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

Luke stroked the smooth wood. “Do all these trees wash up here?” He looked down the beach, where tree after felled tree formed a bizarre landscape of twisted roots and gnarled limbs.

“Not washed up,” she corrected. “They grew here, until the tide started coming in farther and knocked them down. None of the outer islands are stable on the seaward side—that’s why the buildings face the sound. The ocean’s taking a bite out of Angel Isle.”

Luke put both palms on the trunk and hoisted himself. He reached down, smiling an invitation. She felt herself smile in response as he took her hand in a firm clasp, lifting her up to sit next to him.

She settled on the smooth surface, trying to ignore the warmth that radiated from Luke, trying not to look at how the sun glinted on his bare arms.

“It’s beautiful,” he said quietly, leaning back on his hands. “Weird, but beautiful, like another world.”

She’d better concentrate on the scenery, too. “That’s what I’ve always thought. Another world.” She tilted her head back, letting the breeze ruffle her hair. A pair of brown pelicans swooped low over the water, and she envied their view. “Or maybe a little piece of heaven.”

“I guess you could look at it that way.”

His response was noncommittal, the careful answer he’d give a business colleague if the subject of religion came up. Suddenly she wanted to push him—she wanted more.

“I’ve always felt closer to God here than anywhere else.” She didn’t bother trying to edit her words or shield her beliefs from him. “And I’ve always thought God must love it, too, or He wouldn’t have made it so beautiful.”

For a moment she thought he’d ignore her. Then he frowned.

“That sounds like something an old friend of mine would say.”

“An old friend?” Was she actually about to see into his private life?

“Reverend Tom—”

He was looking out at the pelicans, but she didn’t think he saw them.

“A good friend.”

“Was he your minister when you were a child?” He wouldn’t answer; she knew that. He never talked about his childhood.

“You could say that, I guess.” His mouth tightened to a thin, unrevealing line.

“You don’t look as if the thought makes you very happy.”

He shot her a look that gave nothing away. “It just reminded me that I haven’t been in touch with him in a long time. That’s all.”

“Maybe you should be.”

His face tensed, and she knew she’d gone too far.

“We don’t fit into each other’s lives anymore.”

He said it as if that ended the matter. The friend was another secret Luke didn’t intend to share. If they were in the office, she wouldn’t have pushed this far. But they weren’t in the office.

“Would he like this place?”

Luke shrugged. “He wouldn’t appreciate the potential.”

For a moment she could only stare at him. “What do you mean?”

His gesture took in the strange shapes of the drowned forest. “This. Hasn’t it occurred to you what a commercial draw this could be? With the right kind of promotion, people would pay to visit this.”

Disappointment was an acrid taste in Chloe’s mouth. A commercial draw—that was all he could see. Maybe she’d been wrong about the depths she thought he hid. Maybe he was nothing more than the surface persona—the success-driven businessman who didn’t care about anything but profit.

The thought shouldn’t hurt her heart as much as it did.

“Look out!”

Luke took a quick step back, holding the kitchen door for Miranda the next morning as she darted through with a steaming pot of coffee. She flashed him a smile.

“Go on back. Chloe’s in there.”

He wasn’t actually looking for Chloe, but there didn’t seem any point in trying to tell Miranda that. He’d come down this morning with the single aim of talking to Clayton Caldwell about Angel Isle.

He helped himself to coffee from the sideboard while he scanned the dining room. The large oval table where they’d sat for dinner the first night was pressed into service as a breakfast buffet. Smaller tables for guests clustered around it and overflowed into the hall and onto the porch.

Only a few guests had come down this early. Chloe’s father was usually one of the earliest people down, but the chair where he always sat was empty.

Luke frowned. After their return from Angel Isle, he’d spent the rest of the day learning everything on the public record about Angel Isle. Now he was keyed up and ready to roll, but his instincts told him to proceed cautiously.