Hunter's Bride and A Mother's Wish: Hunter's Bride / A Mother's Wish

“Well, that’s how we like it.” Her mother bustled back, pulling out the picnic hamper.

Luke got to his feet slowly. He should help her, but for the moment he could only stare at the scene spread out in front of him.

The dock anchored one edge of a wide, shallow curve of shoreline. Palmettos and moss-draped live oaks fringed a pristine, untouched sandy beach. Waves rolled in gently, rippling onto the sand like a woman shaking a tablecloth. It was as isolated and exotic as a castaway’s island.

Chloe had already scurried up onto the dock, and she held out her hand to him. Whatever reservation he’d sensed in her a moment ago was gone now. Her eyes sparkled with eagerness, almost golden in the sunlight.

“Hurry up. I want to see the cottage.”

He climbed out and followed her off the dock and onto the shell-strewn path, leaving her parents behind on the boat. He could already see the house, although he wouldn’t call it a cottage. The building was long and low and nearly as large as the inn. Gray-shingled, with a screened porch running the length of it, it fit into the setting as if it had grown there.

“Pretty big for a cottage, isn’t it?” He caught up with Chloe and took her hand.

She looked startled but she didn’t pull away. “I guess. I mean, the family has always called it that. Years ago, they used to summer here. That was in the days when everyone went to the outer islands in the hot weather. But that got too difficult once they opened the inn. Now we use it for shorter visits, family reunions, that sort of thing.”

He tried to visualize Angel Isle as he’d seen it from the water. It had looked virtually deserted. “Are there any other houses?”

“Others?” She went up the porch steps. “No. Just ours.”

He hardly wanted to look at the idea that was forming in his mind, for fear he’d see some flaw in it.

“I suppose all this is some sort of nature preserve or something, then?” That might explain why no one else had built here.

“No, of course not.”

Chloe had already hurried across the porch. Standing on tiptoe, she pulled a key from a hook at the top of the door frame, then unlocked the door. She swung it open, and he had a quick glimpse of a spacious room dominated by a massive brick fireplace.

He was more interested in answers to his questions than he was in the Caldwell cottage. “Then, why hasn’t anyone else built on Angel Isle?”

“Because it belongs to us. My daddy, I mean. I thought I explained that. Grandpa split things between Daddy and Uncle Jeff.” Her face clouded. “Uncle Jeff thought Daddy a fool for taking Angel Isle, when the other property was so valuable.”

That must be a piece of the feud between the brothers. “So all this belongs to your father.”

She nodded, then went quickly across the room and began throwing open curtains and unhooking shutters. “You want to give me a hand?”

He followed her, mind busy, excitement building as he helped her tug on a recalcitrant shutter. He’d have to find out exactly how much land there was, but there should be some way of working a deal with her father. Because he’d just found the perfect place for the next Dalton Resort hotel.

He looked at Chloe, intent on the shutter. Did she really not know what he was thinking? He wanted to shout it to her, wanted her to share his excitement, wanted to feel her encouraging him to another success.

But that was Chloe back in their other world. Here—here he didn’t know how Chloe would react if he told her. Would she be excited and happy?

For an instant he felt resentment. He wanted his old Chloe back, the faithful right hand who always anticipated his needs and backed him no matter what.

“There!” The shutter popped open and sunlight streamed into the room. It lit Chloe’s skin, tangled in her hair, made her eyes shine. “Isn’t that better?”

“Better,” he echoed. Would it be better if he had his old Chloe back? Maybe so, but he wouldn’t trade this Chloe for an instant.

Chapter Seven

What did this mean? Chloe tried not to stare at the expression on Luke’s face, but she couldn’t help it. He looked as if he were seeing something for the first time.

“Chloe.” He said her name softly, holding out one hand toward her, palm up. Something seemed to stir in the shaft of sunlight from the window, as if the very air between them would speak.

Her breath caught. She took a step toward him, and the movement was as slow as wading through the surf. In an instant they would touch—

“How’s everything look?” Her father’s voice shattered the silence.

Chloe’s face flooded with heat as she turned toward the door. Luke turned, too, moving away from her quickly. Was he relieved they’d been interrupted? Or maybe she’d just imagined the whole thing.

“Let me take that for you.” Luke reached for the thermos her mother carried. “Can I bring anything else from the boat?”

“Not a thing.” Her mother set the thermos on the table. “We’re just fine.” She exchanged a knowing look with Chloe’s father. “You young people go on out and enjoy the day. We’ll take care of things here.”

“No. I mean, we’ll help you.” Chloe couldn’t be sure, but she thought Luke’s expression echoed her words.

“Nonsense.” Her mother shooed them with her hands, for all the world like Gran. “Luke hasn’t even seen Angel Isle yet. You show him around, honey. We’ll straighten up in here, then we’ll have lunch when you all get back.”

They didn’t seem to have much choice. Chloe headed for the door, hearing Luke’s footsteps behind her. He probably regretted he’d gotten out of bed that morning.

She didn’t look at him as she took the path back to the shore, but she could feel his presence as surely as if they touched. She didn’t say anything. What could she say that wouldn’t make this more awkward?

When they reached the stand of sea oats that marked the dunes, she heard him chuckle. The sound was a bit strained, but at least it meant he wasn’t angry about her parents’ machinations.

“Subtle, aren’t they?” he said.

“Sorry about that.” She tried for a lightness she didn’t feel. “I’m afraid my grandmother recruited them to do a little matchmaking.”

“I thought as much.” He strode beside her on the hard-packed sand of the beach. “Don’t worry about it, Chloe. If we can cope with a corporate near-takeover, we can cope with a little family matchmaking.”

Her tension eased at his words, reminding her of the difficult days three years ago when Dalton Resorts’s future hung in the balance. They’d all worked around the clock until the danger was over. Luke had put things back on a business basis, and that was clearly what he wanted. The moment when they’d stood looking at each other in a shaft of sunlight might never have been.

“Of course we can.” That was best, she assured herself. “We’re a team.” That was what he’d always said, and she’d taken comfort in the sense that they were on the same side.

“Always. You’re my right hand, remember?”

She nodded, matching her step to his long stride. She had to stop imagining anything was changing. She ought to be happy. That meant they’d be able to go back to normal, once this whole thing was over.

She took a deep breath, inhaling fresh salt air. She wasn’t sure she knew what “normal” was any longer, or if it was something she wanted or could even live with.

Maybe she’d better concentrate on introducing this place that she loved to Luke. If he could appreciate it the way she did, that would be enough for the day.

They rounded the heel of the tiny island, and the sea breeze lifted her hair and cooled her cheeks. “Now you see why they’re called the out-islands.” She pointed to the horizon. “There’s nothing beyond them but ocean.”

Luke shielded his eyes with one hand. “It’s so clear I feel as if I can see all the way to Europe—” He turned, glancing back at the island, and she heard his quick intake of breath.

“What on earth is that?”

“Strange, isn’t it.” Chloe walked to the nearest uprooted pine, its trunk washed free of bark, its roots a tangled mass of bleached tendrils. She rested her hand on the massive trunk that had been scoured clean by the waves. “The power of the sea.”