The Secret She Keeps

by HelenKay Dimon

  She reached out because touching him, being his friend, seemed right. With her fingers covering his, she waded into what could be a messy situation. “You never talk about your time in the military.”

  “Army. Military police.”

  She squeezed his warm fingers. “That must have been tough.”

  “I’ve seen some shit.”

  The door opened behind her, knocking into her and pushing her into Ben. She grabbed on to his shoulders to keep from falling on her face.

  Connor’s gaze flicked from her arms to Ben’s face. “Sorry.”

  Ben steadied her before returning to his chair on the safe side of the desk. “Connor, come in.”

  With the sharing mood broken, she gave up trying to understand Ben and what made him tick. It wasn’t exactly fair anyway since she did whatever she had to do not to give him the chance to work that mental move on her. “You missed the you-need-to-be-careful speech.”

  Connor stood there, not moving. “Interesting that he had to deliver it again.”

  She ignored that because he looked pretty adorable with his hair hanging over his forehead, hiding most of the damage. The bandage was gone today. She could only see the faint bottom edge of the injury through strands of straight black hair.

  “This is new,” Ben said.

  Her gaze followed Ben’s to the floor. To the Jack Russell terrier with the brown face and white body sitting half on Connor’s sneaker. She’d recognize that plaid bow-tie-shaped collar anywhere. “Why are you walking Mr. Higginbotham?”

  Connor held the leash. “So, everyone on Whitaker knows this dog?”

  “He’s Winnie’s dog.” She looked at Ben. “Though, come to think of it, I have no idea what Winnie’s last name is.”

  Ben shrugged. “Probably not relevant to the story.”

  “She came over to visit Paul while I was fixing his step, which was perfectly fine, I would add. It barely squeaked.” Connor rolled his eyes as he described his morning. “While I was putting the tools away, she said she needed to talk to Paul and asked me to walk Mr. . . .”

  Maddie couldn’t help but smile at the picture they made. Connor, tall and looming, watching over the spoiled fourteen-pound dog belonging to a person he didn’t even know. “Higginbotham. A perfectly respectable name, by the way.”

  “Of course it is.” He sounded defensive on the dog’s behalf. “I put him in the car and brought him here to check on you first.”

  She laughed. There was just no way to hold it in. When she glanced at Ben, she saw he was right on the edge of losing it as well. “She got him.”

  Ben nodded. “She did.”

  “Excuse me?” When Mr. Higginbotham started sniffing Connor’s sneaker, Connor picked him up and put him on the chair next to him. Right across from Ben.

  “Winnie and Paul are . . .” It was an open secret but Maddie realized that, being new, Connor hadn’t heard it yet. “Let’s use the word dating.”

  Connor made a strangled noise. “I’m still confused.”

  Yeah, she was going to have to spell it out for him. “They like to meet for sex but, apparently, Mr. Higginbotham barks if they’re too loud, so Winnie tries to convince other people to take him on a long walk while she and Paul do the deed.”

  Ben kept nodding. “I think they know we all know, but they act like they don’t.”

  Connor’s mouth dropped open. It took him a few seconds before he said anything. “Let me understand this. I was scammed by a seventysomething woman who wanted to have a noisy booty call.”

  Finally. “Yes.”

  “That sums it up nicely,” Ben said.

  She waited for Connor to get ticked off but he smiled.

  “Good for her.” His smile grew wider. “For Paul, too. Although I’m now thinking the handyman job was a ruse for the real job, dog walking.”

  An odd sensation flooded her. One she hadn’t felt in so long that she barely recognized it. Happiness. He got scammed by some well-meaning older people who wanted some time alone and he was fine with that. He didn’t yell or cause a scene. He hadn’t when he found out she hit him either. That’s who Connor was. He stayed calm and handled things. It’s likely what made him such a good businessman.

  “She’ll be happy to know you like walking Mr. Higginbotham,” she added, unable to stop herself.

  His smile faded. “This is a one-time thing.”

  “You poor, naive darling. Sure it is.”

  Ben shook his head. “Sucker.”

  “That, too.” She took pity on Connor and reached for the leash. “Here, let me take him.”

  “Where?”

  “See the circling thing he’s doing on the cushion?” Mr. Higginbotham walked around, sniffed the fake leather, then circled again. She took that as a sign to get moving. “I think he has to go to the bathroom and Ben will get testy if it happens on his office chair.”

  Ben snorted. “Yes, he will.”

  After Maddie handed Ben her tablet, she grabbed the dog and headed for the door. Connor just stood there. He could see her through the open door to the inner office and the one to the outside. She stuck to the area right out front, in the patch of grass before the parking lot.

  He was about to go with her when Ben spoke up. “You doing okay?”

  Connor spared Ben a quick glance. “I don’t like getting up this early during what’s supposed to be my vacation.”

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  “I know.”

  The desk chair creaked as Ben stood up. His footsteps thudded on the concrete floor as he walked around the desk and leaned in the doorway, joining Connor in watching over Maddie from a distance.

  Ben lowered his voice to a whisper as he continued. “If the thought is to bolt, you should do it now. Don’t get any more entangled with her. Your brother waited too long and now he’s engaged, though I think we both agree that’s a good thing.”

  A great thing, but Connor didn’t really focus on that part of the comment. “I’m not looking for a wife, but thanks.”

  “If you say so.”

  The uneasiness Connor tried to block kept kicking to the surface. The hold or hug or whatever it was looked innocent enough when he walked in, but it wouldn’t be the first time he’d read a relationship wrong. He glanced at Ben. “Unless you need me to leave the island.”

  Ben continued to lounge against the doorjamb. “I’m not sure what you’re suggesting.”

  “Come on.”

  “Ah, that.” Ben let out a long, exaggerated breath as he finally gave Connor eye contact. “There’s nothing between us. I asked Maddie out to eat once and she did everything to avoid letting it happen. Even pretended she didn’t understand the question. I got the hint. I’m firmly in the friend category, and that’s the right answer. There’s no us, Connor.”

  So, he’d tried. At one point, Ben showed an interest and made a move. Connor wasn’t sure what to do with that information, so he tucked it away to analyze later. “She hit me with a stick and I keep coming back.”

  Ben laughed. “Maybe you should ask yourself why.”

  Footsteps dragged Connor’s attention back to the office reception area, saving him from having to reply to that.

  She walked up to Connor and handed over the leash. “He did his business. You’re welcome.”

  Right. The dog and Winnie. He was supposed to be running an errand.

  He rubbed the area around his stitches. “I guess I should take him back.”

  Ben winced. “Uh . . .”

  Maddie’s expression didn’t look any more positive about his suggestion. “Let’s treat him to a long recreational walk first.”

  “Why?”

  She shot him a why-aren’t-you-getting-this frown. “Do you want to walk in on Paul and Winnie before they’re done?”

  Sweet hell. “Some exercise sounds good.”

  “Now you get it.” She winked at him. “Smart man.”

  Chapter 13

  They avoided any discussio
n of the kiss or the spark between them, or anything of substance for two full days. Connor walked a fine line between longing and wanting to run like hell before he got in too deep.

  The days played out in a standard pattern. They got up and she went to work but instead of answering calls from the comfort of her house, she did it from a small desk in Ben’s office. To avoid hearing her complain, Connor stayed away, doing odd jobs for people he barely knew who assumed he was handy. And tried in vain to relax. Sleep and rest didn’t come easy when he spent most of the night dreaming of the woman one short ladder away.

  Not that the days passed easier. Maddie grew restless. She insisted that his cabin was a safe enough place for her work. This morning she snapped because he said he didn’t like crunchy peanut butter. She took the offhand comment as a personal affront. Acted like he’d kicked a puppy.

  Yeah, they needed some space . . . or a long talk about the kiss and the possibility for a repeat, maybe with some touching thrown in. The tension strangled both of them.

  He contemplated the options while he sat in his car in the Whitaker library parking lot. He’d dropped Maddie off at Ben’s office next door for the new workday, listening to her grumble as she got out of the car. He’d only driven a few feet away before pulling into an empty space. That’s all he could manage while memories of her cute pajamas floated through his mind.

  He let his head fall back against the seat. His eyes closed, but only for a second before they shot open again. Coffee. He needed more coffee. Maybe a pep talk from Sylvia.

  He straightened up, ready to turn the car back on and really drive away this time, when he saw her. She’d been inside all of two minutes and now she walked out the front door and snuck around the side away from him. Didn’t look up. Didn’t wait for Ben to follow.

  What the hell?

  He slipped out of the car and jogged to the edge of the building. Toyed with the idea of grabbing Ben, but Maddie moved at a clip. He couldn’t afford to waste time and lose her.

  After a few feet, she scooted off any recognizable path. She wound her way through the trees. She stopped only once and that was to tie her shoe. One quick glance around and she was off again. Sure that she was messing with him, he waited behind the tree for a few extra seconds. When he peeked around it again, it took him almost a minute to find her. Her jacket hood flapped, but the olive coat otherwise blended in with the bushes and grass.

  Now he didn’t care if he got caught or not. The important thing was to keep up with her. Not let her stretch out ahead and run smack into danger.

  The tall trees blocked out most of the sun, leaving the area underneath shaded and the sounds inside muffled. He slid on the slick forest floor of moss and dead leaves. But he could see a break in the branches ahead and a pool of light. Picking up speed, he slipped through the opening.

  It took him a few seconds to get his bearings but then his sense of direction kicked in. From this position, he hid in the trees off to one side of Holloway Harbor. He could see the marina attached to the Yacht Club in the distance and the dock for the ferry in front of him.

  Workers bustled on the pier. He knew from experience the ferry from Seattle would pull in there today on one of its two weekly runs. The loading and unloading lasted less than a half hour. Then the ferry took off again, hitting two other islands before setting back for the city.

  The ride to Whitaker had been frigid but scenic. Water lapped against the sides of the boat and the view from the open deck gave way to a vast sea of blue with tiny dots of land that grew bigger the closer you got. Most people sat inside, gathered around the small snack bar. Despite the wind and pelting of water droplets, he viewed being trapped in there when he could be out here, around all of this, a waste of a ride.

  “What are you doing?” Her voice rang out from behind him.

  He almost jumped out of his skin. “Jesus, woman.”

  She stepped in front of him with a scowl that suggested he tell the truth. “Why are you following me?”

  No, he refused to play this game. He wasn’t the one who should be answering for their behavior today. “Why did you pretend to go to work, then sneak out?”

  “I do not sneak.”

  He refused to dignify that. “Who’s answering your calls?”

  She stared at him for a few seconds, not saying a word. “The woman who covers for me and handles Mondays so I can have a day disconnected from the table and phone.”

  “Did you tell her in advance that you needed the morning off to run around the island but then forget to tell me?”

  “I don’t like being tracked.”

  As far as dodges went, she’d done better, but he let it slide . . . for the moment. “I don’t like being lied to.”

  “You have an answer for everything, don’t you?”

  “No, because I have no idea what you’re doing.”

  She sighed at him.

  He sighed right back.

  “Fine.” She threw up her hands. “Checking.”

  She stopped after that, as if the cryptic remark explained everything. She was determined to make sure he never wanted to take a vacation again. “On what?”

  “Who comes on and off that ferry.”

  He followed her gaze to the empty pier but it didn’t help. The visual, the words, none of it made sense to him. “You’re going to make me ask.”

  “I need to know who is on the island.”

  Some of the tension ran out of him. Each muscle relaxed as he realized this was part of some ritual for her. Not completely relaxed because the idea that she thought she needed to keep that kind of watch on people made him ache for her. Only fear could push a person to those extremes.

  “All two hundred nineteen people,” he said, keeping his voice neutral so that he didn’t upset her more than he already had.

  “That’s a specific number.”

  “It’s on the brochure in Ben’s office.”

  “Speaking of Ben . . . Before the two of you insisted that I needed a babysitter, this is how I protected myself.”

  He wanted to touch her, make it better somehow. He ignored the instinct and let her say what she needed to say with minimal interference from him. “And then you go to their cabins and hit them with sticks.”

  “That only happened once.” She brushed the sole of her boot along the small stones lining the division between the grassy area and the start of the parking lot for the ferry. “You were quicker than I expected.”

  The pieces still didn’t make sense but the picture cleared a bit. “You thought I came to Whitaker to hurt you and you wanted to, what, check out the cabin and maybe attack me before I could attack you?”

  She shrugged. “I didn’t know who you were, and your visit was unexpected.”

  “This is no way to live, Maddie.”

  “It’s the way I’ve survived.” Her eyes widened. “So?”

  That ended the conversation he thought they were having. “What are you asking?”

  “Are you coming with me to get the ferry manifest or not?”

  “No one has ever asked me that before, so yes. I’m intrigued.” And he guessed it took a lot for her to suggest he tag along. He vowed not to take that trust for granted.

  “Try not to be too”—she looked him up and down—“you.”

  She sure knew how to kill a mood. “I’m ignoring that snide comment.”

  “People on Whitaker don’t trust strangers.”

  “You’ve all made that clear.”

  “I’m serious.”

  “Trust me, Maddie. I am taking you very seriously.”

  Chapter 14

  Maddie got the information she needed about the ferry, but it hadn’t been easy with Connor standing there. As promised, he didn’t talk much but that made it worse. The North kid, her contact in the ferry office, barely twenty and the paranoid type, kept glancing at Connor while they talked. She finally gave up and said he was her bodyguard, which was only a little lie. She feared Connor would take tha
t role seriously and she’d never have a minute of peace on Whitaker again.

  Now they were inside, where it was warm. Late breakfast patrons sat in tables around the Lodge’s dining room. It looked like a lot of people got a late start today, but Maddie knew better. She didn’t venture out often, or hadn’t until recently, but every time she did this happened.

  This was the eavesdropping crowd. They lingered and pretended to eat, all while watching every move Connor made. An unsettling amount of staring.

  Sylvia stood on the other side of the bar at one end of the dining room. Her gaze traveled from Connor to Maddie, who both sat on stools, not saying a word.

  “You two are glaring at each other.” Sylvia put two cups of coffee on the bar, one in front of each of them. “Keep that up and people will think you ran off and got married.”

  Maddie ignored the comment as she reached for the sugar packets and decided she needed two to get through this morning. The paper ripped and she searched for a spoon, which ended when Connor held one in front of her face. He even managed to make that seem snotty.

  “I’m trying to think of a nice way of telling Connor to back off.” She stirred, then clanged the spoon against the side of her mug for emphasis.

  Connor didn’t seem upset by her words. He stayed slouched over his mug with his elbows resting on the edge of the bar. “She means—”

  “The notes. I get it. Those would make anyone twitchy.” Sylvia sighed as she poured herself a cup of coffee to match theirs. “My guess is you’re suffocating her with much-needed, but likely a bit stifling, protection duty.”

  “Wait.” Maddie lost hold of the spoon and it thudded against the counter. “How do you know about the notes?”

  “Oh, that.” Sylvia drew out the answer by taking a sip first. “Ben.”

  For a guy everyone trusted, he sure did like to chat about secrets. Good to know. “Did he put it in the paper?”

  Sylvia moved around behind the counter, and when she turned around to face them again, she held a tray of breakfast pastries. “I’m the head of the Whitaker Board. We meet once a week and he fills me in about what’s happening and cases I need to be aware of, which usually consists of people who refuse to pick up their dog poop and unexplained garden trampling. That one was last week, by the way. Louise Stone wants to know who messed with her carrots.”