Pelican Pointe Boxed Set Books 1 - 3 (A Pelican Pointe Novel)

by Vickie McKeehan

  And Ethan knew his brother could be a stubborn cuss when the guy wanted to argue his case. “Since Pelican Pointe is my territory, I’ll brief everyone on what the feds found when they executed the search warrant at both the Springer and Carr houses.” With that, Ethan took over while his brother left to meet with the federal agent in charge of the case.

  Chapter 12 Book 2

  Before starting her shift at the Diner, Hayden drove through the gates at the cemetery. This time, she brought flowers, a cluster of Indian paintbrush from the field of wildflowers she’d found on Sunday.

  She walked among the headstones until she got to the Phillips’ plot where she took the time to arrange the stems in the urn, which strangely sat empty, unlike before when it had been full of yellow blossoms.

  She breathed in deep, inhaled the air right off the ocean. Nothing more peaceful than a cemetery thought Hayden as she plopped down on the grass and spread her arms behind her. She looked up to study the sky. Purple clouds hung low to the ground. In the distance, a marine layer built up. There would be fog by the time she got off work tonight.

  She waited a few minutes to see if he showed himself. When nothing happened, Hayden started talking to the headstone. “Well, if you’re here, Scott, I just wanted you to know…uh, Ethan loaned me this book about ghosts. I’ve been reading up on…the paranormal. Some of what I’ve read doesn’t pertain to you because contrary to popular belief, I believe you’ve accepted the fact that you are dead. And since I don’t think you’re violent—”

  “I love this place. Not the cemetery, I mean Pelican Pointe and the cove. I used to roam this entire area when I was a kid. I played in those woods and climbed those rocks along the cliffs until my grandmother would come looking for me to call me in near dark for supper.”

  Hayden jumped a little at hearing Scott’s voice, so calm, so reflective. She sighed when he took up a sitting position across from her on the lawn. “Why did they change the name, the cove, I mean?”

  “New start, I guess, new beginnings for Jordan and Nick. Change. Life is all about accepting change. Nothing stays the same. Ever.”

  “Jordan called it exploring new avenues. Why are you so angry with her? Because she’s with Nick?”

  “You have it all wrong. She’s the one hoarding the anger, keeping it bottled up inside, won’t let it go either.”

  “Hurt. She’s hurt—you haven’t bothered―showing yourself to her.”

  “I’ve been in that house almost every day since I died. But Jordan’s anger keeps pushing me away. I had no idea how unhappy she was here, alone for so many months. I mean I knew, because I got her letters, her e-mails, one or two phone calls, but I didn’t realize how deep it went and that it would simmer into full-blown depression before Nick showed up. Part of that turned into hostility, all directed toward me.”

  Hayden sat up straighter. “Really?”

  Scott laughed. “Do you plan on being the go-between, Hayden? Carrying messages back and forth from the dead to the living?”

  “If that’s what you two need to straighten out this misunderstanding.”

  “It doesn’t matter now. She’s with Nick. She loves him.”

  “She’s pregnant, Scott.”

  “I know. Life goes on, Hayden. It may be difficult to understand this, but I’m happy for Jordan. She deserves every ounce of joy she can squeeze out of life.”

  “You must have really loved her.”

  “Oh, yeah. I certainly did that. I’d give anything if I could’ve held Hutton just one time after she was born.”

  Hearing that, Hayden got tears in her eyes. But when she reached out to touch Scott’s hand in response to comfort him, her fingers slipped through air, landing softly on the blades of green grass.

  The big news at the Diner was no longer Hayden’s unorthodox method of helping Ethan Cody out of a jam when he arrested Sal Turley. After all, she had been off on Monday and missed all the talk her bottle-wielding incident had caused.

  She hadn’t been the least bit disappointed when she’d clocked in today and discovered that her heroic save no longer headlined the town’s news. The bar fight had been replaced with brand-new scandal, talk that made her whiskey-bottle-knockout pale in comparison.

  It was Margie who hit Hayden with the news about Kent Springer and Sissy Carr and the missing half a million dollars from the bank. While rumor had spread by five o’clock that the bank auditors were staying out at the cove until they’d finished their investigation at the bank, a fact Hayden could have confirmed but chose not to, it was her conversation with the ghostly Scott that gave her pause to think.

  Hayden didn’t give a whit about missing bank money or the two fugitives. What she did care about was the dynamics between Scott, Jordan and Nick and their well-being. Maybe including a ghost when worrying about someone’s well-being would have been a stretch for some people, it wasn’t for Hayden. At least, not now.

  She genuinely liked Scott, or rather Scott’s ghost. And she would do anything for Nick and Jordan to see that conflict didn’t bring heartache to either one of them. If she could help in some way by being the go-between as Scott had called it, then so be it.

  If she had been on better footing with Ethan she would have loved to talk to him about all of it. But even though they had agreed to be friends, being friends wasn’t exactly the first thing that came to mind when she thought about the deputy.

  But having the guy that got you all hot and bothered mistrust you so openly wasn’t exactly a good sign of a stable, future relationship. And because of that , she needed to move on.

  At seven-forty-five Hayden looked up from taking an order, and saw Ethan coming through the door of the Diner. She sighed. The man had to be a creature of habit. And ignoring each other wasn’t a viable option at this point.

  After finding out from Margie he wanted iced tea, Hayden poured a tall glass and took it over to his table. The man looked exhausted.

  She smiled and said, “Hello, Ethan. What can I get you?”

  When Ethan’s eyes landed on Hayden all he could think was that the woman looked good enough to eat. Her eyes glinted a mossy green. Her smile seemed genuine and warm. Even the way she said his name generated sparks. As tired as he was she seemed to brighten this otherwise miserable day he’d had.

  When you started the day with a funeral and it got worse from there, the only place to go was up. He’d had to handle a lot of paperwork to get two search warrants, as well as interact with a couple of stone-faced federal agents. Dealing with the feds had never been at the top of his list. “If it’s Tuesday the special must be chicken-fried steak.”

  “Max’s specialty. He says it comes from his Texas roots. Of course, he also says that about his barbequed ribs and his fried catfish. The steak comes with your choice of fries or mashed potatoes and fresh string beans. So fries or mashed, Deputy Dawg?”

  “Fries.”

  “You got it.” She walked off to put in the order.

  The minute she left the table Ethan made a decision. If he was being honest with himself all of it hadn’t mattered from the moment he had first met her. Not the flashes or the vibes. The bottom line tended to get blurry when emotions entered into the equation anyway. But one thing was clear. He hadn’t felt attraction this fierce since he’d been a randy, sixteen-year-old and buxom Katie Bennett had ventured within reach of his teen hormonal radar.

  When she brought his food, the minute she set down the plate, he reached for her wrist. “Go sailing with me Sunday, Hayden.”

  “Ethan, this isn’t the time or the place.”

  He leaned over and whispered, “I know Hayden Ryan isn’t your real name. And I don’t care. It no longer matters to me. My birthday is Sunday. I want to spend it with you out on the water. Come sailing with me.”

  She took his hand in hers. “We’ll discuss this later, Ethan. Eat your food now. It’s getting cold.” She touched her fingers to his cheek. “And then go home. You look as though you could sleep for
a week.”

  “Okay. But we aren’t finished. I’ll be back at closing.”

  “Ethan, don’t push this. Eat your dinner now before it gets cold.”

  By closing time a storm had blown in and brought with it a brisk wind off the water. While Hayden dragged the mop around the old stained floor, thunder rumbled overhead. Fat drops of rain began to batter the windows in earnest.

  “Quit daydreaming there, Hayden. Finish up. I want to get home. The radio says we’re in for a good soak tonight. Floor’s clean enough,” Margie reasoned as she pulled an umbrella from under the counter. “Take this and head on home. You be careful on the roads. They’re slick tonight.”

  Hayden put the mop and bucket away, got her jacket and handbag down from the peg and headed out the door. She heard Margie flip the lock behind her.

  She made a dash for her car and jumped out of her skin when Ethan stepped out of the shadows. “Jesus, Ethan. You scared me into the afterlife.”

  “Sorry. How about coming to my house for some hot soup?”

  “You just ate chicken-fried steak not two hours earlier.”

  “But you haven’t. My mother sent it over. Lindeen Cody makes a terrific vegetable beef soup.”

  “Do women ever say no to you, Ethan Cody?”

  He grinned. “Why would you want to say no, Hayden? We’re standing here cold and wet while you could be sampling some of my mom’s delicious homemade soup and cornbread.”

  Soup did sound good. But who was she kidding? Food wasn’t the reason she wanted to follow Ethan home. “Okay. Feed me, Ethan.”

  As he got down bowls from his cupboard, Ethan told her about his busy weekend. “I haven’t seen so much happen in Pelican Pointe in a seventy-two-hour period since Delia Sanderson found her husband in bed with Sally Jensen, which set off a three-day chain reaction.” He ladled soup into bowls and set them on the table.

  Making herself at home in his kitchen, Hayden got out two beers from his fridge and twisted off the tops. “Chain reaction?” she asked as she took her seat across from Ethan.

  “It was a domino effect from the moment Delia knocked Sally off her hubby from where she uh, sat on top, if you get my drift. Delia and Sally duked it out some. There was hair-pulling of major proportion until Bill, Bill was the cheating husband, called the cops, which is where I come in. I get to the scene and pull Delia off Sally, who by this time is bleeding profusely from various scratches all over her naked body. Did I mention Sally was naked as the day she’d been born? Did I mention Delia was quite a bit larger than Sally?”

  “No. But I’m rooting for Delia. Did you arrest Sally?”

  “Arrest Sally? For what? She was the one beat up. Remember Delia had attacked Sally. But Sally was so embarrassed she refused to press charges.” He paused as he tasted a spoonful of soup before continuing. “Anyway, everything was fine until the next day when Sally’s husband, Jim, went looking for Bill. Found him too, down at the docks where he was waiting for him to come in from his catch of the day. A fight ensued. Jim beat the crap out of Bill.”

  “So you arrested Jim?”

  “I could have, but I didn’t.”

  “Bill didn’t press charges.”

  Ethan grinned. “Now, you’re getting the hang of the dynamics in a small town. But the next day the vandalism started. Sally wanted to get back at Delia so she keyed her car―several times. She was caught in the act. And Delia pressed charges. That’s when I arrested Sally. But then Bill, wanting to get back at Jim in his own way for the punches he’d taken, punctured all four of Jim’s brand-new tires. Jim caught him in the act, pressed charges. I arrested Bill.”

  Hayden laughed. “So after cheating and getting beaten up by each other’s spouses, you arrest Bill and Sally for vandalism? What happened to them?”

  “They appeared before the judge, got probation and a fine, and then ran off together leaving Delia and Jim to take care of four kids between them.”

  “Wow. Life in Pelican Pointe. What happened to Delia and Jim and the kids, or do I want to know?”

  “As soon as they got divorced from their respective cheating spouses they married each other a year later. I guess all that crying on each other’s shoulders paid off.”

  She chuckled and spread butter on her cornbread. For a few minutes she sat there enjoying the taste of the soup and then said, “Ethan, if I could tell you about how I ended up here, I would. Would you settle for knowing something about my past, something real about my mother and sister?”

  “Only if you want to tell me. I really don’t care anymore who you were. I’m more interested in who you are now.”

  “Somehow I doubt that, Ethan. You’re a cop. Cops are cynical and distrustful. I’m not sure how we’ll ever get past that.”

  “Have you lied to me about anything major?”

  “Lied to you?” She thought a moment. “No, not outright. I just haven’t told you details.”

  “Then I can deal with that. Even though I wish like hell you would just tell me his name and what happened and be done with it, I know you won’t do that.”

  “And how long will it take before you can’t get past that?”

  “We’ll take it slow. I understand I have to earn your trust. You’ve been burned by cops, haven’t you?” When she looked surprised, he added, “You aren’t very good at this deception thing, Hayden. I thought back to what you said Saturday night.”

  “I wouldn’t say burned, maybe more like skeptical of the hollow promises they make. Okay, here’s what I can give you from my past. When I was sixteen my dad passed away. Aneurysm. He taught fifth-grade science. He was standing at the blackboard in his classroom when he just dropped like a rock and was gone. They had to go tell my mother what had happened. She was in the same building in another classroom teaching third grade.

  “Money was tight after that, but as tight as it was my mother insisted her girls go to college. My sister and I both found part-time jobs, not just for spending money, but for college. We saved every dime. After Dad died, we both buckled down at school to get good enough grades in hopes of getting a scholarship. The next year, Sydney nailed one for nursing. She works in the ER. A year after that, I managed to get one. I earned a degree in accounting. A mistake I think now.”

  “What did you want to be?”

  “Don’t laugh. I wanted to be a forest ranger.”

  “The hiking and being outdoors thing.”

  She smiled. “Anyway, my mom kept teaching until she met and married again and then followed him to another state. She works for a software company now. Look, I’m just a regular person, Ethan, who found herself in a dangerous situation. Hayden Ryan is my legal name now. Although my mother hasn’t accepted it.” She smiled again. “I’ve broken no laws, Ethan, not even to get here.”

  “Thank you for that.” He squeezed her hand, brought it to his lips to kiss her palm. “I want you, Hayden. I meant what I said earlier. It isn’t your past that bothers me. It’s the danger you’re in from someone who is unknown to me, knowing someone is out there who wants to hurt you doesn’t sit well with me. You understand that, right?”

  The tenderness she saw in his eyes did her in. “Now that, Deputy Dawg will get you another lip lock. And one more reason why I really like you.”

  He came around to where she sat, leaned down and started nibbling her neck. “That’s good because I really like you, too, especially this spot right here on your neck.” He kissed her throat with his open mouth, began a sucking motion before turning her around so he could nibble her lips. Tilting his head, he deepened the kiss.

  He had a skilled mouth that worked to send quivers through every fiber of her body. Her fingers latched on to his long, thick hair as he continued the assault on her mouth.

  He dropped his arms down to her rear end and yanked her further in. Body to body, all she could think about was lying beneath him, surrendering to him.

  But sanity jerked her back to reality. “It’s getting late. I need to go, Ethan.�
�

  “I was afraid you were going to say that. I’ll follow you back to The Cove.”

  “That’s just plain silly. You look exhausted.”

  He ignored her. “Look, I don’t mind taking it slow but there are a couple of reasons you don’t want to argue with me about this.”

  “Oh really. That bossy attitude may work with some women, Ethan, but not me. I’m perfectly capable of driving to The Cove without a police escort. I know the way now. I’m a good driver even in the rain. I don’t need you to—”

  “I’ll worry about you if I don’t see for myself that you get there. Okay?”

  She blew out a breath and dug in her bag for her cell phone. “I’ll call you as soon as I pull in, how’s that? Should I worry about this controlling side to you?”

  “Controlling? I’m trying to protect you from some unsub who wants to—” He blew out a frustrated breath. “You’re really stubborn, you know that?”

  “Same goes. I don’t want to fight with you, Ethan. Is Sunday really your birthday?”

  He pulled out his wallet from his back pocket, slid out his driver’s license, handed it to her. “Satisfied?”

  “Thirty-three? Wow, you’re a lot older than I thought.” She snickered. “Okay, Sunday it’s a date, we’ll go sailing, see if we don’t manage to throw each other overboard in the process.”

  “Good. Now I have a question for you. That date of birth on your Nevada license. Is April 30 real or fake?”

  Exasperated at his persistence, she dug into her bag again and brought out the paper representing her brand-new California license that she’d have in two weeks, held it in front of his face.