Yeah, pitiful man that he was, he could admit he still thought about—even cared for—Raina Beaumont. Probably more since he’d escaped the family drama and soaked himself in the sun day after day.
Casper nearly missed the shrieking of the detector as he stepped out of the jungle, fifty feet down the beach from his skiff.
The needle bumped into the red and he dropped the detector, grabbed his shovel.
The sun hung low, an orange fire glowing over the horizon. As the trees slung shadows across the beach, he dug furiously against the onslaught of twilight.
His shovel hit metal. Falling to his knees, he worked out the sand and ran his fingers over what looked like a rusty piece of chain.
For mooring a boat.
Casper sat back, his heart sinking.
Except . . .
He looked closer. The chain seemed hand-hammered, the edges of each link rough and not engineered.
In fact—he pulled the rest of the chain from the earth, found the end. His pulse caught at the sight of an ancient padlock, broken open.
He examined it, his mind turning through his research and landing on the story of Hanes and his third chest of doubloons.
Abandoned under the storm’s onslaught, the chain had broken off.
Casper got up and began to run the detector in a grid around the chain, back into the forest, where the mangroves had taken root.
The detector shrilled and he dropped it, retrieving his shovel and beginning to dig.
The now-milky twilight pressed shadows into the divots of the soil as his hand fastened around plate-size pieces of broken metal. He leaned into the hole and cleared away the sand, his breath short as he touched the rough, rotting top of a box.
Sweat blackened his hands as he cleared away the dirt, trying to lug the box from the sand. It refused to budge. Casper attacked the hole with his shovel, widening it enough to wiggle the box lid free.
What if—?
He crawled his fingers along the edge, hoping to find the bottom of the lid, but as he handled it, the box creaked and the lid broke free, off its hinges.
The archaeologist inside halted him.
But he knew what manner of men haunted these islands. If he left the box here, by tomorrow it would be looted.
As sweat dripped off his chin, saturating his shirt, Casper eased the broken lid open.
Muddy water filled the inside.
He held his breath as he plunged his hand into the murky contents.
Silt sifted between his fingers. He worked them deeper, found the edges, then the bottom, his fingers scraping against wood, then . . . rock.
No.
Oh no. He felt around the hole in the bottom of the box where the elements had bashed it against rock, destroying the wood.
And the storm had washed away any doubloons, any looted spoils from the Spanish ships sacked by the legendary pirates of the Caribbean.
Casper pulled out a handful of gray mud, watching it leach out of his grip.
Around him, bats awoke, blotting out the darkening sky, screeching. Monkeys screamed back, and mosquitoes sawed in his ears.
He closed his eyes to his audience.
Happy New Year.
If the fifty waiting guests were depending on Raina Beaumont to get the bride to the altar, located in the fireplace room of the posh Summit Hill mansion, they should pack up and head home before the snowstorm buried them all for the weekend.
Because Raina hadn’t a clue how to answer cute Gina McCune, despite the look of desperation in her young and worried brown eyes.
“What would you do?”
Pearl Jam’s “Just Breathe” threaded out into the hall, signaling the processional.
“I . . .” Raina glanced toward the front, connected with Michele, the bride’s mother.
Oh, boy. They wanted her advice? Did no one notice the fact that their wedding coordinator sported a pregnant belly under her not-so-little black dress? Not that anyone could guess that the father had ditched her long before he even knew about her condition. Still, she hardly felt able to dispense wisdom.
Maybe, however, no one noticed her swollen ankles or the way she bumped around the room like a tank. Probably today’s activities—the decorating crew, the cake delivery, the flowers—simply distracted everyone from her cumbersome girth.
Even her boss, Grace Christiansen, had refrained from ordering her to sit, put her swollen feet up, breathe through the occasional Braxton-Hicks contractions.
But given that the elite bash counted as Grace’s first major wedding-catering gig, perhaps Grace didn’t have time to spare a thought for her assistant’s grand mistakes in life.
Raina and the bride had to figure out their futures on their own.
Gina blinked, fast, hard, staring at her bouquet of blue hydrangeas and white roses. “It seems right, but it’s the rest of my life. And . . .” She glanced through the half-parted double oak doors to her groom, Kalen Boomer, tall, blond, and swarthy, a hockey goalie for the St. Paul Blue Ox. He stood next to the green-tiled fireplace, beside his best man and the pastor he’d imported from his hometown. Kalen clasped his hands in front of him and stared at the floor.
Gina turned back to Raina. “How do I know I want this? I mean, yes, I love Kalen—so much it hurts sometimes—but how do I know that we’ll be happy ten years from now? That he’ll still love me?”
Raina opened her mouth, glancing past the petite bride toward the massive dining room, holding the delicious reception Grace had created. Garlands of white pine boughs wrapped with twinkle lights hung from the windows, the chandelier, the wainscoting. The collection of round tables glittered with gold chargers crowned with red glass plates over an ivory tablecloth, the room fragrant with the scent of cinnamon-stick favors wrapped at the head of each plate.
Raina held her breath, willing Grace to appear with some pithy words of wisdom. Her roommate always seemed to have something profound for Raina over the past six months as she struggled to figure out the rest of her life.
“What I wouldn’t give to just . . . know. To see the future and know I’m making the right decision. Some sort of lighted path,” Gina was saying. “I mean, look at you. You’re happy and married and have a baby on the way . . .”
Oh. So someone did notice. And probably thought Raina had removed her wedding ring to accommodate swollen fingers. It wasn’t like she’d had a deep and personal conversation about her marital status with Gina over the past three months, and Grace had handled all but the most recent in-person planning sessions.
Gina’s eyes grew glossy. She drew in a breath.
If Raina didn’t conjure up something, this entire thing could trek south in a heartbeat. A sudden image of the bride escaping through the kitchen, upsetting a tray of champagne shrimp, flashed through her mind.
But frankly—good question. How did anyone make a lifelong decision like marriage? Or whether to be a single mother or give up her child for adoption?
Likely any advice Raina gave the bride would only turn out to haunt the poor girl. Besides, sweet Gina seemed to have done everything right, her future nothing but sunny.
As far as Raina peered ahead, she saw only darkness.
She tried a reassuring smile but clearly managed to scare the bride because Gina’s eyes filled.
Then—“Shh, honey.”
Raina turned to see the bride’s mother slipping through the doors. Tall, elegant, blonde, and not a hint of the Asian descent evident in her daughter, she appeared to be in her early fifties and still wore her wedding ring, despite her recent widowhood.
“Mom—sorry. I’m just having a second of . . . Well, how do I know this is the right decision?” Gina turned to her, and Raina stepped back, watching the moment she’d always longed for herself.
A mother’s advice.
Michele took her daughter’s hands. “We don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but you can’t live your life fearing the what-ifs. Kalen is a wonderful man, and he becomes the right de
cision the minute you say, ‘I do.’ The bigger question is, are you ready to make that decision?”
No. Raina wanted to scream it out for Gina—or maybe herself. With only six weeks left . . .
Her hand slid up to press against the baby’s foot, lodged just below her ribs.
“Yes.” The shadows cleared from Gina’s expression. She peeked through the doors, a soft smile lifting. “Yes.”
Her mother held out her arm. “How about if I walk you to meet your groom? Your father would have preferred to do it, but I know he’s watching.”
Now a tear ran off Raina’s chin. She forced a smile and held open the doors as Gina and her mother headed down the aisle.
Gina met her groom, and Raina slid off her shoes, watching them exchange vows. As the ceremony progressed, she picked them up and headed to the kitchen.
The holiday dinner aroma could knock her over—roasted beef au jus, garlic mashed potatoes, freshly baked wheat dinner rolls. In her last trimester her appetite had returned with the ferocity of a wildebeest.
Grace managed the kitchen—and her small staff—with the skills of a general. Raina watched her and for a moment wished she could be assembling the spring salad rather than manning the front lines.
But she simply couldn’t move with the same speed as before. Maybe after . . . when . . . what?
She hadn’t a clue what her life might look like by spring.
Grace glanced up from where she stood plating baked Brie and crackers—appetizers for the guests. “Is the ceremony almost over?”
“Ten minutes or so. How are we doing in here?”
“Perfect.” Grace glanced at Ty Teague, down for the weekend from Deep Haven, helping out as a server. He looked debonair and festive, wearing a tux and white gloves, his curly dark hair freshly groomed. “We might actually pull this off.”
“Of course we will,” Raina said. “I wasn’t sure for a moment, though.”
Grace met her eyes, stricken. “Why? Oh no, did she have cold feet again?”
“You knew about this?” Raina barely stopped herself from reaching for one of the plump shrimp curled around a champagne glass filled with spicy cocktail sauce. “She nearly didn’t walk down the aisle. Started asking me if I thought she should get married. As if I know.”
She moved aside for Ty and Nash—one of Grace’s culinary school recruits—to deliver the appetizers to the parlor, where the reception festivities would begin.
Grace finished plating the next Brie appetizer, then picked up oven mitts. She opened the oven. “She’s just hurting over her father’s death. It’s hard—losing him so close to the wedding.”
“Yeah. Sad. I get it.” Sort of. After all, Raina had lost her father too. But he’d been in jail. And she hadn’t exactly kept in touch.
“And she’s their only child. They really thought he’d beat the cancer this time—hence why they hurried the wedding. Kalen only met her this summer.” She checked the lasagna, then returned it to the oven. “Nearly ready.”
Grace pulled off the hot pads. “I met her dad once, about three weeks before he passed. He was so proud of her—and really liked Kalen, which is saying something. He was so . . . I don’t know. Possessive is not the right word, but . . . doting? Maybe because they had to fight so hard to adopt Gina—I think they went to China three times before they finally brought her home. Gina said she was four, and by that time, she needed six operations to fix her leg. They spared no expense on her. I think she even graduated from Princeton.”
Grace directed Aliya, one of her favorite assistants, to start bringing the salads to the dining room.
Raina picked up two plates. “She never mentioned her leg.”
Grace held open the door. “Yeah, she was born with a deformity or maybe was injured in birth. Anyway, she’s fine now.”
Raina set the salad plates on the chargers. Glanced toward the wedding. “Beautiful, in fact.”
Grace touched Raina’s hand, gave it a quick squeeze before she went back to the kitchen.
Raina slipped her shoes on and headed to the double doors just as she heard the pastor announce the couple.
No hint of regret creased Gina’s face as she held hands with her groom and walked back up the aisle. They disappeared for a moment into the parlor while the rest of the party exited, then returned to dismiss the guests. Raina directed the crowd toward the parlor for appetizers.
“You look pretty tonight, Raina.”
The voice startled her, and for a split second, in that place where she parked her dreams, she heard the deep tenor of Casper Christiansen complimenting her.
When she turned, the man talking to her could be mistaken for him, with dark-brown hair, long behind his ears, and kind eyes.
Except, no—this man had a beard and brown eyes and, well, belonged to Grace. “Thanks, Max,” Raina said.
Maxwell Sharpe slicked up well in a black suit and silver tie. “My girl in the kitchen?”
“Yes.” She reached out to touch his arm, stopping him. “But you are assigned to the parlor. You’re a guest, not staff.”
He made a face at her, and for a second she thought he might disobey—after all, hockey players didn’t exactly mind their manners.
But he surrendered to her words and disappeared to celebrate with the guests.
And Raina surrendered, just for a second, to sinking down on the arching dark oak staircase. The piano and cello from the ceremony continued to play, and “A Thousand Years” lilted out.
She ran her hands over her stomach, listening to the laughter from the parlor, the sweet music echoing into the hall, and drew in a long breath. Her throat ached. See, a girl with this many hormones flooding her body had no business at a wedding. It only conjured up too-tangible images of the man she’d driven away. The man she could never have. Not after the wounds she’d raked into his heart.
And now just the flash of memory could stir up Casper’s smile, the feel of his summer-toned arms around her, and if she didn’t get herself under control, she just might end up in a puddle.
She pressed her fingers under her eyes, shook him from her mind. He’d left—and who blamed him, anyway? She had to move on.
Ty came out, carrying glasses of champagne. He glanced at her, frowning, his sweet brown eyes suddenly concerned. She shook her head, smiled, waved him into the parlor.
“Raina, dear, thank you for your help in keeping Gina calm.” Michele emerged from the room, and Raina made to push up from the stairs. “Oh no—you sit. You have to keep that little bundle safe.” Michele slid onto the stairs next to her. “If my Steven were here, he’d be offering to rub your feet. He did that for all three of my pregnancies.”
Raina glanced at her.
“Oh yes, I was pregnant. Lost the last one at six months. I was never able to carry to term. But God had other wonderful plans.” She stared into her champagne, golden and glistening against the hall chandelier. Outside, the wind blew snow against the windowpane, rattling it. “Steven tried so hard to hang on until this day. Would have, if not for the staph infection. He went so fast.”
Michele forced a smile. “Such a beautiful wedding, despite the storm. I think we might have a few overnight guests.”
“It’s still early, and Grace has dinner ready—”
“And it smells delicious.” She touched Raina’s hand. “So have you and your husband picked out any names?”
Raina shook her head. Didn’t correct her. After all, what could she say? I have no husband? This baby is the result of a one-night stand? The enormity of her stupidity could take her breath away.
“Nothing?”
“I . . . can’t settle on anything.” Starting with whether she’d be the one naming her baby.
“You never know when that baby might want to show up.”
“As long as it’s not tonight,” Raina said, her hand running over her bulk as the baby decided to shift.
Michele laughed. “Yes. That might add too much excitement to the evening. Happy
New Year, Raina. I predict next year is going to be wonderful.”
Raina managed a nod as the bride’s mother joined the party. No, the baby wasn’t coming tonight.
Which meant she could figure out the rest of her life tomorrow.
“SERIOUSLY, DUDE, the chest was empty?” Doug slid up to the bamboo bar where Casper perched, nursing a tepid Coke, his calamari appetizer soggy and cold. Behind him a local band plunked out a Bruno Mars cover—“Just the Way You Are”—the rendition slow and sloppy and drawing a slew of couples wrapped in love pretzels onto the dance floor.
Tiki torches lit a path to the beach, where the velvety-black surf rolled onto shore, perfect and romantic and heartbreaking.
“That’s just about the most pitiful thing I’ve ever heard. You find a bona fide treasure chest and it’s nothing but mud.”
“It’s not funny—”
“It’s hilarious, bro.” Doug gestured to the bartender, who slid a foamy beer in front of him. He lifted it to honor Casper. “To finding the treasure of the century—not!”
“I’m leaving.”
“I hope you’re going back there with a torch and your detector, because by tomorrow morning, the place will be crawling with treasure hunters.”
“It’s gone, Doug. I scoured the area until I could barely see my hand in front of my face. I’m telling you, if there was any gold left, it’s been washed out to sea or maybe stolen before—I don’t know. But it’s not there.” He slid off the stool. “Happy New Year.”
“You’re really leaving? The night is young.” Doug glanced past Casper and grinned, raising his beer. Casper followed his gaze, and it landed on a couple of tourists in bikinis holding drinks in hollowed-out coconuts garnished with umbrellas. The brunette winked, her hair loose in the wind, and for a moment Raina appeared, smiling at him.
Casper turned away, back to Doug. “No, dude, the night has come and gone. According to my watch, it’s after midnight.”
Not that the partygoers had any intention of winding down soon. On the beach, a bonfire blazed, locals dancing in the undulating light, the sparks like fireworks as they snapped, crackled, and popped. From other beach bars and decks, a cacophony of sounds—blues, reggae, pop—serenaded the New Year.
Always on My Mind Page 2
