Beach Blanket Bijou (Pajaro Bay) (3 page)
Then she heard the sound of Bijou's high-pitched warning bark above them. The boom of running footsteps on the wood over their heads made them instinctively duck, but the sound faded away, to be followed by the roar of a boat's engine starting.
Through it all, Bijou's barking never stopped.
"They're gone," Quinn gasped out when the boat sounds were gone. "Bijou's safe—she's still barking."
"But they got away," Carmen said. "All of dad's work, gone!"
"Maybe not," Quinn said.
•••
Carmen sat up against one of the posts on the pier. The blanket the Coast Guard had wrapped her in was scratchy, but she felt a warm glow in her belly as she watched Quinn cuddling Bijou and comforting her with soft whispers. The dog licked his chin, and when he laughed, Carmen felt tears welling up in her eyes.
"Clever guy," her dad said, looking over at Quinn. "Dropping that powerful aquarium magnet into the box of hard drives probably damaged at least some of the software. And they don't have the chip." He kissed her on the top of the head. "Even if Jeff and Ben make it all the way to their buyer in China without getting caught, they won't have all the technology. I have a feeling they won't be getting the kind of reception they were counting on."
Carmen put her head down. "But Edmund.... He was such a nice guy."
"He still is. Edmund's fine," he said. He sat down on the pier next to her and swung his legs over the side.
"He's alive?" The tears she'd held back through the night spilled over, and she impatiently wiped them away with one hand. "How did he get away?"
"They never had him." Her dad looked out at the water, chuckling to himself. She put out her hand to touch his shoulder, and he turned to look at her. "Their bad luck. Ben thought Edmund's disappearance was the signal to take the software and run. But Edmund and his girlfriend had just decided to elope," he said. "That's why they disappeared. When they got back from the wedding chapel in Vegas, they saw some shady-looking guys hanging around the house, so they called the police. Jeff's co-conspirators have been in jail for the past couple of hours." Then he laughed. "All Jeff's elaborate plans were messed up because Edmund and his girlfriend eloped, and Ben panicked."
He stood up and brushed off his jeans, then looked over at Quinn. "And because Bijou's a brat, and you and Quinn went after her. He's a good man, Carmen."
"He saved my life," she said simply.
"He's always been there for you. Since you were kids."
Quinn carried Bijou over to them. He laid the pup in Carmen's lap and then stood there, looking from her to her dad. "What's up?"
"Edmund's okay," Carmen said. "He eloped."
Quinn shook his head. "Wow. Didn't see that coming. You must be very happy, sir," he said, looking at her dad.
"I'd be happier if you'd hurry up and marry my daughter. What are you waiting for, son?"
"Dad!"
He looked down at her. "I love you, Carmen, but you can be pretty oblivious sometimes." He walked away with a grin on his face.
Quinn sat down next to her, in the place her dad had been. "What were you saying to him?"
She shook her head. "Not a thing."
Bijou stuck out a paw toward Quinn, and he reached for it. They went back and forth a bit, with Bijou pretending to attack his hand. "Good girl," he said when the dog held back and didn't bite, but just played gently with him. "You're learning."
"Aren't we all?" Carmen said.
Quinn looked her in the eye. He must have seen something of what she was thinking, because he said, "Hey, Lefty," in a whisper that held surprise.
She looked into his eyes, and this time she saw what had been there all along. Quinn loved her. He always had. Just like he'd always said. Not out of pity. Not for her money. He just plain loved her, one soul to another, connecting across the chasm that separated human beings from each other. Could it really be that simple?
"Hey," he said again, and she wondered how she hadn't noticed the adoration in his eyes before. He reached out and used his thumb to brush away a tear from her cheek. Then he leaned over and his lips touched hers.
And then there were no more doubts. When it was the right man, it was that easy to fall in love.
"Catch me," she said, and he did.
•••
Note: Cordova Computing is a fictional company, but there are real scientists and labs creating breakthroughs in spinal cord research like in the story. You can read about it at:
http://barbaracoollee.com/?page_id=1366
•••
Read on for a sneak preview of
Dashing Through the Surf
, coming soon from the world of Pajaro Bay.
•••
•••
The Pajaro Bay Series*:
5. A Christmas Miracle in Pajaro Bay
6. Welcome to Pajaro Bay Collection (contains 1, 2, 4, 5)
12. Pajaro Bay Minis Collection (contains 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
15. The Bride of Jonas Collinwood
17. The Spy Who Loved Me Collection (contains 14, 15, 16)
Other Books:
(*Not all have been released yet—join the mailing list to be notified on release day!)
•••
10% of the earnings from each story are donated to charity. Learn more at Barb's
Charities page
.
•••
Sneak Preview of
Dashing Through the Surf
Ashby Drew took the flyer the teenager handed her and looked for a spot among the crowd on the beach. The long walk from the bus station down to the oceanfront had tired her more than she expected. She hadn't gotten much exercise in a 6x8 cell.
The beach held a big crowd for such a tiny coastal town. If this year was anything like it used to be when she lived here, probably everyone in the village had shown up.
A woman with curly red hair carrying a ginger-haired baby in a front carrier waved to her.
Ashby looked around, but didn't see anyone else the woman could be waving to.
"Yeah, you," the redhead said. "Have a seat."
Ashby sat down on the folding chair next to her.
"I've been new, too," the woman said.
Ashby started to correct her, but then just said, "thanks."
The woman nestled the baby closer, and he sighed in his sleep. He was comfy in his baby blue carrier, his little sailor hat shading his face from the brilliant sunshine. Ashby felt tears sting her eyes. Must be the brightness of the sun. Or something else. After all, it had been nine years, ten months and eighteen days since she’d last been this close to a baby.
"He's dressed for the occasion," the woman said. "Perfect fall day on the California coast, isn't it?"
Ashby nodded. She had dreamed of this kind of day for so long. The women's prison in California's Central Valley was stale and dark, hot in summer and cold in winter. A day like this, with the sky a rich blue, the sun already warming the sand under their feet, and the breeze wafting the tang of ocean air gently toward them—it was a dream. A dream needing only one more wish to make it perfect.
She uncrumpled the flyer in her hand and looked at it.
Official Kick-Off to Pajaro Bay's Christmas Season: The Cowabunga Kid and Canine Surfing Event, Hosted by Santa, Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to Whenever. Followed by beach picnic and pie-eating contest.
Down the beach the driftwood campfires for the hot dog roasting were already going strong. The sharp smell of the smoke mingled with the sea air, and she was suddenly far away, with Xander O'Keeffe whispering to her by a long-ago campfire. The memory was so vivid she could feel his breath against her ear, and she had to focus hard on the flyer to bring herself back to the present.
Then she noticed what was right in front of her. The flyer was in bright, happy colors, with a photo of a grinning little black-and-white dog balanced on the front of a pink surfboard, surrounded by frothy white surf.
And on the back of the board stood a girl. A girl with a grin as big as the dog's. Even in the still picture Ashby could see the high energy in the kid, the excitement in her eyes as she perched effortlessly atop the longboard. The girl had long golden hair in twin braids over her shoulders, and a tan that spoke of too-many days at the beach without enough sunscreen. She wore a pink-flowered bikini like a second skin.
Ashby caressed the caption under the picture with one finger:
National Youth Champion Ria O'Keeffe will be special guest at this youth surfing event.
National Youth Champion.
Ashby rested her palm on the photograph. To be a national champion youth surfer was quite an achievement for a little girl who was only nine years, ten months and eighteen days old....
•••
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Dashing Through the Surf
is released, join
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Barbara Cool Lee is the author of the
Pajaro Bay
series of cozy mystery + sweet romance novels, as well as a fantasy series called
The Deeds of the Ariane
. Right now, she’s probably hunkered down in her little cottage by the sea on the California coast, with a loaf of sourdough bread in the oven, a pot of veggie soup on the stove, and the fog billowing outside the windows. You’ll find her at her desk, sipping her coffee (extra cream and sugar), her Pomeranian snoring (very loudly!) nearby, and her mind hard at work on the next Pajaro Bay story. You can contact her through her
website
or by
email
.