Sea Glass Cottage (19 page)

“Yeah. I kept thinking about that while I drove around. We might be a small dot on the map to many but the people who live here show up for each other.”

“I’ve traveled the world and never experienced that sort of thing before I came here.”

“I guess that says it all about why I came back. I want this for Jonah. Every child deserves to grow up knowing the people around them care.” Thane thought about Bobby and it made him more determined than ever to crack the kid’s veneer.

A few minutes
before nine o’clock Isabella reported for duty inside what looked like a warehouse. But she already knew the place had once been the town’s newspaper office. She liked to think that with the mural on the outside of the building next door, this part of Pelican Pointe held the beginnings of an art district, small but starting to come around.

Once she stood inside the entrance looking up at the focal point—the tomol hoisted up on display River and her team had unearthed—that feeling doubled. The plank canoe had been positioned to look as though it had just washed up onshore. The exhibit popped with realism. The Chumash craftsmanship was evident as she took a tour around the vessel encased in glass. With nothing more than flints and sharpened shells, the early people had built their boats with redwood logs, tied the slats together using wooly milkweed fiber or hemp, and filled any cracks in the design with yap, or pine pitch before stretching shark skin over the shell to make it even more resistant to water.

“On time. I like that,” River said with a glint in her eye from the opposite side of the room.

Isabella stood back, tilted her head admiring the display. “This is an amazing representation of skill and workmanship.”

“I had this idea to make it look as though the canoe rested on the rocks just like we discovered it, like it had been swept onto shore with the tides. Since this baby is our primary focal point, Logan took it a step further with the design. He’s in the process of building an authentic-looking beach scene complete with a series of faux boulders to make the exhibit really work. He’ll add that in layers in a couple weeks.”

“It already pops. I’m guessing you couldn’t actually get boulders through the front door so his design works as the next, best thing.”

“We could, but it would be a lot of wasted energy bringing in big rocks when Logan managed to solve the problem.”

“Exactly. Where’s the rest of your inventory?”

“There’s a
lot
more in the back. Follow me. We’ll have the main exhibit room and then several anterooms or halls holding the smaller items.”

She followed as her boss led the way into a storage area packed with relics waiting to be cleaned and tagged for show. Isabella spent the rest of the morning listening to River spin a tale about each individual Chumash artifact. With each story, she got a better idea of the Native American people who had lived and thrived in the area for more than eight hundred years.

As she analyzed each piece, Isabella became more and more fascinated with the lifestyle. “I’m impressed with what you’ve done here, River. People will definitely line up to get a look at all this.”

“That’s what we’re hoping for—an ‘if you build it, he will come’
Field of Dreams
type of moment.”

Isabella continued to skim through the assortment of shells and beads used to make jewelry, the crude pieces of pottery, the numerous steatite carvings of animals in grayish green or light brown. There were pretty ornaments in soapstone, many different animals of various shapes. Bears, wolves and deer showed off their creative use of paint. She picked one up and dangled it at her earlobe. “These are beautiful. You do realize they’d make fantastic earrings.”

“I know. The temptation is definitely there. Look at this.” River held up a rock with a colorful drawing of village life depicted on it. She waved her hand over a table replete with stones. “There are enough arrowheads and simple shells here to fill up several baskets.”

“All this came from the beach below the cliffs?”

“Every single piece dug out of the sand and grit. What you see here is two years of my life’s work.”

“You must be so proud of what you’ve discovered here and brought out into the open for the rest of us to enjoy.”

At noon Thane
showed up at the museum with Jax and Jazz on leashes to take Isabella to lunch.

“Hey River. Any chance I could borrow your slave, feed her, and then bring her back to you ready for a brutal afternoon.”

“Sure. Isabella, get out here. There’s a hunky guy standing near the display willing to take you to lunch. I have to run home anyway to see if Brent remembered to feed Luke.”

“You’re kidding?”

“Yeah, I am,” River said with a grin. “Brent’s probably waiting with tuna sandwiches at the ready.”

“The ones with apples and pecans in the mix?” Thane asked.

“This guy knows his way around the kitchen,” Isabella said with a nod of her head when she appeared from the backroom.

“I just like to eat,” Thane admitted to the women.

“I’ll have to try that combination,” River told them as she locked up for lunch. “In the meantime I don’t expect culinary genius from the town’s top cop. I know my guy. Just as long as he remembered to throw together a ham sandwich or an omelet, I’ll be happy.”

The three took off walking until Thane and Isabella turned the corner on Pacific Street to head to his house.

“What’s on the menu?”

“Nothing as fancy as tuna sandwiches.”

Once he unlocked the door to his house, the dogs bounded inside ahead of them. She noticed he’d tidied up quite a bit from last night. Standing in the great room, she caught sight of the table already set for two with a snappy white tablecloth and crystal. A smile broke out on her face. “This is above and beyond what I was expecting.”

“It’s never too early in the day for ambiance.” He lit two candles for a centerpiece.

“Why Thane Delacourt, I do believe you’re a romantic.”

“I never said that I wasn’t. I know how to wine and dine with the best of them. Today, I picked up one of Perry’s specialties, crab cakes, fingerling potatoes and a broccoli-cabbage salad.”

“That is so funny. I’ve smelled those crab cakes ever since I left home this morning. You’re a mind reader.”

“Take a seat. How about a glass of wine?”

“Absolutely. In celebration of my first day on the job, how can I refuse? I’m sure one glass won’t prevent me from cataloging artifacts.”

“How’s that going?” he asked as he pulled the cork out of a bottle of chardonnay.

“It’s interesting work because it’s directly related to the history of the area which makes for a fascinating real-life walk out of the past.” She went into a detailed account of some of the relics, saving the best for last. “You saw the canoe. Logan’s creating a base that will give it a natural setting so that when you walk in the whole thing blows you away. Imagine, that piece buried under all that sand for hundreds of years.”

“It’s an impressive piece. But then I always thought the Chumash were talented. If you haven’t been to the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, they’ve dedicated an entire exhibit hall to the Chumash way of life.”

“River mentioned it. I believe her goal is to make this one as notable one day. Not changing the subject but I’m curious. What did Julianne say when you suggested that you’d like to help Bobby Prather?”

“She was totally onboard with the idea. I just hope befriending him helps the kid, you know?”

“It’s a shame his homelife is so chaotic. But maybe by reaching out to him you’ll at least find out the reason.”

He picked up her hand and kissed the palm. “You’re an understanding soul. For one so young, you seem to have come to terms with your past, your trouble with the ex you’ve put behind you. Not everyone does that.”

“There’s an old saying or maybe it’s a Chinese proverb, I forget which. ‘Make friends with your misfortunes, otherwise you’ll always be angry.’ I made friends with my past about three years ago. I’ve moved on from the past and I’ll never go back to living that way ever again,” Isabella admitted.

“To a certain extent, that’s what I’ve learned, you pretty much better accept the things that have happened and move forward, give up clinging to the past, otherwise you’re bogged down in making the same mistakes.” When he saw that she’d finished her meal, he took her hand and led her over to the sofa.

Without a word, he snatched her around the waist and brought her onto his lap.

Throwing her arms around his neck, she latched on to his strong shoulders. Like gripping a lifeline to keep from going under for the third time, she held on. For a brief moment, a tremble of doubt ran through her. But that dissipated once his lips met hers.

Somewhere inside, a force kindled to life within her. It built slowly like an ember glowing along a dark road. She felt herself warm, then get burner-hot. With each of his kisses, the past slipped farther and farther into the distance until the wound had seared closed.

He nudged her shirt aside, undid her bra so he could nibble on her bare breast. The sucking motion had her calling out his name. He lifted her up slightly, slid his hands up her skirt, dragged down her panties. He shifted her position slightly to gain better access. Her breath hitched while his fingers traveled to wet folds. As his mouth worked its way around curves, the climax slammed into her. A state of bliss she’d never known before swallowed her up, healed her completely.

A liberating freedom moved through her. She pressed him to lift his hips so she could help him out of his jeans. Leveraging herself up, she climbed onto his lap and straddled him again. Opening, moving as he moved, like two souls stirring to dance—two connected as one. They formed that one link as old as time.

Pleasure took hold, erupted and slipped into every nerve and core, overriding everything else. The air sizzled around them with sensations. They let loose like two teens in the backseat of a car on a Saturday night. Clinging to each other and dizzy with the fervor that built up, they raced along the edge of a cliff. When she shattered again it was into a million brilliant shades of red like sparkling sea glass scattered on white sand.

Breathless, she rested her head on his. “You’re good, I’ll give you that.” She threw out her arms, raised her voice and announced, “The drought’s over.”

“In a big way. You were phenomenal. What happened to ‘I wasn’t all that great at it’?”

“You think I was great? Really?”

Thane chuckled even though he didn’t really want to let go of her hips. “Yeah. I opt for a replay. Give me twenty minutes and I’ll see what I can do.”

She laughed and slapped his hand away as it wandered up to her breast to toy with a nipple. “I don’t have twenty minutes. I’m late getting back to work on my first day as it is. I’ll probably get fired.”

He finally released her and watched her shapely form extract from his. “You’ve got some body there, Rialto.”

Grabbing her underwear, she wiggled into them, and caught Thane staring at the showy movement.

He grinned and patted her ass. “Next time I promise to last longer.”

“You lasted just fine.”

“Come on then. I’ll zip up and drive you back. It’ll be a lot faster than walking.”