Summer in Eclipse Bay eb-3
Page 27
When the trash had been dealt with, she concentrated on the display panels. One by one she took down the framed drawings that had been done by the children and replaced them with the usual pictures. She stacked the kids' pictures in one corner in the back room, ready to be collected by the proud artists.
She was coming through the door that separated the back room from the showroom, a large seascape in her hands, when she caught a glimpse of Nick's car. He was just pulling into the parking lot. Directly behind him was Mitchell's big monster of an SUV.
Nick, Carson, and Sullivan, accompanied by Mitchell, came through the front door two minutes later. They all looked at her, concerned and serious and a little baffled.
"Okay, we're here," Nick said. "What's this all about?"
"Hang on," she said. "I'll be right back."
She darted into the other room to scoop up the painting that she had left propped against the leg of the worktable.
She walked back out into the main room holding the picture aloft for all to see. "Look what I found when I started cleaning up after the art show this morning."
They all dutifully stared at the painting. None of the men said a word.
"Hey," Carson said gleefully, "I remember that picture. It's the one that belongs to A.Z. and Mr. Nash and the Heralds. The one everyone said had been stolen."
"It is, indeed," Octavia agreed. "You really do have a good eye for art, Carson."
He beamed.
She put the Upsall very carefully on the counter. "Evidently it got pushed behind a stack of pictures that was leaning against the wall. Heaven only knows how long it would have stayed back there if it wasn't for all the rearranging I had to do in here this morning."
"Well, shoot and damn," Mitchell said. The somber look evaporated from his eyes. A knowing expression took its place. "It was in your back room all along. How about that."
"Thank the good Lord we didn't rush off to confront our suspect last night," Sullivan said dryly. He grinned at Octavia. "Could have been more than a little awkward."
"Naturally, I feel like a complete idiot," Octavia said. "But at least this fiasco is finished and Nick no longer has to play detective."
Nick smiled slowly. He did not take his eyes off Octavia. "I was just starting to get the hang of it."
That evening Nick drove her back to the cottage after dinner with Carson and Sullivan at Dreamscape. There was obviously a conspiracy at work to give them some time together, Octavia thought, amused. No one had even been particularly subtle about sending them off by themselves this evening.
She made coffee and put two large, leftover chocolate chip cookies on a plate. When she carried the tray out into the living room, she found Nick slouched deep into her sofa. Looking comfortable, she thought. At home. Like he had every right to be there.
Something I should have said that first night at Lillian's show. Something I knew at the time. Something I've known all along. Just didn't quite recognize it until recently. Probably because I'm a little out of practice… I love you.
A deep sense of joy welled up inside her and shimmered through her senses.
Nick watched her set the tray down on the coffee table.
"Alone at last," he said.
"Mmm." She put one of the cookies on a napkin and handed it to him.
He took a healthy bite. "Okay, let's have the real story," he said around a mouthful of cookie.
"You refer to the case of the missing Upsall, I presume?"
"What else? It's the only thing this town is talking about at the moment." He stretched out his legs and sank deeper into the sofa. "With the exception of you and me, of course."
"Mmm."
He sounded so matter-of-fact about the you and me part.
"You can skip the version in which you miraculously discover the Upsall when you tidy up your back room, by the way. I'm not buying it for a second."
She curled one foot under her leg and took a tiny sip of coffee. "The other version is a little complicated."
"Let's start with the fact that Sullivan, Mitchell, and I all know that Edith Seaton took the picture."
"She had her reasons."
"Sullivan and Mitchell figured that out. Phil Seaton was their accountant in the old days. Can one assume that your great-aunt seduced him into covering her tracks for her?"
"I'm afraid so. And afterward Edith was so horrified at the thought of being caught up in the scandal that she covered up for Phil."
"But never forgave your aunt, I take it?"
"She blamed Claudia for everything, not without considerable justification, I might add. When word got out that I was related to her old nemesis, Edith freaked. After all, I was having dinner with Jeremy, encouraging him to paint, and then I started sleeping with you. Clearly history was about to repeat itself. It was just too much for her to handle."
"So she stole the picture and spread the rumors. Piss-poor sort of revenge, if you ask me."
"It was the only kind that was left to her," Octavia said simply. "And she could justify it to herself for a time because she truly believed that I was turning out to be a bad influence on Jeremy."
"Because you encouraged him in his painting?"
"Yes."
"Huh." Nick ate the last of the cookie. "She didn't have any qualms about taking the easy way out, did she? Obviously she went along with your scheme to make the Upsall magically materialize in your back room."
"To be fair, she was reluctant at first. But when I told her that we were doing it for Jeremy's sake and for the sake of the Seaton name, she went for it. I also told her that I was sure that was the way Aunt Claudia would have wanted it."
Nick raised his brows and reached for his coffee. "Think it's true?"
"To be honest, I'm not sure Claudia even remembered Phil Seaton, let alone worried much about the damage she did to his family. But even if that was the case, one thing is certain-she definitely owed the Seatons. And now the debt has been paid in some small measure."
"Thanks to you."
She put her empty cup down on the coffee table. "It was the least I could do, given that I never got the chance to fulfill my mission of repairing the Harte-Madison feud."
"I thought you had concluded that the real reason Claudia sent you here was so that you could get wild and crazy."
"Yes, well, if that's true, all I can say is, mission accomplished."
"Not quite." His mouth quirked in sexy promise. He reached for her and started to pull her close. "But you know what they say, practice makes perfect."
She spread her hands against his chest, holding him off for a moment longer. "Before we get to the wild and crazy stuff, there's something I want to tell you."
"And that would be?"
"It may have been Aunt Claudia who sent me here to Eclipse Bay but you're the reason I decided to stay on even after it became apparent that the feud was ending."
"Is that right?"
"I love you."
He smiled slowly. The look in his eyes was so dazzling she could hardly catch her breath.
"I was hoping you'd say that," Nick whispered against her mouth. "Now can we get to the wild and crazy stuff?"
"Of course," she said demurely. "I'm sure Aunt Claudia would have wanted it this way."
"Do me a favor." He pushed her gently down onto the sofa. "Don't mention your aunt again for a while, okay?"
"Okay."
She put her arms around his neck and kissed him with all the love and passion that she had discovered within herself here in Eclipse Bay.
Wherever you are, Aunt Claudia, she thought, thank you.
Chapter 24
On a sunny afternoon in the fall, Mitchell stood with Sullivan at the end of the long veranda that wrapped around Dreamscape. Each of them held a glass of champagne in one hand. Their canes hung, side by side, over the railing. From their vantage point they had a clear view of the newlyweds, who were dutifully working their way through a seemingly endless reception line.
The entire town, from the current mayor and his likely successor and his wife to Mean Eugene and Dickhead Dwayne, had turned out for Nick and Octavia's wedding.
"Knew all along Octavia belonged here with us," Mitchell said.
"You won't get any argument from me." Sullivan smiled to himself at the sight of Nick standing so close to Octavia, one arm wrapped protectively and possessively around her waist, the other outstretched to shake hands with the next well-wisher in line. "She and Nick and Carson are a family already."
Mitchell glanced at Rafe and the now obviously pregnant Hannah. The pair was busy supervising the buffet tables.
"And there's more family on the way," he said proudly. "I'm gonna have me a great-grandkid, real soon now."
"Probably more than one," Sullivan said dryly. He motioned toward Gabe and Lillian, who stood with Jeremy and Gail. "I think I recognize that rosy glow on Lillian's face."
"Yeah?" Mitchell followed his gaze and grinned. "Think so?"
"I do, indeed."
Mitchell swallowed some more champagne and grimaced at the taste. "I think Rafe said he stashed some beer in the solarium. Want to go see if we can find it?"
"Good idea. This stuff tastes like fizzy water, which is a real shame, given what I happen to know it cost."
They gripped their canes and made their way around the corner of the veranda to a side entrance. A bright red ball shot past in front of them. A small bundle of silver and gray exploded out of the open door. The young Schnauzer seized the ball in his jaws and kept going, heading for the open lawn at full speed.
Carson and Anne burst threw the door, chasing after the dog.
"Come back, Tycoon," Carson shouted. "You're supposed to get the ball and bring it to me when I throw it for you. You're not supposed to run off with it."
"Zeb always brings back whatever I throw," Anne said with cheerful superiority. "He's a really smart dog."
"Tycoon is smart," Carson informed her as he dashed down the steps in pursuit of his dog. "He's still learning how to do stuff, that's all. Winston's teaching him."
Winston trotted sedately out of the doorway, following in the wake of Tycoon, Carson, and Anne with an air of patient authority and attentive vigilance.
Sullivan watched the pack of dogs and children race across the lawn in pursuit of the renegade Tycoon. "I'd swear that dog of Hannah's must have been a butler or a nanny in his past life, the way he keeps an eye on those kids."
"That's a fact."
They went into the lobby of Dreamscape and made their way to the solarium. The beer was there, as promised, resting comfortably in a chest filled with ice.
Mitchell handed a bottle to Sullivan and opened one for himself.
They each took a long pull.
"Sure beats the hell out of champagne," Mitchell said.
"It does."
They went to the window and looked out at the happy scene.
"You know something," Mitchell said, "it wasn't always easy, but in the end, we did okay, you and me."
"We did just fine," Sullivan agreed. "We hung on until dawn."
FB2 document info
Document ID: fbd-b01e07-83d1-d94a-cf81-0dc9-c3c9-3abdb4
Document version: 1
Document creation date: 14.10.2008
Created using: Fiction Book Designer software
Document authors :
About
This file was generated by Lord KiRon's FB2EPUB converter version 1.1.5.0.
(This book might contain copyrighted material, author of the converter bears no responsibility for it's usage)
Этот файл создан при помощи конвертера FB2EPUB версии 1.1.5.0 написанного Lord KiRon.
(Эта книга может содержать материал который защищен авторским правом, автор конвертера не несет ответственности за его использование)
http://www.fb2epub.net
https://code.google.com/p/fb2epub/