Tide Will Tell (Islands of Intrigue: San Juans) (30 page)

“Cross my heart.” Josh made an X over his chest with his finger. “Now do you trust me?”

Her grin blossomed. “With my life.”

Grinning, he placed a bite of cake gently in her mouth while she did the same. He flicked a dollop of frosting onto her nose. “Good thing.”

The friends and family surrounding them laughed and applauded as cameras clicked. Kate didn’t even mind that a few of them belonged to members of the media.

As the cake was served and their guests returned to mingling, Kate and Josh scanned the beautifully manicured front lawn of what had once been the Cole home but now served as the headquarters of the Safe Harbor Foundation, Kate’s non-profit organization which housed teenage runaways. Standing at the center of the enormous front porch, she felt like a princess surveying her kingdom.

“There you two are.” They looked down as Marion mounted the stairs carrying a large box wrapped with what was, knowing Marion, hand-stamped paper.

“I’m setting this on the gift table, but I want you know that it’s fragile.”

“Let me.” Josh reached out and took the box as Marion hit the top step. He turned and disappeared into the house.

“Thank you so much.” Kate smiled at Marion, who had definitely lightened up since her best friend’s resurrection. “It will look beautiful on the mantle of the guesthouse.”

Marion gave her a wry look. “Why Kate. You talk as if you already know what it is.”

Kate feigned innocence. “Well, Jocelyn hinted that you had finally decided what to do with the seahorse. When she said ‘no’ to both my guesses—keeping it or selling it—I kind of assumed…”

Marion smiled. “Jocelyn never could keep a secret.”

As Marion slipped into the line for cake, Josh returned. He stood behind Kate and put his arms around her waist. “That gift table is now officially overflowing.”

“Everyone’s been so generous. Especially Chase and Trina.” Glancing over the heads of their friends—his from Seattle and hers from Sacramento and San Diego—she leaned into his embrace. “I still can’t get used to thinking that we’re actually going to be living in the guesthouse.”

Josh kissed the side of her head, just below where the baby’s breath clung to her brunette chignon. “It’s perfect. And with Dakota living over here with the Safe Harbor kids—”

“Are you sure he can handle the job?”

“He’s the maintenance man, not the CEO. He can handle it. Besides, we’ll be right next door.”

“Excuse me, you two.”

They turned to see Jessica, looking downright demure in her lavender bridesmaid dress, balancing two small plates of food. Tad followed, carrying two cups of punch.

“As my last official duty as maid of honor, I’m making sure the two of you eat.” With a satisfied grin, she handed each of them a plate.

“Thanks. I’m starved.” Kate smiled at Jessica, who still had the occasional diva moment, but had undergone a lot of changes since her mother’s return. She’d gotten her own place—a cute little house in Friday Harbor, conveniently located just a few blocks from Tad’s apartment—and a job at Marion’s art gallery.

Tad set the drinks down on the porch rail and addressed Josh. “I didn’t get a chance to tell you I loved your documentary. The one about the artist. What are you doing next?”

Josh picked up an egg roll. “After we get back from our honeymoon, I’m going to the penitentiary in Atwater, California to interview Joe Malone.”

Jessica shuddered. “Isn’t that a little scary?”

“I’ve already faced my biggest fear.” He gave Kate a wink. “After that, nothing seems to faze me.”

Kate picked up a chicken skewer. “Josh is making a documentary about scam artists, and how people like Joe take advantage of teenage runaways.”

Jessica’s face lit up as she turned to Tad. “They got Shania Hane to narrate the documentary. Isn’t that awesome?”

“My son-in-law has some impressive connections.”

“Mom.” Kate turned to see her mom approach, along with Trina. Both of them carried plates of cake. “You look like you’re having a good time.”

“I am.” Her mom brushed the last bit of frosting off Kate’s nose. “Trina is trying to convince me to go back to Seattle with her to spend a couple of days in her condo.”

Trina nodded. “I promised I’d give her some glass-making lessons, right Ellen?”

Kate’s mom smiled. “She has her own studio right in her condo, did you know that?”

Kate grinned. It was good to see her mom feeling so happy and free. She had confided in Kate that her running away had opened her eyes to how abusive Kate’s stepfather was. It had been a blessing when the marriage had dissolved soon after.

“I’d appreciate the company.” Trina slid her fork across the creamy white frosting. “It’s going to be lonely in that big condo for the next year until Chase gets released.”

“I can’t wait to meet him.” Kate’s mom gave Kate a side hug. “I want to thank him in person for everything he’s done for you and Josh. Letting you use this house. Funding your movie.”

“He really has turned a corner.” Trina beamed. “He’s like a new man.”

“Speaking of new men.” Kate gestured with her plate toward the edge of the driveway, where Stuart and Dakota balanced on a log, as if in the middle of a snowless snowboarding lesson. “If you had told me a year ago that Stuart would be teaching skiing at Whistler and coming up on his one year anniversary of sobriety, I don’t think I would have believed it.”

“They’re going to get their tuxes dirty.” Trina tsked. “Come on, Ellen. We’re going to ask them to dance.”

“Oooh. Sounds like fun.” Jessica took Tad’s arm. “Come on, Deputy. Let’s dance.”

“Excuse me, Mr. and Mrs. Collins.” The photographer who had chased her down in Friday Harbor all those months ago looked like a different person with his nice suit and fresh haircut. “I’d love to get a shot of the two of you here with the bay in the background.
People
needs their cover shot.”

Smiling, they situated themselves next to the porch railing and gazed at each other. They had agreed to a cover story for the magazine, on the condition that it focus more on Kate’s foundation and Josh’s film than on the scandal of the Cole family.

“Let’s get one of you kissing the bride.”

“How about it, Mrs. Collins?” Josh smiled. “Every good movie ends with a kiss.” He took her in his arms and lowered her in an elaborate dip. “Even the one about the swamp monster.”

She giggled. As his lips touched hers, her amusement gave way to something else. She returned the kiss with the joy that came from finally finding what she’d been looking for. Not just passion or protection, but something more. She clung to him, giving over control of her fate to God, and the only man who’d ever made her feel truly safe.

“That’s perfect.” The photographer called out between shots. “Just like that.”

As his camera clicked and whirred, Kate smiled up at Josh and counted her blessings. It had been a long journey, but this runaway had finally found her way home.

The End

Coming Summer 2015…

By Janalyn Voigt

Chapter 1

Piper closed her eyes and tilted her face toward the morning sun, letting herself think of nothing at all. There was only the sway of the pier and the wind fingering her hair as it left the kiss of salt on her lips. A stray tear cooled the corner of one eye, and her throat thickened.

When had she stopped letting herself feel the joy of the moment?

Harsh cries rose above the beat of a motor, and with a sigh she opened her eyes. Seagulls wheeled above a small speedboat arrowing toward a small fleet of pleasure craft anchored beyond the marina’s fuel dock. With the tranquility shattered, she turned away just as light flashed in her peripheral vision.

What was that?

The small mystery held her. Perhaps on one of the boats riding at anchor something metallic had caught the sun. The vessels gleamed pristine white, yielding no answers. The engine cut out, and in sudden silence the speedboat slid through the blue waters.

There it was again.

Light flashed from one of the boats as a figure at the helm lowered an arm. Someone had been using binoculars. How ridiculous to feel they’d been trained on her, but she couldn’t help the uncanny awareness crawling up her spine.

An anchor glinted, and the speedboat dragged to a stop. The wash from its wake kept coming.

Piper braced as water sloshed beneath the weathered boards at her feet and buffeted the dock. The vessels in the marina creaked and groaned against their moorings. She balanced on the balls of her feet until the water smoothed over, but for some reason the dock was still pitching.

“Prince!” A girl’s voice called as claws scrabbled on wood.

Piper turned to see what was wrong. Massive paws thudded into her shoulders. A hairy monster filled her vision. She flailed, and the dock slammed into her. The monster stood over her with fanged mouth gaping and paws planted on her shoulders.

“
Prince!
Stop that.”

Ignoring this suggestion, Prince slathered Piper’s face with his tongue.

“Ooomph! You…great big…oaf.
Get off!
”

Prince, seemingly impervious to the yanking of his studded collar, whined deep in his throat.

“I mean it, Prince. Sit!”

Prince whined again but removed his paws from Piper’s shoulders and withdrew to crouch on his haunches nearby. Rolling to her side with cautious movements, Piper watched her adversary for any sign of a renewed attack.

A young girl captured Prince’s leash, her blond hair swinging in a ponytail. Dressed in faded jeans, a pale blue sweatshirt, and sneakers, she looked about twelve and far too light to manage such a brute. “I
am
sorry. Prince is a good dog. He just doesn’t know his size.”

“Dog? I took him for a small bear, although I wondered where he came by those whiskers.” Piper pushed into a sitting position, doing her best to smile.

The girl returned the effort, her smile transforming her face. “You’re all right, aren’t you?” She extended the hand not clutching the dog’s leash.

“I’ll be okay.” Hesitant to touch her with Prince on guard, Piper scrambled to her feet without help and smoothed her fleece jacket with shaking hands.

“I’m glad you’re not hurt. My aunt almost didn’t let me bring my dog on vacation, saying he was bound to be a problem. If I can’t keep him out of trouble, he’ll have to go to a kennel.” She said the last part in an indignant tone.

The girl’s aunt probably had a point, although Piper kept her opinion to herself.

“My name’s Lindy Carlisle, by the way. That’s our yacht, the
Lady Gray
.” She waved a nonchalant hand at the yacht moored alongside the t-head dock where they stood. “This is my first visit to the San Juans.”

“I’m Piper Harrington, and it’s my first visit here, too.”

“Are you a boater?”

Piper shook her head. “No, I came out for a walk and stopped to admire the boats. The
Lady Gray
is beautiful. I’m renting a condo here at Rosario Resort.”

“We’re neighbors, then. My aunt and I are staying at one of the condos, too. Behave yourself!”

Lindy’s last words were for Prince, now thumping the pier with repeated blows from his tail as he wiggled ever closer. At his mistress’s reprimand, he plopped down and divided mournful glances between them.

Piper laughed. “Prince doesn’t look so scary as when we first met.”

“He’s still a puppy, but being an Irish wolfhound, he’s already big. My aunt doesn’t like him much.”

So far the girl had spoken of her aunt only by title and not by name. Perhaps they weren’t close. Why, then, were they traveling together? Such things were none of Piper’s business, of course. “Have you been here long?”

“Only a couple of days.”

“Are you planning to visit Mount Constitution? It’s the highest peak in the San Juan Islands, and the view is supposed to be miraculous.”

Lindy’s brow furrowed. “My aunt doesn’t care for sightseeing.” She flicked Prince’s leash. “Come on, boy.” The dog lumbered to his feet, his back coming almost to Piper’s waist. “I’d better get back before she sends the police after me.”

Such a dramatic remark from a pre-teen might have passed Piper by if it hadn’t been for the girl’s look of bewildered pain. During their marriage Able had teased Piper about her tendency to take in stray animals, champion lost causes, and rush in where angels feared to tread. He’d listed all the reasons she shouldn’t interfere in other people’s lives. And yet…a young girl should never have to look like that. Piper drew a breath. “What about your parents? Will they be joining you and your aunt?”

Lindy’s eyes widened. “My mother died six months ago, and my father—well he—you see, he…”

“Forgive me. I shouldn’t have asked. I’m sorry about your loss.” Able had been right, as usual.

“Lindy!” A red-headed woman wearing sunglasses and what looked like an expensive black pantsuit called from the end of the dock. “How long does it take to walk a dog?” Something in the tilt of the woman’s head gave Piper the impression she was watching her rather than her niece.

Lindy rolled her eyes. “I have to go.” Holding Prince on a short leash, she started down the pier with a hesitant step. After a moment’s conversation, the pair moved off toward the condos with the dog pulling at his leash, tail wagging like a flag.