Wind Chime Café (A Wind Chime Novel) (35 page)

Another shot went off and Taylor released her hold on the handle, sprinting toward the marshes.

Will cursed when she slipped through a small tear in a metal fence one of the local conservation groups had put up to protect the wetlands.

“Taylor!” Annie shouted, already climbing the fence to go after her.

Blake stood frozen in the parking lot, holding onto Taylor’s broom.

Will ran past him, catching Annie’s hand and pulling her back to the ground. “Find Joe and tell him to go to the Fosters’ farm and get the hunters to stop. There’s a blind on the south side of the property. He’ll know where it is.”

Annie’s gaze darted back to where Taylor had vanished into the tall grasses.

“Annie,” he ordered as Riley scrambled through the hole in the fence after Taylor. “Go find Joe. Now.”

With one last look at the wetlands, she took off across the parking lot to Della and Joe’s house.

Will climbed the fence, landing easily on the other side. Tim Foster wasn’t going to be happy when Joe told him to stop shooting, but Will would deal with the hunters later. He could hear Riley barking in the distance as he tracked Taylor’s footprints across the soggy stretch of land.

The first rays of sunlight streaked over the water, lighting the marshes on fire. The sky was filled with the call of geese and the rattle of gunfire. When he spotted an old wooden rowboat with a tarp thrown over it, he slowed.

“Good girl,” he murmured to Riley who was sniffing at the edge of the tarp. His boots sank into the shallow water as he made his way to the side of the boat.

“Taylor,” he said softly. “It’s Will.”

He could hear a small sound—a child’s strangled breathing coming from inside the boat. He kept his voice low and soothing as he reached for the edge of the tarp. “I’m going to pull the cover back slowly to make sure you’re okay. Riley’s with me. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

The sight that greeted his eyes when he lifted the corner of the tarp had his heart twisting painfully. Taylor was cowered at the bow, her whole body trembling as she clung to the rotted bench seat.

He resisted the urge to reach for her, to simply haul her out of the boat and into his arms. He didn’t want to frighten her. She needed to come out of this on her own. “Taylor, it’s me,” he said gently. “It’s Will.”

She turned her head away from him, her eyes squeezed shut as her body shook from both fear and cold.

Riley crept closer to the boat, whimpering.

On a hunch, Will lifted the dog up, setting her inside the boat. “Look,” he said. “Look who came to see you.”

Riley bowed her head, her ears flattened in submission.

Another round of gunshots rumbled over the water and Taylor shrank back. Riley inched toward her, until she was leaning against her, her entire body curled around Taylor protectively.

Taylor lifted her hand slowly, twisting her fingers into Riley’s fur.

“That’s it,” Will whispered brokenly. “You’re safe now.”

Taylor lifted her other arm, wrapping it around Riley’s neck.

“The shots you hear—they’re from the hunters,” Will explained. “The ones we talked about when we were out on Ryan’s boat. Remember?”

“Make them stop,” Taylor whispered.

Her shattered voice sliced all the way through him and he reached for her. Pulling her into his arms, he cradled her against his chest. “Remember when the fireworks went off on Halloween and you found me? You brought me back, Taylor. Let me bring you back this time.”

They were still in the same position—Will kneeling in the frigid water, Taylor clinging to him—when Annie and Della found them a few minutes later. He slowly untangled Taylor’s arms from around his neck, nudging her toward her mom.

Annie held onto her daughter for a long time, unable to speak. When she finally eased back, she spent the next several minutes checking every inch of Taylor’s body to make sure she wasn’t hurt. Will rose, walking over to where his aunt was standing. Della was still trying to catch her breath from the sprint.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

She nodded. “Joe should be at Tim’s by now.”

Will looked back out at the water. The gunshots had stopped a few minutes ago. The only sound now was the wind whistling through the marsh grasses and the occasional cry of a hawk overhead.

Finally satisfied that Taylor was still in one piece, Annie stood and walked slowly over to them. Her clothes were covered in mud. The front of her jeans were wet from where she’d been kneeling in the wetlands. He could tell she was fighting back tears.

The need to pull her into his arms was so strong, he had to curl his hands into fists to keep from reaching for her. But when Taylor’s small fingers brushed against his, he didn’t think twice. He lifted her up, settling her against his chest. “Come on,” he said as she buried her face in his shirt. “Let’s get you home.”

Numb, Annie walked
down the stairs to the café an hour later. She’d given Taylor a bath, thrown all their dirty clothes in the laundry, and scrubbed the mud off Riley—who refused to leave Taylor’s side now. The two of them were curled up on the sofa in the living room, watching a movie.

Blake had driven back to his hotel in St. Michaels after making up some excuse about having an important business call at seven o’clock. He hadn’t been able to get away fast enough.

Not that she was sad to see him go.

Crossing the dining room to the kitchen, where Della had insisted she would be in case Annie or Taylor needed her, Annie wasn’t surprised to find Will in there, too. Despite how he felt about her now, he wouldn’t leave until he knew Taylor was okay.

That was the difference between a man of honor and one who didn’t care about anyone but himself.

“How is she?” Will asked as soon as he saw her.

“She’s better. I think…” Annie trailed off when Della turned her face away, wiping her eyes with a tissue. “Della?”

“I’m sorry,” Della whispered, pushing out the back door.

“What’s going on?” Annie asked, alarmed.

“She’ll be fine.” Will walked over to the stove to turn off the burner beneath the soup pot. “Does Taylor need anything?”

Annie shook her head, but a wave of uneasiness swept through her as she watched Della walk down to the dock. “I’m going to keep her home from school today so I’ll be with her if she does.”

Will turned to face her. “How are you?”

“I’m fine,” she lied. She was about as far away from fine as a person could be, but she knew he was only being polite. He hadn’t hung around for the past hour to check on her. He’d stayed to check on Taylor.

Now that he knew she was okay, he’d probably want to be on his way.

“I couldn’t get Riley to come downstairs with me,” Annie said. “Is it okay if I bring her back later?”

“Don’t worry about it.” Will dipped his hands in his pockets. “I’ll tell Ryan she’s here.”

Annie nodded, wishing she knew what to say. She wanted to thank him for what he’d done that morning, but how did you thank a man for earning your daughter’s trust? For taking charge of a situation that should never have been his problem in the first place? For putting aside his feelings without a second thought to be there for a little girl who wasn’t even his?

“Will,” she said finally. “I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t been there today.”

“You would have managed,” he said quietly. “You don’t need anyone’s help, Annie. Not even mine.”

Annie drew in a breath. But she
did
need his help. For the first time in her life she had someone she could count on, someone she could trust. She’d been on her own for so long, she’d hadn’t realized what she’d been missing until now. “You knew Riley would find her.”

Will nodded.

“I’m going to get her a dog,” she said, knowing the longer she kept talking, the longer he would stay. “Maybe an older one from the shelter, one that’s already been housebroken. I’ll probably end up regretting it, but I’ve seen what Riley has done for her. I can’t take that away from her now.”

“I’m sure she’d like that.”

Silence fell between them again and Annie looked back out the window, where Della was standing at the edge of the dock dabbing at her eyes with a tissue. “Will, please tell me why Della is crying.”

“I told her something she didn’t want to hear.”

Annie’s gaze swung back to his. She didn’t like the sound of that. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong.” Will lifted a shoulder. “I got a call from my CO about fifteen minutes ago. I need to get back to San Diego. My team ships out in forty-eight hours.”

“Forty-eight hours?” Annie felt all the breath whoosh out of her lungs. “But that’s only two days from now.”

Will nodded.

“I thought you had over a week left on the island?”

“Things change,” he said simply.

“But…when are you leaving? Tomorrow?”

“This afternoon.”

She felt a rush of panic. “This afternoon?”

He started for the door. “I have to get ready, settle some things back at the inn.”

She reached for the counter to steady herself. He couldn’t leave. He hadn’t even given her a chance to explain yet. “Will, wait.”

He turned, but his expression held no emotion at all. He was withdrawing, she realized. He was distancing himself from her, from Della, probably from everyone so he could prepare to leave.

She followed him out the door. He’d never said anything about keeping in touch after he left. He’d made himself clear from the very beginning. When it was time for him to leave, things would be over between them.

But how could she let him go when nothing had been resolved, when he still thought so little of her? “Will you at least say goodbye before you leave? If not to me, at least to Taylor?”

He nodded, but she caught the flicker of hesitation in his eyes right before he turned. She stood in the doorway, watching him walk away.

Somehow, she knew it was a promise he wasn’t going to keep.

W
ord spread quickly about what had happened that morning. By lunchtime, most of the islanders had come into the café asking if there was anything they could do to help. Tim Foster had come in personally to ask if Taylor was all right. After Joe had explained the situation, Tim had agreed to stop hunting on his property for the next few days.

Annie was grateful, but they both knew her daughter’s fear of guns couldn’t shut down the entire hunting season.

Tim’s blind was the closest one to the island—aside from Will’s, which no one used—but there were hunting spots all over this area. Taylor was going to have to get over her fear. Joe had offered to take her over to Tim’s farm in a day or two, once she calmed down, and walk her around the blind so she could get used to it.

So she would know what to expect when the gunshots went off next time.

It was the same philosophy Annie had used on Halloween. As long as Taylor was prepared, she would be able to get through this. They would both be able to get through this.

It was worth a try, at least. That’s all they could do—keep trying until they got it right.

Walking the last of the dishes into the kitchen, she set them in the sink, taking a moment to lean her palms on the edge of the counter and just breathe. For the first time since early that morning, she was alone in the café. She’d sent Della home a half an hour ago, around the same time she’d begun to give up hope that Will was going to say goodbye to them. She’d been watching the door all day, listening for the sound of his footsteps on the porch, hoping he’d come, if not for her, at least for Taylor.