This chapter especially, and this whole work of fiction, is dedicated to Bernadette. She is my nonpareil beta reader, extraordinaire!

Slainté mhaith, mo chara! Go raibh maith agat. I'gcónaí inár gcroithe…

Also, to Susan and Sue, for keeping me on the straight and narrow path of getting things right. It is truly appreciated.

Chapter Thirty-One

Returning To Montecito

Three months later:

I turned the hood of my rental car up the sweeping concrete driveway and my parents' lovely old house came into view. Once more, I had that odd impression I was finally coming home. The house appeared to be smiling down on me. I breathed a long sigh of distraction, not knowing where that crazy idea originated.

"Jet lag…" I finally decided as I cut the engine and got out of the car to stand looking around in the soft twilight of the evening.

I'd packed up my entire life in Boston and it had fitted into the four large suitcases now in the back seat and trunk of the car. I'd sold or given away everything else, except Nancy.

I smiled ruefully. My stern, no-nonsense secretary would soon follow me across the country to the West Coast. She wasn't about to be left behind on my new adventure.

She'd frowned at me and my longer, curling hair when I'd returned to the Boston office. I told her how my life was changing for the better and what I would be doing now. Her critical eyes scanned my beard-shadowed chin with disfavour. She'd quickly made up her mind that I needed to be taken in hand before it was too late and I became a lost cause to the laid-back Californian lifestyle and hippie culture.

She was decisive in her reply to my question. "Well, I've got nothing keeping me here since Frank up and died on me five years ago. And I've never seen the Pacific Ocean. I certainly won't miss the East Coast winters."

Her gaze narrowed. "These old bones of mine have felt enough of the cold. Besides, what would you do without me to order your daily schedule? Especially if you're going to be as busy as you say you will be."

"What, indeed…" I shook my head as I watched the great golden ball of the sun sink inexorably below the far horizon, adding a metallic hue to the dark and restless waters.

I turned back to the house and stretched my tired limbs. I could smell Maria's cooking on the evening air and my empty stomach growled a welcome. I'd been working on my plans and had eaten very little on the plane.

I wasn't supposed to return for another five days. But suddenly, circumstances fell my way and I decided to quit Boston while I could.

Nancy would follow me in a few days. She said she would take care of my registration as an attorney applicant. Devon had already decided that he and Michael would complete a positive moral character determination about me to smooth the way forward. Then all I had to do was pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination as well as a shortened version of the California Bar Exam.

I lifted my shoulders. "It'll all be a breeze…" I chuckled softly, knowing all the red tape would be worth it in the end.

I would finally be my own boss and I was looking forward to the new challenge. Michael's idea that I might be asked to do some fieldwork, tempted me as well. I had been too long cooped up in law offices and courtrooms.

Just then, lights came on in the living room, illuminating the back garden through the open French doors. I sighed as I eased the stiffness from my shoulders. I stepped over Kat's neatly ordered, kerbside flowerbed and onto the lawn. I couldn't wait to pick up my new life again from where I'd left it three months ago…

※※※※※

I sat talking with Carolyn on the couch we'd moved into the space before the open French doors that looked onto the beautiful back garden. We'd decided very early on in our collaboration that this view was an ideal setting for our workspace. A small table and Carolyn's typewriter completed the set-up along with a container of ballpoint pens and a stack of used and new notebooks.

Now, whenever I was working in the garden, we could still converse, and Carolyn would write down my dictation as I narrated the story of the house. She often smiled at me when I knew my voice had changed into tones of love and compassion as I spoke about the deep love between Mrs Greig and her beloved husband.

I smiled back. I couldn't help it and nor did I want to change a single thing about their incredible story. It was something very close to my heart and now that I had a ready and interested audience, I suddenly found I couldn't stop talking.

I turned to her now. I had something I'd been wanting to ask for some time. "If you're agreeable, I would like to be allowed to read the final manuscript before you send it to your publishers."

I inhaled and released my breath slowly when she nodded for me to go on. "I want the voice of Mrs Greig telling the story of her passionate, eternal love for her sea captain husband to remain as authentic and unique as possible. Does that make sense?"

"Of course, it does…" Carolyn smiled at my single request. "And I wouldn't have it any other way. This will be a very different book from my usual Edward Grainger mysteries. It will also open new doors for me."

She paused and then said, "And I think you're entitled to a share of the profits when the book is published. It's only fair."

I stared at her, momentarily lost for words. "Thank you…" I finally managed to say. "I didn't think… That is, I didn't expect anything from their story."

"It's also your story," Carolyn replied quietly, taking my hand in hers. "You tell it with such passion and depth of feeling."

I swallowed tightly, feeling the sting of tears at the backs of my eyes. "I… have felt alone all my life…" I whispered, not pausing to consider and measure my words as I usually did. "My parents died when I was very young. I was passed around among distant, and mostly disinterested, family members until I managed to get away and find a place of my own."

I turned my hand over beneath hers and tightened my grip. "I told you that day we first met, that Mrs Greig was my first employer when I left school at sixteen. And then she helped me set up my gardening business. I truly do owe her more than I could ever repay. She took care of me when I most needed it."

I paused, shaking my head. "She was more of a mother to me than any of my own family."

"And that shows in how you speak of her," Carolyn replied quietly. "You have made her very proud."

"Do you think so?" I looked up, unable to contain my tears now. "I hope so. I have tried my very best." I couldn't stop my bottom lip from trembling.

"Well, your best is pretty special…" Carolyn put her arm around my shoulders and gave me a welcome hug which I leaned into gratefully.

After a moment or two, she sat back to look at me with narrowed eyes. "But I know there is yet more to the story than what you have already told me. You're keeping something back from me."

She shook her head as she turned to look over the back of the couch at the Captain's portrait above the fireplace mantle. "And he still watches us," she said cryptically. "And I know he's listening too. To every word we say."

My heart did a little skip then. I began to wonder how much more she knew or had guessed about the secrets this old house still concealed. I frowned, not sure how I could phrase my reply when we were interrupted.

Behind us, Devon suddenly entered the room, breaking the spell. "Would you like to stay for dinner again tonight?" he asked me with a gentle smile.

"Yes, please…" I replied quickly, as I sniffed the delicious smells wafting from another of Maria's dinners.

"All right, then…" Devon smiled at me as he turned to leave. "I'll set another place. It'll be ready soon so you two better get a move on."

"Thank you." I'd become comfortable chatting with him.

He seemed to understand my need for reticence until I knew him well enough to be at ease in his uncomplicated company. He gave me the space I required to ease myself into my new role within the Gull Cottage family.

I was still something of an outsider looking in, but no one questioned my presence now. I often stayed for dinner. And our closer association had brought me more work than I could handle. I had recently taken on two new staff members to keep up with the growth of my business.

Of course, I knew that Edward would be returning in a few days and all that I had come to enjoy would have to change back to how it was. I did not want or need any new entanglements in my life. Not after Marcus. I was still better off alone.

"Well, we'd better finish up here then," Carolyn remarked, still watching me closely. "We can pick it up again tomorrow if you're free."

"I can make it back here in the afternoon," I replied, standing up and stretching out my limbs. "Say, after two o'clock. I have some new garden landscaping I need to map out."

"Two o'clock, it is, then…" Carolyn stood up and put her notebook and pen aside. "I'll look forward to seeing you."

"Me, too…" I replied almost absently as I looked up at the Captain's painting.

Carolyn was right. His painted eyes did appear to be watching us, whenever he thought we weren't looking. Now they were stern and seemingly lifeless. Two dimensional and blank.

"Mrs Greig told me that this is a very good likeness of him," I said, walking forward to touch the bottom of the heavy wood frame. "She said she loved just sitting in here and looking into his eyes. She missed him so terribly."

I shook my head. "I can admit I've loved looking at him too. He is a magnificent man. Or he was."

"I told you I'm sure his eyes follow me," Carolyn replied as she came to stand next to me. "At times, he looks as if he's about to say something and then changes his mind."

I nodded slowly. "I always had that impression too." I continued to look up at the painting, trying to see behind that rather enigmatic smile. "If only he was still alive so he could tell us what he's got on his mind…"

※※※※※

I had walked across the back garden and up to the windows intending to enter the room through the gently moving sheers. But then the sound of feminine voices made me pause.

I couldn't help eavesdropping as I listened to Kat's sad life story. In that moment of painful reality, I realised that what I wanted was what my parents had. A deep and passionate love. Was it too much to ask to be wanted and loved like that?

Privately, I could admit I'd fallen more than a little in love with Kat. The mysterious, annoying and delicious Kat. I was aware she didn't feel the same, but that was all right... for now.

I lingered unobtrusively beside the open doors leading into the darkened garden. I saw Kat get up from the couch. My breath caught at the sight of her soft femininity in a short-sleeved, floral summer dress with a long skirt that whispered about her hips and knees as she moved across the room. Her feet were in strappy sandals with small heels that added a little to her height.

Until that very moment, my mind had carried the visual of her clad in her dusty work jeans, sensible T-shirt and strong boots. My mouth dried and my groin cramped painfully with need. She looked like a soft summer's day and I figured she smelled as sweet too.

The memory of Rachel's cool sophistication and her carefully applied makeup - which I wasn't ever allowed to smudge in public on the pain of death – finally faded completely from my mind.

Her image was replaced with one of Kat's simplicity and wholesomeness. I knew her fragrance would be something light and feminine. Her only use of makeup was a dash of soft blush rose across her lips. My traitorous body cramped even further as I imagined her lips beneath mine. And a whole lot more besides!

"Blast…" I sighed raggedly.

I jealously watched Kat's animated face as she looked up dreamily at the portrait of the captain hanging above the mantlepiece. To my critical eye, she seemed to almost be half in love with the man. 'With a painting of a guy who's been dead for more than fifty years!'

"If only she would look at me in that way and not run away as soon as my name is mentioned..." I whispered under my breath.

"Hi, Edward," an amused voice remarked quietly from behind me. "I thought I heard a car drive up just now. You're back earlier than expected. It's good to see you again, son."

I turned to face my father and accepted his outstretched hand in greeting. "I decided to make a clean break while I had the chance. I had nothing to keep me in Boston," I replied lamely, wondering how much he knew or had witnessed. "Nancy's coming out as soon as she gets everything squared away."

"Good to know." Devon stood easily with his hands pushed into the pockets of his jeans. "Well, you'd better come in for dinner, then. It's almost ready," he replied with a rich vein of amusement underscoring his tone. "I'll set another place. I'll see you inside."

He considered my new, unshaven look with a slight frown before he turned and walked away, back around the side of the house. I shrugged as I followed him, doing my best to leave the French doors, and my troubling sexual frustrations, behind.

※※※※※

"Oh, Edward! You're back early! I'm so glad!" Carolyn threw her arms around our son as soon as he stepped into the kitchen through the back door.

"Hi, Mum…" he said against her hair. "It's great to be back." He kissed her cheek. "I had nothing to keep me in Boston so I decided to surprise you."

"Well, that you certainly have." His mother nodded, kissing his bearded cheek as she let him go.

"Come here, you…" Maria walked up to hug him as well and then punched him lightly in the shoulder. "You got a lot of ground to make up, Mister," she said severely, smiling at him before she went back to dishing up the food from her pots and pans on the stove.

I was the only one who saw her side-long, considering glance at our hovering guest, but I didn't comment. I also saw a happy and chatty Kat suddenly go guardedly silent at my son's unexpected return. I could see she was on the point of excusing herself to leave.

"Let's eat," I said heartily, drawing out Kat's usual chair at the kitchen table and looking across at her expectantly.

Neatly caught, I knew she couldn't refuse. But she didn't look pleased as she sat down with a quiet word of thanks for my courtesy. Everyone else also found their seats.

After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, where Carolyn looked at me in puzzlement - and I tried not to smile too knowingly at her - the conversation around the dinner table began to pick up. It was soon far-ranging and informal.

My love and Maria light-heartedly quizzed Edward on his longer hair and stubbled chin. I noticed his beard had grown in red rather than blond, as mine would have once done if I hadn't always favoured being clean-shaven. Another link back to our Irish heritage and I smiled as I poured glasses of chilled white wine and passed them around.

"Well, I like it…" Edward teased as he raked his fingernails across his lower face. "I'm thinking of keeping the look now that I'm going to be a West Coaster."

Both women didn't know if he was joking or not, but they laughed with him indulgently. Then they looked at each other.

I saw Kat's eyes flick over our son's new look and I could swear I caught a glimpse of hunger in her gaze that had nothing to do with the food on her plate. I decided to pay closer attention to both of them.

I sat comfortably in my chair and prepared to be entertained by the rising tension between them. I was in a very good mood tonight. Last month, my photographic exhibition in New York went very well and my agency telephoned this afternoon to say all the prints had sold and there were already orders for more.

Now they were agitating for me to agree to the location for the next one, saying there was red hot demand for more of my work since the national magazine had published their article about me. I suggested Los Angeles for a change and left them to chew it over. I wasn't in any hurry to pick up the camera just yet.

"You know, I've been thinking about something that has been bothering me for months now," Carolyn remarked as she spooned bean salad onto her plate. "I could never understand why the estate agent said the house and furniture were to be sold to the right people at a fair price."

She looked around the table for answers. "I mean, not fair market price, just a fair price. It never made any sense to me. Surely the seller would have wanted the most money they could get."

I nodded. "Yes, it always seemed rather odd to me, as well."

I noticed then that Edward was watching Kat's reaction to our remarks. He had been quietly watching her for some time. I turned to see a degree of consternation on her face. She caught her bottom lip between her teeth as if she was struggling to not confess something. Something important.

"Maybe, it wasn't about the money," she finally inserted quietly, as she pushed her food around her plate. "Maybe it was about peace of mind."

"It's always about the money," Carolyn replied with a shrug.

"Well, you didn't ask top dollar for the Santa Fe house," Maria remarked. "You only wanted a fair price and for it to go to the right people. The family who finally bought it were nice folk. And their price was fair."

"I guess so…" Carolyn replied slowly. "But that was my choice." She glanced at Kat. "I have no idea what Mrs Greig intended for this house after she died." Her eyes narrowed. "Do you, Kat?"

I saw Edward's expression intensify as he sat forward, almost as if he was willing her to speak the truth over what she knew about the mysterious Mrs Greig and her intentions. I sat back in my chair to watch the pair of them. They were quietly dancing around each other. Both were trying to appear unconcerned about the other and they were failing miserably.

I had become aware that my son was slowly falling in love with our sweet Kat. He had been from the very first day he saw her. I couldn't say I blamed him. She was a beautiful young woman and he would have to be blind not to notice everything about her that was unique and special.

On Kat's part, there was a tangible reserve and a quiet determination not to become more involved with my son than a passing acquaintance. I found that rather sad. She had not confided in me who'd hurt her so badly in the recent past, but I could guess she had not been well treated by some blasted idiot of a man.

It made my deep sense of fairness boil with disgust. Hurting Kat would be like pulling the pretty wings from a delicate butterfly.

She raised a denying shoulder. "No, not really," she replied to Carolyn's question. "Mrs Greig never confided in me everything she'd been thinking or planning. After all…" she added as if it clinched the deal. "I wasn't her family. Just her friend."

"I find friends often have more to say to each other than some families," Carolyn replied, obviously chagrined that Kat was not revealing all she knew.

"I'll contact the executor of the estate if you want me to," Edward offered. "Maybe he can shed some light on exactly what the old lady intended. I've been wanting to look over the sale and purchase agreement anyway."

He shrugged. "I have nothing else to do for the moment, but twiddle my thumbs until Nancy arrives."

"Thank you, darling," Carolyn replied, still watching Kat's expression. "I would be very interested in what he has to say."

"Consider it done…" Edward stood up to collect the used dishes. "Now who wants dessert?"

※※※※※

I held my breath until I could decently say I was leaving and not appear rude. "Thank you for another delicious meal," I said to Maria after I'd quickly passed on Edward's offer of dessert. "You spoil me every time I come here."

"You could do with a little spoiling, muchacha," the housekeeper replied with a smile. "You must come again, and soon. I'll make you your favourite meal."

"Thank you. I… will have to think about that," I replied quickly, standing up and pushing in my chair. "I have some much work I really need to catch up on."

I had grown very fond of Maria over the last two months. And she tried to mother me at every opportunity, saying I was too skinny and needed building up. I smiled and played along because I knew she meant well.

"But you will be here at two o'clock tomorrow," Carolyn asked with a surprised lift of her brows. "I'm looking forward to more of their story."

Neatly trapped, all I could do was nod and smile. "Two o'clock," I repeated slowly. "I'll be here."

"Good…" Carolyn looked satisfied. "I'll see you then."

"I'll see you out to your truck," Edward said as he walked back to the table with the dessert.

"I can see myself out," I replied, trying to keep the sound of dismissal from my tone. "It's not that far away."

He grinned at me and I knew I'd failed to repel his concern. "Oh, very well…"

I tried not to listen to the quiet buzz of renewed conversation behind us as we left the kitchen through the back door Edward held open for me. I knew my abrupt departure was being discussed and wondered at. I couldn't help that.

But I wasn't yet ready to reveal all. Mrs Greig had bequeathed me Gull Cottage in her very detailed will. She was well aware I couldn't afford to keep it, given the property taxes involved, but I could ensure the house was bought by new owners who would love the place as much as she had done in her long life. And agree to keep its many secrets.

I glanced up at the man walking beside me. I felt so small beside him. He was going to uncover all that I was trying to keep hidden. It seemed confession time had come much sooner than I had anticipated. I never expected it to be to this man.

I stopped next to the driver's door of my truck and turned to glance up at him. His face and eyes were shadowed in the moonlight, but I knew he was watching me. He reached to open my door but kept one hand on it so I couldn't jump in and drive away.

I managed to pull my eyes from his nearness. My traitorous fingers itched to trace the line of his stubbled chin. I liked his new, red-bearded look. Pirate was the descriptive word that sprang into my wary mind then.

'Blast!' I didn't want to think about him at all, but he was making it very difficult to ignore him right now.

I wanted to jump up into my truck, slam the door and make a run for it. But I knew he would easily win the battle for the door he still held in his large, long-fingered hand. I was trapped and at his mercy. 'Double blast!'

"It was you who sold my parents this house, wasn't it?" he finally asked softly. "You can't deny it."

I sighed and nodded, keeping my eyes down. "Yes, it was. But please don't tell them yet," I begged, looking up at him again. "I want to do it in my own way and time. There are still things you don't know."

"Fair enough." He lifted one shoulder. "I'm a lawyer. I know how to keep a confidence…" he replied slowly.

"Thank you…" I breathed with relief, feeling my knees sag just a little.

It was a warm night and he was standing close. Close enough that I could smell his clean, spicy aftershave and warm masculinity. Then he leaned closer still and my breath caught in my throat, making it very difficult to breathe. I couldn't stop myself from looking up into his shadowed face again.

"For the right price…" he added then, with his eyes dropping slowly to my parted lips, and I gasped as my whole world stopped.