Seaside Heartbeats: A Sweet Romance (The Seaside Hunters Book 2) (23 page)

"That's the batch I made," Marcus called from the living room. Lana could still hear sounds of the video game.

"I won't even have to water it down for you." Cora winked.

"Hey, I heard that."

Everyone laughed. Lana was so glad that everyone was in such a good mood. She wanted everything to be perfect now that she and Brayden were engaged.

"Breakfast is ready," her mom called.

Lana helped her dad clear the table of the papers, and in just a few minutes, everyone ate the cinnamon rolls and freshly cut fruit and coffee. Lana enjoyed her weak cup, able to smell everyone else's.

"Did you use the entire bag of coffee beans?" Lana teased Cora.

"No, but I did put in quite a bit more than it called for."

Ryder took the last roll. "I got the last one." He stared at his brother for a reaction.

Lana's dad laughed. "Two generations of siblings giving each other a hard time. I'm so proud."

Everyone laughed, and then Lana's mom told a disappointed-looking Nolan that another batch was in the oven, nearly done.

After a wonderful breakfast, Cora announced she and Marcus were taking the kids to the beach. "Anyone want to go with me?"

"I'd love to," her dad said, "but I need to look at some possible buildings for our new location. Want to come, Lana?"

"Or," Cora said, "we could check out a bridal shop I saw near the boardwalk. That would be fun, don't you think?"

Lana's heart jumped into her throat. She would soon choose a dress, flowers, and everything else. It was really happening.

"I'm curious to see how close it'll be to the weddings we always dreamed up."

Their dad looked up from some papers he'd grabbed. "With as much time as you two spent planning imaginary weddings, I'm surprised you have anything left."

"There's always something to change," Cora said, winking at Lana. "So, what would you rather do? Look at buildings," Cora faked a yawn, "or wedding dresses?" She danced in her seat.

"You know how to make something sound boring," their dad said.

"I try." She turned to Lana. "What do you pick? We should dump the guys and plan your wedding. Have you started a Pinterest board?"

Lana played with her ring. "Not yet. I just got engaged yesterday."

"My point exactly. Get on it. We have a lot to do today."

"Sounds like the decision has been made," their dad said.

"I'm sure you'll pick out the perfect building, Dad," Cora said. "That's what you're good at. Better yet, you could design one yourself. Kind of ironic for an architectural firm to be in a building they didn't design."

"Not when the firm in question mostly deals with mansions and hotels."

"Just sayin'."

Lana finished the roll on her plate, and then ninety minutes later, she and her sister walked into the bridal shop. Her mind quickly wandered to wondering about the history of the shop. Had it been there, helping brides for more than a hundred years or was it a new addition?

"Look at this one," squealed Cora, holding up a lacy dress. "It's perfect for you."

Lana took it and held it up. "I'd have to start working out. It's going to cling to me."

"Are you joking me? You're in perfect shape."

"Dream on."

Cora shoved her. "You're perfect. Go try it on."

"Wait. I thought we were just looking." Lana's pulse raced.

"You're getting married, little sis. The dresses aren't going to try themselves on."

"It's probably not even my size." Lana looked at the tag. It was just her size.

Cora smirked. "I'll be waiting. Oh. You know what? I should call Mom. She'll want to be here for this." She turned around and went to another rack of dresses.

Lana stared at the dress as if it was taunting her. Sighing, she headed for the dressing rooms. One of the employees helped her in and asked if she needed any help. Lana declined, not sure she was ready for anyone else to see her in the gown yet—she wasn't even ready herself.

As much as she wanted to marry Brayden, the thought of planning a wedding felt like a huge burden. No, not a burden… what was the word? She distracted herself with trying to find the right word while she slid on the dress.

Her eyes widened as she looked at herself in the mirror. The dress was gorgeous, and Cora had been right, it clung to her beautifully, not showing any of her flaws. She would still put in more of an effort to work out again.

"Are you done in there yet?" asked Cora.

Lana glanced back at the mirror. "I guess." She unlocked the dressing room and opened the door, hiding behind it. "Come in."

Core walked in and then gasped. "It's even better than I thought." Her eyes shone with tears. "Look at my little sister." Cora wrapped her arms around Lana. "Just look at you."

"Can I get back into my clothes now?"

"Wait." Cora dug into her purse and pulled out her phone. She snapped a couple pictures and then looked at the tag and added notes. "You like it. Admit it."

"Of course I do. I'm just a bit overwhelmed."

"Well, yeah. You came here to relax, not fall in love and get married—to a hot, young doctor. Who'd have thought?" Cora snapped one more picture and then exited the dressing room.

Before long, she and Cora were talking to a wedding consultant, and Lana felt even more overwhelmed than before. There were so many details—way more than they had ever considered when planning their imaginary weddings as kids and teenagers. Although, as Lana thought about it, none of it was a surprise, really. She remembered everything that went into Cora's wedding, though she'd been busy with her studies, which was why the memories seemed fuzzy.

After they finally escaped the planner, Lana wandered over to a cake display.

"There you are."

Lana turned around, expecting to see Cora. She jumped when she saw Tiffany. "Sorry, you startled me. I thought you were my sister."

Tiffany didn't say anything, but her wide eyes and pale skin drove fear into Lana.

"What's going on?"

"I… there's… in the—" Tiffany took a deep breath. "Let me start over. Can we go outside?"

Lana nodded. Something was obviously wrong, but what? Had Robert been rushed to the hospital? Brayden had mentioned a number of times how he worried about his dad's health.

Outside, they sat on a bench next to a window looking into the bridal shop.

Tiffany stared at Lana. "A cop has been poking around the family shop, asking questions."

Lana felt the blood drain from her face. "Williams?"

"How did you know?"

"Lucky guess. What did he say?"

"A lot of questions about the family, but we didn't know. He's been coming around when employees are there—none of us Hunters."

Lana ran her hand through her hair. "This is getting out of control."

"What's going on?"

"I don't know how much I should say. I don't want you getting involved."

"Well, I already am. Tell me, please. We're going to be sisters soon."

Lana nodded. "You guys deserve to know the truth." She leaned in close and whispered in Tiffany's ear, "Brayden and I think we've figured out the mystery behind Billy Kittle's death."

Tiffany turned and stared at her wide-eyed. "You mean the town's founder."

"Yeah, and—"

Tiffany's phone rang. "Let me turn that off." She slid her finger around the screen but then paused. "It's Jake. Just let me take it." She put it to her ear. "Jake?" Her eyes widened even further. "You've got to be joking."

"What?" Lana asked, her voice high.

Tiffany looked at her. "Brayden was just arrested."

Twenty Eight

Lana stared at Tiffany, unable to speak. Her breakfast threatened to come up. Tiffany continued to speak into the phone, but Lana couldn't understand a word of it. Her mind rushed as her stomach heaved.

"There you are," Cora appeared in front of Lana. "Why did you disappear like—what's wrong?"

Lana just shook her head, still not able to talk.

Tiffany put her phone back into her purse. "One of the Hunter cousins is an attorney. Cruz is on the phone with him now."

"How…?" Lana asked. "What did…? I don't understand."

"What's going on?" Cora asked.

"Brayden was escorted from the hospital in cuffs," Tiffany said.

"From the hospital?" Lana exclaimed. "He must be so humiliated."

"What did he do?" Cora asked.

"Nothing," Lana snapped.

"They're claiming he stole private property, and that the evidence is at his parents' house."

"From the hardware store?" Lana exclaimed. "But he's buying that building."

"They've got him for breaking and entering, also."

Lana rested her face into her palms. "This can't be happening."

"So, he did it?" Cora asked.

Lana looked up. "He didn't break in. It was unlocked."

"That's still illegal, hon," Cora said. "If he doesn't own it yet."

"He just wanted a feel for the building. It's already on record that he wants to buy it. He put in an offer."

"But he doesn't own it yet. He should've gone in with a real estate agent."

"It's not about the old hardware store," Lana snapped, tears blurring her vision. "It's about something else altogether."

"What?"

"You mean what you just told me?" Tiffany asked.

Lana nodded.

"Mind filling me in?" Cora asked.

"Not here," Lana said, looking around.

"Where?" Cora asked.

"Somewhere private. Our house? Yours?" Lana looked at Tiffany.

"We're staying with Robert and Dawn because of the new addition. Construction workers are everywhere. But maybe we better go there to fill them in."

"Shouldn't we get to Brayden?" Lana asked. "I need to see him."

Cora took her hand. "Let the lawyer take care of him." She turned to Tiffany. "You said he's Brayden's cousin?"

"Yeah."

"He'll take care of Brayden. No need for you to go down to the jail."

Lana narrowed her eyes. "What would you do if it was Marcus? Or Jake?" She turned to Tiffany.

"Go," they both said.

"See why I can't stay around here?" Lana asked. "I need to speak to him and the attorney."

"I'll drive," Tiffany said.

Everything happened in a blur as they made their way to the police station. She did her best to explain everything they had found, but wasn't sure she explained it very well to them.

Lana tried to make sense of everything—and it all made too much sense. Williams had to be living off the gold Kittle had found. That was the only explanation for him taking it this far. Did he know about the box they'd just found?

Lana looked up in horror. She didn't know where Brayden had put the box of letters. If they were in his condo, then Williams could be going through it right then. They hadn't gotten any pictures—why? Even if Brayden had thought to, his phone was probably in evidence, allowing Williams to delete everything.

"Cora, we need to switch phones."

"Why?"

"What if they try to detain me, too? Then all the evidence of the maps and everything is gone. The letters could be anywhere. Williams is going to do everything in his power to get those. Why else would he care about Brayden going into the hardware store?"

"Just forward the pictures to Tiffany and me. If you have my phone, they'll figure it out fast enough and I'll have to hand it over anyway."

Lana pulled out her phone and sent everything she could find to Cora and Tiffany.

"Why didn't you tell anyone about any of this?" Cora asked, looking at the new pictures on her phone.

"We did. Cruz went with us to the caves."

"So, he has some of this info, too?" Tiffany asked.

"Yeah." Lana brought her hands to her head. She had a headache that grew worse with each passing minute.

Tiffany and Cora continued to discuss the situation, but Lana couldn't focus. Hot, angry tears slipped down her face. How dare that officer take advantage of his position to have Brayden arrested? It wasn't within the town it had happened. Wasn't there some law about that? But to have him arrested at his work and escorted out by the police? That was a low blow.

"I think this is it," Tiffany said, pulling into a parking lot.

Lana looked at the nondescript building in front of her. Typical for a government building. "Probably."

They went inside and Lana went to the front desk, demanding to see Brayden.

The clerk typed onto a keyboard, looking at a computer monitor. She looked up at Lana. "He's with his attorney now. He can't be interrupted."

"He's my fiancé!" Lana exploded.

"You're more than welcome to talk to the attorney when the inmate is done, but you'll have to wait to speak to him yourself."