HER SECRET, HIS DUTY

by Carla Cassidy

  “He worked his way up the chain until he was a highly paid supervisor over a thousand men. His keen business sense allowed him to amass a significant amount of savings, which he used to buy land and businesses.

  “In his late thirties, he retired from the railroad and settled here in Cape Churn, where he met the prettiest girl in town, Rose Engelmann, a beauty whose family had fallen on hard times. He courted Rose and asked her to marry him, but she had fallen in love with a pirate and had secretly been seeing him without her parents’ knowledge. Rose refused to marry Ian McGregor.

  “Unbeknownst to her, Ian paid the pirate a visit to gauge the man’s intentions toward the lovely Rose. The pirate laughed about his affair with the beauty, claiming he left a woman in every port.

  “Ian paid the man a hefty sum to leave and never return. As Ian had anticipated, the pirate took the money and left Cape Churn.

  “Rose was heartbroken and, with her family in dire straits, agreed to marry Ian.” Molly’s brows lowered, the gleam disappearing from her eyes as she enthralled her listeners with her tale.

  Nova was no exception. He leaned forward, clinging to every word, caught up in her story, almost feeling the pain of Ian’s unrequited love.

  “Ian knew she didn’t care for him, but he set out to do everything in his power to make her fall in love with him, to woo her heart over to him by building her this mansion fit for a princess. He surrounded it with rose arbors and gardens so beautiful she couldn’t help but fall in love with the place as well as him. He was a kind and gentle lover, not asking more than any man would ask of his wife and treating her with respect and love.”

  Molly’s gaze slipped to Nova.

  His heart flipped over and beat faster, his groin tightening.

  Then she lowered her lashes, hiding her emerald-green eyes as she continued, “She bore a single son, but alas, Rose couldn’t or wouldn’t fall in love with Ian—her heart still belonged to a pirate who never loved her in the first place.

  “Ian was proud of his son and loved him dearly. For years he tried to gain the love of his wife, but finally gave up, growing more despondent, until one day he caught pneumonia and didn’t want to fight his way back to good health. As his physical condition declined, a ship sailed into Cape Churn, carrying Rose’s pirate. He learned of the pirate’s return from his loyal servant and valet.

  “Calling Rose into his bedroom, he told her what he’d done all those years ago. If she was still in love with the pirate, and if the pirate shared the same feelings, she was free to go.

  “Rose hurried to the village, anxious to be reunited with the pirate. When she arrived at his hotel, she hurried up the stairs to the room they’d shared in secret and found him in the arms of another woman. She begged him to take her back and leave the woman he was with. He laughed and told her to go away.

  “Rose returned to McGregor Manor sad, angry and disappointed. Ian dragged himself out of his bed to soothe her. But she would not be consoled. Instead, she ran outside during a night when the devil had cloaked the land and cliffs in its ghostly shroud—when the fog had gathered at its thickest.

  “Ian followed her, weak and sick, stumbling toward the sounds of her sobs. He found her at the edge of the cliff and tried to talk her into returning to the mansion. She refused, blaming him for driving her lover away. When he grabbed her arm to lead her back to the house, she pushed him away. He staggered backward and fell over the cliff onto the rocks below.

  “Horrified, Rose finally realized what a fool she’d been. Ian had loved her and wanted nothing but the best for her. She’d thrown his love away and then pushed him to his death. Distraught and grieving for all her mistakes and for destroying her chances at love, she threw herself over the cliff to join Ian in death.

  “The legend says that because neither found love in life, they wander the gardens and the mansion’s halls—Ian searching for Rose, and Rose searching for Ian. Neither ever quite finding the other.

  “Many times, I’ve heard Rose’s sobs in the middle of the night.” Molly’s eyes were filled with tears at the end of the story, her voice dropping to a sad whisper. “And when the Devil’s Shroud blankets the cliffs, I swear I’ve heard the echo of Ian calling to Rose and Rose’s sobs in the sound of the waves splashing against the cliffs.”

  The crowd of onlookers, including Casanova, remained silent for a full minute after Molly finished, mesmerized by Molly’s storytelling and complete believability. Whether the story was true or not didn’t matter. Everyone believed.

  The room erupted in applause.

  “Wow, that was beautiful.” Emma Jenkins wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. “Not that I’d want to run into the pair in a dark hallway.” She shivered. “Ghosts give me the creeps just thinking about them.”

  “You sure Rose didn’t kill Ian on purpose?” a woman with auburn hair asked. “Ian did send her lover away.”

  Molly’s brows knit. “You’re Talia, right?”

  The woman hesitated, then nodded.

  “No one knows for sure,” Molly continued. “If she did kill Ian on purpose, why would she have joined him?”

  “Unless someone pushed her,” said a big guy with pale blond, wispy hair and glasses. He’d sat near Talia all evening, his gaze rarely leaving her.

  Nova concealed a smile. The man had a thing for the dark-haired woman, and by the looks of it, she didn’t know he existed.

  Talia’s gaze shifted to Nova as if she could sense his thoughts. Nova’s glance returned to Molly’s clear, green gaze.

  “What happened to Ian and Rose’s son?” a man asked.

  Molly grinned. “That would be my great-great-grandfather. He was raised by an elderly aunt who came to Cape Churn from Philadelphia.”

  Another guest raised her hand. “Have you ever seen Ian and Rose’s ghosts?”

  Molly nodded. “Once I saw Ian on the upper landing late in the night, wearing his nightgown and carrying a candle.”

  “What about Rose?” she asked.

  “I’ve seen her by the cliffs. Not that I recommend anyone go out there tonight. Because, you see, while you were enjoying the evening meal, the Devil’s Shroud crept over the cliffs and cloaked McGregor Manor in thick fog.”

  As one, the roomful of people moved, everyone leaping to their feet to crowd through the door onto the wide front porch of the mansion.

  Nova remained behind. “Beautiful.”

  Molly’s cheeks flushed and she looked at her hands. “Thank you. And thank you for helping with the dishes.” She collected coffee cups from tables and started for the kitchen.

  Not wanting to let her get away, he followed, picking up dessert plates and glasses as he passed through the dining room and into the kitchen. He shouldn’t start anything with the McGregor woman, especially when he was about to leave, but something about her touched him and made him want to get to know her better. Was it the way she empathized with the former owners of the grand mansion? Or the perpetual smile that remained permanently affixed to her lips?

  Molly was already elbow deep in the sudsy water when Nova entered the kitchen, carrying more dishes.

  “Really, you didn’t have to do that.” She blew at a strand of hair falling over her forehead.

  Nova set the dishes on the counter beside her and brushed the strand of hair behind her ear. “Better?”

  He stood so close, he could see the tiny flecks of gold in her green eyes. She blinked, her lips parting.

  Before he could think better of the idea, he lifted her chin with the crook of his finger. “I imagine you are as beautiful as Ian’s Rose.”

  “I’m sure she was much prettier,” Molly replied, her voice breathy, her gaze dropping to his mouth.

  “I seriously doubt it.”

  When her tongue darted out to wet her lips, Nova was drawn to her,
wanting a kiss to taste those damp lips. He bent toward her, his breath mingling with hers.

  When their gazes met, her green irises flared. She raised a wet, sudsy hand to his chest, the warm water penetrating the fabric of his shirt.

  Nova wondered what it would feel like to have her soap-covered hand running across his bare skin. His pulse leaped and he closed in on those luscious lips.

  “Molly, your guests are ready for their tour.” Gabe McGregor swung the kitchen door open and backed through, carrying a tray of mugs and glasses.

  With great reluctance, Nova stepped away from Molly.

  “I’ll be right there.” Molly’s gaze dropped from his and she went back to work, scrubbing furiously at the already clean dish.

  Nova faced the intruder.

  Gabe grinned when he spotted Nova and Molly. “Ah, Casanova, thanks for helping out. I should have jumped up when you did. Molly always seems so capable, I forget she could use an extra hand now and then.” Gabe set the tray on the butcher block in the middle of the kitchen. “Why don’t you two take a break while I finish up the dishes?”

  Molly refused to look up as she rinsed a pot and reached for a towel.

  Gabe handed one to Nova. “I’ll be right back with the last of the glasses, then I’ll finish up the dishes.” He pointed at his sister. “No excuses.”

  “You heard the man. No excuses.” Nova took the pot from Molly, dried it and then dried her hands. “Come on, you’ve been working all evening. I’ll bet you didn’t even eat dinner.”

  Molly glanced around the kitchen as if gauging the amount of work still needing done. “I sat down at your table.”

  “You didn’t touch the food on your plate.” He gripped her hand in his and tugged her toward the door, knowing he needed to get going, but not until he finished what he’d started with a real kiss.

  Her cheeks turned a deeper shade of red. “Have you been watching me?”

  “Not much. But enough to tell when a beautiful green-eyed blonde, with cheeks that can blush as brightly as a ripe peach, isn’t eating her meal.”

  Her hand flew to her face. “I’m not blushing. It’s hot in here.”

  He smiled, knowing better, but seizing an opportunity wherever he could find it. “Then we should step outside so that you can cool off. Come, cariña.”

  By the time they emerged onto the porch, the ghost hunters and Nova’s teammates had reconvened in the lounge around a blazing fire.

  Refusing to release Molly’s hand, Nova leaned against the rail, his back to the wall of fog that had crept in on the McGregor B&B. Like a cocooning, impenetrable shroud, the fog blocked the beautiful view of the cape. The only residual evidence of the ocean nearby was the soft splashing sound of waves slapping the rocks far below the cliffs.

  Molly didn’t pull free, allowing him to lace his fingers with hers.

  “I lied,” he began.

  She stared at where their fingers wove together. “Oh? When?”

  “When I said I didn’t watch you much.”

  Her gaze rose to his. “Why me?”

  He smiled. “I’m curioso.”

  “Curious about what?” she whispered.

  “I wanted to know one thing before I left.” He tugged her closer.

  “Yeah?” She stopped when they were toe-to-toe. “And what’s that?”

  “Just how good you taste.” He started his descent, his mouth angling toward hers.

  Before he could get there, she raised a finger and planted it on his lips. “I take it you tend to live up to your name, Casanova.”

  “On occasion.” His thumb brushed the hair from her cheek, then slipped across her lips.

  “And you expect me to fall in with a little flirtation?”

  Nova’s brows dipped. “A woman who is as bonita as you must have great passion.”

  The color heightened in her cheeks. “Pretty words, Casanova. Do you always get your way with women?”

  He hesitated only a moment, pushing his memories to the farthest corner of his mind, forcing his shoulders to lift in a casual shrug. “Mostly.” He gave her his sexiest smile. Again he swept in for the kiss. That was all he wanted. Then he could leave and never look back. Relationships were too complicated and he wasn’t staying. “Is it working?”

  “Almost.” She pressed a finger to his lips again. “Except I know your type. Kiss and leave.”

  “I never make promises I can’t keep. No strings, no false words of love or commitment. Just the truth. I find you hard to resist, and I want to kiss you. Tiene un problema with just one kiss?”

  She tipped her head. Her gaze locked with his and then slid down to his mouth. “I guess I don’t have a problem with just one kiss. You’re leaving. As long as we’re both in agreement that a kiss means nothing, what do I have to lose?” Her free hand slipped behind his head and pulled him down so that their lips could meet. At first her mouth brushed lightly against his, then she flicked her tongue across the seam of his lips.

  He opened to her and she swept in. His arms rose around her, pulling her against his body, rubbing her pelvis across the ridge of his fly. A groan rose up his throat and blended with her own.

  A sound pulled Nova out of the kiss and he glanced in the direction it had come. The porch swing on the end of the veranda swayed on its chains as if a ghostly hand had set it in motion.

  He tipped his head toward the swing. “I think your ghosts approve.”

  Molly gazed that way, still standing in the circle of his arms. “Or disapprove.” She moved out of his arms, straightening her blouse. “Are you and Nicole heading to Seattle soon?”

  “Trying to get rid of me already?” Nova checked his watch. “We’ll have to go in a few minutes.”

  She nodded and stared toward the parking area, where cars lined up in front of the B&B, blurred by the murky mist. “Be careful on the drive up the coastline. The fog is wicked tonight. There’s bound to be a number of wrecks by those crazy enough to drive in it.” She stepped back and shoved a hand out. “Well, it was nice to meet you.”

  Nova lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her open palm, then curled her fingers around it. “Save that for a lonely day. My plane flies out early in the morning. I have to go.” No commitment, no strings, Nova reminded himself when he wanted to pull her back into his arms and kiss her again.

  Gabe stuck his head out the door. “Oh, there you are. Nicole was looking for you.”

  “Tell her I’m ready when she is.”

  Tazer, Creed, Emma, Kayla and Gabe stepped out onto the porch.

  Creed held out his hand. “Sorry to see you go. I’m sure there’s more work piled up than we have people to work it. But duty calls.”

  “Yes, it does.” Nova grabbed Creed’s hand and shook it, then dragged him into a bear hug. No time for anything but duty. Relationships were inadvisable, given the secrecy of their band of brothers. He shook hands with the men and hugged the women, saving Molly for last.

  Gabe glanced around. “Now, where did Molly go? I’ll go get her.” He turned toward the door.

  “Don’t. She’s busy and I need to get on the road.” Although he would have liked to see her one last time, with all the people around, it wouldn’t have been enough. One kiss should have sufficed. It had sparked a hunger for more instead of quenching his thirst. He’d be better off leaving than hanging around to see Molly again. What good would it do?

  Tazer slung the strap of her purse over her shoulder. “Ready?”

  “Ready.”

  He held the door for Tazer, then rounded the rental car, climbed in and strapped his seat belt over his lap.

  Tazer leaned her head back against the headrest and closed her eyes. “I’d hoped to sleep on the trip to Seattle, but I think you’re gonna need my eyes as well as yours to find the roa
d.”

  “So it seems.” Nova pulled onto the highway, or what he could see of it, and picked up a little speed, his headlights reflecting back at him, little help against the blanketing fog.

  “The locals weren’t kidding when they called this stuff the Devil’s Shroud.” Tazer leaned forward, her hand gripping the armrest. “I hope it’s not this bad all the way to Portland.”

  “It should clear when we drive farther inland.”

  “Sheesh, we haven’t even made it to town.” Her nose practically pressed to the passenger window. “I can’t even see the side of the road.”

  “I know. I’m going to slow down. No use getting ourselves killed. We have all night to get to Portland.” Nova eased his foot against the brake pedal. The vehicle didn’t slow. He pushed his foot harder and harder until the pedal was all the way to the floorboard, and nothing happened.

  Tazer shot a nervous glance his way. “I thought you were going to slow down.”

  Nova’s hands gripped the steering wheel as the road curved around the side of a cliff and started the long descent toward the town of Cape Churn. “Uh, sweetheart, we’ve got a problem.”

  “Don’t call me sweetheart.” She held on to the dash, her eyes wide, nervous. “And slow the hell down.”

  “I would, but there are no brakes.”

  As the incline grew steeper, the car’s speed increased.

  Nova shifted into low gear, hoping to use the engine to reduce their speed. And it did, for an eighth of a mile when the grade dropped to 10 percent. What had seemed like a nice, scenic drive along the winding coast now felt more like riding a giant rattlesnake, twisting and gyrating out of control.

  Nova jerked the wheel at the last minute before the vehicle would have plunged off the edge of a cliff he couldn’t see.

  Tazer gasped. “Holy crap, Nova! Watch out!”

  “The fog’s too thick. I can’t see the curves,” he called out.

  “Drop off, drop off, drop off!” Tazer pointed, screaming.