Gloria’s Secret

by Robin Alexander

  “How’d you know?” Adrienne asked.

  “I read in the paper that Hank had been hiding on the island because he’d stolen from one of the drug lords. After his old boss got a tip on his whereabouts, they sent a man in to check it out and he was murdered. The feds had been investigating this group for a while and moved in. They claimed the mission was a huge success.” Tarsha paused and smiled. “Now what I want to know is what really happened to Hank.”

  “Does everyone else know what you learned in the paper?” I asked.

  “No, just me and Toni.”

  “I’m sure you can understand why we didn’t want to—”

  Tarsha cut me off with a wave of her hand. “If this was my place, I wouldn’t be shouting it from the rooftops, either. But the publicity did do you some good. Toni and I didn’t know about your inn until we saw that article.”

  Toni was bouncing in her seat. “Tell us the story!”

  “Well, you have the gist of it,” Adrienne said. “Brandon Fallon was sent by Hank’s old drug boss to see if he was here. He posed as a guest to snoop around, then just disappeared one day. We got the police involved, but Hayden and I did a little investigating of our own.”

  “And that’s when the trouble began,” I said.

  “Hank realized that we’d figured out it was him, and he came after us. He had us at knifepoint when Iris intervened with her iron skillet.”

  A wicked smile tugged at the corners of Toni’s mouth. “I guess something really did fall on his head.”

  “Repeatedly,” Adrienne said with a grimace.

  “So you really think it’s his ghost doing things around here?” Tarsha asked.

  “Our staff does, but Adrienne and I believe it’s someone just having a good time at our expense. But to be on the safe side, Colie, Iris’s boyfriend and a cop, and I will patrol the grounds tonight.”

  “I’ll let you know if I hear anything funny going on at night,” Tarsha said. “I’m a light sleeper, but Toni here sleeps so deep I swear she’s one inch above death.”

  “Don’t confront anyone on your own, just yell,” Adrienne said. “We’ll hear you.”

  Our conversation was interrupted when the van pulled up. The rest of the gang emerged, minus Barry and Russell who were still down on the beach.

  “That was really cool,” Diane said. “We saw the old monastery and drove all over the island. We may never leave this place.”

  “Watch what you’re saying, girlie,” Iris teased as she joined us. “We had two guests dat said the same ting and dey still here.”

  Diane shot us a questioning look.

  “Dr. Shelby and her partner visited us a few months ago and now they’re permanent residents,” Adrienne said with a grin.

  When things calmed down and our guests mingled with one another, Iris introduced us to our newest staff member and her son. “Adrienne and Hayden, this is Marta and her son Teddy.”

  “Nice to meet you, Marta,” I said as I extended my hand. When Marta turned her attention to Adrienne, I knelt down and shook Teddy’s hand as his big brown eyes looked shyly into mine. “Nice to meet you, Teddy. How old are you?”

  He halfway hid himself behind his mother’s leg as she talked to Adrienne but held up five little fingers.

  “Five, wow! You’re practically grown up. You’re probably old enough to have a job around here, too.”

  He smiled at that.

  “You any good at fixing things?”

  He shook his head.

  “Me either, we’ll probably make a good team,” I said, earning myself another smile.

  Iris ushered Marta and Teddy into the dining room where she had a snack plate and a glass of milk to occupy Teddy while she showed his mom around the kitchen.

  “He’s cute, isn’t he?” Adrienne said.

  I nodded as I watched him stuff his mouth full of cookies.

  “How about I get us a couple of coffees and join you for a cigarette?” Adrienne asked.

  This meant one of two things. She really wanted to talk or she was feeling frisky. I hoped it was the latter, but with our luck lately, I doubted it.

  “Meet you on the patio?”

  “No, the sitting area by our cottage,” Adrienne lowered her voice and drew closer to me. “I want to talk to you alone.”

  She met me a few minutes later while I sat at our outside table with a few of Saber’s offspring playing in my lap. After carefully setting down the coffees, Adrienne looked me in the eyes. “Marta doesn’t like us because we’re white.”

  “Did she say as much or did you read her thoughts?”

  Adrienne took a sip of her coffee before answering. “I read her thoughts, and it troubles me because so many of our guests are white.”

  “Well, she liked one white guy. Did you take a good look at Teddy? His heritage is mixed, for sure. Maybe that’s why she doesn’t like us. Some tourist probably promised her the moon, knocked her up, and slipped off the island leaving her to raise a child alone. Frankly, I’d be a little resentful, too.”

  Adrienne nodded. “You’ve got a good point there. If his mother stays on for any length of time, I’m going to lose my heart to that little guy. While I was making our coffees, I listened to his thoughts, and they were all about cookies, but there was something else, a feeling of loneliness.”

  “Maybe he felt uncomfortable not being able to see his mom while she was in the kitchen.”

  “I guess,” Adrienne said before taking another sip.

  I picked up an orange tabby that looked just like Saber. “Maybe Teddy would enjoy playing with this little guy.”

  “We’re not giving them away.” Adrienne gave me a stern look.

  “Who said I was going to give them away? I was just thinking that Teddy might enjoy the kittens when he’s here at the inn.”

  “Good answer, honey.”

  “Am I gonna be rewarded?”

  Adrienne lowered her voice to a sexy purr. “What do you have in mind?”

  “You and me naked right now.”

  “Sorry, sweetie, dinner is about to be served, and there’s no way we can do what you’re suggesting in five minutes.”

  “I’m willing to give it a try.”

  Adrienne came around the table, pushed a few kittens away, and sat on my lap. “I’ll make you a deal,” she said as she ran her fingers through my hair. “Tomorrow morning when you come in from your patrol with Colie, I’ll reward you big-time.”

  “You’re not talking about breakfast in bed, are you, ’cause that’s really not the kind of reward I’m looking for.”

  Adrienne arched a single brow. “You’ll enjoy what I plan to serve you.”

  Chapter Seven

  It took a long time to wipe the silly grin off my face when I accompanied Adrienne back to the bar. The reward that she promised and the toe-curling kiss that came with it made me giddy and downright light-headed.

  Adrienne and I pitched in and helped Iris and her crew set up the dinner buffet. Marta jumped right in, doing whatever Iris and the other staff asked of her. She was extremely polite to our guests when they began to file in. Adrienne noticed it too and gave me a pleased smile.

  Adrienne’s gift was not always accurate, and maybe this time it was a little off. I hoped so because Iris seemed to really like Marta. Adrienne and I were already smitten with Teddy, who sat by himself watching all the commotion.

  Adrienne walked over to him when our guests began to fill their plates. I watched the way he smiled up at her as she talked to him. Teddy seemed to be as taken with her as I was. He pulled a racecar out of his pocket, handed it to Adrienne, and beamed with pride as she fawned over the gift.

  Marta seemed a little agitated when she walked into the room and noticed Adrienne and Teddy.

  “He’s really no problem at all,” I heard Adrienne say as I approached the three.

  “I told him to stay back on the patio until I was finished.” Marta glared at the boy.

  “Marta, may I speak
to you on the patio for a moment?” I asked. She followed me out back and I smiled, trying to assure the fidgeting woman that I was not about to chew her out. “Did Iris make you aware of the clientele that we normally entertain here?”

  “Yes, ma’am, I knew dat before I came here.”

  “Please don’t call me ma’am, it makes me feel old.” I grinned. “I guess what I’m trying to say is, that while you may feel comfortable with us, you might not be so comfortable with having your son around—”

  “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have brought him, but I had no one to keep him while I was at work. My friend wasn’t home. It won’t happen again, dat I promise.”

  Now I was confused.

  “Marta, do you think I’m angry because you brought Teddy to work?”

  She lowered her eyes and nodded.

  “I was afraid that you didn’t want your son around us and our guests. I think we’re misunderstanding each other all around. I’ll be honest with you, though. When we have guests, the inn tends to get a little rowdy. There’s a lot of drinking and wild partying that goes on and you may not want Teddy exposed to that.”

  I smiled and patted her on the shoulder. “Our staff is like family to us and we try to be as accommodating as we can. We can make arrangements for him when you don’t have a sitter.”

  An odd expression flickered across Marta’s face for an instant, and she returned the smile.

  “On the nights that you don’t have anyone to watch Teddy when you work, he can stay in the cottage I share with Adrienne. We can set him up with movies and take turns checking on him until your shift is over. And when the inn is without guests, he canvisit and have free reign.”

  “Thank you. I better get back.”

  I watched as Marta made a hasty retreat. I wasn’t sure if she was too polite to say that she didn’t like my idea or if it sounded good to her. I followed after her and found Adrienne and Teddy having a feast of their own in the bar while our guests ate in the dining room. Teddy’s face was smeared with marinara sauce. He had a breadstick in one hand and a fork in the other that was busily working over a plate of spaghetti. His eyes, however, were fixed on Adrienne as she told him some story about a mermaid that lived in the waters surrounding the island.

  They were too cute to disturb, so I decided to join our guests for dinner. By the time everyone had polished off their dessert and began filing into the bar, Teddy was fast asleep in Adrienne’s arms. She gently handed the boy over to his mother, and Iris took them home.

  We cleaned up after dessert while one of the staff filled in at the bar. The group was sedate and relaxed with a game of cards while the others chatted over drinks.

  “I’m in love,” Adrienne said with a grin.

  “If the next words aren’t ‘with you,’ then we’re going to have some problems,” I teased.

  “He is the sweetest little boy, Hayden.”

  “He’s on his best behavior right now, but when he gets comfortable, look out. That sweet boy routine is what they use until you’re wrapped around their little finger. Then they start breaking your stuff, peeing all over everything, and they start to smell, too.”

  Adrienne stopped loading the dishes in the washer and stared at me with a grin. “You’re totally smitten with him, too.”

  “Yes, damn it.”

  “If only he were ours, huh?” Adrienne said with a sad smile.

  “He’s not, but I think we’ll be allowed to borrow him once in a while, so don’t go getting all maternal on me.”

  Adrienne pulled me into her arms, and just as her lips met mine, I heard a throat being cleared. Colie stood a few feet from us whistling and rolling his eyes.

  “Where have you been?” Adrienne asked. “You missed a fantastic meal. I can make you a plate if you’d like. We have plenty left over.”

  “I had to go to Nassau this afternoon, just made it back. Food would be wonderful. Where’s Iris?”

  “She ran one of our new staff members home after her shift, she’ll be back shortly. Are you sure you’re up to roaming around all night?” I asked. “I can take the first shift if you need a little downtime.”

  This earned me a glare from Adrienne. “You promised,” she whispered. “If he doesn’t go, you don’t go.”

  Colie didn’t hear her as he poured himself a cup of coffee. “Nope, I’ll be just fine. All I need is a little food and a lot more of this,” he said as he raised his coffee cup.

  After Colie ate dinner and spent a few minutes nuzzling with Iris, he and I slipped off, leaving Adrienne and Iris to spend time with the guests. We avoided the paths and instead moved around in the brush hoping that no one would see us.

  I told him about the conversation that Adrienne and I had earlier that day. He agreed that the most plausible theory is that someone else knew about the money and had come to collect. He really scared me when he said that it could be some of Hank’s old drug-running buddies. I hadn’t considered that.

  By two in the morning, I was ready to call it a night. We had not encountered anyone or anything. I was sleepy and tired of having to pee every five minutes because I’d drunk a gallon of coffee. And most of all, my cottage beckoned me. I could see the faint glow of the television; I knew Adrienne wasn’t sleeping, either.

  “Hayden, I’ve got to go to the restroom, why don’t you go and wait with Adrienne until I get back?”

  “Why don’t you use the one in our cottage?”

  Colie shook his head. “You really don’t want that, trust me.”

  “If I go into our cottage, I won’t be coming back out, so go do your thing, I’ll be just fine right here.”

  Colie was too uncomfortable to object. He sprinted off to the bar.

  Feeling exposed, I slipped off the cobblestone path and hid in the brush. A cool breeze brought relief as I sat there silently waiting and watching. Within minutes, the breeze became a brisk wind, and the foliage around me began to move. Little hairs climbed up on my neck when I came to the realization that someone could easily move up next to me undetected.

  I was prepared to bolt from my hiding place when I heard it very faintly at first. I couldn’t distinguish if the voice was male or female, but the message was clear. “I hate you,” it chanted over and over, reverberating with the wind. The voice sounded as though it was all around me. I looked over my shoulder, expecting to see someone right behind me, but there was no one. The wind and the voice died all at once.

  “Hayden,” Colie called from the path right in front of me.

  I crawled out of the bushes on all fours and looked up at Colie. “Did you hear it?”

  “Hear what?”

  “It said it hated me.”

  “What said it hated you?” Colie asked as he looked around.

  “The bushes, the wind…I thought I heard…something.”

  “I think you might have dozed off,” Colie said with obvious relief in his voice. “I can finish the watch on my own.”

  “I wasn’t asleep,” I protested as Colie helped me to my feet. “I was hiding in the brush, and the wind picked up…I heard a voice.”

  Colie poked around in the spot where I had been with his flashlight while I stood on the path watching from a safe distance.

  “There’s no sign of anyone, not even a broken twig in the area around the place where you sat. The wind makes strange noises when it blows off the water, especially to someone that’s sleep deprived.”

  “If I were unsure about what I heard, I’d let it drop. I know I heard a voice.”

  “Was it ma—?”

  “I couldn’t tell if it was male or female,” I replied, cutting him off.

  I could tell by the way he sounded that he fully believed I‘d been sleeping and had a nightmare. I let the voice thing drop, and Colie and I spent the rest of the early morning hours combing the grounds around the inn, finding nothing. When the Eastern sky began to brighten, Colie walked me to my cottage, then he went straight to Iris’s house.

  Adrienne a
woke the minute I walked in the door. “Everything go okay?” she asked sleepily.

  “Yep, nothing to report,” I said with a yawn. “I’m going to take a shower and try and go back to sleep, it’s still early.”

  I think she was asleep before I finished the sentence. I knew that she hadn’t slept very much that night. We’d been together for a few months as a couple, and this was the first night that we’d really spent apart.

  I didn’t put much effort into drying my hair. I squeezed as much water as I could out of it and climbed into bed. There were mewls of protest by the kittens as I snuggled in behind Adrienne and held her close. Her warm skin felt so good against mine, sleep came quickly.

  Chapter Eight

  The midday heat woke me, and I realized all the windows were closed. I was just about to get up and open them when I heard Adrienne opening the cottage door. I lay perfectly still curled in my bed sheet, waiting for Adrienne to unwrap me.

  I smiled into my pillow when I heard the clanking of a serving tray. Obviously, my love had brought me something to eat. I heard her approach the bed, and thoughts of her climbing in next to me made me want to squirm. The warmth of her soft skin earlier that morning was still fresh in my mind. I was looking forward to letting my lips roam every inch of it now. I couldn’t take lying there anymore. I turned to watch her undress, and every ounce of excitement drained from me in a heartbeat.

  “Why are you looking at me like dat?” Iris said with a half-amused smile.

  “I…I thought you were Adrienne.”

  “Shelby and Myra are here visiting, she asked me to bring you lunch.”

  “Thank you, Iris.” I flopped back down with a thud.

  “You’re welcome,” Iris said with a grin as she left me alone.

  I pulled on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt and took my food to the sitting area just outside of the cottage. I was in no mood to visit with anyone. The incidents around the inn were doing serious damage to my sex life, and it was making me grumpy. It wasn’t that I needed sex to keep me happy, but I missed the intimacy I shared with Adrienne. It seemed that all we did was deal with one drama after another lately.