A Northern Romance: Atlantic Island Romances (Retro Romance Book 1)

by Liz Graham

  ‘I thought you might feel that way,’ he said. ‘He hadn’t meant to harm you, you know. I mean, before you showed up and caught him.’

  She shivered. ‘Yeah, and the knife wasn’t sharp enough to have done any damage. That’s been pointed out several times.

  ‘But what was he doing there, anyway?’ she asked, suddenly curious as it hit her. She had been so overwhelmed first with illness, then emotional upheaval, that she had not stopped to question why Enoch had been there in the first place. ‘Don’t tell me he was a closet Satanist?’

  Devon laughed and put his arm around her shoulders. ‘I gather Enoch was trying to make it look like there’d been Satanic rituals at the base,’ he said. ‘To rouse public sympathy against the artists’ retreat.’

  She thought for a moment.

  ‘Okay, I can see that in his strange way,’ she said. ‘But why did he want the base anyway? He mentioned something about — oh, it just didn‘t make sense.’

  Devon was quiet for a moment.

  ‘I’m afraid I may be a little responsible for that,’ he said finally.

  ‘You? But what could you have to do with Enoch?’ she asked, unbelieving.

  ‘I was responsible for Melissa seeing the base,’ he replied simply.

  ‘Now I’m really confused.’ she said.

  ‘Remember Bradley, Melissa’s brother?’ he reminded her. ‘You thought it strange for him to be here?’

  ‘You told me he was visiting his sister,’ she said.

  Devon smiled and shook his head. ‘That’s what l thought, but should have known better. Sibling love would never get Bradley this far north,’ he said. ‘He and Melissa are a lot alike in many ways.

  ‘No, Bradley came up because Melissa thought the base was just what he was looking for,’ he continued.

  ‘So Bradley was behind Enoch? I saw them leaving Cheng’s together. That’s where he was getting the money?’

  ‘Yes, and no,’ Devon said. ‘Bradley was acting for Avalon Corp, who are always looking to expand. Usually they take over existing businesses and properties, but Melissa saw that Avalon Corp might like to use this as a private hunting camp, make it something luxurious to impress investors. The plan was for Enoch to secure the camp, then turn around and rent it permanently to Avalon Corp.

  ‘Enoch was consumed by the goal of having his temple, a permanent building for his flock,’ he continued. ‘It took over his mind, which wasn’t too stable in the first place.’

  Conor could hardly believe what she was hearing. Not the news about Enoch, but about Melissa. Would she stoop so low as to snatch it from under their noses like that? The answer was obviously yes.

  ‘So, how do you feel about this?’ she asked. He had just admitted Melissa was an evil sneak thief, but the two had been friends since childhood.

  ‘Oh, nothing surprises me about Melissa any more,’ he said casually. ‘I learned a long, long time ago that she was out for Melissa and no one else.’

  ‘You’ve been friends for all your lives,’ she pointed out. ‘And she seemed to think there was more than friendship between you.’

  He laughed again, a deep rumble, as he turned to face her.

  ‘Conor, Melissa was quite aware that there was nothing, and I repeat nothing, between us, and there never would be,’ he said to her, his blue eyes warm.

  ‘That’s not the impression she gave me,’ replied Conor, a little hurt at his laughter.

  ‘Family friends,’ he said. He stopped and placed his arm on her shoulder.

  A thrill went up her spine, and his hand burned warm.

  ‘You followed her up here, didn’t you?’ she looked away.

  ‘Followed…’ He gave a sputter. ‘Oh, please, give me some credit. Although I did wonder at the time when my mother encouraged me to go to St. Anthony…’

  ‘You mean you didn’t know Melissa was here?’ Conor asked.

  ‘Not until after I’d applied to come,’ he admitted. ‘When I found out, well — I figured she must have matured over the years. Haven’t we all?’

  ‘Apparently not,’ Conor said dryly. ‘So, just for the record, there’s nothing between you two?’

  He laughed again and pulled her closer. His body was warmer on her skin than the heat of the sun which shone down on them.

  ‘Melissa is evil incarnate, haven’t you figured that out yet?’ he joked, shaking his head. ‘I see now that she was playing with your mind, because she knew how excited I was that I found you here, but l was blind at the time.

  ‘Blind with love for you,’ he murmured, bending his head to touch her lips with his. After a pause, they continued their walk along the side of the pond.

  ‘So how are the Lambs doing without Enoch?’ she asked, her head snugly nestled into his shoulder. ‘It must have been a blow to them.’

  ‘Surprisingly, not so much,’ he said. ‘I‘ve since found out that the elders of the flock realized there was something going wrong with him. They just didn’t think he’d go this far.

  ‘And before you ask, no, they didn’t know anything about the Avalon Corp deal,’ he added. ‘That was Enoch’s own doing. He could hardly justify it to them. Avalon Corp got its start on George Street, after all, in the alcoholic mecca of St. John’s.’

  She digested this in silence.

  ‘Most of them were drifting back to the mainstream churches,’ he said.

  ‘Guess they won‘t be building that temple,’ she noted.

  He stopped beside ha and to turned to face her.

  ‘No,’ he said. ‘Conor, there’s something else I wanted to tell you. They feel terrible about what Enoch put you through. They want to donate the money from the temple fund to the retreat.

  ‘More specifically, they want to use the money to build a non-denominational chapel on the retreat,’ he added.

  ‘What a wonderful idea!’ Conor said as the idea sank in. ‘And I know just the spot for it.’

  She grabbed his hand and they made their way quickly into the woods by the pond. Just beyond the first line of scrubby trees, there was an old meadow.

  ‘Wouldn’t it be perfect here?’ she said, her eyes shining. ‘We can build it of stone, with stained glass windows in the eastern nave where the rising sun would catch the colours.’

  ‘And I think l know who might create them?’ he teased.

  ‘Dad would be hurt if we don’t ask him,’ she pointed out with a smile.

  ‘Just one more thing,’ he said, stopping.

  ‘You know what the first ceremony in the chapel will have to be?’ he said, catching her in his arms and swinging her up on a boulder. She looked down at him, loving the contact of his body against hers.

  ‘What will that be?’ she asked, leaning down slightly to kiss his ruffled blonde hair.

  ‘Our wedding, of course’ he said. ‘Agreed?’

  He reached to take her head in his hands, and lifted it so that their eyes were no more than three inches apart.

  She pretended to think a moment, then wrinkled her nose with a grin.

  ‘Agreed,’ she said with a nod.

  The sunlight played on her shining brown hair, reflecting the golden red highlights as she melted into the arms of her lover. She was no longer Sedna, that ice-cold goddess of the northern sea. Conor was a very human woman in love and her perfect man had arrived at last.

  Thanks for reading A Northern Romance. I have so many ideas for novels of many genres in my head, and I really loved writing these romances. If you enjoyed this book, leave a review or send me a note, so I’ll know to keep on with this series!

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Liz Graham is the author of the Retro Romances Series; the Carmel McAlistair Mystery Series (published by Cozy Cat Press); and the upcoming Imperfect (Diana Quenton) series. She lives and writes in St. John’s, Newfoundland.

  http://www.LizGraham-Author.com

  Facebook.com/Liz Graham, Author

  Visit Liz at her website and sign up to receive news and notifications of
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  Cover Design by James, GoOnWrite.com

  Also by Liz Graham:

  Retro Romances:

  A Northern Passion

  Man from La Manche

  A Family Estate

  The Carmel McAlistair Mystery Series:

  The Cut Throat

  The Garrote

  The Iron Dog

  The Imperfect Series – Diana Quenton (Suspense Comedy):

  The Imperfect Death (2018)

  The Imperfect Melody (2019)