Heartsong Cottage (19 page)

“I'll be ready in an hour.”

He no sooner left than she began to second-guess herself. Twice she almost called him to renege. But as a result of having to live a life of lies, she'd promised herself that unless it involved Russell, she would always keep her word. If she canceled on Daniel now, she'd be breaking a promise to them both.

Packing a suitcase took no time at all since she kept one packed at all times. Actually, she kept two packed, a summer and a winter case. She did add a few items—the yellow sundress she'd worn to Gabi's wedding, a bathing suit, and a wide-brimmed straw sun hat. It took her longer to contact Honey and Lillian and make arrangements about the pub and yoga class, respectively. Lillian didn't answer her phone and Honey wouldn't hang hers up. Nevertheless, when Daniel pulled up in front of her house, she was ready to go.

“I pray this isn't a mistake.” She picked up her suitcase, switched off her lights, and stepped outside to begin her adventure.

After the two-hour drive to Gunnison, they grabbed lunch then continued on to the regional airport where they boarded a sleek six-passenger Cessna Citation that belonged to Gabe Callahan's brothers' security firm. “I'm helping them out with something next week—that out-of-town trip I mentioned—and Mark made a big deal about putting the jet at my disposal. I hesitated to call for something so personal, but it's not easy to get to Key West from Eternity Springs. I'm afraid if I delayed getting there, it'd be just my luck that whoever lost her might finally go looking for her. They've had a week. They've had their chance as far as I'm concerned. Mark is a dog lover too, so he gets it.”

“The Callahan brothers are good people.”

“That they are.”

Fatigue caught up with Shannon during the long flight, and she slept quite a bit. She awoke when they landed to refuel, then promptly fell asleep again shortly after takeoff. She woke up to find herself tucked into a blanket, and Daniel nearing the end of a novel he'd started well into their flight. “I'm sorry. I'm poor company.”

“Not at all. As hard as you work, I imagine sometimes you'd like to sleep for a week.”

The tender smile he gave her made her want to snuggle up against him like a kitten. “I like to stay busy, but I admit it's caught up to me lately. Napping like this has been a lovely indulgence. So, how's your book?”

“Good. I like suspense. Speaking of which, a little angel in Eternity Springs told me you're a writer?”

Shannon didn't want to talk about her writing with him. Daniel was too perceptive. Giving a dismissive shrug, she said, “It's something to do on long winter nights.”

One corner of his mouth lifted in a crooked smile. “That, Ms. O'Toole, is a hanging curveball for a man trying to keep his mind off sex.”

“Oh. Sorry.” She meant it, too. Not because she'd sent his mind traveling down that road, but because his comment had hers heading down that path, too.

Is that so terrible?
Would it be a spectacular mistake to enjoy this unexpected gift of time away from the realities of her situation? Though he seemed determined to be a gentleman about it, Daniel obviously was open to the idea. Since she'd already decided to tell him about the baby, didn't it make sense to attempt to forge a stronger bond between them?

Not based on lies, no. Every moment she didn't tell him compounded the lie.

Not true, she argued with herself. She was still very early in her pregnancy. Her first pregnancy. Before over-the-counter pregnancy tests, she wouldn't have even known for sure that she'd conceived a child with Daniel Garrett. Women didn't always tell their husbands this early in a pregnancy, much less their one-night stands.

Lots of justification there. How did that saying go? The saddest lies were the ones you told yourself?

So, why not change reality? Why not make him something more than a one-night stand? Shannon turned her head and glanced down at her shoulder, halfway expecting to see a little red devil perched there.

“So,” she said with false brightness. “How long until we land?”

Daniel glanced at his watch. “Less than half an hour now.”

Shannon tore her gaze away from his wrist. She couldn't recall ever before thinking that a man's wrists were sexy. His were. They were substantial like his shoulders. Everything about Daniel Garrett was substantial.

Oh, man, she was getting in deep.

“I'm nervous,” he admitted with a sheepish smile. “It's ridiculous.”

Glad for the distraction, she said, “Nervous about what?”

He blew out a long breath. “Damned if I know.”

Shannon knew in that moment that everything else aside, she'd made the right decision to accompany him to Key West. He needed a friend. She could be that for him at least.

Preparing for their arrival, Shannon removed her contact lenses and donned the oversized glasses she'd taken to wearing during the tourist-crowded days of summer in Eternity Springs. As camouflage during after-dark public activities, they served their purpose. Daniel did a double take upon seeing her.

“I slept too long in my contacts,” she explained.

“I love them. It's the sexy secretary look. Take 'em off and chew on the arm and give me a little thrill.”

“Oh, hush,” she said with a laugh.

He replied with that same boyish grin he'd shown her that morning, and in that instant, Shannon fell a little bit more in love.

 

Chapter Nine

Daniel led a bright-eyed Shannon through the small Key West airport. They'd arrived in between any incoming or departing flights, so the place was deserted. “Good timing,” he told her. “When my brothers and I came here on a fishing trip last time, the taxi line took almost an hour to work our way through. I'll call a cab if none are waiting.”

He shouldn't have been surprised to find a car waiting for them at the curb. He asked the driver, “I guess the Callahans arranged for the ride?”

“No, Detective Garrett. Mr. Winsted hired me.” He reached into the car and removed a bouquet of roses, which he handed to Shannon. “He said to tell you welcome to Key West on his behalf.”

“How nice!” she said, delight adding color to her face that paired perfectly with the roses. She lifted the flowers to her face and inhaled the fragrance, and Daniel felt a stirring of desire as old as time.

Gary Winsted was a very nice man. An investment banker who had retired at the ripe old age of forty-two, Gary was the older brother of a woman whom Daniel had cleared of murder back before he left the police department. Gary's gratitude knew no bounds and he'd taken Daniel's purpose on as one of his own, making countless donations of time and treasure to the cause of missing children through the years.

Daniel and his brothers had stayed at Gary's house on their fishing trip, so he knew what to expect. It freed him to enjoy Shannon's reaction to the fullest at the end of their short journey to their destination. “Wow,” she said. “This is lovely.”

He switched on the outside lights illuminating the backyard, and she laughed with delight. “It's Cinderella's castle!”

“Gary has boys, but his sister has two girls. He dotes.”

“I love it.”

From out of nowhere, an unbidden thought floated through his mind.
Me. Love me.

The idea left him shaken.
Whoa, there, buckaroo. Where the hell did that come from?

A long travel day. That was it. He was tired. He was anxious about picking up Soupy tomorrow. “I'm hungry. Why don't we go find something to eat?”

“Sounds great.”

“Seafood?”

“Absolutely.”

“Excellent. I know a place that's a little off the beaten path. About a ten-minute walk from here. Unless you have your heart set on strolling up Duvall first thing?”

“Off the beaten path suits me perfectly. What should I wear?”

“It's a white-tablecloth place.”

When she joined him in the living room ten minutes later, she wore the yellow sundress she'd worn to Gabi and Flynn's wedding and looked even more beautiful than she had the day they'd met.

The restaurant was dark and intimate, the food delicious. They both chose grouper, which led him to relay fish tales about the fishing trip with his brothers. When he managed to get Shannon laughing in stitches over the silly antics of Team Garrett as one of them attempted to land a sixty-pound fish, he felt as if he'd hung the moon.

Over dessert, conversation turned toward the following day. “What would you like to do after our trip to the vet clinic? Want to take any tours? Go parasailing or ride a Jet Ski or something more active? Anyplace specific you've been dreaming of visiting? I figure we'll watch the sunset from Mallory Square tomorrow night. We have to do that.”

“Yes.” Shannon sipped the sparkling water she'd ordered with her meal. “Honestly, I'm happy as a clam just walking around. I wouldn't mind lazing by the pool at the house, either, while you become reacquainted with Soupy. That is why we're here, after all.”

“Sounds like a plan to me.”

As they left the restaurant following dinner, he was far from ready to see the evening come to an end. “Can I tempt you with a walk on the beach or would you prefer a rowdier Duvall Street?”

“The beach. Definitely the beach.”

He called for the car to take them to Smathers Beach. Upon reaching it, he rolled up his cuffs, and they both took off their shoes to stroll barefoot on the sand.

Without conscious thought, he took her hand. It was a beautiful night with a huge full moon and a gentle breeze off the receding tide. They walked without speaking, the mood between them comfortable and mellow. The sound of the gentle surf was soothing; the woman at his side, exciting.

The urge to take her in his arms and kiss her was as natural as breathing, and Daniel made no attempt to resist it.

She placed her hands on his shoulders, then slid them up, lacing her fingers behind his neck. Her mouth was wet and hot and she tasted of chocolate and raspberries from the dessert she'd ordered. Daniel decided he liked chocolate very much, after all.

Daniel released her reluctantly when the kiss ended. He gently stroked his knuckles down the softness of her cheek. “Thank you for coming with me, Shannon.”

“Thank you for inviting me.”

“Want to walk some more?”

Her eyes were big brown pools of emotion in the starlight. “Why don't we go back to the house? Let's go to bed.”

He saw it in her expression, but for both their sakes, he clarified. “Together?”

“Yes, Daniel. Together. I want you. Take me home and make love to me. Please?”

“It will be my pleasure.”

And it was. It most definitely was.

*   *   *

Shannon awoke warmer than she could remember—since August, anyway—and with blue bedroom eyes staring down at her. Daniel lay on his side, propped up on his elbow, his head pillowed in his large hand. When their gazes met, he slowly smiled. “Good morning.”

“Good morning.” She smiled back at him easily. She hadn't felt this way in a very long time. She was happy. Genuinely happy. Content. Dare she hope that he might actually be “the one” for her?

He definitely was one of the good guys. He'd be so easy to love, but then, loving wasn't the problem, was it? Trusting him was. Could she trust him with the secret of her past, especially now that she had the baby to consider? The baby's safety had to come first.

“Are you rested?” he asked.

Her grin turned rueful. “Not particularly, considering.”

“Complaining?”

“Not at all. How long have you been awake and watching me?”

“Not long. Not long enough. I could do it all day.”

“Well, you don't have all day. We have to get up and get ready to go get your dog.”

“Yeah.” Joy leaped in his eyes. “We do, don't we? We don't want to be late, either. Why don't we shower together to save time?”

Shannon rolled her eyes. “Something tells me that wouldn't save any time at all. Besides, there's more than one shower in this house. I looked.”

“Spoilsport.” He leaned down and kissed her once, hard. “In that case, I'll go make coffee.”

He rolled from the bed and picked up his boxers from the chair where he'd tossed them last night. Shannon sat up and watched him pull them on with frank appreciation. Large all over, the man was built. “You can still change your mind about the shower,” he said, noting her interest.

She made a shooing gesture with her hand. “Just enjoying the scenery.”

When he was in the kitchen, Shannon climbed out of bed and pulled on the robe she'd hung in the closet when she'd unpacked. She showered and toweled dry, spying the razor burn on her skin with a touch of smugness, then took a few extra minutes with her hair and makeup. After a moment's debate, she dressed in khaki capri pants and a forest-green top. If Soupy was a jumper, she probably didn't want to be wearing shorts, and she could always change into shorts later if she got hot.

She found a steaming cup of coffee along with a tray of bread and pastries, a bowl of fruit, and a selection of yogurts waiting for her when she exited the bedroom. Suddenly starving, she wondered who had stocked the larder and when. She yearned for a cinnamon roll but, thinking of the baby's nutritional needs, chose to begin with a yogurt instead. She could always indulge in a roll for dessert.

After all, she'd burned a lot of calories last night.

She was grinning when movement in the backyard caught her notice. Dressed in shorts and a fishing shirt, Daniel paced nervously beside the backyard pool as he talked on the phone. Concern rolled over Shannon. She hoped the vet hadn't called with some sort of dire news.

Spying her in the kitchen window, he waved for her to join him, so she grabbed an apple from a basket of fruit on the counter and stepped outside. She eavesdropped and discovered that he was talking to Mark Callahan. Good. So glad the call had nothing to do with Soupy.