The Island Legacy

by Ruth Saberton

  Merryn held out his hand. “Are you ready?”

  “Ready? Ready for what?”

  “For this!”

  And then he was tearing down the beach and tugging Ness after him, laughing at her shrieks when they splashed through puddles on their way to the tide’s edge. He was going to pull her in and the water was bitterly cold!

  “Stop! Stop!” she gasped, but Merryn was still laughing and shaking his head.

  “You’re not in the Caribbean now! This is how we do things in Cornwall – although I must admit we usually have wetsuits.”

  They had reached a band of rocks that were sticking up from the sand like a crown. Releasing Ness’s hand, Merryn climbed upwards and called for her to follow. Limpets and barnacles and green weed made the surface treacherous, but Ness had never been one to shrink back from a challenge. She gritted her teeth and launched herself after him, wincing at the roughness of the shells against her bare feet. Merryn reached down and caught her hands, pulling her up until she was standing beside him and looking down into an enormous rock pool.

  “Oh!” Ness exclaimed in astonishment.

  “Do you like it?”

  There was something very touching about his hopeful question and Ness was struck again by just how magical the island was to so many people.

  “It’s amazing,” she answered. It was too – and there was no way Ness would have known this pool was here unless Merryn had shown her. At high tide it would be hidden by rolling waves, and even when the waters receded it was out of the general eyeline. It was yet another of Pirran Island’s secrets. How many more remained to be uncovered?

  “I’m so glad you like it, Ness. It’s such a special place – such a special island.”

  “I know,” she said softly. “I see that, I do, and I promise that I’ll do whatever I can to keep it safe.”

  In answer he slipped his fingers from hers and dived into the water in one fluid arc, then struck out across the pool.

  “Come on!” he called as soon as he was at the farthest side. “If you’re brave enough, that is?”

  Ness didn’t need asking twice. The sun was high and hot, the pool deep and inviting. She leapt in, rising to the surface with a splutter.

  “It’s freezing!”

  “Don’t be so soft,” Merryn teased while Ness rubbed at her arms and shivered. “The sun’s been on this since the tide turned. It’s positively tropical.”

  Ness would have disputed this if the shock of the temperature hadn’t robbed her of all coherent speech.

  “Anyway, you’ll go numb soon,” he added soothingly.

  He wasn’t wrong. Either her limbs had lost all sensation or she’d adjusted to the chilly English sea, but before long the shock of the temperature had worn off and the water felt pleasantly refreshing. Mel would have had a fit if she’d had to work in such conditions, Ness thought with a smile as she floated on her back and watched the clouds drift overhead.

  They swam for a while, splashing one another and competing to see who could do the best dive. Eventually Ness realised that her teeth were chattering, so she pulled herself out to dry in the sunshine. The call of the gulls, the heat on her body and the fresh air made her sleepy and she drifted off with the sound of the waves. It was only when Merryn dripped water over her as he rummaged for their lunch that Ness opened her eyes.

  “Hey, sleeping beauty, this is yours.” Merryn held out a pasty.

  Sitting up, Ness took the pasty and bit in hungrily, groaning with delight at the deliciousness of the steak and potato. The sharp air and exercise of her Cornish life was giving her such an appetite – and she didn’t think anything had ever tasted as good as this pasty picnic washed down with pink lemonade.

  “Tide’s on the turn,” Merryn remarked once they’d finished and all that was left were crumbs. “This will be underwater in an hour or so, like it doesn’t even exist.”

  “I feel that way about lots of things here,” Ness said.

  “You’re thinking about your parents?”

  She nodded, her fingers picking at a limpet. Its shell was as unyielding as the secrets held here.

  “There are too many gaps and no matter what I do I can’t seem to find a way to fill them. Something happened here, Merryn, something that affected the brothers forever and ended up with my mother’s death. It’s all tied up with why Armand left me the island, but I just can’t work out what. Oh!” In frustration she slammed her fist against the rock, grazing her knuckles and making her eyes smart. “I have to get to the bottom of it.”

  “I know,” Merryn said. “I know.”

  Gently, he took her sore hand and raised it to his lips, brushing her skin with such tenderness that her breath caught in her throat.

  “I’ll do my best to help,” he promised. “Even if I have to nag my granny for a month, I’ll find out whatever I can. We’ll figure it out.”

  His hand stroked her cheek and Ness knew it would be easy to pull him close and lose herself for an afternoon. She imagined that Merryn’s kisses would be gentle, with none of the tight-leashed passion she’d sensed in Max Reynard and certainly none of the conflict that had followed. If Max was like the deep and mysterious depths of the pool, then the man with her right now was akin to its sparkling surface. She could have fun with Merryn and the idea was very tempting. Yet like all temptation it would come at a cost, and Ness wasn’t sure that she wanted to pay that price. Merryn was a resident on the island and any involvement with him would complicate things. The balance between them all was already fragile.

  Gently, she pulled away a fraction and the moment slipped away.

  “We should head back,” she said.

  Merryn nodded. “You’re right. Annie sends out a search party if people are out of sight for too long. And if the tide’s coming in I may find some passengers and earn a few pennies. What is it they say? Every little helps.”

  Once she’d got dressed again – with the fabric of her shorts now sticking to her salty legs, and her vest clinging to her wet bikini top – Ness followed Merryn up the steep path from the beach and back to the castle. Already boats were setting off from the town, their white lines of wake lacing the sea. Any visitors stranded on the island would be milling about on the quay in hope of a ride back to the mainland. Ordinary life beckoned and already their charged moment on the beach was taking on an unreal quality. Ness was relieved that nothing between them had changed.

  “I’ll take the bottles back to the tea room,” she told Merryn when they crested the hill and the path forked. “It’s the least I can do. I had a lovely time.”

  “Me too, Ness.”

  Instinctively, she rose onto her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. The golden stubble rasped against her lips and fleetingly she wondered how it might have felt against her throat. She suspected that the answer was utterly delicious.

  And she’d stepped away from finding out? Mel would think she’d flipped.

  Actually, forget Mel. Ness was starting to think she’d flipped!

  Laughing to herself, Ness pushed open the tea-room door, the smile freezing on her lips when she saw a man sitting at a table, sipping coffee and looking for all the world as though he had every right to be there.

  Annie said huffily, “He insists you want to see him. He won’t say why.”

  Ness couldn’t speak. Just the sight of this visitor banished all thoughts of Merryn in an instant. Any fleeting attraction she’d felt towards Merryn was insignificant compared to the raw and dreadful fascination gripping her now. With shaking hands, she steadied herself against the counter and tried to slow her racing heart. Nothing could have prepared her for the shock of seeing this visitor.

  “Hello, Ness,” said Max Reynard.

  Chapter 15

  Max Reynard sat in a window seat, watching Ness and the blond fisherman as they made their way along the path. Interesting. So that was how the land lay, was it? It certainly hadn’t taken the new owner of Pirran Island long to find herself a bit of local e
ntertainment. His expression thoughtful, Max swirled his coffee. Just as well he hadn’t been thinking that what they’d shared was something special.

  His lips quirked upwards. With any luck Nessa Penwellyn’s attachment to the island would prove just as fickle. In Max’s experience women were generally easy enough to persuade when the price was right. Why should she be any different?

  And here she was now, walking into the tea room with that glorious sunset hair in wild tangles, and a dusting of freckles across the bridge of her nose like cinnamon kisses from the Cornish sun. She was smiling to herself (probably something to do with the very wet vest top clinging to her curves, Max thought wryly) but her smile soon faded when that old boot, Annie Luckett, pointed him out.

  “Hello, Ness,” he said.

  Her big green eyes widened. “What are you doing here?”

  He gestured at the cup and saucer on his table. “Having coffee. Care to join me?”

  There was a silence.

  “The cake’s good too,” Max added. “It was worth a trip over for the Victoria sponge alone.”

  Ness snorted. “There are loads of coffee shops in St Pirran, and most of them sell cake too. Why come all the way here?”

  “My boat needed a run?” he ventured, jerking his thumb in the direction of the pier where his speedboat was moored. This reason was true enough; for the huge amount it had cost him, the Sunseeker really did need to do something more than bob up and down in St Pirran’s harbour. To be honest, Max winced whenever he looked at it. Foxy Lady was a stunning boat and a big floating advert for wealth and success, which was of course why he’d succumbed and purchased her. Slicing through the waves on that beauty, with champagne cooling in the chiller and bikini-clad girls sunning themselves on the deck, was supposed to say that a man had made it – although Max secretly suspected it actually said the man in question was a complete tosser. He didn’t dare to think what his father would have made of such excess.

  Whenever he was at Malcom’s Place, the shelter set up in his father’s memory, Max felt queasy at the thought of what this one ridiculous boat would equate to in terms of beds and meals.

  Nessa Penwellyn didn’t seem impressed either. Hands on her hips, she glowered at him across the tea room. Oh dear, thought Max. He really was in the bad books.

  “OK, you’ve caught me out. I’m actually here to see you,” he confessed.

  “Well, you’ve seen me, so you can go now.”

  “You might not be so keen to get rid of me once you’ve heard what I have to say,” Max replied calmly.

  “I doubt there’s anything you’ve got to say that I’d want to hear. Besides, when it actually mattered you didn’t seem nearly so eager to talk.”

  “Is this because I haven’t called, honey?” he quipped and was rewarded with a glare.

  “Sorry, that was a joke, and not a very funny one. But seriously, Ness, I think we’ve got off on the wrong foot. Can we start over?”

  “Why on earth would I want to do that?”

  This was going to be harder than Max had anticipated. Usually women didn’t take long to be persuaded to his way of thinking. If speedboats didn’t work, then self-deprecating humour normally did the trick – but unfortunately Ness was proving immune to that too. Her lips, which he knew to be extremely kissable, were now set in a tight line. Her chest, impossible to miss in the lime-green bikini top glowing through her wet white vest, was rising and falling in agitation. He was reminded of how soft and pliant she had felt in his arms, utterly feminine yet filled with fire too. Max felt himself stir at the memory.

  And this was why you should never mix business with pleasure, he reminded himself sharply. In future he’d stick to pretty girls with brains like Swiss cheese. Life was simpler that way.

  Simpler, but less interesting. Persuading Nessa Penwellyn to sell Pirran Island to him now was going to be quite a task, but if there was one thing Max Reynard loved it was a challenge. He’d never met one yet that he hadn’t overcome, and there was no reason to think Ness would be any different. He just needed to take the right tack, that was all. The problem was that while she stood there in her skimpy cut-off shorts, with her wild red curls tumbling over her shoulders and the shape of those glorious breasts perfectly moulded by the translucent fabric, Max didn’t stand a hope of figuring out what that tack could possibly be. For once in his life, his razor-sharp mind couldn’t function at all.

  This was why he stayed away from women like Ness. Max’s world of property development was cut-throat and fast moving; he needed his wits about him and every iota of concentration trained on the business. Distractions weren’t an option at any time, even less so when the future of a flagship development depended on his being ahead of the game and finding a way to make the situation work for Reynards. Jamie might have proved to be of little use, but there was no way Max was giving up on this project now; he had way too much invested in it. Besides, defeat wasn’t in his vocabulary. Already he could tell that his crew was getting antsy. The arrival of Ness and the lack of a sale had unsettled them, and even the ever-loyal Adam was starting to voice concerns. Max was more determined than ever to clinch the deal, which was why he’d decided to visit the castle in person and see Ness. She’d have her price. People always did. All he had to do was find out what it was…

  Sensing his gaze, Ness crossed her arms over her wet torso and raised her chin.

  “Are you going to tell me why you’re here? Or are you just going to stare at my chest all day?”

  Max gave her an unashamed grin. “Sounds like a great way to spend time, but I’m going to have to pass on that invitation.”

  “It wasn’t an invitation!” Ness howled.

  Interesting that she was so angry, Max thought. All he’d done was come and have a cup of coffee on the island; he was putting money into her coffers by giving her his custom. She should have been pleased about that. Instinct, and his knowledge of women, told him she was more upset about the episode on the beach than she liked to admit.

  “I’m teasing,” he said gently. “Look, we need to have a chat but,” he nodded his head in the direction of the kitchen, where he strongly suspected Annie Luckett would be standing by the door with her ears out on elastic, “not here. Is there somewhere we can go?”

  Ness looked as though she was going to protest, so he added, “There are some things that are probably better staying between us, don’t you think?”

  “Don’t mind me,” called Annie. “I can make myself scarce if it helps?”

  Ness flushed. “We can talk outside, if you really must.”

  “Sounds good to me. Would you like a coffee?” Max asked. And maybe twenty sugar lumps in it to sweeten you up, he added under his breath.

  But Ness had already stalked out of the tea shop, the door slamming behind her. She was clearly seething. Max was a little bemused by the strength of her reaction. Looking back on their evening together, maybe his behaviour hadn’t been altogether gentlemanly. His rushing away from the beach hadn’t been a reflection on her, or how he’d felt that evening, but rather a mixture of haste to take the call and shock when he’d realised who she was. He sighed. Why did women always take things so personally?

  Outside the sun was bright. Automatically Max reached for his shades, before deciding against them in case Ness assumed that wearing sunglasses was some kind of ploy. Fortunately, she’d chosen to sit at a picnic table in the cool shade of a ruined wall, where he’d be able to speak to her without being forced to screw up his face like Gollum.

  “You’ve got five minutes,” she told him icily.

  Max glanced at his Breitling wristwatch. “I’d better get on with it then, although I really should tell you that the bikini and wet tee shirt combination is going to make it very hard for me to concentrate.”

  Her cheeks flushed pink. “There’s no point trying to distract me. We both know this isn’t a social call.”

  “With all due respect, I’m not the one who’s doing the distracti
ng here,” said Max. “Look, Ness, I want to apologise about the other evening. It was beyond rude of me to race away like that and I don’t blame you for being upset. It was unforgivable and absolutely no way to treat a lady.”

  “You think I’m upset because you walked away? Unbelievable!” She shook her head, and even her riot of curls seemed to boing with indignation. “Absolutely unbelievable. I couldn’t give a hoot about that! In fact, I think I had a lucky escape, all things considered. No, what’s really pissed me off is that you didn’t have the decency to tell me who you were. But that wouldn’t have suited you, would it? Much better to worm your way in with me first and get what you wanted.”

  He stared at her. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  She shrugged. “Oh come on, there’s no need to pretend now. I can take it: I’m a big girl. Tell me, Max, exactly when were you going to make me an offer for the island? Just before we slept together? Or maybe during? Or were you planning to have as much fun as you could and ask me afterwards?”

  Her words were harsh and, even though he sensed the hurt that lay beneath them, Max was taken aback. Taken back and insulted. What the hell was she accusing him of here? A proud man, and with high standards, he’d never needed to trick a woman into his bed – and he never would, either.

  “Are you accusing me of seeking you out on purpose in order to seduce you and steal the castle?” he asked incredulously.

  Green eyes met his fearlessly. “I’m not accusing you of it. Isn’t that exactly what happened? I bet you were gutted when we were interrupted.”

  The truth was that Max had actually been very sorry when Val Brown had appeared –not because he’d been attempting to manipulate Ness, but because he’d been enjoying her company. He genuinely hadn’t had the faintest idea who she was. All that had mattered was that he’d been drawn to her, in a way he hadn’t been to a woman for a very long time. As soon as he’d learned of her identity he’d stepped right away, ironically for the very reason she was so angry now. Talk about a lose-lose situation.