Tide Will Tell (Islands of Intrigue: San Juans) (10 page)

Obviously, she needed some perspective. The sheriff in Friday Harbor hadn’t told them much—just asked them a few questions and had the ice cream store cordoned off with yellow tape. Ordinarily, Josh would have stuck around to observe in case he ever needed to film a scene about a police investigation, but Kate hadn’t been able to stop shaking. They’d gotten on the next ferry for Shaw instead.

Now Josh longed to encourage her to open up about what was
really
scaring her. He tried to affect a more reassuring tone. “If the sheriff had thought this had anything to do with you, he wouldn’t have let you leave.”

Kate’s eyes darted around the parking lot. “I don’t trust the police.”

Whoa
. Where did
that
sentiment come from? He studied her. “Why not?”

With a vague headshake, she wrapped one arm around her middle and gnawed on her thumbnail.

“I know you must have a good reason for feeling that way, but all the police officers I know are really good at what they do.”

She frowned, finally looking at him. “You know a
lot
of police officers?”

He shrugged. “A few. My roommate is a rookie cop.”

Her eyes widened. “Seriously?”

“Yeah. Eli’s wanted to be a cop since we were kids.”

She nodded, taking that in. “So you’ve been friends for that long? Must be nice.”

“It’s good to have people in your life who you can always count on.” He smiled. “And he’s a good cop.”

“Even so…” Her tone was quiet, but filled with emotion. “The police don’t
know
everything.”

“Kate.” He tried to catch her eye. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“Nothing.” She looked down then away—a sure sign that she wasn’t being entirely honest. “I guess those fliers just upset me more than I realized.”

“Understandable. But the fliers are about Trina, not about you.”

She blinked, obviously trying to fight back tears. “But that photographer almost got a good close-up of me. If I hadn’t put my hands up, my face would be in every major paper in the country tomorrow.” Swallowing hard, she swiped at her eyes with her finger.

He leaned over to open the glove box, glad to see that the packet of tissues he’d acquired at some point was still there. “I don’t understand why that would be so terrible.”

Accepting the tissues, she rolled in her lips and looked nervously around the mostly unpopulated parking area. An old VW van appeared on the road in front of them and pulled into a parking space. As the driver’s door opened, Kate held a tissue up to her face and sunk down in her seat.

Josh couldn’t help a slight chuckle. “I don’t think you need to worry about
her
giving you a bad time.”

“Why not?” Kate pulled her head up a little to watch the woman in a formless blue dress and white head covering amble along the walkway in front of the store to the post office in the same building. “Is that a
nun?
”

“Yeah.” Encouraged by her interest, Josh smiled. “There’s a monastery on the island.”

“Seriously?” She leaned forward, her desire to stay hidden apparently quelled by her curiosity.

“Jessica told me that the nuns used to run the store, but they sold it. You still see them around the island.”

“Huh.” She leaned her head back. “Well, at least I know
some
of my neighbors will show me some grace.”

As he moved to restart the car, he realized that he didn’t want to take her back to the house yet. He told himself it was because he wanted to give her more time to recover from the ice cream store incident, but in all honesty he was enjoying his time with her. As he looked around the small settlement, an idea struck.

Instead of starting the car, he pocketed the keys and opened his door. “Hey, come on.”

Her pretty blue eyes filled with fear. “Where are we going?

“I just want to show you that you don’t have to hole up like a hermit.”

Ignoring her look of uncertainty, he got out and crossed to her side of the car. By the time he opened her door, she had appeared to have at least progressed from terror to indecision. He reached out a hand and she hesitated, then accepted it. He helped her to stand, somewhat unsteadily, then started to lead her across the street.

Looking like she trusted him about as much as she did law enforcement, she slouched low into her shoulders and fell into stride next to him. “What are we doing?”

He nodded toward the country store. His observant eye from his stop yesterday on his way in was about to pay off, or so he hoped. “We never got our ice cream.”

She tilted her head in realization. “What happened to your shake?”

He shrugged. “I left it on the table when you ran out of the ice cream parlor. Other things suddenly seemed more important.”

Stepping onto the rustic front porch, they passed under an old wooden sign with the words ‘General Store’ painted in faded red letters. Josh pulled open one of the old fashioned wooden double doors and followed Kate into the small but serviceable store.

He watched her shoulders visibly ease. It would be hard to feel threatened in such a cheerful place.

“This way.” Resisting the urge to place a guiding hand on the small of her back, he tipped a nod toward the rear of the store.

“This place is great.” Kate regarded the island memorabilia hanging on the walls above groceries, colorful produce, wine, clothing, and even hardware which were displayed on antique tables and shelves.

As they reached the back of the building, Josh watched Kate’s eyes light up. She walked up to the ice cream counter and peered into the glass case.

“Hey!” She looked up at him with the bright blue enthusiasm he’d found so appealing just the day before when they’d had their first conversation in Mr. Cole’s dining room. “How did you know they’d have coconut?”

He smiled. “Sometimes things just work out.”

By the time they stepped back outside with a couple of cones in their hands, Kate’s mood had visibly lightened.

“This is exactly what I needed.” She took a big bite of fluffy coconut and her face gave way to a look of pure delight.

“And there wasn’t even one bomb threat the whole time we were in there.” Taking a bite that encompassed both the chocolate and the peanut butter that formed his favorite flavor, he made an after-you gesture toward a red wooden bench in front of the store. “See. Perfectly safe.”

The sideways glance she cast him as she sat let on that she didn’t entirely believe him or appreciate his attempt at humor. Sure, the community wasn’t exactly throwing a welcome party, but it would be a stretch to think that someone had been trying to scare her away. Something else was clearly troubling her, and Josh couldn’t quite explain his desire to find out what it was.

An adorable knee-height black dog with soulful brown eyes and graying paws sauntered around the corner and made a slow beeline for them.

“Hey there, fella.” Josh checked the dog’s tag. “‘Lucky’. Nice name.”

“Hi, boy” Kate reached out to pet him. “I could use a little luck. Got any to spare?”

“It’s a nice thought.” Josh petted the dog, who seemed to think that if he persisted with the warm island welcome, he’d be rewarded with a bite of ice cream. Clearly, he’d played this game before. “But I think luck is highly overrated.”

She let out a little laugh. “You don’t believe in luck? Why not?”

“Because everything’s in God’s hands.” He wanted to be real with her, but he had to be careful not to overstep. “Things seem to happen randomly, but the reality is that God is always in control.”

Kate looked at him skeptically. “So you’re saying that God planned for them to have coconut ice cream today?”

He smiled. “I wouldn’t put it past Him.”

“Mm.” Twisting her mouth, she returned her focus to eating her ice cream and petting the dog. “Well, all I know is, my luck changed when I met Chase.”

Discouraged at her stubbornness in sticking with her worldly view, he took advantage of the conversational opening. “How did you and Mr. Cole meet, anyway?”

She hesitated. “We…uh…met in San Francisco. He came into the place where I worked.”

“Oh?” Josh pretended to focus on catching a driblet of chocolate with his tongue. “And where was that?”

“I was working as a waitress.” She dipped her head, as if there was more to the job that she wasn’t saying. “He came in one night and we just started talking.”

He nodded without judgment, hoping she’d continue.

She wiped a bit of melted coconut off her chin. “It was love at first sight.”

Josh tried not to cringe at her use of that phrase. “And did you recognize him right away?”

“Recognize him? Oh, you mean because of Trina?” Tipping her head, she attempted to get a better angle on her ice cream. “I know the story was in the paper, but I don’t pay attention to the news. My world was pretty small.”

Small
…and apparently sheltered. How could she not have known about the story that had been headline news for the past year? He bit into his cone. “So, how long till he told you about his missing wife?”

“The second night he came into the club.”

“The club. That’s where you worked?”

“It was a sort of club…where we served drinks…” The blush that scaled her cheeks implied that more was served there than just drinks. She caught his eye. “It’s not what you think. I didn’t…” She twirled her free hand like she was tossing off a piece of clothing. “Anyway, he told me that his wife had left him for another man, but that no one knew where she was.”

“And…you didn’t think that was strange?”

“Maybe a little unusual. But he was honest with me about the situation. He told me that his wife had just vanished and that the police always suspect the husband if a wife goes missing. There was no evidence of foul play, but they targeted Chase anyway.” She paused to take a less enthusiastic bite of ice cream. “Then when we got engaged, he warned me that the media would be on me like wolves and he was right. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that they aren’t letting up.” She cast a nervous glance at the couple of cars waiting to board the next ferry, and the wooded area beyond. “That’s been the hard part.”

Josh nodded slowly. This woman was obviously intelligent. Could she honestly have been so naïve? “So, you really think she left intentionally? That nothing happened to her?”

“I’ll admit that part seems strange. Maybe something did happen to her. But I know Chase had nothing to do with it.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because he told me. He was out of town the last day that people saw her here on the island, so he couldn’t have had anything to do with it. Look, if you knew him the way I do, you’d understand that he could never hurt anybody. He’s the kindest man in the world. He helped me out of a really tough bind that I was in.”

Josh’s imagination started to wander. A rich guy takes advantage of a woman in a vulnerable situation. He had money and he had helped her. That was obviously the basis for their relationship. But why
marry
the guy?

He tried to sound casual. “What kind of ‘tough bind’?”

“I’d rather not say.” The redness in her cheeks deepened. “Anyway, our romance has been a regular whirlwind.”

He nodded tightly. “And
how
long has it been?”

“Eight weeks.” She stared at her cone. “I know that doesn’t sound like a very long time.”

“No…”

“But that doesn’t matter.” She looked at him, her grip on her cone tightening. “Sometimes you meet someone and it’s like you’ve known them your whole life. Know what I mean?”

“Sort of.” He eyed her. He did know what she meant because he’d had that undeniable sensation about her. “Except that if you
had
known Mr. Cole your whole life, you wouldn’t have found out about his two kids a week before your wedding.”

Her forehead creased. “Are you making fun of me?”

“Of course not. But Mr. Cole is kind of notorious. Public opinion has been pretty much swayed against him. Not just because of this situation, but his unethical business practices.”

“He’s a very successful businessman.”

“That may be true, but there’s talk that he greases palms to get his drugs pushed through the testing so they can get FDA approval faster. I don’t think a lot of women who are well-informed would choose to get engaged to the guy.”

She straightened. “You don’t have to insult me.”

“I don’t mean to insult you. But haven’t you wondered why Trina would just leave?

“He told me she was troubled.”

“Even so, mothers don’t usually just leave their kids.”

She twisted her mouth. “Well, you’ve
met
her kids.”

“I’m serious, Kate.”

“I don’t have all the answers, Josh.”

“And that doesn’t bother you? Don’t you think you
should
have all the answers before you join this family?”

“Not when I know Chase is innocent.” She stood and crossed to the railing at the edge of the walkway.

“But how do you
know
that?” He stood and followed her. “The media reported what he said, but—”

“But, what?”

“I don’t know. It just doesn’t add up.” He paused, confirming in his heart that he had to take this opportunity to say more. Even if it made her angry, at least someone would have said it to her. “Maybe you should wait a while before you marry the guy.”