Dear Jesus, help me, she prayed, even as she felt her body floating into some unnamed paradise.
But seconds later, paradise clashed with reality when the front door opened.
"Sweet land of liberty, what have we here?"
Hannah scrambled for composure, and, fast as one withdraws a hand from a hot flame, she made it to her feet, smoothing her dress, patting her hot cheeks, fixing her flyaway curls, and glaring at her younger sister.
"Abigail Ann, you were spying."
"No, I wasn't. I just came down to check on Jesse when I heard a noise."
"Well, everything's fine. Go back upstairs."
"What-and miss the fun?" She pulled her sleeping gown close at the throat and leaned in the door frame, mischief rampant in her brown-as-chocolate eyes.
Apparently, Gabe saw no reason for alarm, for he maintained his relaxed posture on the stilled porch swing, his legs stretched out to their full length and crossed at the ankles. He folded his arms and clutched his armpits.
"Does this mean we can kiss of Huffy g'bye?" Abbie asked.
"Abbie, I'm warning you," Hannah said,
"I'm just asking."
Gabe cleared his throat, "I'd say that's exactly what it means," His voice, though deep, rang crisp and clear with meaning.
Hannah sucked in a cavernous breath, puffed out her cheeks, and blew at her forehead. She pointed an accusing finger at Gabe. "You did that on purpose to manipulate me. You know very well I'm considering Ralston's proposal."
"Not anymore, you're not," His smile was every bit as intimate as the kisses they'd just shared.
A bristly chill scampered up her spine. Oh, how could things have moved so quickly from confusing, to wonderfully comfortable, to downright convoluted? And who did he think he was making such a forward statement in Abbie's presence-as if he held some claim to her? One kiss did not give him special rights-no matter that Ralston had yet to kiss her anywhere but on the cheek or forehead.
Abbie remained fully entertained, if the engrossed grin on her face indicated anything. "Oh, stop it," Hannah ordered, giving her foot a gentle stomp and glaring at Abbie as she might a naughty four-year-old.
Abbie upturned the palms of her hands and shrugged, her expression turning innocent. "What? I didn't do anything wrong."
"She has a point there," Gabe agreed from behind, only fanning the flames.
She whirled on him. "You stay out of it."
He turned down his mouth to avoid smiling, she just knew it, and the notion that the whole incident amused him fueled her the more. How could he sit there with his arms folded and feign such indifference? Abbie had caught them in the act of kissing, for goodness' sake! Shouldn't he share in the mortification of it all?
After a five-second stare-down, she spun on her heel and headed straight through the door, failing even to bid him good night. "I'll leave you to see to Jesse," she said, brushing past Abbie.
"Could I have my coat back?" he called after.
Aargh!" She yanked it off and tossed it to Abbie, who barely had time to snag it before it hit the floor. "Thank you for loaning it to me, Mr. Devlin," she said, imagining the smirk on his face. `And for seeing me to the door."
"Gabe," he corrected on her way to the stairs. "My pleasure."
oy and Reuben McCurdy moped and poked at the dying fire, both bearing puffy, blotched faces and red, swollen eyes. Rufus doubted they'd slept a wink the whole night. He cursed under his breath. He didn't feel any better than they did, but life went on, and he had to convince his boys of that.
"Time t' start breakfast," he said, unbuttoning his pack and removing a slab of bacon and the dozen eggs he'd bought at the market the day before.
"I ain't that hungry," Roy said.
"Me neither," said Reuben.
"Y' gotta eat, jus' the same."
Roy dug a hole in the sand with the toe of his boot and stared at it. "I shouldn'ta let him walk out there," he said for the hundredth time. "I'm the oldest. I should have been lookin' out for'im."
Rufus rolled his eyes, annoyed that the subject kept coming up.
"I done tot' you, it wasn't yer fault. Luis shoulda knowed himself not t' go out there in the wind. Them waves was splashin' right over the pier."
"How would he have known that, Pa? He ain't been on a pier before," Reuben said, his tone lined with something cold and bitter-hatred? Whatever it was, it sent a frosty nip up Rufus's spine. "And why didn't you warn him? You're his pa."
"Luis was fifteen years old. It weren't my job to run'is life," Anger welled up against the blame he saw in Reuben's eyes. "'Sides, I was sleepin'. You was the ones who let 'im go out there,"
Seconds of silence ticked away. "You goin' to the funeral, Pa?" Roy asked, throwing a hefty stick into the fire and watching it sizzle before bursting into flames.
"You kiddin'? I ain't goin', and neither are you." He sneered at both of his sons. "That'd be ar ticket to jail right there. Three unknowns walkin' into a funeral service? You don't think folks is gonna know right off who we are? You boys need to grow some brains between them ears o' yours."
Roy scowled, eyes hidden in the shadows. Reuben kept up his hateful stares. `And stop lookin' at me like that," Rufus yipped. "It was an accident, it happened, and we need to get our focus back, remember our reasons for bein' here in the first place."
He knew he sounded cold, but what other choice did he have? If he gave in to the moping like these two sorry sloths, they'd get nowhere. Truth was, an unclaimed dead boy might raise suspicion. They didn't have time to lose or emotions to waste on feeling sorry for themselves, and the quicker they tended to business here in Sandy Shores, the quicker they could get out of there.
"He looked plain awful layin' there on the shore," Roy said.
"I hope to the heavens you blended in with the crowd," Rufus groused. "I tol' y' not to go down there."
"It was dark, Pa. No one noticed me. 'Sides, everyone was more fascinated by Luis's dead body. They was arguin' back'n forth, `He's breathin;"No, he ain't. It's yer'magination: `He's whiter'n a sheet,' someone else said. `He ain't got no blood left in'im:"
"Did he lose all his blood?" Reuben wanted to know.
"Jig-swiggered if I know," Rufus said.
"Don't talk 'bout it no more," Reuben said, covering his ears.
"That's the smartest thin' l heard come out o' your mouth since y' quit drinkin' off your mama's-"
"So, what do we do next?" Roy asked, jumping to his feet as if someone had just poked him in the rear.
"We go lookin' for the kid. At least we know he's here,"
'And livin' with the sheriff I don't know 'bout you, but I ain't goin' knockin' on the sheriff's door lookin' for no kid," Reuben said, still crouched at the fire and staring at its flames, ignoring the fact that his brother and father had started rounding things up.
"We ain't that stupid," Rufus said. "We look for the opportunity to nab him when the sheriff ain't around. For now, we just scout things out, learn the routine, watch an' wait. And we spread out. I don't want you two hangin' together, you got that? Wear yer hats down low on your faces."
"When we gettin' new coats like you, Pa?" Reuben asked.
"What's wrong with the one y' got?" Rufus asked, perturbed that all his middle son could think about was new duds.
Reuben held up his arm to reveal several gaping holes.
Rufus grumbled under his breath. "She-oot, that ain't nothin'. Stop in that Whatnot store t'day and buy yerself a needle and thread."
"Buy?" Reuben asked. "When was the last time we bought anythin, Pa?"
Rufus chuckled in spite of himself. "Y' got me on that one."
Reuben pulled himself up. "Maybe I'll jus' see if there's any coats in that there Whatnot store. I can walk out o' there with a coat easy as I can a needle an' thread:"
Roy chortled. "See if they got any of them licorice drops in there while you're at it. Grab me a pocketful."
Rufus sniffed, happy to see his boys rousing. "You jus'
don't do nothin' dumb that's gonna get you noticed or caught, y' hear?"
Reuben glared in his usual way. "Nobody's catchin' me without my say-so."
Rufus nodded, satisfied.
They were going to be all right. Might even be easier traveling with one less.
When Gabe dropped off Jesse at Kane's Whatnot the next morning, Abbie greeted them from behind the cash register, all smiles and full of good humor, no doubt recalling the night before when she'd caught Gabe kissing her sister. No better words than devilish imp came to mind to describe this youngest Kane girl.
"Grandmother Kane allowed Hannah to sleep in this morning." She cleared her throat and smoothed back her flowing black coiffure, then cocked her head jauntily to one side. "Due to a headache, you see."
"Oh." Gabe wasn't sure what to say. He knew enough about people to know when they were baiting him, and Abigail Ann Kane was a baiter. And a conniver, albeit a pretty one.
"'Course, you and I both know..." She leaned slightly forward, batting black lashes that shaded mischievous eyes.
He lifted his brows, waiting while the sentence dangled.
"Well, I mean, there she was, lying in bed with one hand draped over her eyes. I know what her problem is-she didn't want to face the morning-more likely, you."
The little imp giggled, her deep brown eyes gleaming with brightness-like the first rays of sunlight. She was nothing short of a firecracker, and, truth was, he liked her.
"She'll be along a little later, that's my guess," spoke Maggie Rose, who was standing to the side and folding men's shirts. "No doubt you're anxious to see her." Her eyes twinkled with meaning, and Gabe knew instantly that Abbie had clued her in on the events of the past evening. Without warning, his cheeks began smoldering. Blast! He didn't normally embarrass easily. What was it with these Kane women?
"Well, then..." He turned his hat in his hands.
Jesse, who'd run through the store and out the back door as soon as they entered, came bounding back inside, dog pan in hand. "Dusty needs water," he announced, running past Abbie and him to get to the water closet situated on the other side of a curtain in the room behind the counter. It seemed Jesse Gant felt plain at home in Kane's Whatnot, dashing behind the counter as he did, helping himself to the faucet, even speaking in sentences.
"I'll be going now, Jesse," he called.
"Bye," Jesse hollered back, failing to show his face behind the curtain. Gabe heard water pouring down the drain and imagined the boy stretching to his full height to reach over the sink.
He took a couple of backward steps to the door. "You ladies have a good day, now."
"Oh, we will," they chimed in unison, both wearing the grins of Cheshire cats.
At the door, he took a breath and paused. "Oh, and one more thing. Pay close attention to anyone coming and going today, and the next several days, for that matter. After that drowning incident, and with us not knowing who the victim was, I just want everyone to be on the lookout for anything suspicious. And keep a close eye on Jesse."
He noticed how quickly their smiles vanished. "Is everything okay, Gabe?" Maggie asked.
"No need to worry. I'm just asking you to take precautions, that's all."
He'd never seen Cheshire cats sober up so abruptly.
Across the road, he opened the door to Kane and Perkins Insurance Agency and spotted Ernestine Middleton, a middle-aged roundish woman in spectacles who seemed to act as the agency's secretary or bookkeeper, he couldn't tell which. She greeted him with a wide smile, her eyes crinkling up and nearly vanishing. Without cause, she started pressing down the gray bun at the back of her head and adjusting her high collar. "Why, Sheriff Devlin, what brings you here? Looking for some insurance on that new house of yours?"
He might have told her his "new" house required a heap of work, but for lack of time, shook his head. "Jacob set me up with a fine policy already, thank you. And speaking of Jacob, is he around?"
"Oh, he sure is. I'll let him know you're here,"
"No, don't get up. I'll just go back myself, if you don't think he'll mind the intrusion,"
"Intrusion? Why, heavenly stars, you'd be no intrusion atall. Help yourself," she said, gesturing an arm with a billowing sleeve toward the back of the long, narrow building. "Straight down that hall there and second room on your left; but then, I'm sure you know the way."
Gabe tilted his head in a polite nod and advanced down the hall.
Jacob sat behind a cluttered oak desk, marred from years of use. It looked as if he'd buried himself in paperwork. Gabe cleared his throat, and Jacob jolted.
"Didn't mean to startle you," he said, one hand on the doorknob.
"Well, well," said the smiling Jacob, who tossed down his reading spectacles, pushed back his chair, and motioned Gabe inside. "Come, come, sit down and tell me what brings you here,"
"I won't keep you," Gabe said, sitting down in the chair to which Jacob pointed-after removing a pile of folders and stacking them on the edge of Jacob's desk.
"Excuse the mess. Ernestine is forever scolding me to clean up this office, but it seems I never have a spare minute to do it,"
`And here I am taking more of your time."
"Nonsense. Maggie Rose is coming in later this week to organize things. She does that every so often. She's my systematic one. Practical yet passionately driven. What a combination, huh?"
`Ah." Gabe hadn't come to talk about the beautiful Kane sisters, but Jacob's remark made him curious. "I suppose each of your daughters has her own special quality."
Jacob chuckled and settled back in his chair, stroking his beard as he thought. "Besides systematic, Maggie is kind to a fault-always looking for something or someone to dedicate her time and attention to. She's prudent, wise beyond her years, and genuinely thoughtful. Of course, that's not to say she doesn't have that Kane streak."
Gabe lifted questioning brows.
"All the Kane women have it, you know, including my dear mother, and it's known as tenacity. Actually, `shameless spunk' might be a better descriptor."
Gabe couldn't hold back a sudden peal of laughter. "I think I know what you mean,"
"I'm certain you do. Hannah Grace displays it perfectly."
Gabe felt warm behind the collar at the mere mention of her name, and the realization struck him that a week ago he wouldn't have had the same reaction. It was that blasted kiss!
He wondered if Jacob might be fishing, so he aimed for casualness. "Just out of curiosity, what would you say about your other girls?" He pulled his ankle up and rested it on his knee.
Jacob's gray eyes glittered with merriment. "Ha! They're all different as peanuts and peas, but listen, my boy, you've hit upon a subject for which I never tire talking. Are you sure you want to get me started, or would you rather clue me in as to the real purpose for your visit?"
Gabe wove his fingers together and clasped his hands behind his head, sinking back against the chair's worn leather. "I'll clue you in a little later. Go ahead and tell me about those daughters of yours."
Jacob took up a pencil and started tapping out something like a message in Morse code on his desktop. He glanced across the room, pondering. "Well, there's Abbie Ann, of course. What can I possibly say about her that you haven't already figured out?" Laughter erupted between them.
"She is rather an open book," Gabe said.
"That and much more. She's spunky, yes, but the mind in that little brunette head of hers is always turnip; don't be fooled. Of my three girls, she just might be the most determined, enterprising, and straightforward one. She's definitely the most melodramatic, I'll give you that."
Gabe grinned, but before he could say a word in response, Jacob started in on Hannah. "Now, Hannah's a girl with spark and initiative. Someday she'll take over the Whatnot, you wait and see. And I'll hand it over with confidence. She's capable and smart, that girl. Tender and compassionate, too. Look at how she dotes on that boy of yours."
Interesting he would refer to Jesse as his. "S
ensible, too," the man added.
And prettier than a flower, Gabe might have put in.
Jacob tugged at his beard and flexed his shoulders against the back of his chair. "But I hope she exercises more than her sensible nature with regard to Ralston Van Huff's marriage proposal."
It took some effort to keep his voice steady. "How do you mean, sir?"
"Well." Jacob grunted. "Ralston's a fine young man and a faithful church attendee. I'm sure you've noted him sitting at the end of our family pew every Sunday." For no good reason, Gabe gritted his teeth against the image. Simply put, that kiss had ruined his image of Hannah with Ralston Van Huff-or with anyone else, for that matter! "And if one were to look at their relationship from a purely practical, sensible standpoint, then, yes, they probably complement each other." No! "But I want her to think beyond sensibility, of course, and to make this marriage proposal a matter of utmost prayer." He tilted his head in thought and cleared his throat. "Which I'm sure she will do."
The seconds ticked loudly from Jacob's desk clock. "Well." He looked Gabe square in the eye and blew out a loud breath. "I'm certain you didn't come here to listen to me spout about Hannah. I mean, you appear to be decent friends, the two of you-when you're not bickering, that is." This he said tongue in cheek, eyes twinkling. "But whether or not she marries the doctor probably doesn't much matter to you." He paused for effect-certainly long enough for Gabe to reply. `Am I right?"
Gabe tried to keep a light tone in his voice, but he still stammered seriously, "I-would have to say-it's of great concern to me, sir."
Jacob's eyes lit up like a pair of firecrackers. "Is that so? Well, all right, then. Perhaps you should jump into the game."
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