Scott gave him a hard look. “That’s total bullshit and you know it.”
“Yeah. I do. I’m crazy about Julianne. That’s why I hope to God she isn’t hiding an Eleanor Jennings persona behind that adorable face.”
Next door at the B&B, an eager Julianne had no idea Ryder was having misgivings about them spending the day together. Had she known, she might have been tempted to call the whole thing off. Instead, she ate an egg and veggie omelet on the terrace, lingering over her third cup of coffee as if she had all the time in the world—no traffic to deal with or rush to reach her class.
That’s why she took the opportunity to take a leisurely pass under the blossoming magnolias, picked a few drooping daisies that had not fared well in the coastal wind. This weekend had accomplished one thing. It put to rest any remaining doubt about the move. She couldn’t wait to put down roots here.
As she headed upstairs to get ready for her date, she tried to figure out how long it had been since she’d gone out with anyone. As she put on her makeup, she counted the months. It had been last summer when Brian Kramer, a math teacher, had asked her to go to a local music festival held on the boardwalk. She couldn’t remember why that had been their only date. Then it hit her. Brian had had an odd habit of droning on about movie facts, probably trying to impress her. It hadn’t worked. Even his voice had grated on her. Then, there had been Ron something-or-other around Christmas. Ron had taken her to dinner. He’d been eerily quiet over his fish until they’d gotten back to the car where he’d developed a serious case of octopus hands. Ugh.
She heard her cell phone ding with a text message.
Pulling up in front now. Ready?
Yep. On my way down.
The minute he caught sight of her in a mint-green knit dress, his uncertainty faded.
After she clicked her seatbelt in place, he smiled and said. “Just so you know, I took your advice and contacted CID. I was surprised when they told me what happened to me occurs on a fairly regular basis to many soldiers. They added her fake name to a database they keep on people who run scams on service members. On the off-chance she uses a variation of that, they might get a hit.”
“See, you have to cover all the angles. I’m thinking of doing something crazy.”
“If it involves you wearing whip cream and a black teddy, I’m in.”
Julianne threw back her head and laughed. “That could be arranged.”
“Really? I’m there already. How crazy do you want to get?”
“I was thinking of poking my nose into who owns that box. While Brent does his thing, I’m thinking of starting with what we know.”
“We know it has some connection to the Richmonds. Otherwise why would the deed be inside?”
“Good, we’re on the same page there. I say we slide the bar over to the Jennings family. A Richmond married a Jennings. That alone gives us a point of reference. I say, when I close on the house, we go through it for anything that might indicate who owns the box. Are you game?”
“Or, here’s a thought, we could just ask one of the kids or both.”
She grinned. “Definitely the more direct approach. I like it. Jordan told me this morning Drea owns the florist shop. I could stop in, even though I don’t think a girl owned that box. I could be wrong of course. But I could go in, browse, then ask her using your direct approach, get to know her, tell her something about me. Maybe she’d open up enough, see how it goes and then get her to tell me about her older brother, Cooper.”
“Meanwhile, I could approach Caleb. I see the guy around town at least every other day making deliveries or working at the garden center in some capacity or another. We’ve always stuck to safe subjects like the weather and seedlings. It might be interesting to get his take on how he grew up.”
“Then it’s a plan.”
“If that’s your idea of crazy though, I’m a little disappointed.”
“You were envisioning the whip cream and black teddy.” She lifted her eyebrows up and down. “I’ve been known to work with both.”
“Now you’re just getting me hot and bothered. And while I’m driving no less.”
She ran her finger down the side of his cheek up to his ear. “It’s mean of me, huh?”
Ryder thought of Layne and all the crap Eleanor had dished out over the years. “If that’s the meanest thing you ever do, I’d be shocked.”
“I’ll work on my darker side, how’s that?”
“As longer as darker equates to hot and sweaty sex instead of mean or mentally unstable…”
“Oh, Ryder. You’re thinking of Eleanor and Bethany now. Stop it. My dark side consists of a temper now and again just like everyone else. I’m not a menacing person, not even very mysterious. I’m just a regular person.”
Trying not to take his eyes off the road, he found her hand, squeezed it in his. “That’s me, too. Scott showed up this morning.”
“Really? How’d that turn out?”
“I’m beginning to get a better handle on the guy.”
“How so?”
“For one, he gave me insight into Layne.” Ryder went into an account of their conversation. He noted the stricken look on her face. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m having second thoughts about approaching Drea because I’m convinced Layne and Brooke never left town.”
“Wow, where did that come from? Why would that pop into your head?”
“The most obvious reason of them all. Layne would never leave his kids behind with Eleanor. Everyone said so last night. I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me until now.”
Ryder mulled that over. “I’m suddenly getting a sick feeling in my gut. If the couple didn’t leave town, then where are they?”
“That’s the number one question these days.”
About that time, Ryder pulled into the lane leading to the Atkins farmhouse. Junk lined the rutted pavement—two rusted-out Chevys, a slew of old tractor tires, broken discarded furniture sat among knee-high weeds. It looked like a rural version of Sanford and Son.
“This is where our desks have been stored?”
“Looks like.”
The man who greeted them looked as ancient as the barn itself. But there was a smile plastered across his worn face as if he was happy to have the company.
“You the folks that called about the stuff I salvaged from the school?”
“That’s us,” Ryder replied.
“I’m Cleef Atkins. Glad to meet you. Hear you’re reopening the place up, ’bout time.”
Julianne introduced herself. “We’re interested in anything you have left that’s in good enough condition that we might be able to reuse or repurpose.”
“I got it all, desks, chalkboards, lockers, light fixtures, water fountains, you name it, I kept it. My son and I hauled it out of there ourselves. Nobody wanted the stuff till now, although I did sell the display case to a retail shop over in San Sebastian five years back or so.”
Cleef slid open the barn door. “Been gathering dust all these years, that’s why I’m in a position to make you a good deal on all of it.”
Julianne looked around at the treasure trove of antiques amassed floor to ceiling. Sneezing in rapid succession while turning sideways to make it through the labyrinth of furniture, she called out, “Ryder, you need to see this.”
He followed the trail she’d blazed through the jumble of junk upfront to get to the back and the reason they’d made the trip. There, in the massive vault of barn, the old desks were lined up and stacked on top of each other, hundreds of them.
Spotting the nest of desks, Julianne said, “Look at this, two different kinds. The one-piece units are for the upper grades, fifth and sixth. The single desks with chairs are used in kindergarten through fourth grade. Most are in good shape. The legs might need recoating but it beats blowing the budget on new. Nick and Logan will be delighted.”
“The tops could be replaced with new wood or Formica.”
She ran her fingers across the
finish where the kids had gotten creative with carving their initials into the grain. “How old do you think some of these desks are? Looks like they reused items from the fifties. The teachers’ desks are even older. But that’s okay. There’s nothing wrong with refinishing them.”
“Some of this stuff has no doubt been around since I went to school,” Cleef said aiming a grin at both of them.
“So the plan is to use what we have here?” Ryder asked.
“I think it’s the best use of the money.” She turned to Cleef to get ready to bargain. “What’s your asking price?”
Cleef tossed out a figure.
“That’s your idea of a good deal?” Julianne shook her head and threw out a much lower number.
The old farmer countered.
Ryder stood back and watched a master negotiate to hammer out the deal.
“Don’t forget all this has been sitting here gathering dust all this time. If we walk away, what chance do you ever have of unloading the lot of it? And it’s for the kids,” Julianne reminded him before posing what she considered a fair price.
Cleef chewed on his lip before admitting, “Anyone ever tell you that you’re a tough wrangler? You’ve got a deal.”
Julianne responded by throwing her arms around the old man’s shoulders with such force she almost knocked him back a step. “Yes, but they usually don’t hold it against me. I want you to promise me you’ll come to the open house. Mark your calendar.”
Embarrassed by the display of affection, Cleef shuffled his feet, turned to Ryder. “You got yourself a spirited female here.”
Ryder’s lips curved up before he slapped a hand on the old man’s back. “I don’t know what kind of man doesn’t appreciate a spirited woman.” He took out his cellphone. “If it’s a done deal then I’ll make the call to Logan. Give him a cost estimate to refurbish what we have here.”
While Ryder made his call, the three drifted back outside into the sunshine.
“Someone said that the Jennings family used to own a spread around here. Is that true?” Julianne asked, not wanting to admit she’d already looked up the information online in county tax records.
“Sure, I knew Euell Jennings for years, grew up together. These parts it’d be hard to find an old-timer like me who didn’t. As a matter of fact, his ranch was a couple miles down the road from mine.”
“Is it still there? The ranch, that is.”
“House is, but not any of the other buildings. As I recall a couple moving here from Los Angeles bought the place, decided to demolish everything but that mansion. Growing up, his family and mine went to the same church. Torn that down too though, a shame. I miss that old church. Anyway, his kids and mine were classmates. Euell and I remained friends. That is, up until the day he died.”
“You must have known Landon and Eleanor pretty well.”
“Oh, I did indeed. Landon had a good disposition. Now Euell’s daughter, Eleanor, was a whole other story.”
“We’ve heard stories that she was a real piece of work.”
“That’s because she was. Rumors floated around that the girl was the one who took the rifle out to the barn that morning.” Cleef leaned closer. “Killed her own father, girl was just mean enough to do it, too.”
“You really believe that?”
“I know for a fact she was so out of control at the age of fifteen, Euell didn’t know what else to do so he sent her away to one of those rehab places you hear about on TV. You ask me, didn’t do a damned bit of good. She said all the right things to get out. Then when she got back to Pelican Pointe, she came back madder than a dozen hornets and twice as devious. She was only sixteen. Try to imagine what she was like by the time she latched on to Layne.”
“She learned to play the system,” Ryder acknowledged.
“By that time she’d perfected her act.”
“You bet,” Cleef agreed with them both, scratching his stubbly chin. “I always suspected she tricked Layne into marriage.”
“How?”
“She just wanted to get hitched. Said all the right things but didn’t mean a single word that came out of her mouth. That was Eleanor.”
“She sounds like a real phony.”
Once Ryder and Julianne got on their way, a silence hung in the air until Julianne said, “Should we tell Brent about what Cleef just told us?”
“Even if it’s true, what good would it do? Eleanor’s dead. How would we prove she was the one who shot her father and made it look like a suicide? There’s no way.”
“I don’t know but I really think Brent needs to have all the facts at hand. How can he solve this thing unless he knows all the deets?”
Seeing the troubled look on her face, he took her chin. “Change in plans. The clock is ticking on your getaway weekend. You have to checkout at the B&B this afternoon, right?”
“You know I do.”
“Then let’s do something spontaneous and fun.”
She looked over, saw his eyes glow with a devilish gleam. “Like what?”
“Are you up for an adventure?”
“I suppose. As long as it’s legal and I’m back in class by tomorrow morning.”
“Ever heard of Treasure Island?”
“Of course, Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic.”
“According to Nick, we have our own right here. How would you like to go there and laze away the afternoon?”
“We’ve plenty of time to explore the area,” Ryder assured her as they trudged down the steep set of steps to get to the Cove below the cliffs. “Besides, while you were upstairs changing into jeans, Jordan said not to worry about getting in a hurry to check out. There’s no rush.”
“Jordan shouldn’t have put together the picnic basket. That was too much. Everyone’s been so great to me this weekend. I’m almost sad to go back to Santa Cruz.”
“But you’ll soon be here full-time, able to enjoy everything the place has to offer.”
“Look at this,” Julianne said when they reached the sandy beach below. It was everything she’d heard about and more. The stretch of pristine beach hidden away from the tops of the bluffs was a prime sample of what set the B&B apart from others along the coast. With the rock wall as a backdrop, sugary sand met up with lapping sea.
“According to Nick they keep the ketch tied up in the cave over there.”
They spotted the motorized lifeboat and dragged it to the launch. He helped her in before climbing aboard, started the motor.
Within the first few minutes the choppy sea had her wishing she’d stayed on shore. The up and down motion made her wish she hadn’t eaten breakfast hours earlier. They hadn’t gotten far when Ryder picked up on the way she looked.
“You okay?” he asked, noting her grayish pallor.
“I’m a bit queasy.”
“You should’ve said something. I didn’t know you’d get seasick. It never occurred to me. I never would’ve suggested this.”
“It’s okay. I guess I got caught up in the adventure of the moment.”
“We’ll be there in a few minutes. Can you stand it for that long? Or do you want me to head back?”
“No, let’s keep going. I want to see this place.”
She didn’t look okay, Ryder decided. But he could see the shoreline within sight so he continued on, all the while the little raft bounced over foamy whitecaps. Once they reached the shallow inlet, he tossed the mushroom anchor into the water to moor them as close to the little sliver of island as he could get.
Hopping out, he lifted her up out of the boat. Hugging her to his chest, he trekked through the waves and up the beach to the hilly terrain.
Her feet touched down on ground more rock than sand. Knee-high bunchgrass mixed with fragrant white sage, and eucalyptus peppered the tiny island landscape. Mosaics of bright poppies and blue storm mingled with perennial herbs. Budding California blackbrush fought for turf among hardy huckleberry. Looking around at the coastal shrub, she saw California quail nestled among the grassl
and.
“I’m not sure what I was expecting but this is downright primitive.”
“Are you okay?” He took her by the shoulders, lifted her chin to peer into her eyes. “Your color’s better. You aren’t as pale as you were before. Weren’t you ever a girl scout?”
“Yes, but I excelled more at meeting my cookie quotas rather than camping or sailing.”
“Really? So you’re not the outdoorsy type.”
“I love the outdoors. I just never considered myself much of a wilderness freak or sailor. I’m more the lifeguard type who sits on the beach and blows my whistle when there’s a problem.”
He laughed. “So you don’t surf?”
“Sure I do. I’m a California girl, a regular Sarah Gerhardt.”
“Who?”
“Sarah’s famous. She’s the first woman to conquer Mavericks, the spot around Half Moon Bay, the Mount Everest of big waves with nasty breaks. Sarah used to teach, chemistry, I think. You don’t surf?”
“Not yet, but I’m willing to have you teach me.”
“It’s a deal. Too bad we didn’t bring a board.”
Once they got settled near a stony wash, Ryder spread the blanket next to a circle of stones. The fire pit would come in handy for overnight stays. Too bad they were only there for the afternoon.
Surrounded by the lapping water, Julianne dug into the picnic basket, brought out a bottle of Shiraz. “Can you believe all this stuff Jordan packed?” She set out leftovers from last night’s party—cheese, crackers, cucumber salad, bite-size quiche, cold chicken and pesto.
Stretching her legs out, her hands out in back, she tilted her face up to the sun.
Watching her, something inside him clicked.
He dropped beside her, raked his fingers through her hair and tugged it to get her to roll into him. It didn’t take much for her to respond. Their interest in food vanished replaced by attraction, need, heat.
Ryder forgot about the unforgiving ground and urged her to crawl on top.
Last Chance Harbor Page 12
