Hope Harbor

by Jill Sanders

  “I stuck the chair in front of the door. If someone tries to come in again, we’ll hear them this time.” He crawled back in bed with her.

  She softened as he pulled her to his chest. “Sleep,” he said softly and kissed her forehead.

  “How’s your head?” she asked and yawned.

  “Fine for now. It’ll hurt in the morning when I’m awake.” He pulled her closer and she lay there, listening to his soft breathing as he slept.

  19

  Shocking news

  The next morning, Dylan woke with a headache and a hard-on. Figuring he could only do something about one of these problems, he ran his hands over Eve as she slept, slowly waking her as he enjoyed her soft body.

  When her eyes slid open, she smiled up at him.

  “Morning,” she said, covering her mouth. “Breath,” she warned, but he didn’t care. Who didn’t have morning breath?

  Leaning in, he ran his mouth over her ear and tugged on the shorts and tank top she’d put on before she’d patched him up.

  “God, you feel like heaven.” He buried his face between her tits.

  She chuckled and held him to her chest. “You’re just saying that because you’re horny.”

  He laughed. “I’m saying that because it’s true… me being horny has nothing to do with it.” He ran his hand over her flat belly and then traced a finger over her sweet pussy lips. He dipped into her, moaning when his fingers got soaked and sucked into her further.

  “God, you’re already waiting for me.” He slid on a condom.

  “What can I say.” She wrapped her legs around him. “I enjoy being woken up like this.”

  She arched as he slid into her. Closing his eyes, he marveled at the wonderful feeling of her. The scent of her sex mixed with her sweet perfume. The softness of her body wrapped around his, the feeling of her lips against his own. She tasted sweeter than honey and sugar.

  “You’re mine.” He didn’t know where that statement had come from, and he worried she’d take it the wrong way. Instead, she softened under him and held on as he started to move.

  “You’re mine too,” she said next to his ear a little time later. That was all it took, he lost himself in her.

  After they showered, this time much more quickly and without the sex, he dressed and inspected the room and door while Eve finished getting ready.

  He didn’t have a deadbolt and would need to make a run into town to get one. He decided that he’d add one to her office as well while he was at it.

  “I’m going to head into town after breakfast,” he told her as they started down the stairs. “I need to get a couple deadbolts to install on your rooms.”

  “Dylan…” She stopped on the stairs and took his hands. “I’m sorry you’re tangled up in all this mess. My family—”

  “Is not something you should apologize for. You have no control over them.”

  “Yes, that’s true, but I feel somewhat responsible…”

  He laid his hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eyes.

  “Kendra’s parents tried to sue me for full custody of Palmer. They fought for almost a full year before they were presented with the facts that they hadn’t gone to see their grandchild once in all that time. Not even in the hospital when she was in the NICU. Instead, they’d focused on the death of their daughter. Not that I wasn’t hurting after losing Kendra, but… I had to think about Palmer and her health first. I wasn’t going to lose them both. There wasn’t anything I could do for Kendra, but I could be there for my daughter.”

  Eve smiled up at him and then wrapped her arms around him.

  “My point,” he said, holding onto her, “is that they blamed me for their daughter’s death. It was no more my place to apologize for that than it is yours to apologize for your family.”

  “You’re right.” She sighed against his chest.

  They walked, hand in hand, into the dining hall. The wedding guests were all there, eating breakfast. When they stepped into the room, everyone turned to watch them.

  “Morning,” Eve said cheerfully.

  He could tell that the gossip of the murder had spread around. After they grabbed plates and filled up on food from the buffet, they took a seat near the middle of the room.

  The father of the bride approached them before Eve even had a chance to take a sip of her coffee.

  “Is it true?” the man asked, his voice shaking with anger.

  “Is what true, Mr. Tippett?” Eve asked nicely.

  “That there’s been a murder in the inn while we’ve been here? My daughter’s wedding can’t be jinxed with something this… dark.” The man waved his hands in the air while his face turned a light shade of red.

  Eve stood up and touched the man’s arm. “I assure you that we are doing everything in our power to keep this quiet,” she started.

  “This is unacceptable,” he blurted out just as his daughter rushed across the room to take his arm and start tugging him away from Eve. “The police want to question all of us today. Like we’re… criminals.”

  “Daddy, I told you…” The young woman tried to pull her father away.

  “I’m not paying all this money for you to get married with a murderer on the premises,” her father barked out.

  “We can discuss this in my office, if you’d be willing to follow me.” Eve started walking away, but Dylan stood up.

  “I’m sure this can all wait until after Eve has had breakfast.” Dylan motioned to Eve’s plate.

  The man glared at him. “My daughter’s wedding is more important than…”

  Dylan’s eyebrows rose slightly as he stepped forward. “Why don’t you give her half an hour and she’ll meet you at her office?” he suggested in a calm tone.

  The man deflated quickly, especially after his wife had approached them looking embarrassed and upset.

  “Half an hour, but I expect you to make this right,” he warned before turning and following his family back across the room.

  “That was fun,” Eve said sarcastically as she sat back down. “Thank you for that,” she said after taking a sip of her coffee.

  He noticed that she barely touched her food and hardly said a word during breakfast.

  “I don’t know what I’m going to do.” She sighed looking off toward the doorway.

  “Like I said earlier, you have nothing to apologize about. Do you think any of the fancy hotels in the big cities would apologize if something like this happened? No, they would try their best to keep it quiet and go about their business as you have done. Your cousin’s murder has nothing to do with his daughter’s wedding.” He reached over and took her hand. “Besides, it was your cousin. You should be the one upset, not them. They didn’t even know there had been a murder until last night.”

  “Right.” She shifted and straightened her shoulders. “Thanks for the pep talk.” She stood and then leaned over and kissed him. “Let me know if you need anything today.”

  “Same,” he said and watched her walk out of the room, followed by Mr. Tippett, his wife, and his daughter.

  Heading back out to his truck with his overnight bag, he desperately wished he had more time with Eve. He was concerned with her staying there alone. If she’d been by herself last night and had been the one who had walked in on whoever had attacked him… He felt his blood begin to boil.

  As he drove to the hardware store, he thought about what other safety measures he could implement so she could feel safe.

  He spent almost a full hour at the store, looking at small security cameras for her office and room. At least for outside the hallway of her room. If they’d had cameras in place, they would know who had broken in last night and attacked him.

  He figured he could install a couple small cameras without anyone but Eve being the wiser. Most of the cameras had an app he could install on her phone.

  He was just leaving the hardware store when he bumped into Logan and Liv. The brother and sister were coming out of the boutique next door, both
of them weighted down with bags full of items.

  He still had the large bag of cameras and deadbolts in his hands and was thankful the bags were thick enough that no one could tell what was inside.

  “Oh.” Liv smiled at him and handed her bags to her brother. “Logan, why don’t you head on back to the room. I’m going to chat with Dylan for a few moments.”

  Her brother shrugged and disappeared down the sidewalk.

  “Liv, I really don’t have time…” he started, but the woman linked arms with him and pulled him towards the dock area by the small ice cream parlor and the Boat House Cider place. Since it was too early in the morning for either place to be open, the docks were empty. Most of the fishing boats were still out on the water, leaving the docks looking abandoned.

  “Liv, like I said…” He tried to tug his arm free.

  “Walk with me,” Liv whispered. “I might have some information on my cousin’s murder.” She looked around.

  His curiosity got the better of him, and he followed Liv to the waterfront.

  “Well?” he asked when she stopped and leaned against a post, looking out over the water.

  “My family,” she started, glancing in his direction, “has it wrong about you.” He felt his frustration grow. “They think you’re helping Eve take over the inn.” She shook her head. “But I don’t think you really care. I think you’re just…”—she moved closer and smiled at him as she ran a hand over his arm– “looking for an easy fuck.”

  He clenched his back teeth.

  “What has this got to do with your cousin’s murder?” he asked, trying to remain calm.

  “Everything.” She laughed. “You’re blinded by your…needs.” Her eyes moved to his crotch. “You can’t see what’s so very obvious.”

  “Which is?” He took a deep breath and tried to regain some of his patience.

  She laughed and leaned against the post again. “That my cousin has gotten exactly what she wanted since returning home. She has the inn, all the family’s money, my cousin out of her way…” She dropped off. He noticed there wasn’t an ounce of sadness in her eyes or voice for her cousin.

  “And you think she’s orchestrated all of it?” he asked.

  She smiled. “Occam’s razor.” She shrugged. “The simplest explanation is usually correct.”

  “Or, someone is trying to frame her,” he suggested. “Besides, I was with her myself when your cousin was murdered.”

  “Unless she murdered him before she had dinner with you.” Liv glanced down at her nails, as if she was bored.

  “She was at the hospital halfway across the island,” he replied.

  “Was she?” She smiled and shrugged. “She could have killed him before leaving.”

  He started to turn to go, but she stopped him. “Ask yourself, when did all the problems start?” Liv walked over and ran a hand up his arm again. “They all started when she came home.” She lifted her finger and ran a well-manicured fingernail down his chin. “But if you’re too blinded by your dick…” Her smile grew. “I can always help you clear things up.” She reached down and gripped his crotch. He jumped back, knocking her hand away.

  “You’ll want to be careful,” he warned.

  “Or?” She smiled. “I should warn you.” She leaned against him again. “I like to play rough.”

  Without responding, he turned and marched back to his truck.

  He found Eve in her office, organizing the boxes she’d brought down from her rooms.

  “What’s all this?” he asked, shutting the door behind him.

  “I figured that whoever broke in last night probably had a reason to do so. There must be something in these that they were after. So, I’m going to start looking.” She shrugged and then noticed the bag of things he’d set on her desk. “What’s all that?”

  He pulled out the items. “I thought you could use a few more security measures.”

  “Cameras?” She picked up one of them.

  “They’re small and are motion activated. They run off battery and Wi-Fi, which means you can download the app to your phone.”

  She was frowning down at the box. “How much did they…”

  “I sprang for them,” he broke in. “I won’t be able to sleep if I don’t know you’re protected. I’m going to head up and install the new deadbolt after I put this one in, then I’ll put one of the cameras here in your office and one in the hallway pointing towards your front door.”

  She glanced up at him and nodded. “Thank you,” she said softly.

  “How did it go with the bride’s father?” he asked.

  She sighed and sat down. “I negotiated a ten percent discount for his family.”

  He wanted to argue with her, but he could tell she was too tired to fight it.

  “I’m sorry,” he said softly, just as his phone rang. Seeing his father’s number, he held up his hand and answered the call. “Hey, what’s up?”

  “Not much. I heard you were walking around town with a hole in your head this morning. Everything okay?”

  He reached up and touched the spot behind his ear and realized it had started bleeding again.

  “Yeah,” he answered as Eve handed him a tissue so he could hold it against the cut. “Just bumped my head.”

  His father laughed. “Damn, I remember when I had that much… energy.”

  Dylan rolled his eyes. “It wasn’t…” he started but his father’s chuckle stopped him.

  “I was just calling to make sure you were okay. I heard about Eve’s cousin. Tell her I’m really sorry.”

  “Sure.” His eyes moved to Eve. “She’s… dealing with it. Good news, I’ll live.” He tossed the bloody tissue into the trash. “How was Palmer this morning? Did she get off to school okay?”

  “Yes, she told me to remind you to get her paints so she can finish the boat picture.”

  “Right.” Dylan sighed. He should have remembered to pick them up when he was at the store earlier. “I’ll stop and get them on my way to pick her up.”

  “Sounds good. Son, I can’t thank you enough for including me in her life like you do. Getting to spend time with her makes me feel younger. Makes me remember all the good times we had.”

  Dylan’s smile grew. “You were the best.”

  “Were?” His father chuckled.

  “You are the best,” he amended. “Thanks, I need to get to work. I’ll see you later.”

  “Sure thing. Oh, and son, maybe you and Eve should wear helmets and padding next time.” His father didn’t give him a chance to respond before hanging up.

  He laughed as he tucked his phone into his jeans.

  “What’s so funny?” Eve asked.

  When he relayed what his father had said, her cheeks turned pink.

  He couldn’t help it—he walked over and gave her a kiss before getting to work.

  As she went through the boxes of paperwork from her grandfather’s desk, he drilled the hole for the new deadbolt and climbed the stepladder to install the small camera just above his daughter’s painting.

  “You can see your entire office here. Even the door.” He showed her on her phone. “I’ll install the other one just outside your door.”

  “Thank you. I would’ve never thought of it.”

  “Has Patrick found the extra key?” he asked.

  “No.” She shook her head.

  “Did you leave a key to your office there as well?”

  “No, I hadn’t gotten around to it. I left the key to my room at the front desk so the movers could come and go without disturbing me.”

  “I’m going to change the locks out again when I install the deadbolt. This time, don’t hand out the keys.”

  “No, of course not.”

  “I’ll bring the keys down when I’m done and after I’m done installing the last camera. Then we can set it up on your phone app.”

  “Thanks.” Her phone rang and she answered it.

  He was about to leave but stopped when he heard her talki
ng.

  “Why would DarCee want to talk to me again?” Eve stopped and looked at him. “Never mind, tell her I can be there”—Eve looked down at her watch— “in about an hour. Thank you.” She hung up.

  “What was that all about?” he asked.

  “DarCee wants to see me. She claims it’s important.” Eve shrugged and glanced around.

  “Want me to go with you?” he asked.

  “No, you have work to do.” She smiled. “Besides, I’m very eager to have you start on the rooms on the top floor next week. At the rate of interruptions, you’ll never get started up there,” she joked. “Besides, I could use the drive.”

  “You and what car?”

  “I’ve been using my grandfather’s van. The one with the inn’s logo painted all over it. You can’t miss me around town.” She shrugged. “I’m just thankful it was here as an option.”

  “Just be safe.” He walked over to her and kissed her. “If you need anything…”

  She smiled up at him. “You have no idea how nice it is to know that, even if I don’t have my family, at least I have you.” She kissed him back.

  No matter what Liv had said about Eve, there was no way Eve was behind any of her family problems. Besides, it wasn’t just his dick talking anymore. His heart was now in charge.

  20

  You and me and baby makes two

  Eve stepped into the hospital room again. This time, DarCee was sitting up, eating from a tray of food.

  “Hi,” Eve said, getting the woman’s attention.

  DarCee set her fork down and waved her in. “Thank you for coming.”

  The woman looked a little nervous and sad. Eve could tell she’d been crying. Not once had she thought about how DarCee would have taken the news of Steve’s death.

  “How are you doing?” Eve asked, running her eyes over the woman. As with before, half of her face was covered in white bandages. Her left hand was wrapped up, and it lay next to her on the bed, unused. Her leg was strapped up outside of the blankets, and there were pins and a metal brace circling it.