The Love Shack

Chapter NINE


February 15

Skye,

It seems particularly dark tonight. An interpreter I’ve often used lost both legs and an eye this morning when the car he was traveling in ran over an explosive device—one of those IEDs you say you’ve been reading so much about. I went by his house to give some money to his family. With him unable to work, his wife and children will have a hard go of it. I met them a few months ago and spent an afternoon with his sons helping build a jump for the skateboard they’d been given by a homebound marine. Their mother fussed about the sport’s danger to her boys, but her husband and I laughed it off. “What’s the worst that could happen?” we said. Skinned knees, sprained fingers, they were nothing compared to what we’ve seen.

The oldest boy is twelve. When I visited today, I gave him and his little brother all the chocolate and gum left from the last package my mother sent. That’s all I had for this now traumatized family: a fistful of cash and another of foil-wrapped sweets. The twelve-year-old thanked me politely, though, then drew me aside. Could I find work for him? he asked. Maybe he could interpret like his father. When I asked if he wasn’t afraid to take on such a dangerous job, he told me that skateboarding had given him courage.

I know the feeling well. The adrenaline rush of risk-taking is damn addictive. But that’s not why his father had been in that bombed car this morning. He’d merely been trying to support his family.

I’m off to a place I know where they’ll pour me some good Russian vodka. They serve it in teacups and I plan to drink several, getting drunk and staying grateful that my choices and decisions don’t affect a wife and children.

Gage, who hopes you’re now not regretting our correspondence

Dear Gage,

Of course I’m not regretting our letter exchange! I’m so sorry to hear about the interpreter. But remember, although you might not have a wife and kids, you do have family you’re close to...and friends! Be careful with yourself for us.

The package with this letter contains treats I hope you like...or will like to share. Please at least chew one square of bubble gum yourself and remember the Crescent Cove Bubble-Offs we used to hold (though I think it was Griffin who was always named Official Chew Champ, right?).

Last, the time difference between us is almost twelve hours, so this morning I lit a candle for you...during your night. Although I’m on the other side of the world, I hope a little of its glow somehow reaches you.

Yours, Skye

In her role as the Crescent Cove postmistress, Skye approached the home of Rex Monroe, the ninety-plus-year-old who had lived full-time at the cove for as long as she could remember. She took a path that skirted the rear of the cove bungalows, avoiding the more direct beach route. Rex’s place was situated near No. 9, and she didn’t want to give Gage a chance to see her.

She didn’t want to give herself a chance to see him, either. He’d probably feel obliged to address her embarrassment over the interlude in his office and then she’d feel like an idiot for avoiding him. And then they’d be back where they’d started...spending time together during which she experienced quivers of desire that were totally wrong.

Because they were for the totally wrong man.

She wasn’t so messed up that she didn’t want to see herself as a sexual being again, but she wasn’t convinced that one topless climax could be deemed a cure. And failing in front of Gage—with Gage—in some well-meaning attempt on his part to usher her through a complete, start-to-finish sex act could utterly ruin her self-esteem as well as the special relationship they’d had these past months.

It was better to keep her distance now, and once he was gone from the cove, they could restart their conversations—via paper and from thousands of safe miles away.

As she came around the side of Rex’s bungalow on her way to his front door, she heard familiar voices. Jolting back, she was forced to press her hand against the ocher-colored stucco to retain her balance. Gage was there, sitting with the elderly war reporter on his front porch.

The sound of more distant shouts and whoops had her peering around the corner again. Men were on the south bluff, some of them still climbing the path up the side, others perched at various stopping points. Shaking her head, Skye grimaced. None of the posted warning signs had ever reduced its lure, but she made a mental note to tack up one or two more.

“I haven’t seen you up the cliff this visit,” she heard Rex say to Gage. “First thing you and your brother did every summer was see if you could jump from a higher point than the year before.”

“We did a lot of stupid stuff when we were kids,” Gage replied.

“I wouldn’t disagree with that. You’re lucky I didn’t have you hauled off and sent to juvenile hall.”

Gage laughed. “Instead, you had that police officer come to the cove and give us his version of ‘Scared Straight.’”

The old man harrumphed. “Someone had to look after your mother’s interests. That poor woman was at her wits’ end, especially with your father only coming to the vacation house on the weekends.”

“So you made sure you were a nosy, interfering neighbor.”

“Nosy! Interfering!”

“What? Did I hurt your feelings?” Gage’s voice was laced with amusement. “I thought you considered nosy and interfering among your very best qualities.”

Rex made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a smothered chuckle. “Well, you’re much more polite than your twin. What a foul mood he was in when he first came to No. 9.”

“I heard about that.”

“And he went cliff-jumping, even though you think that’s kid stuff now. Jane went, too, once.”

“Jane? What the hell? He should be more careful with her.”

“I don’t know the whole story,” Rex said. “But I do know he loves her, though she deserves far better.”

“Told her that myself. Said she should choose the handsomer twin.”

“As if you’d settle down,” Rex scoffed.

“As if I would,” Gage replied.

Just another excellent reason for her to keep that distance from him, Skye told herself. Though he said he wasn’t the settling-down type, though she knew he wasn’t the settling-down type, it was better not to give her heart even a chance to wish differently.

“Your next assignment’s already set up?”

Gage grunted in answer.

“You don’t seem so keen to go,” Rex observed.

No? Skye risked another peek around the corner. Gage had his head tipped back against the wall, and his eyes were closed.

Rex nudged him with a leather-clad foot. “Son?”

“I’m keen, I’m keen,” Gage replied without moving a muscle. “But give me a break. I’m only a couple of weeks into my R and R. Don’t want to think about work right now.”

“Hmm,” Rex said. “I didn’t know you considered your life’s work, well...work.”

A weighty silence descended. “Nothing’s changed,” Gage finally said, his voice tight with tension. “I love what I do. Can’t wait to get back to it.”

Frowning, Skye studied the now-hard lines of his face. While she was aware he’d been saddened by the wounding of the interpreter, and before that, the death of his friend Charlie, she’d never sensed the edginess that was infecting today’s mood.

Maybe she should invite him over for dinner and—

No. That’s exactly what she wouldn’t do. When he was safely away from the cove, back doing what he loved in some foreign place that offered him the challenge and the risk that he always seemed to crave, then she’d attempt getting him to open up.

“Your brother’s not going back to danger.”

“He had a hard time of it,” Gage said. “I thought about coming to the States when he got behind on the memoir—I knew something was wrong then. He needed a good kick in the butt.”

“Jane provided that.”

“Yeah. I think she screwed his head on straight.”

“There’s a little more to it, though,” Rex remarked. “Your brother...well, what he suffered has gone by a lot of names over the years. Battle fatigue. Combat stress.”

“He told me he’s getting counseling for PTSD.”

Skye would have felt guilty for eavesdropping, but Griffin had mentioned it to her himself. She’d become close to Gage’s twin and his wife-to-be, and they both were quite open about the challenges Griffin had faced upon his return from war.

“What about you, son?” Rex asked.

“What about me?”

“As Griffin finally accepted, you don’t have to be holding a gun to have an acute reaction to difficult, violent, frightening experiences.”

“It’s different for me. Griff’s job was to see it all, feel it all, tell it all. I’m more of an observer.”

“He thought that, too—that his reporter’s objectivity gave him some sort of immunity. It didn’t.”

“But he didn’t have a camera, like me. It’s like armor...it’s a layer between me and what I see. It keeps me safe.”

“Not safe from everything,” Rex murmured.

Another of those heavy silences descended. Then Gage cleared his throat. “No, I’ve not been safe from everything. But I’m going back, Rex.”

“Nobody’s stopping you,” the elderly man said, his voice mild. “What is the next assignment, then?”

“I’ll be taking photos for an in-depth piece on ransom farms.”

“What the hell are those?”

“The kind of moneymaking venture that comes up anytime, anyplace there’s haves, have-nots and a law enforcement body that is either corrupt or overwhelmed by other concerns.”

“Kidnapping,” Rex said.

“Yes, and on a large scale—for monetary, not political purposes. Dozens of people at a time held for ransom in remote locations. Organized crime groups use abandoned buildings, isolated caves, sometimes underground bunkers.”

“Well, damn,” Rex said. “No wonder you need the R and R if that’s what you’re looking forward to. You’re sure you don’t want to rethink that return?”

“It’s a story that’s got to be told. It’s what I need to do.”

Skye moved off then, Gage’s inflexible tone yet another warning about the risks of getting too close to him. Goose bumps pricked her skin as his words played again in her head. I’m going back, Rex... It’s a story that’s got to be told. It’s what I need to do.

What she needed was to stay clear of him, no matter how curious his moods or how compelling his allure.

* * *

“I’M GETTING MARRIED barefoot,” Jane announced idly as she and Skye and Polly wandered through the shoe section of one of the mall’s department stores.

Skye shared a startled glance with Polly, then stared at the bride-to-be. Had she misheard? “Uh, barefoot?”

At Jane’s matter-of-fact nod, Skye blinked. “But that’s...that’s just wrong,” she finally said. “We all know you’re about the shoes.”

“Exactly why I’m not wearing any on my wedding day. I was making myself crazy trying to find the exact right pair.” She made a face. “It was Griffin’s idea, actually, which is when I realized I was making him crazy, too.”

“Yet another reason to avoid the love thing,” Polly murmured. “A woman shouldn’t have to give up her shoes.”

“I didn’t have to,” Jane said. “And I merely am giving them up for a few hours. But the love thing put the wedding thing into perspective. Though I’m looking forward to the day, it’s the rest of our lives that truly matter.”

Polly shrugged. “Me? I’m still taking shoes over love.”

Skye raised her brows. “Pol, how has that love avoidance actually worked for you?”

“Let’s get to the dress department,” the other woman said instead of answering. Her ponytail bounced as she headed for the escalator. “I have a job to do.”

A girls’ shopping trip had certain hallmarks. The promise to reveal every item tried on. The hysterical outburst behind a locked dressing room door when something that looked fabulous on the hanger turned into a colossal flop when worn by a real body. The begging of the flop-dressed’s friends to please, please let them share in the horror.

After laughing so much all three shoppers cried, just a little, it was time for a lunch break. They didn’t leave the mall, as Polly and Jane were still on the hunt for outfits to wear to the upcoming engagement party being thrown by Griffin’s sister, Tess. They opted for the department store’s small café.

While waiting for their salad orders to arrive, Skye’s phone buzzed, indicating a text message. She scooped it up without a thought, then froze when she saw who it was from.

He hadn’t tried to contact her in the four days that had passed since that...that episode. She looked up, aware her friends were paying attention. “It’s Gage.”

Jane’s gaze sharpened. “He’s reached out?”

“What do you mean?” Skye asked.

“He hasn’t been returning Griffin’s calls. Set his twin sense to jangling again.”

Skye’s belly clenched. Her instincts had been screaming at her last month when he’d gone silent—but at the time he’d been halfway across the world. Communication could be unreliable, he’d pointed out when he’d arrived at the cove, and she’d been so relieved to see him she’d let it go.

But now he’d gone AWOL again? Of course he was still living at No. 9; she knew that, as she’d seen him visiting with Rex that one afternoon. It did seem suspicious, though, that he’d avoid talking to his twin.

“Aren’t you going to see what he says?” Polly asked.

But the distance thing had been working so well!

Her reluctance must have shown on her face, because her friend smiled a little and said gently, “It’s just a text.”

“Fine,” she muttered, feeling foolish as she brought up the message.





Miss u.





Oh. The words pierced her heart. A liquid ache poured into her veins and everything inside her went soft, including her determination to dissociate from him. He misses me. Her fingers fumbled trying to type a speedy response. Miss u 2.





We’re good?





Skye didn’t have it in her to answer anything besides Sure.

His next text made her laugh. Funny man. She figured he was doing it on purpose, amusing her as a detour around the awkwardness he knew she felt. It didn’t seem fair, though, that he seemed to have managed that interlude with her in his lap without losing an ounce of assurance. Men.

“So, what does it say?” Polly demanded.

“He heard the three of us are together. Wonders if we’re girl-dancing again, and if so, would I text him the address so he can come by and watch?”

Polly leaned back so the server could slide her plate in front of her. “No dancing. Tell him we’re having a pillow fight in our underwear.”

Grinning, she did just that. Several minutes passed, long enough for her to get started on her plate of greens. When his next text arrived, she immediately opened it.





Sorry took me so long. The paramedics just left.





Alarmed, she typed back, WHAT?





My heart stopped.





Snorting, she shared it with the other two, which gave Jane a great idea that they followed through with once their meal was finished. On the store’s home goods floor, they talked a bored salesclerk into taking cell phone photos of them bopping each other with the display pillows. The Lowell brothers were each sent a copy.

“Maybe that will get them talking to each other,” Jane said.

Skye continued to stare at her phone, frowning. The photos just snapped brought home the strong contrast between herself and her friends. Both of the other women were dressed in breezy sundresses and cute flats. Sheer lipstick brightened their mouths, and they seemed to sparkle with life. She, on the other hand, looked drab and almost unhappy in her baggy khakis and button-down shirt, fastened at the cuffs and up to the throat.

She was unhappy.

“Back to shopping for the perfect dresses,” Polly said. “You’re sure you don’t want something new, Skye?”

Well, of course she wanted something new...but could she bring herself to wear it? Glancing back at that gloomy, covered-up image of herself, she bit her lip. She’d once been a young woman who wore pretty outfits and played with her hair and makeup. She wanted to be that woman again.

“I could maybe try a few on,” she said cautiously.

Polly grabbed her elbow and hauled her to the elevator as if afraid she might change her mind. “I saw the cutest one for you when I was going through the racks.”

The other thing about shopping with friends was that they could bulldoze you into selections you’d never choose for yourself. But behind the louvered dressing room door, Skye couldn’t complain about Polly’s pick. It was as if the dress had been designed precisely for Skye Alexander of Crescent Cove.

The sleeveless, moss-green bodice was held up by thin straps. It wasn’t low-cut, but it did reveal her shoulders and collarbone—and was the exact color of her eyes. The full, knee-length skirt was of a slightly deeper green and printed with life-sized fish swimming through seaweed. A light underlayer of tulle gave it just the tiniest amount of pouf.

“Time to model,” Polly said, knocking on the wooden door.

Skye hesitated, but then flipped the lock. Her two friends crowded into the opening, their gazes assessing.

Her skin prickled, goose bumps rising over all the newly revealed flesh. “I don’t think I can do this,” she said quickly, even though she knew the cut of the dress was quite modest. Still, a sidelong glance at the mirror showed a wealth of skin that she’d kept covered for months. “Maybe it’s not me.”

Bare arms, bare shoulders, bare throat. “Or it’s so much of me,” she murmured.

“It’ll knock Gage’s socks off,” Jane said.

It was on the tip of Skye’s tongue to say he’d already seen her more exposed than this. He’d stroked her naked arms, kissed her naked shoulders, rubbed his whiskered cheek against her naked throat.

And if she’d allowed that, she thought, with a sudden sharp pang of longing, surely she could manage the dress. She wanted to appear pretty again! Normal.

Like the repainting of her kitchen and the rearranging of her living room, it would be staking a renewed claim on herself.

“I’m buying it,” she said, before she could chicken out.

As they stood in line at the checkout, Jane cleared her throat. “About Gage...”

Skye turned to her, frowning at the other woman’s serious tone. “You’re really worried about him?”

She nodded. “I trust Griffin’s instincts on this,” she said, then hesitated. “Maybe you could get him to open up.”

“Me? If he won’t talk to his twin—”

“The two of you have been so close.”

If only you knew how close, Skye thought. But that was part of the problem. There was an imbalance in their relationship now. He was the issue-free, hey-anything-to-help half of their pairing.

“Griffin’s convinced something happened during Gage’s last assignment. Something he hasn’t shared with anyone.”

Skye’s hand tightened on the new dress. Maybe not so issue-free. “There was an interpreter he worked with—”

“No. He told us about that. It’s bigger, Skye.”

Worry continued to niggle at her as she put that together with things he’d said since returning to the cove. His sleepless nights. His desire to escape his own company. The remark he’d made to Rex while sitting beside the older man on his porch. “I’ve not been safe from everything.”

Still, what gave her the right to disturb his secrets?

Because they festered when they went unspoken. She knew that better than anyone.

“You’ll try talking to him?” Jane asked.

It would mean Skye would have to forget her vow of distance. But she already knew she would, she thought, sighing. Gage was the man who’d run to her rescue, who saw inside her soul, who’d held her in his arms and given her pleasure she’d thought gone forever. Of course she’d do what she could for him.

Because she cared more for her friend than for the safety of her heart.