Beach Winds (26 page)

Luke said,
“Looks pretty wet to me.”

Lame. She refused to laugh.

“Not funny.” Maia took her arm and hustled her up the crossover.

Her
bag was still on the porch. As she dug through it for the keys, she said, “Joel said you were going out to lunch. I appreciate you thinking of me, but I’ll pass.” She unlocked the door. “I have to get cleaned up.”

“
No problem. We’ll wait,” Maia said.

Obviously, Joel needed to dry off his shoes and squeeze the ocean from the bottom of his slacks. She couldn
’t push them out.

She motioned toward the living room.
“Would you like to come in?” She stepped aside as they entered. “I’ll go change.” She kept a straight face until Maia started giggling, but then she lost it. She put her hands to her face as she hurried down the hallway.

Maia
was right behind her. “Frannie?” She whispered urgently. “Frannie?”

Maia
looked at her face. “You’re laughing. I thought you were crying. I thought I’d hurt your feelings.”

“
No, no hurt feelings, but—and I mean this—I don’t want you guys to wait for me. I don’t want to go out to lunch.”

“
No problem. We’ll order in. Is barbecue okay?”

Frannie sighed, giving in.
“Only if it comes with hush puppies.”

“
Wait, Maia.” She grabbed a towel. “Can you give this to Joel? He has some cleaning up to do, too.”

Frannie rushed through
a quick shower, went light with the makeup, and then ran a brush through her damp hair and called it done. She pulled the apricot capris slacks from the bag on the dresser, along with the white silk top. They were perfect for the occasion.

She found Maia and Joel sitting on the sofa. Luke was in Will
’s favorite chair.

“
Paper plates are in the cupboard. I’ll get them. I’m sorry Juli isn’t here.”

Luke spoke up.
“She’s having her own fun. She doesn’t often get a whole day to spend on her art. She isn’t missing us.” He nodded toward the dining room wall. “I like where you’ve hung her paintings. Your uncle was her first paying customer.”

Frannie looked and smiled.
“When he commissioned the beachscapes?”

He nodded.
“Meant a lot to her, you know, especially since he was a stranger. Not family. You know what I mean. Plus, he took the time to seek her out and talk to her. She felt comfortable with him and with what he wanted. It made a big difference for her.”

“
How is your uncle, Frannie?” Joel asked.

She
perched on the sofa arm near Maia. “I think he’s improving, but I don’t know how far that will go or if he will recover enough to come home. With live-in help, maybe.”

“
Are you going back to Raleigh when you leave here?”

“
Probably.”

Maia jumped in,
“Well, you can’t leave now. Spring is just around the corner. Spring is so beautiful here. Once the beach gets into your blood, you might as well give in. Don’t fight it.”

Maia
’s smile invariably brought out those dimples and her eyes looked merry. Joel looked at her and smiled, too.

He said,
“I know what you mean. I spend more and more time at my place in Hatteras.”

Luke was checking his cell phone. He seemed to be reading texts or emails.

Maia said, “Don’t mind him. He doesn’t know how to leave business behind.”

“
Speaking of which…aren’t you all playing hooky? Did you close the gallery for the day? What about you, Joel? You’re spending a lot of time down here.” Hadn’t Juli mentioned that Luke and Joel were talking business? Maybe she wasn’t his only draw here. That made her feel better. More relaxed.

Knock
s on the side door drew everyone’s attention. Joel and Maia jumped up to answer it. As she opened the door, Maia said, “Took you long enough.”

Brian walked in carrying bags of food.

This day kept getting better and better—
not
.

He put the b
ags of delicious smelling barbecue, hush puppies and coleslaw on the counter. Frannie went to join them in the kitchen.

“
Here, let me help.” She handed Maia two serving spoons.

Brian took the spoons before Maia could grab them. He placed them on the counter and said,
“Maia can handle it. I need to speak with you.”

Bad news? Or bad nerves? Her stomach wrapped around itself.

“Is something wrong with Uncle Will?”

He stared. She was conscious of Joel and Maia staring, too.

Brian answered, his voice smooth and even. “Nothing more than is already wrong. I want to talk to you. It’s not a big deal.”

Maia said,
“Go ahead, Fran. We’ve got this handled.” She looked at Brian. “Don’t take too long. The food won’t stay hot.”

She followed him out to the porch. She felt chilled even though the air was mild.

“What’s this about, Brian?”

He moved further down so that they were in front of the bedroom windows and not quite so much on display. Brian leaned against the rail.

He said, “Can I ask you something?”

W
hat was she supposed to say? No?

“
Next time you go to visit Will, be careful what you say about refitting the house for his wheelchair.”

What? Did she hear him right? She kept listening, thinking she
’d get on track with him because someone wasn’t making sense.

“
You were talking about it last time. Remember?”

“
I remember. What is it, Brian?”

“
I didn’t want you to get his hopes up. He’s been through a lot.”

H
is tone was patronizing. She dug her nails into her palms.

“
Am I alone here?” he asked.

“
Rude. That’s what you are. And condescending. Furthermore, I’ll tell my uncle whatever I want and I won’t be consulting you first.” She pointed her finger at his chest. “And that goes for anyone else I want to talk to, about anything I want to talk about.”

The corner of his mouth twitched.
It ticked her off.

“
And another thing—”

Without a hint of courtesy in his tone, he said,
“Can you listen?”

He had the arrogance to sound annoyed.

She hissed, “You—”

“
Megan was asking to come by and see you. I thought that maybe I could bring her with me when we take a look at possible modifications to the house.”

Megan? Modifications?

“And one more thing.”

She struggled to control her breathing. He was being a jerk.
He was playing games with her.

He asked,
“Do you and Joel have something going on?”

His blue eyes looked guileless. His lips were treacherous. Why did he care about Joel? Was it any of his business? No
.

She gasped. Maybe he wanted it to be his business? Her anger receded as something softer warmed in her chest. Was her face flushing again? She touched her cheek. It felt hot. What was she supposed to say?

“Speechless? I wasn’t trying to shock you.”

“
I wasn’t expecting you to ask.”

“
Sure. I understand.”

Was that a smile or a smirk? Surely this wasn
’t a smirking situation. Maybe he felt awkward? She tried to put a civil expression back on her face.

Brian
looked down, a bit sheepish, and said, “I noticed that Maia seems to like Joel. He’s come to the gallery a few times and I wondered if he might, you know, like her, too.”

Maia. He was worried about Maia and her social life
? That’s all he was concerned about? Suddenly, everything turned red. Pure red. Even as she was thinking that she would be cool and walk away as if nothing he’d said had impacted her in any way whatsoever, her fists were clenching. All she could see was Brian, only Brian, and he looked exactly like a target.

Her hand was still on its upward swing when it
was stopped effortlessly and held so hard in his grasp, that it stunned her. He put his free arm around her, behind her, and pulled her close.

Her defenses failed, and so quickly.
She was glad to be kissing Brian. Glad. It made no sense, none of it did. When had her hands reached his shoulders? She dug her fingers into those shoulders feeling the strength in them, glad his arms were wrapped around her.

When she stopped and pulled away, she whispered,
“You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”

He bent over and kissed her somewhere below her ear.

“What?”

“
Being a jerk to make me lose my temper.”

He pulled her close again and spoke in her hair.
“I don’t know when I decided to do that. It was sometime after I walked in your door. Maybe even after we started talking out here.” His breath was warm. “You drive me crazy. The temptation to break down those walls you put up is more than I could resist.”

“
Walls?”

“
The wall you keep around yourself.”

She pushed back. A temptation
—not her, but to break through her defenses. To break her.

“
The others are waiting. We’d better get back.” She tried to rally her good spirits, but her glow was fast disappearing.

He
kept her hand in his, stopping her forward motion. “I doubt they’re waiting.”

She tried to arrange a smile on her face, and to forget the feel of his lips on hers. Mistake?
That kiss had been a big one.

In fact, realizing
this was almost a relief. It enabled her to walk back into the house without rosy cheeks. If they noticed anything at all, she suspected they imagined an argument had occurred, that’s if they were judging by the expression on her face. She didn’t dare look at Brian’s face.

Frannie headed toward the sofa with her plate, to the open spot between Maia and Joel. As she approached, Joel scooted over next to Maia.

“Here you go, Frannie. Have a seat,” Joel said.

The empty space was now between Joel and Brian.

No problem. She wasn’t going to worry about Brian. He was responsible for his behavior. It was nothing to her.

He alternated between ignoring her to giving her that smirk that irritated her so badly. She tried to concentrate on the food and on the conversation
until her cell phone rang.

At first she didn
’t recognize the ringing as coming from her phone, but everyone stopped and stared at her.

Maia asked,
“Whose phone?” but she looked straight at Frannie.

“
Excuse me.” She walked to the counter. She would’ve ignored it while her company was there, but they were all looking at her. “Miss Denman?”

She jumped when he spoke. She
’d hired him only a few days ago. This quickly, did it mean bad news or good? She wasn’t even sure what would constitute good or bad news.

“
This is Ron Hamilton.”

“
Yes, I recognized your voice. Do you already have information?”

“
I do. Would you like to meet so that I can turn over my notes and documentation?”

“
I would, but I’m at Emerald Isle. I don’t suppose you’re here?”

“
No, ma’am. I’m in Raleigh.”

“
I don’t know when I’ll be back there. Can you tell me over the phone?”

“
Certainly I can. I can mail or fax the documentation. Also, I’m happy to follow up with details in an email. Whatever is most convenient.”

“
Yes, yes. That’s great.” Suddenly she remembered she had an audience. “Hold, please.

“
Will you all excuse me for a moment?” She half-ran down the hall to Will’s bedroom and shut the door.

“
Please Mr. Hamilton, what did you find out?”

“
Call me Ron.”

Her nerves became steadily more brittle. There was a war going on inside her between eagerness and anxiety and fear and somehow they all felt like the same thing. She drew in a deep breath.

“Please.”

“
I found a birth notice in the Greensville newspaper.”

“
Greensville? Mine?”

“
Frances Anne Denman, daughter of Edward M. and Frances C. Denman. The date of birth matches what you gave me.”

The excitement and anxiety was so sudden, so mixed up, that her throat tightened, threatened to choke her. She felt light-headed. His next words broke the spell.