Only Emma (10 page)

He hadn't said a word about marriage, but she knew he loved her. She smiled. Sail away with him. He'd called her terrific, she remembered that now. They would have a child together, a little one, a delightful, brilliant, independent charmer just like Emma. She hugged herself. Who would have thought he'd turn out to be so sweet and wonderful? She couldn't wait to see him this morning, he and Emma too. And to see her mother's face when she greeted him with a great big smooch.

By a quarter to seven she was ready for the day. The baking was done, the cases filled, and the fishermen had been in for coffee before heading out to sea. Only Peter failed to make an appearance. He hadn't been in yesterday either. Apparently, turning down his proposal meant she would lose his business too. Too bad, that six dollars every day added up.

She had a few minutes before her scheduled opening. The urge to wander seized her once again, to see if Jake and Emma were awake yet, to wave to him if he was, to see him as soon as he came ashore. Hurrying down the path, she headed for the gas dock.

Her father's mooring sat out there, just the mooring ball, bobbing naked in the gentle waves. She stopped dead in her tracks, all the breath gone from her lungs.

They were gone? Jake and Emma gone, after last night. A sob caught in her throat. He took off, just like Ramon left her all those years ago. She groaned. Maybe though, maybe he'd gone out for an early morning sail? Or moved the boat to a slip on one of the docks? Heart racing, she tore along the waterfront, searching up and down each dock, looking for that now familiar worn and tired live-aboard. Nothing, no sign of his boat at all.

Louis stood on the gas dock, a mug of coffee in his hand.

She stopped, her eyes glistening, unable to do anything but stare at him.

"Your mama, she made him mad yesterday. That was not good."

Lissey frowned, trying to respond somehow, but afraid she'd simply burst into tears. Louis had it wrong, he had to. They'd made love last night, Jake couldn't have acted out of anger at her mother. Was he that devious, that he'd pretend to love her just to get revenge for a stupid remark? That could not be true.

"He was a good man."

Why didn't he shut up?
Be quiet Louis, don't tell me any more.

"You want me to look for him? If they left this morning I might catch them."

Lissey frowned, her emotions in chaos, but a semblance of rational thought tugging at her brain. Search for them? Would he come back? There was a chance if he had a good reason for leaving as he had. A premonition, someone who'd warned him detectives were coming after Emma? Could that be possible? But who could know that? Who could call him on his mobile in the wee hours of the morning? Besides, what message would she send with Louis? Not to them really, to Jake, just him, but Emma couldn't force him to return. What could she tell him? A knot seized up in her stomach. He'd lied and left her, exactly like Ramon did in the middle of the night so long ago. Maybe even while she stood there in the kitchen baking cherry tarts for Emma and dreaming about him. Now what? Was she supposed to beg him to come back?

Part of her screamed yes. She shoved the thought aside. She'd been such a blind fool. Again.

"No thank you, Louis. If they want to leave I don't care."

A hell of a morning. Lavinia came strolling down to the dock looking obscenely cheerful.

"What a gorgeous day this is," she said.

"Yes," Lissey said, trying, not succeeding, to match her mother's optimistic demeanor.

"How are you today, Louis?"

"I'm good, Mama. I'm good."

"We'll get a lot of tourists today with the weather like it is," Lavinia said.

"Yes, Mama." Lissey gave herself a shake. She would not brood over Jake's deceit, not the way she did when Ramon took off and dumped her. She'd been right, she hadn't trusted him, not completely, not with her heart. Except, she had in spite of herself. A tear trickled down her cheek. Fool, fool, fool, she'd been so dumb. Well, to hell with him. She wouldn't grieve over him, or over Emma either; she wasn't her child. She was done with Ramon too and Caroline was long gone. She would start her life anew. This very morning.

Lissey and her mother entered the shop to find her father pouring a cup of java, his usually cheerful, ruddy face wearing a frown. "Morning everyone. Anybody know what happened to ‘Fantasy’?"

"Which boat is that?" Lavinia asked.

"That nice young red-headed guy and his son. Bruce whatever his name was."

"He's gone?" Lavinia muttered, casting a sideways glance at Lissey.

"Yes Mama, sometime last night," Lissey said, trying, not succeeding, to imprint a smile on her face.

"What the hell happened? I thought they were going to stay a while," Sam said.

"You know these live-aboards, they come and go with the wind," Lavinia said.

"I thought that guy was different. Something about him, you know," Sam said.

"They're all the same," Lavinia muttered.

Lissey poured herself a cup of coffee.

****

Three o'clock that afternoon, normally a slack time, a golf cart rolled up outside the shop. Lissey recognized it as one of the rentals from Handy's at the other end of the island. A man dismounted and entered the shop. Stringy dark hair sticking out from under a faded New York Yankees cap. Overweight and sweating in a dark suit, he looked like what he was, a totally out of place stranger to the island. He was not a tourist, that much Lissey knew before he sat down.

"Can I help you?" she said as she reached his table.

"You got any Miller?"

She shook her head. "Red Stripe and other local beers."

"Anything then, but nothing like a stout."

"Do you want something to eat?"

He turned and studied the display case. "What are those red things? Strawberry something?"

"Cherry tarts."

"Gimme two of those. The beer first though."

She brought him the beer and started to turn away.

"Hey, hang on a minute. Take a seat."

"I'm sorry, I'm working."

"That don't matter, this is business."

Lissey shrugged and continued to stand but didn't leave the table.

"Your choice." He reached into his jacket and pulled out a folded photograph, flipped it open and held it up for her to see. "I'm a private detective. Looking for a guy with a kid. His name's Jake Wainright, but he might go by anything these days. The kid's name is Emma."

Lissey struggled to control her expression and her heart beat. Jake had been honest with her and here was the final proof. A warm tingle of happiness swept over her for some reason. What did it matter, he was gone.

Then she met the man's eyes. Rapiers, probing like lasers, they dug into her soul searching for lies. She steadied herself, struggling for calm in the face of his intensity. How to answer? Ask for ID; no that would tell him she had something to hide. Stare him down? She could try but what if she succeeded, what would that tell him. More than she wanted to. It dawned on her that she wanted to protect Emma and her father from this man. Jake as much as Emma? Yes by gosh, even if he did sail off and leave her. The realization almost overwhelmed her, but she would not get emotional in front of this man. She turned her attention back to the picture.

"This is Mr. Wainright?" she asked, her voice tight despite her best efforts to control it.

"Yeah."

There was a woman in the photo, a pretty woman holding a baby, Jake's arm around her waist, the two of them smiling at the camera. Emma must have been about six months old at the time. Jake had thick curly dark hair. In spite of herself Lissey almost smiled. "Who's the woman?"

"His wife and that's the kid. She has custody, but he took off. That's why I'm here."

He was lying. The woman had to be the wife who'd been killed in that car crash, the one Lissey had confirmed on that newspaper website. A beautiful woman. Jake looked like he adored her. If he ever looked at her that way…

She glanced at her interrogator. His eyes were not so sharp and certain anymore. "I'm sorry, I don't know them."

The guy frowned and stared at her some more. "He's never been here?"

"Not as far as I know."

"He'd be on a sailboat, movin' around a lot."

She shook her head. "I'm sorry."

The man frowned, his cold gray eyes oozing suspicion.

"Do you want those tarts now?"

He took a swig of the beer and nodded.

Turning to the display case, she set two tarts on a paper plate and brought them to the table. She had to get him out of the shop and on his way. Who knew what Louis or her parents might tell him. Or anybody else who'd seen Jake in the last couple of days. Her heart sank, there were so many people, Patti, Henri at the Sea Horse, anybody who'd seen Jake and Emma.

Lissey went into the kitchen while he finished his beer and tarts, trying to avoid talking to him any more than necessary. She watched him, then brought him a check when he finished eating.

He pulled a wad of bills from his pocket and peeled a twenty off. Clearly she was meant to see that big fat roll, meant to drool over it, meant to think she could get some of it if she told him what he wanted to hear.

"You sure you don't know this guy?" he asked with a smirk as if he could see greed gears turning in her head.

"I'm sorry, no," she said but she could not hold his gaze.

He pulled a business card from his pocket and offered it to her. "Just in case."

She glanced at it. N. M. Terrio, no first name. She slipped it behind the register and then watched as he ambled down to the dock and confronted Louis who was busy gassing up his boat

N. M. flashed his credentials and then showed Louis the picture of Jake and his young family.

Lissey held her breath, then let out a sigh of relief as Louis shook his head emphatically. The guy kept asking questions and Louis kept shaking, denying all knowledge apparently. Lissey could have kissed him if she'd been standing next to him.

Something had happened to her in the last ten minutes. Something big. What? No, it was clear, she'd taken Jake's side, protected him, tried to help. What had changed? A few hours ago he'd taken advantage of her and then disappeared. Was it that man, N. M.? Him she could do without. He'd lied and just plain looked suspicious. But why was she protecting Jake after he'd run off and left her? Emma, of course, she would do anything for Emma.

Lissey sucked in a long hard breath as the thought struck home. Emma could not lose her father. That sweet child loved him and he loved her, they had to stay together. Perhaps she'd been stupid, falling for his line the way she did, but Emma was the innocent in this and she would do anything to keep her safe. Maybe Jake had dashed her foolish dreams by leaving but that didn't matter. Well, almost.

They were gone, off somewhere on the wild blue ocean, heading for another harbor, somewhere on someone else's island. She'd never see them again but she would survive. He'd done her dirty, but she could still make a life for herself without the man. She made a promise to herself, to be stronger than him or Terrio or anyone. Tension seized her chest but she forced a wave of emotion aside. Their secret would stay safe with her.

N. M. gave up on Louis and headed back up the path. Lavinia came out of Patti's shop and smiled at the man. He returned the smile and whipped out the photograph. Lissey groaned.

"You'll never guess what I just heard," her mother cried as she burst into the shop a few minutes later.

"Oh, I think I know," Lissey muttered.

"That man? Bruce? His name is really Jake. He's a kidnapper."

"Jake Wainright and he didn't kidnap anybody."

Lavinia shook her head. "Oh yes he did. That child—"

"Is named Emma. His daughter. I told you before."

"He stole her away from her mother."

"Her mother is dead, Mama. Dead."

Lavonia's mouth gaped open. She stared at Lissey, a mix of shock and disbelief clear in her eyes. "But that man said…"

"He lied, Mama."

"How… How do you know?"

"I checked. Jake's wife died in a car wreck."

"You checked? You knew about this before?"

"Be still a minute. I have a question for you. Did you tell that man Jake was here?"

"Of course. He's searching for the little girl."

"So that makes everything he says true?" Lissey shook her head and handed her mother a mug of coffee. "Sit down and listen. You might as well get the whole story."

Her mother's naiveté made no difference in the end. Minutes later an equally unsuspecting Patti charged into the shop in her own state of high excitement, having also told the detective everything she knew about Jake and Emma.

Lissey struggled to contain her emotions. She'd never felt so helpless in her life. A knot of anger seized her stomach at the trusting simplicity of her mom and Patti, even though they couldn't have known, except she should have told them and sworn them to secrecy, but she'd promised Jake she wouldn't tell a soul, except—oh hell, what a mess.