Stolen Chances (10 page)

As she expected, the connection was bad, but her mother answered on the third ring. “Hudson residence.”

“Hello, Mother, it’s Maren.”

“Maren, dear. You sound tired.”

No apology for misleading her. Leave it to her mother to act like nothing had happened. “I’m fine, Mother, just working.”

“You should tell your father you need some time to catch your breath.”

“He doesn’t listen to me.”
Much the way he doesn’t listen to you.

Her mother sighed. “How is he?”

The genuine interest softened Maren, and she blew out a breath. Though Sophia Hudson had no desire to live with the man, she obviously still cared about him. “He’s fine. I’m on the boat, and he’s not here right now; otherwise, I’d let you speak with him.”

“He’ll call if it’s important. Now…” Her voice hardened. “I suppose you want to speak with Isabel.”

So much for small talk. “Yes. If she’s around.”

“I’ve already told her about the project, so there’s no reason to waste your time rehashing that. She’s right here. Hold on.”

The betrayal she’d felt when she realized her parents had tricked her sliced like a hot, sharp knife all over again, but Maren swiveled her seat and bit her lip as she looked out the windows at the sunshine glinting off the water. For all her mother’s shortcomings, the woman loved her granddaughter. “Hey, Mom!”

A wave of warmth rushed through Maren at the sound of Isabel’s chipper voice, and a relieved smile curled her mouth. Until this moment, she hadn’t realized how anxious she was about Isabel. Hearing her sweet voice reinforced the knowledge that Evan was nowhere close. “Heya right back, baby. How are you?”

“Good. I miss you, though.”

“I miss you too, sweetie.”

“How’s Grandpa?”

Patrick was the last person Maren wanted to talk about. “He’s fine. Ordering people around, making demands, unbending. Same old, same old.”

Isabel giggled. “Not sick, huh?”

Maren clenched her jaw. “Not in the least.”

“Give him a kiss from me.”

Maren grimaced. “I will.” She wouldn’t.

“How’s the dig?”

“Well, we haven’t really started yet. I spent most of today getting the lab set up. We’ll start diving tomorrow.”

“Be sure to take your underwater camera. I can’t wait to see pictures.”

“I will. For you, anything.” She leaned back in her chair and tried to settle her nerves. “Is everything okay up there?”

“Yeah. Grandma’s been busy at the hotel, but things are fine. Jenny’s boyfriend showed up with flowers and a cake for her birthday, caused all this commotion at the front desk, and Grandma almost had a conniption fit.”

Maren relaxed as she listened to Isabel chatter about the hotel happenings. Normal. Everything sounded as normal as it got up there. As long as Evan kept his distance, everything would be just fine.

She waited until Isabelle finished her story. “I probably won’t be able to call you for a few days. We’ll be working pretty long hours.”

“That’s okay. I’m fine, and Nona’s teaching me to make her famous chocolate chip cookies.”

“Is she?” Nona was Sophia’s housekeeper and more grandmother than employee. And she had a knack for keeping Maren’s mother in line. “Well, in that case I’ll expect a homemade batch the next time I see you. About time you started pulling your weight around that house.”

Isabel laughed again. “I miss you, Mom.”

The love in Isabel’s voice tugged at Maren’s heart. “I know, baby. I miss you too. I think about you all the time. And I love you, more than you know.”

Silence echoed over the line; then in a small voice, Isabel said, “Grandma said maybe I could join you in a few weeks.”

Maren’s heart caught, and she thought of Thad somewhere upstairs. Squeezing her eyes tight, she pressed her fingers against her forehead. “I’m…not sure. The conditions here aren’t great. We’ll…have to see. I’ll talk to Patrick, but…I’m just not sure.”

“Okay,” Isabel said on a dejected sigh.

Maren hated lying to her daughter, but she couldn’t bring Isabel down here. Not with so much at stake. And now wasn’t the time to tell Isabel that her long-lost father had suddenly reappeared.

Maren swallowed the bitter bile and worked for happy in her voice when she said, “Okay, I gotta go, baby. Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Isabel answered. “I guess.”

But she wasn’t. Maren could hear the disappointment in her daughter’s voice, and it only added to the burn in her stomach.

“Sleep well tonight, sweetie.”

“Bye, Mom.”

“Bye.”

She clicked off the phone and tossed it onto the table, then pressed both hands against her closed eyes. Normally, Isabel’s sweet voice calmed her. Today all it did was reinforce that when this was over, everyone would hate her.

The shuffle of feet behind brought her guard up again, and she swiveled her seat toward the noise. Thad stood in the doorway with a box of supplies.

Her blood ran cold, and the fine hairs along her nape jumped to attention.

“Sorry,” he said. “Didn’t want to interrupt your conversation.” He lifted the box. “More supplies Patrick brought down.”

Her nerves vibrated with the speed of a hummingbird’s wings. “Oh, thanks.”

He set the box on the table, and she rose on unsteady legs, crossed the floor, and started to go through it. His eyes were on her, though, watching her every movement and reaction, and she couldn’t seem to concentrate on the bottles or tools in front of her. She knew he’d heard at least some of her conversation, and she was racking her brain trying to remember if she’d said Isabel’s name or not.

She finally glanced up and forced herself to remain calm, but inside she felt the firestorm of all her lies swirling together in a giant vortex. “What?”

His gaze was curious, not heated like it had been back at the market. And her pulse jumped all over again. An uncontrollable urge to turn into him, to tell him everything, overwhelmed her.

For several seconds, he said nothing. Just stared at her with those curious, intense, familiar eyes. And that connection they’d shared so long ago seemed to flare to life in the space between them.

Finally, he shook his head, then turned and disappeared up the steps. And alone, Maren dropped onto her chair and rested her head in her hands.

Too close. Too damn close. She had to be careful. Everything was hinging on her keeping Isabel out of the picture. She couldn’t let Thad know about her now. Not when she was so close to getting their lives back.

When it was done.

She lifted her head to look out at the shimmering water, and promised herself she’d tell him when it was all over.

She’d just have to be a lot more meticulous about what she said and did around him. And not fall for the man all over again in the process.

C
HAPTER
S
IX

“
M
issed you this morning, gorgeous.” From the edge of the dock, Drummer handed Maren a box of supplies, then climbed on board the
Escapade
.

Maren dragged her gaze away from something she’d been staring at onshore and glanced Drummer’s way. “First dive in quite a while. I decided not to run and dive on the same day.” She took the box of supplies from his hands and turned toward the cabin. “Once I get back into the groove of things, I’ll be kicking your butt out on the sand, don’t worry.”

“Can’t wait,” Drummer said, watching her go.

More irritated than he liked, Thad glared down from the flybridge, where he was standing, toward the horndog masquerading as his photographer. “Keep your eyes in your head, Sideshow Bob.”

Drummer chuckled and squinted up at him. “How did you know Sideshow Bob’s my favorite
Simpsons
character? He sure the hell has the most fun. Though Krusty gets all the babes.”

“Blondie’s afraid of clowns.” Thad looked out over the docks, wondering what the hell Maren had been staring at. He didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

“Afraid of clowns?” Drummer mumbled. “No way. You’re awfully funny looking. Maybe I should go hold her hand or something.”

Lisa stepped out of the salon and slapped Drummer on the shoulder. “You might lose it if you try. She’s been fighting with a new cataloging program on her laptop all morning. She’s in a bitchy mood.”

So that explained the look. Shaking off the strange sense of foreboding that had been sliding over him, Thad refocused on the boat’s instruments.

“Software?” Drummer asked from below. “Finally, something I know a thing or two about, besides sex.”

Jesus, the guy was worse than a fifteen-year-old boy. As Thad maneuvered the boat out of the marina, he yelled, “Don’t piss her off, Bob!”

Laughter drifted up to Thad’s ears.

Moments later, Lisa climbed the ladder and sat in the seat next to him, her short red hair rustling in the breeze. She drew in a deep breath and closed her eyes. “Now this is the life.”

Feeling more relaxed the farther they got from land, Thad looked at her, not for the first time amazed at the transformation. In her red halter bikini top and a pair of low-cut denim shorts, Thad could see the muscle tone in her arms and legs, but that wasn’t what had changed most about her. She’d always been in good shape. No, the last time he’d seen her—after they’d lost Colin—she’d been a mess, barely able to keep it together. Now, she looked…happy. Really happy, actually. There was a glow about her he didn’t remember, even before Colin’s death. Granted, a lot could change in nine years, but Thad knew for certain he’d never been that happy. Except, maybe once.

“What?” she asked, opening her eyes and smiling his way.

“Nothing. You just look good, Maxwell.”

She grinned wider and leaned her shoulder into his. “Since I know you think of me as a sister, I won’t read anything into that. But I wouldn’t let Drummer hear you say it. He’ll think Maren’s fair game.”

Thad looked ahead at the sea of blue and frowned. “What are you talking about? Maren’s free to do whatever she wants.”

One corner of Lisa’s lips curled in amusement. “Mm-hmm.”

Thad’s frown deepened at the way she was watching him. “Problem?”

“No, no problem at all.” Her smile widened. “Rafe’s coming down in a couple of days. I can’t wait for you to meet him.”

The way her face lit up when she mentioned her husband brought a smile back to Thad’s lips. “If he got you to give up your playgirl ways, then he must be quite a guy.”

Lisa laughed. “He’ll be thrilled to hear you say that.” Her expression sobered as she looked out at the water. “Do you trust him?”

Thad checked their location on the GPS. “Who? Drummer?” When she glanced his way and nodded, he shrugged. “I’ve got no reason not to. Why, don’t you?”

“I don’t know yet. But anytime Patrick brings on someone new, I get antsy.”

Yeah, Thad did too. That had been Patrick’s mistake the last time. As the water lapped against the boat, he thought about what little they really knew about Drummer.

Which, admittedly, wasn’t a lot.

“From what Drummer told Maren,” Lisa went on, “it sounds like he has no love for Declan, which is a good thing as far as I’m concerned.” She glanced over the railing toward the deck below. “But I can’t stop feeling that he’s hiding something. Be careful there.”

Thad had learned long ago not to question Lisa’s first instinct. His stomach was already a hot ball of nerves as they finally got this project underway. “I will. You watch yours too.”

“I’m a shark underwater. He’ll never see me coming.” She pushed to her feet. “I’m heading down to get the gear ready.”

Thad slowed the boat roughly twelve miles out from shore and cut the engine. Climbing down the ladder, he hollered, “All hands on deck!”

“Geez,” Drummer mumbled as he headed toward the back of the boat. “Please tell me we don’t have to salute him and all that shit.”

Maren chuckled from inside the salon.

Thad headed into the pilothouse, just below the flybridge. A splash echoed, and moments later, Drummer joined him. “Magnetometer’s in the water.”

If Patrick’s research was right, they had to be pretty close to the remains of the
Conquistador
.

Maren and Lisa joined them, eager to watch the screen and see what the magnetometer picked up. But as soon as Maren stepped into the small room, the scent of pomegranates filled Thad’s nostrils, followed by a wave of heat he felt roll all over his skin, distracting him from his job at the helm.

“Go slow,” Maren said, eyes locked on the screen.

Go slow.
Great. Thad remembered her saying that once before. The first time they’d made love. That heat shot to his belly and slinked lower. Now he was gonna be thinking about sex the entire afternoon.

With one hand on the throttle and the other on the wheel, he tried to focus on why they were here, but he kept getting distracted. Every time the girls thought they saw something, Maren’s face would light up like a kid in a candy shop, and the sweet sound of her excited voice was enough to make Thad’s blood pump fast in a way it hadn’t pumped in years.

They trolled through the area Patrick had marked for a good two hours. Lisa and Maren watched the screen and made notes of variances below the surface. By the time Thad cut the engine, they had a cluster of anomalies to investigate before the sun went down, and Thad had a hard-on that wasn’t going anywhere unless he got away from Maren.

Lisa and Drummer were already in their wet suits when he made his way to the deck. Keeping his eyes—and thoughts—off Maren, he double-checked the tanks and helped Lisa strap hers on. “You got cameras?”

“That’s like asking Krusty if he’s got condoms,” Drummer replied as he munched on a handful of chips.

Thad shook his head and tightened Lisa’s straps.

“Really, Drummer?” Lisa said, glancing Drummer’s way. “Can’t you wait to eat? I don’t want to have to haul your ass back to the boat because you got a side ache.”

Drummer popped the rest of his chips in his mouth, dusted off his hands, and grinned. “Who? Me?” he asked around a mouthful.

Lisa frowned. From her spot on the other side of the deck, Maren laughed. And the sound was like tinkling bells, easing the tightness in Thad’s chest and the nerves growing in his belly over what they’d find below.