Safe Harbor: A Cold Creek Homecoming

by Sherryl Woods

  “Well, it was a rather high-spirited conversation. I started out by telling him to stop being a stubborn old mule, and he told me to quit being an obstinate brat.”

  “Sounds like you were off to a typically diplomatic start.”

  “Then I wised up and began telling him how crummy my grounds looked. If there’s one thing Mr. Kelly can’t stand, it’s weeds messing up a perfectly good landscape. When I told him the tomato vines were practically wilting because I didn’t know what to do with them, he packed up his tools and moved the next day. He said he was only going to stay till he got things straightened out around here, but that was six months ago. I think he’s realized things will never be completely straightened out here and he’s terrified Aunt Juliet will start dabbling in his garden.”

  “What about Aunt Juliet? Where did you find her?”

  “Actually she and Billy came together, a few weeks after Sarah. Billy broke into one of the Harrington Industries offices, and the police called me down to the station. I found out that he and his great-aunt were living on her Social Security check in a dump that wasn’t fit for the rats who shared with them.”

  Tina’s voice shook with indignation. “You should have seen it. It was a disgrace. The landlord—an even bigger rat—was charging them practically every penny she got from the government. That’s why Billy had broken into the office. He was trying to find something he could fence to buy food and medicine for Juliet.”

  “So, of course, you dropped the charges and brought them home.”

  She lifted her chin defiantly. “What else was I supposed to do? Leave them there?”

  “There are agencies—”

  “Which are overburdened as it is. Besides, once you get caught up in that cycle, you never get out.” She stared out at the ocean, then said softly, “I saw it happen to too many of my friends when I was growing up. I wasn’t going to let it happen to Juliet and Billy.”

  She regarded Drew hopefully. “Billy’s not a bad kid. You can see that, can’t you?”

  “He did break my window,” he reminded her, but his tone was teasing.

  “It was a great hit.”

  Drew chuckled. “It certainly was. Right straight into my kitchen. The cook is still shaking and threatening to quit.”

  “Is that why you called the authorities? So you could hang on to your cook?”

  “I’d starve without her.”

  “I’m sure Grandmother Sarah would be thrilled to pieces to feed you.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  “Will you really withdraw the complaint in the morning?”

  “I told you I would.”

  “I’m coming with you.”

  “Still don’t trust me, huh?” he taunted.

  “It’s not that. They may have questions that you can’t answer.”

  He shrugged. “If I don’t know the answer, I’ll make one up.”

  “Terrific. Then you’ll land in the cell next door to mine, charged with perjury.”

  “We could hold hands through the bars.”

  Tina’s heart skipped a couple of beats. “Nice try, but no dice. I’m going with you.”

  “I’ll pick you up at nine, and we can drive over to the DCF offices together.”

  “Maybe Sarah, Juliet and Mr. Kelly ought to come along. They could help explain.”

  Drew simply stared at her. “Are you crazy?”

  “They’re rational adults...well, most of them are,” she corrected when his brow quirked skeptically. “Anyway, they have a perfect right to live anywhere they like.”

  “With the possible exception of a Palm Beach estate,” Drew noted dryly.

  His words, meant in jest, sent a shiver of dread over Tina. He was undoubtedly right. It was better if they remained safely at home. She shivered at the possibility that her household might very well be broken up if she and Drew were unsuccessful in the morning.

  “Drew, what am I going to do if they say they can’t stay?”

  He put an arm around her and pulled her close. For a moment she allowed herself to revel in the sensations that closeness aroused. She felt safe—and threatened—all at the same time. Her body’s response was all too disturbing, so she decided to pretend she didn’t notice it. After several seconds, she realized that her powers of pretense must have deserted her. The sensations were there, stronger than ever, and the look in Drew’s eyes was fueling them.

  “You know what I think, Tina Harrington?” he said softly.

  “What?” she asked shakily.

  “That you’re getting as much out of this arrangement as they are.”

  “Of course I am. I told you that. They’re like family to me.”

  “But why would a lovely young woman like you need to take in strays to have a family? Surely there are men ready to serenade beneath your balcony, court you with lavish gifts, tempt you with romantic trips, fill all of those bedrooms with gorgeous children.”

  “A few,” she agreed. “But that’s not enough.”

  His eyes sparkled back at her wickedly. “It’s not? Lord, woman, what do you want?”

  She chuckled. “You know what I mean.”

  “No. Tell me.”

  “I never know if it’s me they want or Harrington Industries,” she confessed wistfully.

  “I see.”

  Tina wondered if he did. Even as a teenager of limited financial means, she’d never had a doubt about her attractiveness to boys. She’d known they dated her because they found her pretty, with her shining, wavy hair, wide amber eyes and slender figure, or because they enjoyed her impish humor, or were challenged by her sharp wit. It certainly wasn’t because she was rich.

  The same had certainly been true when she’d met Gerald. She’d had nothing to offer him but the shrewd business acumen she’d been on the verge of attaining, her gentle manner and all of her love. For him, that had been more than enough.

  But now she was worth a small fortune, and it tended to get in the way. When she saw a sparkle in a man’s eyes, she was never sure whether it was a reaction to her perfume or the smell of her money.

  So she had filled in the empty spaces in her life with people who needed her as a friend, not a wealthy benefactor or stepping-stone to corporate greatness. It also helped her to repay in some small way the wonderful things that had come her way when she had fallen in love with Gerald. It had been too late, by then, to help her parents. She was convinced they had died from struggling too long against life’s hard knocks. Once they’d seen her happily settled, they had simply given up the fight, passing away within months of each other.

  There were a lot of emotions at war within her these days. Anger at her parents’ sad lot in life, gratitude for her own blessings, determination to make what she could of all that Gerald had left her despite the board of directors and a tremendous fear of being used. All but the last had made her strong. The fear had made her cautious.

  It was that caution that told her she should run from Drew Landry while she still could. It was the strength that told her she needn’t fear him or anyone. Except, perhaps, the DCF.

  Settling for détente between her conflicting emotions, she said, “I think we should be getting back,” and got to her feet. “They’ll be wondering what happened to us.”

  “Judging from the look in Grandmother Sarah’s eyes when we left, she’ll be hoping she already knows exactly what happened to us,” he replied as they went back to the estate.

  Fortunately, it was too dark for him to see the blush that spread up her cheeks. “So you noticed that?”

  “How could I miss it? She practically swept us out the door with a broom.”

  “Don’t mind her. She’s a bit of a romantic.”

  “So’s Aunt Juliet, it appears. Think there’s any chance for h
er and Mr. Kelly?”

  “Not if she tries to put petunias in his vegetable garden. He’ll go after her with a trowel, and then we really will be in trouble around here.”

  They had reached the terrace, and Drew stood looking as though he couldn’t quite decide whether to go or stay. Tina wasn’t about to help him out.

  “I don’t suppose you’re going to offer me a nightcap?”

  “I hadn’t planned on it,” she teased.

  “If I asked for one, would you deny me?”

  She shook her head and saw the smile on his lips just before they brushed oh-so-lightly across her own and sent waves of delightful, pulsing heat over her.

  “Are you asking?” she said breathlessly.

  “Nope,” he said, giving her a jaunty wave as he strolled away. “It’s no fun if you have to ask. See you in the morning, angel.”

  “See you,” she said softly, her eyes following him until he’d slipped into the shadows and was lost to her view. She wrapped her arms around her middle and hugged, wondering at the strangely empty feeling that suddenly taunted her. The howl of the wind was suddenly lonely rather than exciting. Just a minute ago, she’d felt...what? Alive? Elated? Dangerously provocative?

  Dangerous. That was the operative word here. Drew Landry represented danger and excitement and all the things she’d been missing. Until now, she’d had no idea that there was an empty space in her life that Grandmother Sarah and the others couldn’t fill. She hadn’t realized it until Drew had vanished into the shadows and left her alone again.

  She turned around quickly and ran smack into someone who let out a groan at the impact.

  “Mr. Kelly, I’m sorry,” she apologized, then noted his pajamas and the dazed expression in his eyes. He was sleepwalking again.

  “Come on, Mr. Kelly,” she said gently, taking him by the hand. “Back to bed with you.”

  “Damn petunias,” he muttered.

  “Ssh. I won’t let Aunt Juliet put her petunias anywhere near your garden.”

  He blinked and gave Tina a sharp glance. “What’s that, girl? Speak up.”

  “I said I’d keep Aunt Juliet away from your garden.”

  “You’d better. That woman’s a menace with those frilly little flowers of hers. I’ll dig her her own damn garden if she wants one, long as she stays away from mine.”

  Tina smiled. “I’m sure she’ll love that. Now you come on, Mr. Kelly. Let’s get you back to bed.”

  “I can get back to bed perfectly well on my own, young lady.” He scowled at her. “And don’t you forget it.”

  Tina sighed as he marched toward the winding staircase, his back as straight as a royal palm and twice as stiff.

  “I love you, Mr. Kelly,” she murmured after his retreating form.

  “So,” came an interested female voice from the shadows. Tina couldn’t see much, but she recognized that voice and its determined tone. “What did you think?”

  “About what, Sarah?” she replied innocently.

  “Don’t go all vague on me, young lady. About Drew Landry, of course.”

  “He’s interesting.” It seemed a safe enough description.

  Sarah emerged from her hiding place and smiled smugly. “I knew it. I knew he was perfect for you. Why that man has pizzazz and sex appeal and brains. You’d have to be plum crazy to miss it.”

  “I only said the man was interesting, for heaven’s sakes. I didn’t say a thing about his sex appeal.”

  “It was your tone, dear. There’s interesting and then there’s interesting.”

  Tina groaned. She’d known this was going to happen. “I am not discussing this,” she said, stomping off into the house muttering under her breath.

  “Interesting.” She tried the word out, once out of earshot, then tried it again. “Interesting. Interesting. Oh, hell.”

  Chapter Four

  When Drew rang the doorbell in the morning, the household was in its usual state of chaos. This kept Tina from fully appreciating the knockout effect of Drew in a dark suit, crisp white shirt and pin-striped tie, which was probably just as well. It was disconcerting to discover that he had the same devastating power over her senses at the crack of dawn as he did by moonlight.

  “Where’s my homework?” Billy shouted from the top of the stairs just as her gaze left the Italian leather shoes, moved up over the blade-sharp crease in Drew’s trousers and took in the superb fit of the jacket over his magnificent shoulders. She was on her way back for another dreamy look into Drew’s eyes when she was forced to drag her attention from the dressed-for-success man on her doorstep to the disorganized kid upstairs.

  Billy and homework were not compatible. It was his firm conviction that it was contrived as a punishment for sins he’d committed in a past life and that he had no obligation to pay for mistakes he didn’t remember making. On the rare occasions when he actually did his assignments, he either lost them on the way to school, forgot them, or spilled orange juice all over them. His grades weren’t helped one bit.

  “Did you do it?” Tina asked, gesturing for Drew to come in. Two of the cats immediately wound themselves affectionately around his ankles, rubbing hair all over the dark suit, while Panther sat eyeing him hopefully. Drew grimaced at the cats, sneezed three times, then gave the dog a distracted pat. All the while his gaze was focused so intensely on Tina that she felt a flush of heat stain her cheeks.

  Oblivious to the electricity that crackled in the air in the foyer, Billy scowled down at her, indignation written all over his freckled face. “Of course I did it. It was an essay for English.”

  In that case, Tina thought, it was probably just as well that he couldn’t find it. Billy seemed to have difficulty putting the English language down on paper. Not only was his spelling unrecognizable, he’d picked up a good bit of Lady MacBeth’s vocabulary and wasn’t above using it on his teacher for shock value.

  Sixty-three-year-old Viola Maxwell was not unlike Grandmother Sarah in her ability to convey Southern gentility at its most innocent. She and Tina had had several conversations about Billy’s rather unusual and provocative impressions of the world around him. Miss Maxwell seemed to feel that Billy would benefit from a sterner hand—and perhaps several years in a military school environment.

  Tina couldn’t bring herself to tell Billy to stop doing his English assignments. She’d tried to channel his creative energies in a less controversial direction, but when that hadn’t worked, she had, on occasion, hidden the papers. This, however, was not one of those times. She’d been too distracted last night to even go looking for his homework to inspect it.

  Billy regarded her all too knowingly. “You didn’t hide it somewhere, did you?”

  Tina stole a quick look at Drew and noted that he was watching the exchange with interest. She coughed and stared at the chandelier. The crystals needed cleaning. She’d have to remind Mr. Kelly. She didn’t want Aunt Juliet climbing any more ladders. The last time, she’d kicked it over and dangled from the chandelier for five minutes before anyone had noticed.

  “Why would I steal your homework?” Tina finally muttered, wishing they hadn’t had this discussion in front of Drew. He already thought she was slightly, albeit intriguingly, off balance. This might not add much strength to her cause of presenting herself as a rational, intelligent woman.

  “So old straitlaced Maxwell wouldn’t get embarrassed,” Billy said bluntly.

  “What exactly did you write about?” Drew inquired, with increased interest. He’d apparently caught the guilty gleam in Tina’s eyes. That, combined with Billy’s accusation, was enough mystery to rouse the curiosity of a saint, much less a man who was already known to meddle where he wasn’t supposed to.

  “It was sort of about sex,” Billy mumbled.

  Tina’s brows lifted as Drew choked back a laugh. “S
ort of? What exactly was the assignment?” She could not imagine Viola Maxwell assigning that particular subject. In fact, she doubted if the woman was even familiar with it. She seemed a little sheltered.

  “She wanted us to write about something we knew.”

  “And you know about sex?”

  “Well, some stuff. You know, the guys talk and all.”

  Tina decided the conversation had gone on long enough. If she didn’t stop it now, Billy might very well enlighten Drew on exactly what the guys talked about. She, for one, didn’t want to hear it, especially not in front of a man who had her thinking all too much about sex as it was.

  “Billy, I think perhaps you ought to select another topic. You have a study hall this morning, don’t you?” she said quickly.

  “Yeah, but I was planning to use it to do my math homework.”

  “Why didn’t you do your math last night?”

  “Because I was going to do it in study hall.”

  Tina rolled her eyes. “Use your study hall to write a new essay,” she said sternly. “And tonight we’re going to have a talk about your schoolwork.”

  “Oh, Tina, come on,” he groaned. “We talk about that all the time.”

  “That’s because we have this problem all the time. Now get on down here for breakfast. Grandmother Sarah is waiting.”

  Billy ran down the stairs, gave Drew a man-to-man wink and headed straight for the dining room. Drew and Tina exchanged glances.

  “Someone needs to have a talk with that boy and not about homework,” Drew said, then sneezed again as the cats meowed at his feet.

  “Well, I certainly can’t do it,” Tina grumbled, grabbing the friendly cats and putting them outside. “Maybe if you’ve had a kid since he was a baby you can tell him about the birds and bees, but I got this one nearly fully grown. Considering where he’d been hanging out when I met him, he probably knows more than I do.”

  “Want me to talk to him?”

  It would mean Drew Landry would have one more toe in the door, but Tina didn’t think she was up to fighting him on this one. “That might be a good idea,” she agreed readily. “I can’t quite see Aunt Juliet or Sarah doing it, and if Mr. Kelly talked to him, he’d probably forget to wear his hearing aid and we’d all hear every word.”