeah, but I wasn’t drugged up then.” I picked up Drew and smiled at him. “Look at this handsome son of a bitch, will you?”

“Quiet down,” Adrienne said as she took Drew and stuffed him gently between my ribs and the car seat. “That pain pill is really doing a doozy on you.”

“Pills, I took two for the ride.”

“Hayden!”

“Huh?”

“Seriously, you took two?” Adrienne was looking deep into my eyes.

“Yeah, and I feel fine.” I winked at her. “And you look really fine. Ever done it in a cab?”

I came face to face with Drew. I wasn’t really sure if Adrienne was trying to shut me up with him or if I’d flopped over on the seat.

*******

“You look like shit, Hayden,” BJ rasped out when we walked into her room.

“Well, BJ, you look much the same,” I said with a smile. Both eyes were black, and her head was wrapped in a bandage. Her left leg was in some sort of contraption that I didn’t want to stare at too long. The cast on her left arm was covered in signatures and well wishes from the hospital staff. I saw Colie and Iris’s names there, too. “How’re you feeling?”

“Like I look. They say I might not be able to walk again. An old bird like me doesn’t recover as quickly as someone like you. I say it’s all what you tell yourself that you can and cannot do. I’m gonna walk, maybe not like before, but I’ll be on my feet, just you watch.”

“Where’s Audrey?” Adrienne asked.

“Out getting some fresh air. I have to run her out of here every so often. You mind lifting that cup up for me so I can have a sip?”

I held the cup close to BJ’s mouth, and she took several swallows through a straw. “I’m really very sorry about how things turned out.”

“It wasn’t your fault. We weren’t given a lot of choices, and I didn’t ask your opinion before I ran that car off the road.” BJ cleared her throat. “A little more water, please.” I held the cup back up to her lips, and she took another couple of long pulls from the straw. BJ looked over at Adrienne and smiled. “I hear you have a beautiful baby girl now. Congratulations to you both.”

“Thank you,” Adrienne said with a proud smile.

BJ turned her attention back to me. “I’m sorry for the way I treated you. Audrey was right. I’d gotten downright mean.” Her brow furrowed, and coupled with the black eyes, she looked downright scary. “It sucks when you get old. You retire and no one needs you anymore. I’d begun to feel useless. I took it out on Audrey and everyone around me.” She swallowed and cleared her throat. “I remember thinking when I floored that car that I was finally doing something important. I’m a hero now.”

“You are that,” I said with a smile.

“Does that mean we can come back and stay for free?” BJ asked with a cheeky grin.

“Yes, I’m sure the folks at The Cove would love to have you.”

“Brat.”

“What Hayden’s really saying,” Adrienne said, “is you’re always welcome with us.”

“But for free?” BJ asked, obviously wanting a clarification.

“Of course,” Adrienne said with a chuckle.

“I’ll be leaving here in a week. I’ll have to spend some time in rehab, but I expect next year this time I’ll be on my way back.” BJ winked at me. “That’ll give you enough time to prepare.”

“Consider me warned. I have to ask, what were you still doing on the island, and how did you end up in a car with Stinslin?”

BJ grimaced. “I wasn’t ready to go home, so we stayed a couple extra days at The Cove. I rented a car to look for some more damn birds. To tell you the truth, I hate birding, it’s boring. I was doing it for Audrey, though. Anyway, I rented the car and went back to pick her up, Stinslin got in, and well, you know the rest.” BJ cleared her throat. “I have nightmares. Do you?”

I shot Adrienne a glance and nodded. “When I’m not taking pain meds.”

“They tell me that’s normal.” BJ looked at Adrienne. “Come here, honey.” Adrienne stepped closer to the bed. “Make her talk to you about them. Don’t let her keep it all inside.”

“You’ve got her figured out, don’t you?” Adrienne said with a wink.

“I was a lot like her back in my day.” BJ looked at me. “That’s probably why I picked you to vent on. You’re tough. I knew you could take it. How ’bout a little more water?”

I held the straw to her lips, and BJ took a couple of swallows before lying back with a sigh and closing her eyes. “You’re tired,” I said. “We should go.”

BJ opened one eye. “Want some insight from an old woman?” Adrienne nodded, while I shook my head. BJ smiled. “You live in paradise. It makes you forget all the awful stuff going on in this world. If you’re not careful, you’ll forget how blessed you are, so when adversity comes, think of it as balance, then it won’t be so hard to cope with.”

“So the moral to the story is, when life serves you lemons, beat those bitches with a hammer.”

Adrienne rolled her eyes. “Forgive her, she took an extra pain pill, and she’s…well, this is normal.”

BJ grinned up at me. “You get the point. It took me landing flat on my back to appreciate that I have a damn good life.”

I patted BJ on the shoulder softly. “I got ya. Come back and see us next year. I’ll be looking forward to it.”

BJ closed the one eye that was still open and smiled. “We’ll go kite boarding.”

Chapter Twenty-four

Elaine stayed with us nearly a month after my parents left. She and Adrienne would take long walks on the beach or sit on the deck for hours and talk. What Adrienne said about their gifts canceling out each other, we learned was untrue. When things settled down and we all developed a routine, they became privy to each other’s thoughts. Incapable of keeping secrets, their relationship was sometimes tense but honest, and a bond formed so strongly between them I ached for Adrienne when Elaine told us she had to go back home. Elaine promised to return often, and we in turn promised to visit whenever we could.

“I don’t want to go when you take Aunt Elaine to the airport.” Kristen startled me. She’d sneaked into the house while I watched Adrienne and Elaine sipping coffee on the deck.

“You don’t like my driving?” I chided, knowing that like me she didn’t want to see Adrienne and Elaine say goodbye to each other.

Kristen looked sad as she peered through the window. “I’m going to help Iris. We’re going down to the fruit market. I’ll say my goodbyes before we leave.”

I poured a cup of coffee and set it in front of her on the bar. “Are you having regrets about your decision to stay on here?”

Kristen’s gaze remained fixed on the pair sitting on the deck. “No, I know this is where I belong. I love my cottage, and now that my stuff is here, the island feels like home.”

“I’m glad to hear you say that. Adrienne and I are thrilled that you’re staying.”

Kristen’s gaze met mine. “You mean that, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I do.” I reached over and squeezed her arm. “Now Adrienne can get up in your brain, too. It’ll take some pressure off me.”

*******

The ride to the airport was quiet for two reasons. Kaia was asleep in what I liked to call the “baby bucket,” which Adrienne insisted on calling an infant carrier. And Adrienne and Elaine had gotten really good at talking in their heads—it pissed me off.

“It’s rude to speak in different languages when one person of the group does not.”

Adrienne looked over at me and grinned. “We’re not speaking a foreign language.”

“You know exactly what I mean. Kaia and I are offended. Kaia is especially worried about her mommy fine-tuning her ‘listening’ skills. She feels that puberty will be even more of a trauma with her momma in her brain.”

Elaine laughed, and I looked at her in the rearview mirror. She was staring down at Kaia as any proud grandparent would.

Adrienne reached over and ruffled my hair. “You’re right, we were being rude. We’ll try to do better in the future. As for Kaia, we’ll have a heart to heart when she wakes up.”

“The only thing that child will want to hear when she wakes is the sound of your bra being pulled away, so she can eat. I swear if she always eats like that, we’re going to have to build new cottages on the property and boost our clientele.”

Adrienne laughed at my comment, then sobered when the airstrip came into view. My heart broke when I noticed the sad expression on her face. I glanced into the rearview again, and Elaine looked just as forlorn. I swallowed the lump in my throat as I pulled passed the gate.

“Elaine—Mom, if you decide you want to make this place your home, all you have to do is say the word. We’ll have you moved in no time,” I said as we came to a stop.

Elaine tried to smile, but I saw the first of many tears trickle down her cheek. She leaned down and kissed Kaia on the head and breathed in her scent before climbing from the Jeep. She and Adrienne stared at each other before they embraced. They stood together for a few minutes crying and holding on as if they’d never be together again.

“Look at the baby, Hayden. Focus on anything but them,” I said under my breath. “Aw, damn.” I gulped for air and started wailing louder than Kaia when she was really hungry. Adrienne and Elaine welcomed me into their arms, and we stood there in a circle crying our eyes out until Kaia woke and joined in.

I reached into the backseat and plucked Kaia from her carrier as Elaine stroked Adrienne’s face and said, “I’m so proud of you, sweetheart. You’re more than I ever dreamed. I’m leaving you this time, but I promise to be back soon.”

“I love you, Momma.” Adrienne wrapped her arms around Elaine and buried her face in her neck.

I was again squalling louder than Kaia.

After Elaine had hugged us all and showered her grandbaby in kisses, she strode to the double doors of the airport. She turned and with a weak smile blew a kiss in our direction. We stood there long after the plane had taken off, and Kaia managed to fall back to sleep. We climbed back into the Jeep and headed home.

Adrienne looked so sad and leaned her head against the window. Her feeling of loss was palpable, and I wanted to pull over and take her into my arms.

“I’m not sad,” she said suddenly. “Well, I am sad that she had to leave, but…I’m happy, too. We have a beautiful daughter, and I have a mother and cousin.” Adrienne looked at me as her eyes teared again. “And I have you, my love, my life.”

I did pull over then. I wrapped Adrienne in my arms, and I held her as tight as my sore ribs would allow. “You are the best thing that has ever happened to me,” I said as Kaia woke and began to holler. “And you too, milkaholic.”

Chapter Twenty-five

Life went back to normal for us, well, as normal as it could be for new parents. Speaking of, we had visits from them monthly. Mom and Dad would no sooner leave than Elaine would arrive. Then the Christmas holidays came and with it all the grandparents at one time. It was our very first Christmas in the new house and Kaia’s first ever, so it had to be special…right?

I took issue with the potted banana tree that Adrienne had strung with lights. It didn’t smell like Christmas to me, and it wouldn’t hold ornaments, so I enlisted the help of my brother, Jeff, who unfortunately couldn’t get away from work for the holiday. If Adrienne or Elaine knew about my plan, they didn’t let on.

“Is it fake?” Dad asked as we stood on the dock watching the supply boat slowly make its way in.

“Of course not. Fake trees don’t smell like Christmas. Jeff and Wanda picked it out. I told them I wanted a big one. I ordered a ton of ornaments, black and gold balls, too.”

“Jeff’s never seen the new house, though, he might’ve gotten something too big.” Dad had a faraway look in his eyes, and I knew what was on his mind.

“You’re thinking of the great Christmas tree disaster of eighty-two. It won’t be like that.”

“I cut limbs off of that thing for days. Your mother had it brought in on a truck. We had to take a chain saw to the trunk to get it into the tree stand…you did get a stand, didn’t you?”

“I did. All we have to do is get it up the stairs, and we’re golden.”

I was jumping up and down when the boat pulled up to the dock. They no sooner had the moorings in place and I was climbing aboard. “Hey, Calvin, you got something for me?” I asked excitedly.

“Sure do. I’ll get the guys to unload the boxes onto the dock. We’ll use the hoist for the large one.”

“Excuse me, but did you just say hoist?” my dad called out from the dock.

Calvin wiped at his sweaty neck with a towel. “Yeah, we can load it directly onto the flatbed if you want. You did bring a truck, right?”

Dad stared at me, his expression blank. “Is there a bar near here?”

*******

It took me a few hours, but I managed to find a truck big enough for the tree and a chain saw. It was dropped off in a clearing not far from the house. Dad had the measuring tape out. “We could cut three feet off this thing, and I think the tip would touch the ceiling. When I get home, I’m going to kill your brother.” He shook his head as he put his hands on his hips. “The width is an issue, too. Why don’t we put it up outside?”

“The house won’t smell like Christmas.”

“We could cut off a few branches and bring them in. That should be enough to smell up the house.”

It came to me then that I could play the guilt card. “Dad, this is your granddaughter’s first Christmas. She needs a tree in the house.”

And that’s all it took. Dad squared his shoulders. “It’s gotta be against a wall so we can anchor it, and for it to fit in your living room, we’ll need to shave the branches off of one side.”

“Works for me.”

Dad looked to the west. “We need to get started on this now before we lose the light of day. I need a pair of pruners. I’ll also need a hand saw, and, Hayden, beer, lots of beer.”

Winters aren’t severely cold in south Louisiana, but when wrestling with a Christmas tree from hell, one does appreciate a cool breeze. We had no such luck on the island. It was hot as shit, and an hour into the job, we’d only made a small dent in the foliage. We were both covered in sap and pine needles cursing like sailors when Adrienne came to find us with Kaia on her hip.

“Honey,” she said excitedly. “You got us a tree.”

“I was excited about it, too, until it whipped our asses.” I rubbed my forearms. “I think something is living in there, and it bites.”

Kaia grinned at me, and her little arm popped up, indicating that she wanted me to hold her.

“I can’t right now, sweetheart. Your mom is covered in sap.” I made a face. “Yucky, gooey stuff.”

Kaia responded with a smile and a giggle.

“We’ll be done soon, my little Buddha belly, and I’ll get you then.”

That was the first time I lied to my daughter—unintentionally, of course. We’d hacked, sawed, and trimmed the tree down to what we considered a manageable size. Naturally, everyone had gone to bed by the time we were ready to drag it up the stairs. Dad took the trunk and went up first. All I had to do was follow and give a push when it got stuck on a stair or the railing. Simple enough, but being a Tate, Dad missed a stair and fell forward. I got a face full of tree.

“Hayden, honey, are you okay?”

I replied from deep beneath the boughs, “It’s okay, Dad, my other eye works perfectly fine. I really didn’t need two.”

At nearly one in the morning, Dad and I hoisted that big son of a bitch biting tree into the stand. It was crooked, and we cared not.

“Thanks, I really appreciate all the help.”

“You’ll forgive me, honey, if I don’t help string the lights tomorrow.” He looked bone tired, and I couldn’t bring myself to tell him that he had a big wad of sap on his forehead with pine needles sticking out of it. I was tempted to take a picture and tell Kaia a few years from now that Paw Paw was sprouting baby reindeer horns.

*******

The next morning, I was awakened with soft kisses. When I opened my eyes, Adrienne was above me sporting a huge grin. “The tree is magnificent, darling.”

I smiled up at her. “I’m glad you like it, baby, because we’re not taking it down until July.”

We laughed when we heard cooing and an occasional squeal coming through the baby monitor.

“I’ll translate that for you,” Adrienne said. “Kaia wants you to feed her breakfast this morning.”

“I’m happy to oblige.” I got up and went into the nursery. Big blue eyes peered at me over the bumper pad. “Your other mommy is warming up some rice cereal for you. I hear it’s got breast milk in it. We serve only the best at Château Tate, it’s vintage 2011.”

Kaia squealed when I picked her up. No sooner than I had her on my hip, she grabbed a handful of my hair.

“Now look, kiddo. You’re gonna have to let that go if I’m going to change your diaper.”

Kaia didn’t seem to agree. I gave her a few play bites on the belly until she let go with more squeals of delight.

“Is there anything you need to tell me before I bust the seal on this bad boy?” My hands were poised above the diaper. She looked up at me and grinned. “Dear Lord, it’s like a gel pack in here. How much did you drink last night?” I rolled up what felt like a ten-pound diaper and stuffed it into the Genie. “Breakfast and a bath are what you’re going to get, missy.” I put on the fresh bun cover, as I liked to call it, and grabbed up my little monkey.

“Mommy Hayden is having baby foot for breakfast,” Mom said with a smile when I walked into the room nibbling on tiny pink toes. Even though our family was staying at the cottages, our house was the gathering point. Iris had brought in breakfast, and our home was alive with laughter.

I put Kaia in the highchair where she accepted a kiss from her other mom, then she looked at me, and it was all business. Her expression clearly said, “start shoveling it in, I’m hungry.” She accepted every spoonful like a vacuum cleaner, sucking the spoon clean.

“We have to decorate the tree today because tomorrow is Christmas. Santa needs a place to deposit his gifts for a certain Buddha belly baby we all know and love.” I glanced over at Dad, and he hid his face behind a magazine.

At the mention of Santa, Teddy came to sit next to me. Kaia’s eyes lit up when she saw him. “How does Santa know what to bring Kaia? She can’t talk, so how does he know what she wants?”

“When you’re too young to write your own letter to Santa, your parents do it for you,” Adrienne explained as she joined us.

“So what is Santa bringing Kaia?” Teddy asked.

“Oh, we can’t say. It’ll spoil the surprise.” I held my finger to my lips. “It’s a secret.”

Teddy shook his head. “She doesn’t know what we’re saying, she’s a baby.”

“How can you be so sure?” Adrienne said with a smile.

Teddy moved close to me. “Whisper it in my ear.”

I did as he asked. He looked at me oddly, then whispered loudly. “Baby girls don’t like trains, they like dolls.”

“Train?” One of Adrienne’s eyebrows shot up.

“Shh, Kaia’s gonna hear you.” I looked at Teddy. “We have to work on your whispering skills.” When I looked back at Adrienne, she was still regarding me with that lone eyebrow. I shrugged and grinned.

After Kaia finished her breakfast, she took a bath in the kitchen sink with the entire family watching. I filmed the whole fiasco. Later on in life, I would use it as blackmail material. “This is Kaia’s first Christmas,” I said as I zoomed in on her. “Next Christmas, we’re gonna ask Santa for hair because Kaia’s is still on backorder.”

Kaia splashed Adrienne, her grandparents, the wall, and the window above the kitchen sink before Adrienne took her out and wrapped her in a towel that had a pocket in one corner and two little round ears. She was already yawning and heavy lidded as Adrienne took her down the hall to dress and nap.

“Before you put anything on that tree, we need to anchor it to the wall,” Dad said as we looked at it.

The tree was listing to the starboard side and took up nearly one whole wall, even though we had it in a corner.

Mom came to stand beside us. “Does that mean you’re gonna put a hole in the new wall?”

“More like two or three,” Dad said.

I waved them off like it was no big deal. “I’ll ask Jacob to patch when we take the tree down a few years from now. The walls will need to be repainted by then anyway.”

“Will you need my help? No? Good then, I’m going to Nassau with Elaine and Kristen anyway.” Mom turned on a heel and vanished.

Dad and I went to work, and an hour later, we had the job done. Jacob would have four holes to repair, three anchor spots and one the size of a grapefruit where dad lost his balance and buried his elbow into the sheetrock.

*******

Even though the house smelled of spruce pine and Kaia had hung her first ornament on the tree, it didn’t really feel like Christmas. “There’s no biting chill in the air, no fire in the fireplace…and no fireplace,” I said to Adrienne as I bounced Kaia on my hip.

“We have no fireplace because there’s no chill,” Adrienne said with a smile. “You, my love, have to adapt to island Christmas.” She turned to everyone in the room. “It’s time.”

“Time for what?” I watched them all gather gifts and go out the door.

Adrienne wrapped an arm around my waist. “Let’s go.”

No one complained as we hiked a little ways and followed a trail down to the beach to where a small campfire was surrounded by blankets and one chair. Everyone but me seemed to know what was going on and put their gifts in a pile before settling on the blankets.

“We’ve always gone to your parents’ house for Christmas,” Adrienne said. “Now you get to experience it island style.” I took a seat next to Adrienne and watched as Iris lit a torch next to the chair and sat down.

“Welcome to Cat Island Christmas, my family,” she said in a strong Caribbean accent. Everyone applauded, including Kaia, with a little help. “Christmas morning is for the children to enjoy the surprises that Santa is sure to deliver, but tonight, we celebrate our togetherness. Before we all begin opening presents, I’d like to tell you all about the gifts I have already received, and I’m sure you will all see that you have been given the same.”

Iris pointed to Kaia. “To us all has been given a precious new life to nurture and love. I hope you all cherish this gift as Colie and I have treasured our blessing, Teddy.” Iris pointed to Kristen. “We have been blessed with a gifted artist and a sweet soul who has made our island family even bigger.” And then she pointed to Elaine. “And this precious woman, a mother and I am proud to say a sister.” Iris pointed to the huge pile of presents. “In those boxes are only things, but in each other, we have the greatest gift of all.”

Our family erupted in applause.

“Now each one of you must say what you are thankful for.” Iris raised a hand. “This is difficult because you may only say one thing, and you cannot repeat what someone else has said.” She pointed to my dad first.

Dad grinned at Kaia. “My granddaughter, though I could say more.”

Mom went next. “I’m thankful we still have Hayden after her accident.”

Iris nodded at Colie, and he held up his hands. “My family, of course.”

“I think we can all say that one,” Mom agreed.

It was Teddy’s turn. “I’m thankful for Gibbs, my goat.”

Iris groaned and turned to Kristen. who thought for a moment. “Since family is already taken, I’d have to say acceptance.” She smiled at Adrienne.

Everyone looked at Elaine. She too smiled at Adrienne. “I’m thankful for second chances.”

Adrienne was up next. “This is difficult because I’m thankful for everything all of you have said.” She pursed her lips for a second. “I’m thankful for my gift because it called my family into my life.”

That one got a round of applause, then it was my turn. “I was saving this for Christmas morning.” I grinned at Adrienne. “I’m thankful that Adrienne has legally changed her last name to Tate.” My heart melted when the most enthusiastic applause came from my parents.

“Momma, that was fun,” Teddy said as he did a dance. “May I give out the presents now?”

Iris nodded. “You may.”

With the exception of Kaia, who attacked the paper on the first box put in front of her, we all waited until the gifts were passed out to unwrap. The fire grew higher with each piece of wrapping paper tossed in it, illuminating the joyous faces around us.

Adrienne opened a box with our names on it from Elaine. Inside were a journal and a pen.

Elaine came over and sat next to Adrienne as she turned the empty pages. “I bought this for you and Hayden to write letters to Kaia. Record day-to-day things and your impressions because one day it will be precious to her.” She handed Adrienne a much older version of the same journal with a red bow on top. “I hope you will find this precious, too, because in it is what I thought every day I was apart from you.”

Adrienne held the journal to her face and inhaled deeply. “Mom, it’s definitely precious already. I love you.”

Kaia and I started crying at the same time, though her reasons were different than mine. She could not get past the tape on one of her gifts and enjoy the feel of paper ripping.

*******

“What are you thinking?” I asked Adrienne later as she sat quietly watching Elaine and Teddy roast marshmallows.

She turned and looked at me. “I was thinking that we’re not rich by the world’s standards, we don’t have a lot of money in the bank, but…” She looked down at Kaia, then back at me. “We are the wealthiest two women on the planet.”

I leaned over and kissed her. “Yes, we are.”

Iris brought the evening to a close by reading ’Twas the Night Before Christmas with Caribbean flair.

Chapter Twenty-six

When I emerged from the shower, Adrienne was not in bed. I smiled thinking that she was in the nursery staring down at the baby like I often caught her doing. The nursery was empty, however, and I went into the living room thinking that maybe they were in there. I noticed Adrienne in the kitchen pouring wine into two glasses.

“Where’s our Buddha?” I tried to keep the rising panic from my voice.

“With my mom.” Adrienne handed me a glass of wine and touched it with her glass. “Merry Christmas, my love.”

I took a sip, then asked, “Is she coming back tonight? Because, Adrienne, I don’t know if I can sleep without her being under the same roof.”

“Sleep is not what I have in mind.” Adrienne took my hand and led me toward the bedroom. “Are you wearing anything under that robe?” Adrienne put a hand in the center of my chest and gently pushed me toward the bed.

“Why, no, Mrs. Tate, I’m not.” I took a sip of wine and set the glass on the bedside table. “Want to see?”

Adrienne nodded.

I opened the robe and let it slide off my shoulders onto the floor. One of Adrienne’s eyebrows shot up, something I thought was incredibly sexy when I was not found guilty of something. “Are you wearing anything under that robe?” I reached for her, and she stepped away.

“You’ll have to get into bed to find out,” she said seductively.

I was on the bed in a flash. Between my accident, Kaia, and family, we’d barely had anytime alone. When we made love, it’d been in a hurry, and now, we had all night. I watched as Adrienne slowly undid the belt and let her robe slide to the floor.

“Oh. My. God. Does that have Brees on the back?”

Adrienne grinned at me, sporting nothing more than a New Orleans Saints jersey. “It’s my gift to you. I thought you’d appreciate it more if I modeled it.” She turned, allowing me to see the back. “You like?”

“I love it, but at the moment, I’d be happier seeing it on the floor.”

Adrienne crawled onto the foot of the bed moving slowly. “No baby monitor to listen to, no company in the next room to be quiet for.” She licked the inside of my thigh. “No interruptions.”

I felt like I was on fire.

Adrienne straddled my legs and pulled the jersey over her head. The jogs on the beach had served her well. She was nearly at pre-baby weight, but as perfect as she was then, she was even hotter now. She was carrying a bit more weight on her hips and stomach and I loved it. “Don’t lose another pound,” I said as I ran my hands over her hips and thighs. “I love the curves.”

She planted her hands on the bed just above my shoulders and slid her slick center up my stomach. “Do you know what really excites me?”

Heat and wetness melded into my skin. I could think of nothing else. Her question slipped out of my brain in a whisper.

“Do you,” Adrienne dragged her finger lightly across my lips, “know what turns me on?”

“Tell me,” I said breathlessly as our gazes locked.

Her full lips quirked into a smile. “Touching you, tasting you. It’s been on my mind all week as I planned this night.” She ran her hands across my chest, avoiding the flesh that craved her touch the most. “I’m not interested in making love, though.”

I’d never been able to do the lone eyebrow arch, though I’d spent more time than I was willing to admit in front of the mirror coaxing it up. At hearing Adrienne’s words, one eyebrow shot into my bangs. “What?”

Adrienne chuckled and pinched one of my nipples. “I want the sex we used to have, mind-bending reckless abandon. I want to take you to that place where you couldn’t form a coherent sentence if you tried.”

“Oh.” I was already there. “Yes.”

She released a shuddering breath as she moved her hips higher up my body. I knew what she was going to do, and my eyes nearly crossed with delight. I slipped my arms through the opening between her legs and pulled her tightly against my face. Euphoria. I loved the feel, the taste of her. She loved the control. Regardless of how tightly I held her, she could still shift and have my tongue exactly where she wanted it and when. I would deny her nothing.

Adrienne allowed me to push my tongue inside of her before she moved back until it was on her clit. I could see the muscles in her stomach go rigid and hear that ragged intake of breath. She set the pace, and I complied as the heels of my feet dug into the bed and pushed at the blankets. I wanted her to go slow, but the way she ground into my mouth, she had anything but slow on her mind. I clamped my eyes shut wanting to focus solely on the pleasant task and groaned loudly when she pulled away.

“Either you’re a masochist or I’m doing something wrong.” I tried to pull her to me as she backed away.

“I like to be on the edge,” Adrienne said breathlessly. “It makes me crazy.”

She moved off the bed when I reached for her again, and I pounced, refusing to be denied. I pushed her against the wall and molded my body against hers. “I want you. I want to be inside of you.”

The breath that Adrienne expelled came out in a hiss as I reached through her legs and entered her in one hard stroke. One hand gripped at the wall, the other reached behind her and grabbed a handful of hair. Neither of us was gentle. Something primal had been awakened like an animal that had been caged far too long.

“Your fight for control isn’t going to last,” I said against her ear as I withdrew and slipped my hand between her and the wall.

Adrienne leaned her head back against my shoulder. Her groan was a mixture of relief and frustration at the truth of my words. My fingers slid easily on either side of her clit, and after a few strokes, I felt her legs begin to shake. Adrienne gasped a breath and held it as her body went rigid, then I was rewarded with a long, loud, unrestrained cry.

“Run from me, will you?” I said against her ear when she calmed and sagged against me.

Adrienne laughed. “I had no plans to go far.” She turned in my arms and pulled me close. Her kisses were breathless and bruising. She nipped at my bottom lip before saying, “Go back to bed.”

I turned and took her hand, intent on climbing in, anxious to feel her body beneath me. I didn’t expect her to grab me by the hair and force my face down onto the bed. “Stay on your feet.” I turned my head, gasping for breath through strands of hair that covered my face.

I’d always enjoyed putting Adrienne into every submissive position I could imagine. Her willingness to give me complete control had been a supreme turn-on, but finding myself subject to her whim was disconcerting. Adrienne leaned her body over mine and pressed her lips to my ear. “Do you trust me?”

“Absolutely. It’s me that I’m having the problem with.”

Adrienne threw my words back at me. “Your fight for control isn’t going to last.” She stood and raked her nails up the back of my thighs and ass cheeks, sending bolts of electricity through my body. I shuddered violently under her touch. “Tell me I can have you like this.”

I wanted it, but I didn’t want to be made to say it. “Yes.”

“No.” Adrienne ran her fingertips up the inside of my left thigh, grazing lightly over my center. I clamped my jaw to keep from crying out. “Say, ‘take me like this.’”

I was trapped between wanting to defy her and begging her to do anything she wanted.

“Playing hard to get?” Adrienne said in a voice that gave me chills. “You’re so wet. How long will you be able to hold out because I can…” She ran her fingertips up the inside of my right thigh and teased my opening for a second before pulling away. “I can do this all night.”

“Do it,” I said between clenched teeth.

Adrienne pressed into me again. Her breath was hot against my ear. “Do what? Tell me.”

“Do it. Fucking take me any way you want.” The words were out of my mouth so fast, I had no time to be shocked before she was inside of me. I buried my face in the bed, afraid to hear the things I was saying. Adrienne was relentless until I begged her to stop.

I crawled the rest of the way onto the bed and flopped onto my back, hoping my strength would return soon. Adrienne buried her face between my legs. I grabbed her hair as her tongue grazed the most sensitive part of my body. “I’ve got to start jogging with you. You’re—oh, damn. You’re killing me.”

*******

I awoke the next morning on the rug in front of the couch covered in Christmas garland. Adrienne stood over me sporting a smug grin and wet hair from her shower. “Look what Santa left me by the tree.”

“I’m sorry to tell you this, but you can’t play with this toy for at least a week. It’s broke. Santa will have to take it back to the shop and reassemble it.”

Adrienne extended her hand. “If you don’t get up right now, you’ll have to explain that to our parents and family who’ll be here soon.”

I stood and looked down at my stomach. “Did you give me a hickey next to my belly button?”

Adrienne nodded. “Payback for the one on my inner thigh. Now go shower and I’ll make coffee.”

*******

We were grinning like two teenagers in love when Elaine, Mom, and Dad came in with Kaia. “Buddha belly,” I exclaimed, and Kaia reached for me with a grin on her face.

Adrienne and I kissed and hugged her like she’d been gone a year, and our daughter acted like she missed us equally as much.

“Have a nice relaxing evening?” Kristen asked as she walked in. “Get plenty of sleep?”

Adrienne and I exchanged glances and nodded.

Kristen shook her head and laughed. “Right.”

Iris, Colie, and Teddy filed in behind Kristen. Teddy ran up to me and Adrienne with a huge grin and a remote-controlled truck. “Look what Santa brought me. I got a boat, too. We can take it to the water.”

“That is so cool.” I bent down and looked at the fire engine red truck with all-terrain tires. “We can chase Saber with this. He’ll love it.”

“What did Santa bring Kaia besides the train?” Teddy asked excitedly.

“Shh, she hasn’t opened her Santa gifts yet. Do you think we should make her wait until after breakfast?”

Teddy looked at me as though I’d slapped him and Kaia. “No, ma’am.”

“She’s been fed.” Elaine kissed Adrienne and me on the cheek. “She’s ready to start ripping wrapping paper.”

There were a lot of guffaws when Kaia opened the train set. I figured a baby could only tolerate so many chew toys and outfits. And I was right. Once Dad and I had the track set up around the base of the tree, we turned the train loose, and Kaia squealed with delight every time it whistled.

Adrienne and I stood by the bar watching our family enjoy Christmas morning. Kaia was sitting on Dad’s lap. She grabbed at his full-to-the-brim coffee cup. Dad overreacted and slung coffee all over Mom, who jumped up and staggered back into the tree. Black and gold balls crashed to the floor and broke into a million pieces.

I looked at Adrienne with a grin. “She really is my child.”

About the Author

Robin Alexander is the author of the Goldie Award-winning Gloria’s Secret and nine other novels for Intaglio Publications—Gloria’s Inn, Gift of Time, Murky Waters, The Taking of Eden, Love’s Someday, Pitifully Ugly, Undeniable, A Devil in Disguise and Half to Death. Her short story “Crossing the Line” can be found in the anthology Romance for Life.

Robin spends her days working with the staff of Intaglio and her nights with her own writings. She still manages to find time to spend with her partner, Becky, and their three dogs and four cats.

You can reach her at robinalex65@yahoo.com. You can visit her Web site at www.robinalexanderbooks.com and find her on Facebook.

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Gloria’s Inn

by Robin Alexander

ISBN: 1-933113-01-4

Release Date: October 2004

Hayden Tate suddenly found herself in a world unlike any other, when she inherited half of an inn nestled away on Cat Island in the Bahamas. Expecting something like the resorts found in Nassau, Hayden was shocked and a little disappointed to find herself on a beautiful tropical island undiscovered by tourism. Hayden reluctantly begins to adapt to a simpler way of life found on the island, and her conversion is often comical.

Not only did Hayden’s aunt leave her an inn, but the company of her former business partner as well. Strange as she is beautiful, Adrienne turns Hayden’s world upside down in many ways. Hayden quickly learns that being with Adrienne will always be an adventure.

The tranquility of the island is shattered with the disappearance of a mysterious guest. Hayden and Adrienne soon find themselves at the center of a murder investigation, fearing for their own safety and the lives of their guests. Eager to rid themselves and the island of a ruthless killer, Adrienne and Hayden decide to conduct their own investigation. The eclectic mixture of guests and staff make their efforts both interesting and humorous.

Gloria’s Secret

Robin Alexander

ISBN: 978-1-933113-93-7

Release Date: October 2008

Hayden Tate had hoped that life on Cat Island would be peaceful with her former trouble causing handyman Hank out of the picture. But when strange occurrences and noises begin to happen around the inn she operates with her partner Adrienne once again the top suspect is Hank the only problem is – Hank is dead.

In this long awaited sequel to Gloria’s Inn, Hayden and Adrienne join their zany guests for another madcap adventure.

Also by Robin Alexander:

Pitifully Ugly

Shannon Brycen has decided to enter the dating world again after taking a hiatus from love. There’s only one problem—well, many—but her reclusive personality and her sister’s disastrous attempts at matchmaking force Shannon to try a different approach.

Hiding behind the online persona of Pitifully Ugly, Shannon finds the confidence she needs to pursue women, and the hunt is on. Many humorous lessons are learned along the way to her perfect match.

Undeniable

After twenty years, Samantha Jackson comes face to face with Jennifer Tanner at a memorial service for a mutual friend. Her plan is simple—pay her respects and maybe have an amicable conversation with the one person who affected her life the most.

Jennifer needs answers to questions that she has carried into adulthood. Circumstances, though unfortunate, have given her that opportunity. She wanted closure; instead, the revelations leave her with anything but resolution.

Two souls come to realize that sometimes love is simply—undeniable.

Devil In Disguise

After suffering a life-changing accident, Natalie Simmons is ready to begin living again. Two distinctly different women enter her life, and she finds herself drawn to both. A choice has to be made. Will she pick the right one or unknowingly choose the devil in disguise?

Half To Death

Sloan Hawkins cheated death when she slipped from its icy grip. It wasn’t until then she realized that she’d only lived half a life in more ways than one. She now accepts that to truly live life to its fullest she must bring down the walls she had built to protect herself. She is ready to let go and love, but finds herself behind a new wall not of her own making.

Corrine Verner (Jade) has also lived her life behind an emotional fortress, but as she gets to know Sloan she begins to hope that she might be different from the others. In her wildest dreams she never could have imagined just how different…

Published by

Intaglio Publications

Walker, La.

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