Authors: Julie Ortolon
“I’m not making this up.” Desperation clawed at him. “Okay, I know I should have told you sooner. I waited because I needed to know how you felt about the necklace before I asked you to help me get it back.”
“Help you get it back?” Her eyes widened. “First you make up this outrageous lie, then you want me to help you take the necklace away from me?”
“Chloe, I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you.”
“Stop. Just stop!” She pressed her fists against her temples. “I don’t know what game you’re playing or why, but how dare you come here, sweet talk me, seduce me, and then try to use me.”
“I didn’t seduce you,” he said as if she’d slapped him. “I was the one who tried to stop last night.”
“But you didn’t stop, did you? You made sure you got some before you dropped this bomb on me.”
“What?” he drew back. “Okay, I realize I didn’t handle this well, but if you’ll just calm down—”
“You need to leave. Now.”
“All right.” He held his hands up, hoping to placate her. “I’ll go, but I’ll be back with my proof. Then we’ll discuss this rationally.”
“I don’t want you to come back,” she growled at him. “I never want to see you again.”
Chapter 11
Chloe wanted to hit someone, preferably Luc, but she couldn’t allow herself the luxury of giving in to anger. The inn had a dining room full of guests who needed breakfast.
Normally she loved helping with the organized chaos in the morning, but the clatter of the kitchen made her head pound each time she rushed in to grab a tray for the buffet. Her frazzled nerves must have shown, since Aurora cast her several questioning glances. The cheerful chatter in the dining room proved an even bigger challenge as guests asked for advice on how to spend their day when the forecast called for thunderstorms.
Any other morning, she would have enjoyed suggesting a visit to Bishop’s Palace, or the glass pyramids at Moody Gardens. Instead, she had to struggle to answer the guests’ questions at all, earning even more odd looks from Aurora’s husband, Chance, who was pitching in to help with breakfast service as well.
She wanted to escape. But how? She didn’t think she could stand returning to the cottage to face memories of last night.
Last night had been so magical. She’d woken up this morning thinking she’d finally found a man she could trust enough to let down her guard a little. And then she had… only to learn she’d hooked up with an illusion. Who knew what other whopping lies he’d told her? Maybe everything he’d said was a lie, even his claim to have founded a successful gaming company. She knew Vortal existed, since she’d seen Luc and AJ playing it, but that didn’t mean Luc owned the company.
Well, finding out would be easy enough, she realized. All she had to do was sign online and do some investigating.
She glanced around the dining room to gauge how close the guests were to finishing. A few had already left, so she bustled around the big communal table clearing their dishes. Unfortunately, with the approaching storm, most of the guests seemed content to linger.
“Kelly, is that your old charm bracelet?” one of the women in the girlfriend weekend group asked. “I thought you lost it.”
“I did.” The woman named Kelly held out her arm to display her bracelet. “But this morning I was digging through my purse and found it lurking in the bottom.”
“That would be Marguerite,” Chance said.
“Your ghost?” Kelly’s eyes widened with more flirtation than surprise. Chloe had caught the woman eyeing Chance with appreciation, but couldn’t blame her. Blond and tall, he had a runner’s physique. His clean-shaven face had a boyish appeal, especially with the wire-rim glasses.
“Yep.” Chance nodded. “That’s her most common trick. Helping people find something they’ve lost. Over the years we’ve had guests find car keys, reading glasses, even a wedding ring once. It means she likes you.”
“Why do you say that?” Kelly asked.
“Trust me, you’d know if she didn’t.” Chance chuckled, talking about the ghost with an ease that seemed at odds with his conservative manner. As a former banker, he made the perfect partner for impetuous Aurora, both in business and in life. “The guests she doesn’t like frequently check out early because something happened to freak them out.”
“I thought she was supposed to be a friendly ghost.” Kelly pressed a hand to her chest.
“Oh, she is,” Chance assured. “My son says Captain Kingsley is the one responsible for the weird noises and bad dreams. Apparently, if Marguerite doesn’t like a guest, Captain Kingsley makes him leave. We’ve asked my son to please ask Jack to stop running off our guests, but AJ just rolls his eyes and says he’ll try. Apparently, our resident sea captain isn’t much interested in following orders.”
“Your son has conversations with ghosts?” Kelly’s eyes went round.
“All the time,” Chance told her.
“Oh, how delicious.” Kelly’s friend shivered. “A pirate ghost.”
“Privateer,” Chance corrected, with a quick look over his shoulder, clearly hoping neither ghost was around to take offence. “Captain Kingsley’s a little sensitive about the term ‘pirate’.”
“Either way,” Kelly’s friend said, “I think I’d put up with a few bumps in the night for an encounter with a sexy sea captain.”
“Careful,” Chance warned. “You don’t want to make Marguerite jealous.”
Everyone laughed.
Except Chloe. Standing at the buffet, she blinked her eyes to stave off tears. Stories such as these were exactly why she’d been convinced that finding the necklace had been a sign of acceptance. What if it had all been wishful thinking on her part? Her nose threatened to water along with her eyes, so she sniffed discretely.
“You okay?” Chance said beside her in a low voice.
Looking over, she saw the concern in his kind eyes and pasted on a determined smile. “I’m fine.”
“If you’re sure,” he said, frowning in doubt.
“Just allergies,” she lied, wishing all these people would leave so she could get on the inn’s computer and learn the truth.
Unfortunately, rather than leaving after breakfast, Kelly and her friend decided to visit the gift shop again, the way they had yesterday. Chloe wanted to scream as they oooh-ed and ah-ed over every item on the shelves.
Finally, thankfully, the women made their purchases and headed out for a day of exploring Galveston.
Now that she had an opportunity to research the truth, however, Chloe stood behind the checkout counter wondering how she’d react to whatever she found. Either Luc was a liar—and a potentially crazy one at that—or he was telling the truth, and finding the necklace had nothing to do with the ghosts.
Suddenly, she wasn’t sure she wanted to know which was true.
Her cowardice stunned her. She’d never been one to hide from reality. She’d spent her life facing it. Maybe she kept a lot of truths to herself, but she never hid from them.
For a moment, though, she wanted desperately to believe she could have both Luc as the man she’d thought he was and the sense of acceptance on Pearl Island she craved.
“Wishful thinking,” she muttered, disappointed in herself. Dreaming had never gotten her anything but hurt.
She heard the front door open and close loudly.
“Chloe?” Allison called out from the hall.
Chloe lifted her head to find her aunt rushing into the gift shop, looking upset. “Alli, what is it?”
“Scott’s right behind me,” Allison said, glancing over her shoulder. “I have however long it takes him to get Nicki out of the car to warn you.”
“Warn me about what?” Alarm shot through Chloe.
“Scott is very unhappy this morning.”
“Why?” she asked as she heard the front door open again, followed by the sound of heavy footsteps.
“Too late.” Allison sagged an instant before her husband appeared in the doorway.
“Uncle Scott.” Chloe straightened as she took in his ominous expression. Even with little Nicki dressed in a ruffled pink dress perched on his hip, Scott gave off an air of danger in his all-black attire. His dark hair, angular features, and thin beard gave him a deceptively sinister look he never bothered to soften. She managed a nervous smile. “What are you doing here?”
“What? I’m not allowed to stop by the inn now and then?” One of his black brows went up.
“I thought you were on deadline with a new novel.”
“Maybe I have writer’s block.”
“You haven’t had writer’s block in years.” She tried to laugh but failed, since something was clearly up.
“It’s a bit hard to concentrate when I learn my sister is up to her old tricks.” He scowled. “Why didn’t you tell me Diane has been practicing her emotional blackmail on you again?”
“You told him?” Chloe looked at Allison accusingly.
“No, she didn’t.” Scott shot his wife a disgruntled look. “I found out because Diane called me last night and tried to get me to talk you into going to her engagement party.”
“What!” Chloe pressed a hand to her forehead. “I can’t believe she called you.”
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me about this yourself. You know I’m here for you any time you need me. Why didn’t you say something?”
She wanted to groan. There was a time when she’d savored his help like a starving beggar at a feast, until she realized how her conflicts with Diane only added another wedge between Scott and his sister. Until recent years, Scott had been as much Diane’s ally against their parents as he’d been Chloe’s refuge. The last few fights between Chloe and Diane had changed that, though, and she didn’t want to cause more strife between them.
As often happened, Scott’s protectiveness came out as anger. “For God’s sake, I didn’t even know my sister was getting married again until last night.”
“I’m sorry, okay?” She ran a hand through her hair. “I guess I should have told you that much at least.”
She hadn’t wanted to, though, because she knew he wouldn’t be invited to the wedding. Scott hadn’t spoken to John directly for years and he had only minimal contact with his mother. Things were especially dicey since his parents had remarried.
“And what’s this nonsense about Diane wanting you to get clear ownership of the necklace you found?”
“Diane told you about that? Unbelievable.” Chloe shook her head. “During one of our non-confrontational phone calls, she mentioned she’d heard about me finding the necklace. She made it seem so casual, like she just wanted to chat about what was going on in my life. I should have known better. She somehow got it into her head that the necklace I found is a replacement for Marguerite’s necklace and that if I get clear possession of it, rather than letting it stay locked in a museum, it will improve the family’s fortune.”
“Seriously?” He gaped at her. “Why on earth would she think that?”
“I may have mentioned I thought Marguerite wanted me to find the necklace,” Chloe said apologetically. “I didn’t think Diane would take that to mean it was a replacement for the pearl necklace that was tied to Marguerite’s good luck.”
“They’re unbelievable,” Scott said. “How much fortune do they need to make them all happy? And you, you need to tell me when they’re pulling this crap. I swear, if I have to get my lawyer to call John’s lawyer and tell the whole family to back off and leave you alone, I’ll do it.”
“No!” Chloe’s heart thumped at the thought. “You don’t need to get involved in this. I can handle them.”
“You don’t have to do it alone,” Scott insisted.
“And you don’t have to come to my rescue anymore,” she said, pleadingly. “I’m all grown up now. Honestly, you treat me like I’m twelve.”
“Which was roughly yesterday,” he countered in a raised voice that caused Nicki’s brow to pucker in distress.
“Scott.” Allison stepped between them and laid a hand on her husband’s arm. “Why don’t you take Nicki into the kitchen and see if there are any cookies?”
“Cookies!” Nicki’s distress vanished.
Scott’s scowl said he wanted to argue. Allison arched a brow, mimicking her husband’s most challenging expression in a way she’d practiced over the years. The expression actually looked quite humorous on Allison’s naturally sweet face, which somehow made it even more effective.
“All right,” he grumbled. “I’ll let you handle this. For now.”
“Thank you.” Allison smiled at him.
He heaved a sigh, then looked at his daughter. “How about it, sweetie?” He tweaked Nicki’s nose. “You want a cookie?”
“Yes, please.” Nicki folded her hands beneath her chin and beamed at her daddy.
The instant they left, Allison turned to Chloe with a sigh of her own. “Okay, now that the big bad wolf is gone, we can talk.”
“You really shouldn’t call him that when we both know he’s a big softy inside.”
“Only with people he cares about.” Allison tipped her head. “How are you holding up?”
“I’m fine.”
“Really? Because when I talked to Rory this morning, she said you seemed upset.”