Hunter's Bride and A Mother's Wish

Chloe stepped from the dock down to a bench seat in the boat, then to the deck, balancing as lightly as if on a stairway instead of a rocking deck. She looked up at him.

“Need a hand?”

Aware of David and Sammy watching from the boat’s cockpit, he shook his head, grasped the post to which the boat was tied and clambered down. Okay, he could do this. Nobody needed to know that his stomach was tied in more knots than the mooring line. With luck, they wouldn’t find any dolphins, making the trip short and uneventful.

David turned the ignition, and the motor roared to life. He waved at Chloe. “Cast off, will you, sugar?” He grinned. “Or don’t you remember how?”

Chloe stuck out her tongue at him, then climbed nimbly over the boat’s railing to perch on the narrow space at the back and lean across to untie the ropes. Luke had to clench his fists to keep from grabbing her. Chloe had probably done this all her life. She wouldn’t thank him for making a big deal of it.

Then the boat started to move, and he clutched the seat and concentrated on not making a fool of himself. Chloe dropped onto the bench next to him and gave him an enquiring look. More to distract himself than because he cared, he nodded to the cockpit.

“I thought Daniel was the one who ran the tours.”

“They both do, but David’s the real expert on the dolphins. His degree is in oceanography, and he’s officially in charge of the dolphin watch for this region.”

“Degree?” He couldn’t help the surprise in his voice. “But I thought—” What had he thought? That they were a bunch of uneducated hicks?

The amusement in Chloe’s gaze said she knew just how surprised he was.

“David knows his stuff, but he doesn’t really like doing the narrative for a boatload of tourists. Daniel does that.” She smiled. “You know how it is in a big family. We each have our roles.”

“I was an only child.” At least, he guessed he’d been. Nobody had stayed around long enough to tell him. “Tell me about it.”

“Well, Daniel’s the oldest, so he always thinks he has to be the boss—”

She wrinkled her nose, something he’d never seen her do in the office. It intrigued him.

“David’s the quiet twin. Miranda is the beautiful one. And Theo, whether he likes it or not, is always going to be the baby.”

He found himself wanting to say that she was just as beautiful as Miranda, and quickly censored that. “And what about Chloe? What is she?”

He thought a faint flush touched her cheeks, but it might have been the sun. “Oh, I guess I’ve always been the tomboy. Having two older brothers does that to you.”

He nodded toward Sammy and spoke under the rumble of the motor. “Where does Sammy fit in?”

She stiffened, as if he implied something with the question.

“Miranda was married briefly when she was eighteen. It didn’t work out.”

Her tone told him further questions weren’t welcome. “Sammy seems to have plenty of family looking out for him.” He recognized, with surprise, a twinge of jealousy. He hadn’t had a father, either, but no one had stepped up to take on responsibility, at least not until he met Reverend Tom and his Fresh Start Mission.

“Yes.” The tension in Chloe relaxed. “What with the twins, my father, my uncle, the cousins—he probably has more male role models than most kids.”

“Lucky boy,” he said, and meant it. The tempo of the motor changed suddenly, and he grasped the seat. “Is something wrong?”

Chloe looked surprised, then shook her head. “We’re just going around the end of the island, into Dolphin Sound. There are a few of the summer houses I told you about, and that’s the yacht club.” She pointed to a covey of glistening white boats, lined up neatly along a dock. “Summer sailors,” she said, as if dismissing them.

Waves slapped against the hull, and a fine spray of water blew in his face. He nearly ducked, but saw Chloe lift her face, smiling.

“Now you can see it.” She leaned forward, sweeping her arm in a broad gesture. “This is Dolphin Sound, between Caldwell Island and the out-islands. Beyond is the ocean.”

Luke drew in a breath. He might not be much of a sailor, but he knew what would draw vacationers to a resort area. Sunlight sparkled on the sound and reflected from the white wings of seagulls. Small islands shimmered on the horizon like Bali Hai, with empty golden beaches and drifts of palmettos.

“It’s beautiful.”

“Cat Island, Bayard Island. Angel Isle.” Her voice softened as she gestured to the most distant of the three. “My favorite.”

Sammy scampered back to them, moving nimbly as the boat danced through the water. He touched Chloe’s arm, then pointed. “Look, Aunt Chloe. They’re here.”

He followed the direction of the boy’s hand, seeing only the gentle swell of the waves. “I don’t—”

A silver crescent broke through the surface of the water, not more than twenty feet from them, describing a glittering arc as the dolphin plunged back beneath the waves. Before he’d caught his breath he saw another, then another.

“Chloe, get the camera,” David shouted. “The whole pod is here.”

Chloe yanked a camera from its case and knelt on the bench seat, snapping as one glistening shape after another wheeled before them. David throttled back, and the boat slowed to a stop, rocking gently.

“Oh, you beauties,” Chloe breathed, leaning out perilously far.

He couldn’t help himself—he had to grab the loop on her denim shorts. “Be careful, or you’ll be swimming with them, like your namesake.”

She glanced back at him, face alight with laughter. “Can’t do that. It’s against the law to swim with wild dolphins now, much as I’d like to.”

David left the wheel to grab a clipboard and jot down notes, murmuring as he did so. “One of the best sightings I’ve had lately. You two brought us luck.”

“Look, Uncle David, that’s Onion for sure.” Sammy bounced next to Chloe on the seat. “It is, I know it!”

“Got it in one, Sammy. You’re a good dolphin watcher.” David reached out to tousle the boy’s dark hair. “Your name will go in the log.”

“You’re really keeping track of them?” Luke glanced at David’s notes, which certainly seemed to be some sort of official report. “Is this your job?”

“Job?” His glasses shielded David’s brown eyes, but Luke couldn’t miss the passion in them. “Not in the sense of being paid for it, that’s for sure. We’re part of the dolphin watch that runs all the way up the coast.”

One of the dolphins balanced on its tail, looking at Luke with enquiring eyes and that perpetual dolphin smile. Luke stared back. “I’d think there would be money in this one way or another.”

David shrugged, not seeming to care. “We make a bit on the dolphin cruises. That’s enough.”

Enough? Luke opened his mouth to argue, then closed it again. It wasn’t his business to talk David into seeing what he had here. If he tried, he’d only emphasize the difference in their values. That would make staying any longer more difficult.

And he had to stay. He’d seen enough today to convince him of that. This place was the perfect site for the next Dalton Resort hotel, and setting that in motion would take more than a brief weekend that was already half over. His mind ticked away with all he had to do. Chloe could—

“She’s always been able to do that,” David said softly.

Luke turned. Chloe leaned over the railing, reaching out toward the dolphin, and the creature lifted from the water as if saying something to her. The curve of her body matched the curve of the dolphin, and the sunlight made both of them glow with a kind of harmony that startled and disturbed him.

It was as if the Chloe he knew back in the office had transmuted into a different being here, one as alive and natural and free as that first Chloe. He didn’t know how he felt about that—but he did know it was going to make their relationship different in ways he couldn’t even imagine.

“Chloe Elizabeth, I hear you brought a young man home for your family to meet.” Her father’s second cousin, Phoebe, squinted across the crowded dining room at Luke. “’Bout time you were settling down. When is the wedding? Not June, I hope. That’s nowhere near enough time for your momma to get ready.”

Chloe nearly choked on a mouthful of shrimp toast. Was that what everyone was thinking? “We’re not ready to set a date yet,” she murmured.

Cousin Phoebe gave her a sharp glance. “That’s not what your gran says. She’s already planning the wedding quilt for you. Asked me to look out some fabric for her, so I said I would. You’d best decide on colors soon, heah?”

The shrimp turned to ashes in Chloe’s mouth. Could this get any worse? If she denied it further than she already had, Cousin Phoebe would be rushing off to Gran with the story. Perhaps she could distract her.

“Cousin Phoebe, is that Aunt June’s daughter over there?”

The sight of another relative she could interrogate always appealed to Phoebe. She veered off, replaced immediately by Gran herself.

“Gran, are you enjoying your party?” Chloe hugged her, feeling a rush of love at the soft, papery cheek next to hers. And feeling, too, a rush of guilt. She shouldn’t be letting Gran and everyone else believe a relationship existed between her and Luke.

Gran patted her cheek. “It’s a good party, Chloe girl. But the best part is that you’re here, and you’ve finally brought a nice young man home with you.” Gran’s eyes twinkled. “Even if I did have to invite him myself.”

The “nice young man” seemed to be the topic of the day with her elderly relatives. Chloe glanced across the room. Luke stood by the window, deep in conversation with her cousin Matt. Matt, a television news reporter who’d come all the way from Egypt for Gran’s birthday, ought to be able to talk about something Luke would understand. She recognized a similarity in them and wondered if Luke would see it—they were both driven, intense, competitive.

“I think he’s having a good time.” She couldn’t actually bring herself to say she was glad Gran had gotten her into this fix. In fact, the truth pressed against her lips, wanting to burst out. If she told Gran all of it, Gran would understand, wouldn’t she? Or would she look at Chloe with disbelief that her granddaughter had behaved this way?

Gran held Chloe’s hand, her gaze fixed on Luke, too. “Maybe one of my grandchildren will finally find a lasting love. I’d started thinking the dolphin ruined that for all of you.”

Chloe blinked. “What are you talking about?”

A faint flush mounted Gran’s cheeks. “’Spose you’ll think it nonsense.”

“You know I’d never think that. But what do you mean? What dolphin?”

“Chloe’s dolphin, child. What else?” Gran’s eyes brightened with tears. “That dolphin carving disappeared from the church, and no Caldwell has been married under it since. It’s not right.”

“Gran, you’re not superstitious, are you?” She’d known Gran mourned the loss of the dolphin that was part of the family heritage, but hadn’t imagined it meant more than that to her. “You don’t really believe that old story!”

Gran looked at her sternly. “Chloe Elizabeth, there are more true things in stories than you can explain. I’m not saying folks can’t have happy marriages even though the dolphin’s not there anymore. Look at your daddy and momma—they’re as much in love as ever. But it seems to me God’s plan got messed up when that dolphin disappeared, and we need to see him back where he belongs.”

Gran had always had a strong streak of the romantic in her, but Chloe hadn’t expected this. She didn’t know what to say.

“Don’t worry about it, Gran. We’ll all find the right someone to love, eventually.” It was the most comforting thing she could think of, though none of the grandchildren had managed a happy ending yet.

“It’s not just that.” The lines in Gran’s face deepened as she looked from Chloe’s father, on one side of the room, to his brother, as far away as he could get and still be in the same room.

The breach between her daddy and Uncle Jefferson had existed long before Chloe was born, an established fact all her life. Everybody on the island knew that Uncle Jeff called Daddy a straitlaced prig and a failure, and that Daddy felt his brother’s ambition had killed off his honor. They kept up a semblance of civility for Gran’s sake, but their feud obviously still hurt her.

“I’m sorry,” she said softly.

“Not much we can do about them, I’m afraid. But as for you young ones—seems to me you’ve found someone to love, dolphin or no, haven’t you.”

“I don’t know. It’s not…not really serious between us—not yet, anyway.”

Gran’s wise old eyes studied Chloe. “Don’t think you can fool me, Chloe Elizabeth.”

Her heart stopped. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, I can see how well the two of you fit together. You care about him, don’t you?”

She couldn’t lie about it with Gran looking at her. “Maybe so. But that doesn’t mean it’s going to be a lifetime love or anything.”

Gran patted her hand. “You just keep in mind that verse I gave you on the day you were baptized. God has plans for you, plans to give you hope and a future. You trust in that, you hear?”

She blinked back tears, thinking of the needlepoint sampler Gran had made—the one that went everywhere with her. “I’ll try.”

“Besides, now that Luke’s here, maybe we can help things along.”

Panic ripped through her. “Don’t you dare do any matchmaking. If things are meant to happen between us, they will.”

“No harm in helping it along. I want to see another Caldwell bride before I’m too old to enjoy it.”

“Gran—”

“Are you ladies having a private conversation, or can anyone join in?”

Chloe’s breath caught at the sound of Luke’s voice. She’d been so intent that she hadn’t noticed him cross the room to them. She looked up, trying to smile, hoping Gran hadn’t heard that betraying little gasp. Hoping even more that Luke hadn’t heard it. There were no two ways about it—the sooner they got back to Chicago and their normal lives, the better for everyone.

“Always glad to have a good-looking man to talk to.” Gran fluttered her eyelashes at him outrageously. “Especially one that I haven’t known since he was in diapers.”

“Gran,” Chloe murmured. Just a few more hours, and we’ll be on a plane. I’ll forget this weekend ever happened.

Luke’s baritone chuckle was like a feather, tickling her skin. “If you want someone to flirt with, Mrs. Caldwell, I’m your man.”

“Thought I told you to call me ‘Gran’. Everyone else does. How are you liking Caldwell Cove, now that you’ve been here a spell?”

“Beautiful,” he said promptly. “Now I know why Chloe is always talking about this place.” He put his arm around Chloe’s waist, and she tried not to pull away. “It’s the most peaceful spot I’ve seen in years.”

“Well, then, you ought to stay a bit longer.” Naturally Gran would pounce on that. “Spring’s a perfect time for a vacation. Why don’t you two stay on?”

Chloe waited confidently for Luke’s excuses—they had to get back to the office, he had other plans, anything. They didn’t come.

“You know, that might not be such a bad idea.” He squeezed Chloe. “What do you think, Chloe? How about if we take a few vacation days and stay for a while?”

If the rag rug at her feet had jumped up and bitten her, she couldn’t have been more shocked. “Are you…?” Crazy was what she wanted to say, but she bit back the word. “I don’t think you’ve thought this through. We have work waiting for us at the office.” She flashed him a look that should have singed, but he just smiled.

“Work will always wait.” He turned to her grandmother. “Don’t you agree, Gran?”

Before Gran could answer, Chloe took a step away, her fingers biting into his arm. “Let’s go out on the porch, dear.” She added the endearment through clenched teeth. “I need to talk with you.”

Fuming, she tugged him through the crowd, emerging at last onto the porch and a quiet corner. She swung to face him, anger overcoming the deference she usually felt toward him. “What on earth was that all about? Why did you let my grandmother think we might stay longer?”

“Because we’re going to.” His smile was the one he wore when he crossed swords with a business opponent. “You should know I wouldn’t kid about something like that.”

The porch floor rocked under her feet like the Spyhop in a storm. “I don’t understand. We’re leaving in a little over an hour. We have tickets for tonight.”

“We can change those easily enough.”

“Probably, but why should we?” Her head began to throb. “This charade was meant to last a brief weekend, remember?”

“Relax, Chloe.” He leaned against the porch railing, but his face was anything but relaxed. “I’m talking business, not romance.”

From the house she could hear the cheerful buzz of voices, of people having a good time and forgetting everything else in their celebration. But here, the sagging old porch had taken on the air of a corporate office.

“What do you mean? What business?”

His gaze seemed to grasp her. “Hotel business. I’m looking into siting the next Dalton Resort hotel here, on or near Caldwell Island.”

“Here?” She could only gape at him. “I don’t understand.” Then she did, and it hit her like a blow. “That’s why you wanted to come here with me, isn’t it. You wanted to check it out.”

You didn’t come to help me. Disappointment filled her heart. She’d thought he had done this out of misguided kindness, out of that urge he had to direct everything, because he cared about her. He hadn’t. He’d done it to advance his career.

He shrugged. “You needed to be bailed out with your family. I needed a good excuse for being here, so I could see if the area was suitable. It is. Now we have to stay until I can decide on a specific site and put the acquisition in motion.” His gaze sharpened. “What’s the matter? I thought you’d be jumping with joy at the idea of bringing a little prosperity to the old hometown.”

“It means change,” she said slowly, trying to sort out her feelings.

“Of course, it means change. Jobs, for one thing. You’re not going to tell me this area couldn’t use a nice fat payroll.”

“I suppose it could.” No more lean times when the fish didn’t run. No need for young people to leave home to make a living. He was right, she should be happy.

In the room behind them, someone, probably her father, had begun playing the fiddle. “Lorena,” one of her grandmother’s favorites. The haunting air stirred misty echoes of a past that wasn’t forgotten here. It was an odd counterpoint to the discussion they were having. “I’d like to tell my father about this.”

“Absolutely not.” His voice snapped, and her gaze jerked up to his.

He glanced beyond her, toward the door, then clasped her arm and drew her to the end of the porch. He stopped there, his back to the house, his arm around her. Anyone looking out would think they were seeing a romantic tryst.

“Sorry.” His voice lowered. “It’s not that I don’t trust your family, but you know what it will be like if word gets out as to why I’m here. Every landowner in three counties will be trying to con me into paying top dollar for a piece of worthless swamp. We can’t risk it.”

His arm was warm and strong around her waist. That warmth crept through her, weakening her will to resist. We, he’d said. They were a team, like always. “But…you can’t mean to continue this charade even longer.” She hoped she didn’t sound as horrified as she felt.

“Why not?” He hugged her a little closer, and his breath touched her cheek. “We’ve been doing a good job so far. There’s no reason for anyone to guess we’re not involved.”

“I don’t want to tell any more lies to my family.” She tried to pull free, but he held her firmly.

“You don’t have to lie. We just let things go on the way they are.” His voice was low, persuasive. “Think about how happy they’re going to be with the results, if everything goes the way I think it will. Good times come to Caldwell Island, everyone’s happy, we go back to Chicago. In a month or so, you can tell your family we decided to date other people. It’s going to be fine.”

No, it wasn’t going to be fine, not at all. If she did this, she’d have to spend another week, maybe longer, pretending to be in love with Luke. At this precise moment, with the revelation of his motives still stinging, she didn’t even like him very much. But she was getting entirely too used to the feel of his arm around her.

No matter how this worked out, one thing was crystal clear. Chloe Caldwell was in deeper trouble than she’d ever imagined.

Chapter Four

Luke shifted his weight restlessly, waiting for Chloe’s response. He could feel her tension against his arm. It was as if everything in her resisted him. He wanted her cooperation—needed it, in fact. Didn’t she understand that?

It was probably the first time he’d seen his competent assistant show anger toward him, and it startled and fascinated him. He’d always found Chloe a bit too controlled. Apparently when it came to her family, she could be passionate.

He bit back the urge to demand. He wasn’t at corporate headquarters now. This was Chloe’s turf, not his, and she was a different person here.

“Well, Chloe?” He tried to keep his voice gentle, as if he really wanted her input on the decision. It was tough to do, when the vice-presidency shimmered as close as the blossom from a trailing vine that brushed Chloe’s hair and perfumed the air.

“I wish there were some other way of doing this.” Her face tilted toward his, troubled.

He tamped down annoyance. “There isn’t. And this is your future, too. Wouldn’t you like to be secretary to a vice-president? You’ll move along with me. I can’t do without my right arm.”

It was an argument that would have swayed him, but it didn’t seem to have much effect on Chloe. If anything, the resistance strengthened in her.

“I don’t like the idea of fooling my family.”

He bit back the reminder that she was the one who’d started it. “This isn’t going to hurt them.”

“How can you say that? How would you feel if it were your family?”

Her question hit him right between the eyes. My family, Chloe? What family? The father I never knew or the mother who walked away when I was six? Or maybe you mean the string of foster families who didn’t want to keep me.

He took a breath, locking those questions behind the closed door in his mind. He didn’t let them out because they made him think too much of where he’d been instead of where he was going. He wouldn’t let Chloe and her old-fashioned family make him start remembering.

“If it were my family,” he said evenly, “I’d think about how much they’d benefit in the long run. They will, you know. There’ll be more business for all of them once a resort hotel comes in. You know that as well as I do.”

She nodded slowly, her face still troubled. “I suppose I—”

“Hey, cousin.”

Chloe turned, her face lighting with pleasure. She pulled away from him to hug the man who approached, abandoning their conversation in an instant. “Matt. I haven’t had a chance to talk with you yet. How are you?”

Luke leaned back against the porch rail, searching for patience, as Chloe and her cousin caught up with each other. This one was Matthew Caldwell—Chloe’s grandmother had introduced them earlier.

Chloe turned back to him, her arm still around Matt’s waist. There was no stiffness in her as she leaned against her cousin. Apparently her guardedness was only for Luke.

“I’m sorry, Luke, I’m forgetting my manners—” The turn of phrase was an echo of her family’s speech. Chloe’s cultivated urban tones were dropping away, and she probably didn’t even realize it.

“You’ve met my cousin, Matt Caldwell, haven’t you?”

Luke nodded. Matt had the strength and height that marked all the Caldwell men, but his dark eyes looked as if they’d seen too much, and there was a somber cut to his mouth when he wasn’t actively smiling at Chloe.