“Just go,” he told Billy.
Or at least that was what Maria thought Logan said. She couldn’t hear past the roaring in her ears, the pain in her heart and the comfort she’d found in Billy’s words.
Mike had died knowing she loved him.
Her brother had forgiven her.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
KAYLA ROLLED BACK IN HER uncle Carl’s comfortable desk chair and locked her hands behind her head. She’d spent the better part of an hour typing up a report on the investigation, and now she wasn’t sure what to do with it.
Presenting the report to Alex Suarez was out. Even if he didn’t tear it up, what kind of credibility would Kayla have with the rest of the merchants association? She hadn’t only been fired, she was a rookie P.I. Not even a rookie, an apprentice.
She unhooked her hands and sat up straighter in the chair. Yeah, she was an apprentice. But she’d cracked the case and that had to count for something.
She rolled the chair back to the computer, saved her report in a word document and hit the print button. When she heard the soft whir of the printer waking up, she logged on to the internet.
She discovered the president of the merchants association was Max Pinney, who owned a water excursion company on Key West Bight. Those places did big business on weekends, so chances were good that Max was working today. He might not listen to her, but by gosh she was going to talk. She could really blab, too. That was one of her talents.
One of her many talents.
She hopped out of the chair, grabbed the report from the printer and heard the chiming of the silver bells she’d attached to the front door. She must have forgotten to lock it.
“We’re closed!” she called, coming around the corner to the front room.
A large, grizzled man in shorts, a Hawaiian shirt and sandals was crossing the office.
“Uncle Carl! What are you doing here?” Kayla had been under the impression he and his girlfriend would be gone until after Christmas.
“I was homesick for God’s country,” he said.
“That’s the only reason you came home early?” Kayla ventured, careful not to say too much. “Because you missed Key West?”
“What? You think I had another reason?” He rubbed the side of his nose. “Like that my niece was working a case she didn’t tell me about?”
The bottom seemed to drop out of Kayla’s stomach. “How did you find out?”
“Doesn’t matter who told me,” he said. “What matters is why didn’t you?”
“I can explain,” she said in a rush. “I thought it was my chance to prove myself. I would have called you if I needed help but I had everything under control.”
Barely stopping to take breaths, she told him the whole story, from enlisting Maria DiMarco’s help, to setting up the security camera to getting a confession.
“The problem is Alex says he’ll deny it.” Kayla tapped the report she was holding. “I was about to go have a talk with Max Pinney. He’s president of the association.”
“Let’s go.” Uncle Carl rose. “I’ve been sitting around eating Christmas cookies and staring out the window at snow for days. I need some excitement.”
Exciting wasn’t a bad word choice for the Bight Marina. People strolled about, most of them either returning from a water excursion or embarking on one. The Bight was the place to rent a sailboat, take a boat tour or book a snorkeling or scuba trip. A person could do all of those and more at Wet and Wonderful, the business owned by Max Pinney.
“Carl Dexter, you son of a gun,” Max called when they entered the small shop. He was probably in his mid-forties, with a deep tan that made his skin seem leathery. His T-shirt and baseball cap were both imprinted with the name of his shop. “You’re not here investigatin’ anything, are you?”
“I’m not,” Carl said. “My niece Kayla is.”
“Hey, Kayla,” Max said. “I thought you sold bottle art.”
“I’m giving private investigation a go.” Kayla marched up to the cash register, digging deep for the confidence solving the case had given her. “Alex Suarez hired me on behalf of your association. He also fired me.”
“I know,” Max said.
“This is my report.” Kayla laid the pages on the counter in front of Max with a resounding slap. “Alex was behind everything. He volunteered to hire an investigator precisely to deflect suspicion from himself.”
“I know,” Max repeated.
“He used inside information from the investigation to...” Kayla abruptly stopped talking when his replies registered. “You know?”
“That’s right. I know what Alex has been doing to that Santa Claus. Can you believe his rationale? He didn’t like the message Santa was sending.” Max emitted a short, harsh laugh. “Give me a break. We’re merchants. We’re in the business of selling things. It’s what we do!”
Kayla supposed he had a point, although the Christmas season was about so much more than material things.
“Alex was adamant that he’d deny everything,” Kayla said. “I can’t believe he told you what he did.”
“He didn’t tell me,” Max said. “That newspaper photographer did.”
Kayla gasped. “James Smith?”
“Yeah, that’s his name. Nice guy. Just moved back to the area.”
“What exactly did James tell you?” Kayla had called James after leaving his cousin’s waterfront house to tell him Alex was the culprit.
“He said not to believe Alex if he denied responsibility, that Alex tipped him off whenever there was a photo op with Santa,” Max said. “He was pretty insistent that you get credit for solving the case.”
James had put her needs above those of his own cousin? Something softened inside her, but she couldn’t bear it if she was responsible for driving a wedge between the relatives. She had to convince Max there were no villains in this scenario.
“Alex really isn’t such a bad guy.” Kayla repeated what the man himself had told her. Despite everything, she believed that. “What will happen to him?”
“He’ll get a great big pat on the back,” Max said. “I know it wasn’t his intention, but the publicity has been wonderful!”
Kayla was seldom speechless. She was now.
“Tell me how much the merchants association owes for your services and I’ll see that you’re paid,” Max said. “And if we’re ever in need of a private eye again, we’ll come to you.”
“I appreciate that.” Kayla cleared her throat. “Except I’ve been working on a trial basis. I’m not sure I still have a job.”
“You bet you do!” Uncle Carl’s voice filled the small shop. Until that moment, he’d been hanging back and letting her handle things. “I couldn’t have done a better job myself.”
Kayla squealed and crossed the shop to him, standing on tiptoe in an attempt to kiss his cheek. She was so short her lips didn’t even reach his chin. She blew him a kiss instead.
“Whoa there, Kayla,” Uncle Carl said. “I’m not the one you should be thanking.”
She stepped back, not even trying to suppress the happiness bubbling inside her. “Oh, no? Who should I thank then?”
“James Smith,” her uncle said. “He called me, too.”
* * *
THE PIER AT HIGGS BEACH was a wooden structure that stretched perhaps one hundred yards into the sparkling blue water of the Atlantic Ocean. Maria wondered what she was doing, walking the length of it with Logan.
She’
d been operating on autopilot since Billy Tillman’s confession. Finally, after all this time, she’d been forced to face up to the fact that Mike was truly gone. The knowledge had slammed into her with such force that even her body felt battered. Behind her sunglasses, her eyes still felt sore and puffy.
“I need to call Caroline Webb and let her know the threat is over,” Maria said, thinking aloud.
“Will you tell her who was behind it?” Logan asked.
She needed to think about that only for a few seconds to reach a decision. “I don’t see what good that would do, especially since Billy didn’t actually go through with the blackmail.”
“There is that,” Logan said. “You should let him stew a little over what kind of action you might take. He didn’t break any laws, although he did wreck Caroline’s relationship with her fiancé.”
“I wish I could be more sympathetic toward Caroline. I mean, I don’t believe adults should be judged on their actions in high school. And yet I don’t feel very sorry for her.” Maria shook her head. “What kind of a person does that make me?”
He put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “It makes you human.”
She blinked back tears at his understanding.
“You okay?” Logan asked gently. He’d been nothing but kind since the events of the afternoon had unfolded. Whereas she probably would have gone back to her hotel room, he’d suggested taking a walk.
“I don’t know yet if I’m okay,” Maria said. “I’m still trying to process it all.”
“I thought the fresh air would help. What better place to think than at the beach?”
He gestured to the shore. She stopped walking and looked where he indicated. Even though the setting was picturesque, with a fair number of people sunbathing and snorkeling, tourists didn’t come to Key West for its beaches. Higgs Beach, for example, was a narrow strip with sharp rocks and washed-up seaweed near the shoreline.
It was undoubtedly pretty, though. The perfect backdrop for a romantic photo, like the one a young man and woman were posing for not far from the pier. He had his arms hooked at her waist and she was leaning against his chest while a photographer snapped away.
“Isn’t that James Smith taking photos of that couple?” Maria squinted to get a better look. “Why, yes. It is James.”
“He must do some freelance work on the side,” Logan said.
The young woman turned in the man’s arms to gaze up at him, appearing as though she was about to kiss him. James rose from his crouched position and repositioned the camera, then turned his head away from the couple as though something had distracted him. A petite blonde in bright clothing was rushing toward him across the sand.
“That’s Kayla,” Maria exclaimed.
Kayla paused a few feet from James, appearing to say something to him. Then she launched herself into his arms and kissed him.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Logan drawled. “Didn’t you tell me Kayla had a crush on Alex Suarez?”
“I have a feeling we’ve missed something.” Maria approved of the latest development, though. Alex Suarez was much too suave and smooth for Kayla, who was the most genuine person Maria had ever met. The down-to-earth James was a much better match for her new friend.
“Whatever we missed, I think it was good,” Logan said, echoing her thoughts. He indicated the rest of the pier with a sweep of his hand. “Shall we keep going?”
Maria nodded and strolled on, feeling some of the ice inside her—ice that had encased her heart since learning her brother was dead—begin to melt. Life went on, she thought. Yes, it was full of disappointment and heartache. But there was great potential for joy.
Only a few other people walked the pier. When she and Logan reached the end, where somebody had hung a Christmas wreath decorated with tropical flowers, they were alone. Beyond the structure, pelicans, seagulls and cormorants perched on top of wooden pilings left over from a previous incarnation of the pier. Much farther on, at the horizon, the blue of the sky collided with the deeper blue of the water.
The day and the setting couldn’t have been more beautiful.
They both gazed out at the scene for long moments, listening to the calls of the seabirds, the song of the wind and the distant shouts of children back on shore.
“I’m sorry you didn’t get your miracle,” Logan finally said.
Was that true, though? Maria had spent so many years harboring the mistaken belief that Mike had gone to his grave resenting her. With a single sentence, Billy had refuted that.
“Maybe I did get my miracle,” she said. “You heard Billy. Mike knew right up to the end how much I loved him.”
Her voice broke on the last words. Logan put an arm around her, pulling her close. She drew strength from his embrace. Suddenly, she couldn’t bear it if guilt was eating away at him the way it had torn at her.
“Please tell me you’re not still blaming yourself for convincing Mike to go to work that day,” she said. “There was no way you could have predicted what would happen. None of us know what’s around the corner.”
“I understand that now, thanks to you,” he said, kissing the top of her head. “You helped me to figure it out when we talked about it.”
A warm feeling swept through her, so unexpected it took a while to figure out the healing process had begun.
“You know what?” she asked, twisting in his arms to gaze into his face. “Remember what you asked me before, about whether I was okay? I think I am.”
“That’s great,” he said.
“Maybe it’s because we’re surrounded by so much beauty,” Maria continued, “but I feel like I can think clearly for the first time in weeks.”
“What are you thinking?” he prodded.
“That all we have is the here and now. My brother’s life—and the lives of almost three thousand others—was cut short in an instant.” She thought about Kayla, running up to James and flinging her arms around him. “The lesson we need to take from that is to live life to the fullest.”
“How do you propose we do that?” Logan was staring at her, waiting for her to continue.
“We can’t take the people we care about for granted,” she said. “The connection between you and me, it’s still strong. Time and distance couldn’t weaken it.”
“What are you saying?” he asked.
The realization burst inside her, so strong it must have been lying dormant for years.
“I love you!” she blurted out. “Oh, my gosh. I still love you.”
“That’s a very good thing,” he said, his voice thick with emotion, “because I’ve never stopped loving you.”
Emulating what Kayla had done to James on the beach, Maria threw her arms around Logan’s neck and kissed him, laughing when their sunglasses bumped. He flipped hers back from her face and then raised his own, leaving the two of them free to explore each other’s mouths.
The certainty of how she felt about him soared through Maria. She loved Logan Collier, completely and irrevocably.
Minutes later, she leaned back in his arms. “Let’s not go to Kentucky or New York tomorrow morning. Let’s fly to Vegas!”
“Vegas? Really?”
“We’ll get a marriage license at one of those chapels,” she said. “We can be married by Christmas.”
Logan didn’t answer immediately. A warning bell sounded in her head, but she ignored it. Things between her and Logan would be different this time. She’d make sure of it.
“Wha
t’s the hurry?” he finally asked.
“If we get married right away,” she said, “nothing will prevent us from being together, like it did the last time.”
Logan’s mouth opened, then closed. He stared at her and shook his head.
Her stomach dropped. It felt as if someone were gripping her heart and had started to squeeze.
Here we go again, she thought.
* * *
LOGAN WAS AFRAID that what he had to say wouldn’t go over well. Maria had flipped her sunglasses back down to cut the glare of the sun shining on the water, but her body language screamed at him to tread lightly. She looked as if she were preparing herself for another blow.
He took both her hands in his. It was most important that she know how he felt about her.
“I realized days ago that I loved you. Now I know I never stopped.” He hesitated, thinking about how to express himself so she’d understand.
“But?” she pressed.
“But I have obligations in New York.” He’d already put the promotion he’d worked so hard for in jeopardy by delaying his return to the city. It was imperative that he be at the Christmas Eve party at the Waldorf tomorrow. “I can’t run off to Las Vegas and get married.”
“Okay. Maybe I was a little rash,” she said. He started to relax, relieved that she was willing to listen to reason. The younger Maria hadn’t been as rational. “We don’t have to go to Vegas tonight or tomorrow. Anytime in the next month would be good.”
He was wrong. Maria hadn’t changed. They were having a variation of the same argument that had broken them up.
“I think we should take things slower than that,” he ventured. “What’s wrong with giving a long-distance relationship a try?”
She yanked her hands out of his and took a step back from him.
“A try?” Her voice was so much louder than before that the seabirds on the closest posts flew off into the blue sky. She seemed to gather herself, because her next words were softer. “That sounds like you’re hedging your bets in case things don’t work out.”
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