The shops on the pier and the handful of small, casual eateries geared down for the long, quiet months. In summer the establishments were crowded with vacationers from Portland and Seattle. But when you went out to dinner in winter, you usually knew the folks sitting at the next table. If you didn’t recognize them, they were probably students at nearby Chamberlain College or visitors attending a seminar at the Eclipse Bay Policy Studies Institute. The think tank and the school were both located on the hillside overlooking the tiny town.
When they blew ashore, the wind-driven rains of winter churned the waters of the bay, created boiling cauldrons in the coves and lashed the weather-beaten cottages on the cliffs. The squalls were often separated by periods of bright, chilly sunlight and crisp, intensely clear air. There was an energy in winter that was very different from the moody, atmospheric, fog-bound summers, she thought.
The evening was still clear. From her perch on the balcony she could see straight across the curving expanse of the semi-circular bay to where a cluster of lights marked the location of the small town and the marina. Another string of lights identified the pier.
The sweeping arc of Bayview Drive followed the edge of the rocky beach. The road started just outside of town near Hidden Cove, which marked the northern tip of the bay. It linked the tiny community to the beach houses and cottages scattered loosely about on the bluffs. It continued past her parents’ summer place and beyond Dreamscape, to terminate at Sundown Point, the bay’s southern boundary.
It was a familiar landscape, Lillian reflected, one she had known all of her life. She had not spent a lot of time here in recent years, but that did not affect the strong sense of connection that had swept through her earlier this afternoon when she drove into town.
For three generations Hartes had been a part of this community. Their roots went deep here; as deep as those of the Madison men.
She hugged herself against the brisk night air. “Aunt Isabel knew all along that you and Rafe were meant for each other.”
“If that’s true, she was certainly the only one who knew it.” Hannah shook her head. “Personally, I think it’s far more likely that she just hoped to goodness we were meant for each other. It was her dream to resolve the feud. She saw Rafe and me as Romeo and Juliet with the right ending. She left us Dreamscape in an effort to make her fantasy of reconnecting the Hartes and the Madisons come true.”
“Either way, it worked out for you and Rafe.”
“Maybe she had a touch of your gift for matchmaking,” Hannah said lightly. “Could be it runs in the family.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Okay, Lil, what’s going on here? Don’t get me wrong, I’m delighted to see you. I think it’s great that you’ve decided to take some time off from work. But this is your sister, Hannah, remember? I know you haven’t given me the whole story.”
There was no point trying to evade the questions, Lillian thought. Hannah knew her too well. They had always been close even though they were different in so many ways. Hannah was nearly two years younger but she had always been the more levelheaded and goal-oriented of the two. Hannah was the one who had always known where she was going; at least that had been the general opinion in the Harte family until she had stunned everyone by announcing that she intended to marry Rafe Madison and turn Dreamscape into an inn.
True to form, however, even that uncharacteristically wild decision had turned out to be a sound one. It was obvious that Rafe and Hannah were happy together and that they would make a success of the inn.
“I closed Private Arrangements,” Lillian said.
Hannah looked bemused. “For a few days? A couple of weeks? A month?”
“For good.”
Hannah took a long moment to absorb and process that announcement.
Then she gave a low, soft, tuneless whistle.
“Oh, my,” she said.
“I know.”
“Just when Mom and Dad were getting used to the idea of you being a professional matchmaker.”
“I’m not sure they would ever have come around completely, anyway.” Lillian sighed. “They still have a hard time telling their friends what I do for a living. In their minds my matchmaking enterprise was always a little suspect. Not nearly as respectable as that wedding consultant agency you owned before you decided to go into the inn business.”
“Okay, I’ll agree that Mom and Dad thought the whole thing was a little flaky, but you were successful. They couldn’t deny that. You have an impressive list of clients. All those new, wealthy software folks love the idea of computerized matchmaking. You were turning a serious profit and that counts for a lot in this family.”
“If Mom and Dad think matchmaking is flaky, I can’t wait to hear what they’ll say about my next career move.”
“Well?” Hannah tilted her head slightly. “Don’t keep me in suspense.”
“It’s a long story.”
“I want to hear every word of it.” Hannah paused when a set of headlights turned into the drive that led toward Dreamscape. “But I’m afraid the tale will have to wait. Here comes dinner.”
The low growl of a powerful, finely tuned engine rumbled in the gathering night. Lillian watched the sleek Porsche prowl down the drive.
The vehicle came to a halt near the inn’s main entrance. The engine went silent. The door on the driver’s side opened. Hannah’s husband, Rafe, got out, moving with the easy masculine grace that characterized all the Madison males.
A dapper salt-and-pepper Schnauzer jumped out of the open car door after him. The dog paused and looked up toward the balcony.
“Hello, Winston,” Lillian called down. “You’re as handsome as ever.”
Winston bounced a little in refined appreciation of what he obviously considered no more than his due. Then he trotted briskly up the steps and disappeared under the overhanging roof.
Rafe retrieved two grocery sacks from the interior of the car.
“About time you guys got home,” Hannah said to him. “We were starting to wonder if the two of you had stopped off at the Total Eclipse for a beer and a fast game of pool.”
Rafe nudged the door of the Porsche closed and looked up. He gave Hannah and Lillian the patented Madison smile, all rakish charm and a promise of trouble to come.
“Sorry we’re a little late,” he said. “Ran into an old pal who just happened to show up in town late this afternoon. I invited him for dinner. Hope you don’t mind.”
“Who is he?” Hannah asked curiously.
“Just some guy I know.”
Rafe turned to look back toward the far end of the drive. Lillian followed his gaze and saw a second set of headlights coming toward the inn.
A dark-green Jaguar glided down the drive and stopped next to the Porsche.
A sudden premonition sizzled through Lillian. She gripped the railing very tightly and leaned forward to get a better look.
“No,” she muttered. “Surely he wouldn’t—”
Hannah glanced at her in surprise. “What’s wrong?”
Before Lillian could answer the Jag’s door opened. Gabe climbed out. His gaze went straight to the balcony.
“Hello, Lillian,” he said much too easily. “I see you got invited to dinner, too. Isn’t this an amazing coincidence?”
“There are no coincidences,” Lillian said darkly.
“I’ve heard that.”
She was intensely aware of Rafe and Hannah watching the little scene. They both looked amused and intrigued. “What are you doing here? And don’t try to tell me that you just decided to take a mini-vacation this weekend.”
“One thing you should know about me.” Gabe walked around the front of the Jag, making for the front steps. “I never do anything on a whim. You’re probably thinking of Rafe, here. He’s been known to get a little wild and crazy at times.”
“Hey, don’t look at me,” Rafe said quickly. “I’m a married man now. I’ve settled down. I only get wild and crazy with Hannah.” He
gazed up at the balcony. “Isn’t that right, honey?”
“If you know what’s good for you, it is,” Hannah said. There was warmth and laughter in the words.
Gabe stopped at the foot of the steps and looked at Lillian. “You didn’t really believe that I was going to let you skip out on me, did you?”
She dug her fingers into the rail. “I offered to repay your money.”
“I don’t want a refund. I want what I paid for.”
“I don’t believe this,” Lillian said.
Rafe paused, one booted foot on the bottom step, and gave his brother an inquiring look. “What’s this all about? Sounds interesting.”
“She owes me a date,” Gabe explained. “I paid for six. I only got five.”
“That is not true,” Lillian said loudly.
“It is true,” Gabe assured Rafe and Hannah. “I’ve got a signed contract to prove it.”
Aware of Rafe’s and Hannah’s thinly veiled amusement, Lillian felt called upon to defend herself. “He lied on the questionnaire.”
“You’re just saying that to cover up the fact that you did such a lousy job of matching me. Bottom line here is that I’ve got another date coming.”
“Lots of luck,” she shot back. “Nobody gets any more dates from Private Arrangements. The company is out of business. You’ll have to get your last date somewhere else.”
Gabe started up the steps. “Nobody takes my money and leaves town without delivering the goods.”
“For crying out loud.” Lillian leaned a little farther out over the rail. “This is ridiculous. You can’t possibly be serious about one lousy date.”
“When it comes to business, I’m always serious.” He disappeared into the house.
“That’s my brother for you,” Rafe said, mockingly apologetic. “Could have written the book on how not to get screwed in a business deal. He fixates, you know?”
Before Lillian could tell him what she thought about Gabe’s business style, Rafe, too, vanished beneath the overhang.
“Well,” Hannah said thoughtfully. “This is an interesting turn of events.”
“This isn’t interesting, it’s seriously aberrant behavior.” Lillian continued to look uneasily over the railing into the now-empty drive. “You think maybe Gabe’s gone a little nuts or something in the years since he left Eclipse Bay? Maybe the stress of building his business empire has been too much for him.”
“I don’t think it’s the empire building that’s making him act weird,” Hannah said. “I think it’s the fact that he’s a Madison.”
“I was afraid you were going to say that.”
“Something tells me there’s more to this story than your failure to live up to your end of a business contract.”
“Believe it or not, things started out fairly normally when Gabe signed up with Private Arrangements. I had stopped taking new clients but he seemed serious and determined. I figured okay, he’s not exactly an old friend of the family, but he certainly qualifies as a longtime acquaintance, and we are sort of connected because of you and Rafe and all. I thought, what the heck? I still had the names of several nice women in my files.”
“What went wrong?”
“What can I say?” Lillian held out both hands, palms up. “Gabe became the client from hell.”
“We’ve got no choice but to move out for at least three weeks,” Hannah said an hour later. She passed a large ceramic bowl across the table to Lillian. “The Willis brothers have sent us straight into remodel hell. It was bad enough when they were doing the plumbing.”
“They kept shutting off the water without warning and we had to cope with a stack of bathroom fixtures in the front hall for ages,” Rafe said. “I started having nightmares featuring endless mazes of gleaming porcelain commodes.”
“We keep assuring each other that we’re lucky to have the full attention of the Willis brothers,” Hannah said. “There’s a new wing being built up at the institute and we were worried for a while that the folks up there would lure Torrance and Walter away. Fortunately they called in outside contractors.”
“We made it through the endless commodes phase,” Rafe concluded, “but there’s no way we can live here while they refinish the wood floors and paint the rooms.”
“I can see the problem.” Lillian gripped the bowl in one hand and served herself a large helping of Rafe’s dill-and-yogurt-laced cucumber salad. “The dust and fumes would be bad for Winston.”
“Wouldn’t do us much good, either,” Rafe said dryly. “Besides, we need a vacation before we open for business. We’re going down to California to tour some wineries in the Napa Valley. It will be a good opportunity to finalize my selections for the wine list that we’ll be using in the restaurant.”
“Another astounding coincidence.” Gabe dipped the edge of a wedge of sourdough bread into the fragrant curried potato stew on his plate. “I’ve decided to take some time off, myself.”
Rafe raised a brow. “Good idea. About time you grabbed a few days off. It’s been a while since you got out of your office.”
“So they tell me,” Gabe said noncommittally.
Lillian stilled. “You’re going to be here in Eclipse Bay for three or four days? That’s all?”
Rafe chuckled. “Don’t worry, Lillian, he won’t loiter long in the vicinity, if that’s what’s worrying you. He can stay at Mitchell’s place for a couple of days, at least until Mitchell gets back from Hawaii. But after that he’ll be on borrowed time. I can safely predict that after forty-eight hours the two of them will be at each other’s throat.”
“Really? Just two days?”
“Sure. Take it from me. Mitchell will start in with his usual lectures, telling Gabe how he’s become too obsessed with M.C. Gabe will tell him where to get off. Next thing you know, Gabe will be packing his bags.”
Lillian allowed herself to relax. Rafe had a point. Everyone knew that the three Madison men were notoriously stubborn and hardheaded. The trait no doubt made it next to impossible for any two or more of them to share a house for an extended period of time.
“You’re right.” Gabe raised one shoulder in easy acquiescence to Rafe’s prediction. “A day or two of sharing a house with Mitchell would be about all I could take.”
Rafe winked at Lillian. “Told you so.”
“Lately he’s been getting worse with the lectures, if you can believe it,” Gabe continued. He shook his head sadly. “In hindsight, giving him a computer was a major mistake.”
“Are you kidding?” Rafe chuckled. “He loves that thing. Took to it like a duck to water.”
“He’s got an aptitude for it, all right,” Gabe said. “But he’s not using it the way I thought he would.”
Lillian paused, her fork in midair. “How did you expect him to use it?”
“For good, wholesome, educational purposes. I figured he’d wile away many happy hours checking out senior porn sites. Instead, he’s gotten into the habit of e-mailing me every day.”
Rafe grinned. “Bet I can guess the content of those e-mail notes.”
“They cover a variety of topics but they all come down to his opinion of how I’m running my business and my personal life.”
Lillian cleared her throat. “I take it he doesn’t approve of how you’re handling either one?”
The strong emotion in Gabe’s voice startled her. Whatever was going on between Gabe and his grandfather was more than just annoying to Gabe. It was generating some real pain.
“No,” he said quietly. “He doesn’t approve.”
“I’m sorry if you were planning to stay with us,” Hannah said gently. “As you can see, things are a mess. No one can be in here while the floors are being redone.”
“I know.” Gabe added some of Rafe’s homemade tomato chutney to his curry.
Rafe watched him expectantly. “So, how long, exactly, do you think you’ll stay with Mitchell?”
“I won’t be staying with him at all.” Gabe waited a beat. “I rented
the old Buckley place.”
“For how long?” Lillian asked warily.
“A month.”
There was a moment of acute shock.
“You’re actually going to take off an entire month?” Hannah asked in disbelief.
“I’ll have to make a couple of trips back to town for some events that I couldn’t scrub from my calendar,” Gabe said. “I’m scheduled to deliver the introduction at a banquet to honor one of my former college professors, for instance. But otherwise I don’t see any reason why I can’t handle anything that might come up at Madison Commercial from here. I brought my computer and my fax machine and there’s always the phone.”
“I don’t believe it,” Lillian said flatly. “Something weird is going on here.”
“She’s right,” Rafe said. “This is weird. I don’t care how good you are at telecommuting. You’ll have withdrawal symptoms, probably get the shakes or something if you try to stay away from your office for a whole month.”
Gabe said nothing, just kept eating curry.
“Damn.” Rafe looked intrigued now. “You’re serious about this, aren’t you?”
A sardonic look gleamed in Gabe’s eyes. “You’ve known me all of your life. Ever known me when I wasn’t serious?”
“No, can’t say that I have.”
An ominous sensation drifted through Lillian. She studied Gabe more closely. Something dangerous moved beneath the cool, controlled surface he presented to the world.
“This isn’t about getting your sixth date out of Private Arrangements, is it?” she asked. “You were just teasing me with that nonsense. You’re here because you really do want to get away for a while.”
Gabe shrugged again but he did not argue the point.
Hannah turned to Gabe. “Is everything okay at Madison Commercial?” she asked hesitantly.
Lillian was startled by her question. She understood Hannah’s concern. Anyone who knew anything about Gabe, even indirectly, was aware of how much the company meant to him. Impending trouble at Madison Commercial would certainly account for odd behavior on his part.
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