Barefoot Beach

by Debbie Mason

  But even if Daphne’s reaction were normal, the fact that Rosa DiRossi planned to match one of the Gallagher sisters with her grandson was worrisome on a whole other level. Theia had seen the matchmaking Widows Club in action last year. So, no matter how much she wanted to, she couldn’t keep the news from Caine.

  Just as she opened her mouth to tell him, he said, “I have some worrisome news. When our IT guy went to put trackers on Penelope’s and Daphne’s cell phones, he discovered someone had already done so.”

  “Who would do something like…? Emily.” She pressed a hand to her face, groaning into her palm.

  “It didn’t take you long to figure that out. Now you need to figure out who she’s hired to do her dirty work at the manor before things get out of hand.”

  Chapter Six

  Colleen sat in the window seat in the study with Simon curled up beside her. The time had come for Daniel’s daughters to be apprised of the entire contents of her will. George Wilcox, the Gallagher family attorney, sat behind the centuries-old mahogany desk sorting papers.

  Red-faced and sweaty, he stopped to take off his glasses and give them a polish, nervous no doubt at what would transpire. When she’d first requested the addition of the codicil, he’d warned her against playing God with her great-granddaughters’ lives. He told her meddling would get her in trouble, just like it had years before, just like it would if the contents of the memoir she’d been writing at the time, The Secret Keeper of Harmony Harbor, ever saw the light of day. She’d written down the secrets of her family and friends, secrets of her own in the book.

  She hadn’t known it at the time, but George had a point about her memoir. It wasn’t until she died and the leather-bound book went missing that the consequences of it being found had hit home. Still, she believed it was important that some of the secrets were recorded for posterity. She hadn’t meant for it to be available for all and sundry to read. The problem had been that she’d begun to think she’d live forever.

  She chuckled at the thought. She wasn’t completely wrong, now, was she? But that wasn’t the point. She’d died before she had decided who to entrust her book of secrets to.

  Her memoir had eventually been found and was now in the hands of Kitty and Jasper. Her once right-hand man and confidant had been high on her list of candidates to whom she’d leave the book. Kitty had been at the lower end of the list.

  In a way, Colleen had been proven right on both counts. She judged her daughter-in-law and Jasper’s ability to right the wrongs of the past at fair to middling. Mainly because they managed to make a right hash of things before they eventually turned out as Colleen had wanted them to in the first place.

  Like she did with her book, she’d ignored George’s warning about the codicil. She had her reasons for what she’d done.

  George slipped his glasses back on and did another brief scan of the pages before passing the copies across the polished wood. Penelope and Daphne leaned forward to retrieve them.

  Colleen glanced to where Jasper stood in front of the closed door as if barring the girls’ hasty retreat. His disinterested expression didn’t fool her. He was as anxious as she was to see how Penelope and Daphne would react when they learned the only way they’d be entitled to vote on their inheritance was to remain at the manor for a month and take on jobs of management’s choosing.

  She’d added the stipulation for several reasons. Most important was that, unlike her great-grandsons, her great-granddaughters had barely spent any time at the manor. The only way they could become proper stewards of the family’s greatest treasure was to fall in love with Greystone the same way Colleen had. And for that they needed to spend time here and take part in everyday life.

  Truth be told, the blame lay with their mothers more than the girls and Colleen. She’d begged them to be allowed to spend their summers in Harmony Harbor. She’d offered assurances and money, yet nothing worked. All she’d wanted was for the girls to know their father’s side of the family. To know that their great-grandmother and grandparents loved them and would be there for them if they were ever needed.

  Ronan, Colleen’s son and Kitty’s husband, had been gone ten years now, but Jasper would stand in his stead. And while Colleen might be an incorporeal being, she’d improved at this ghost gig. She’d help where she could. In some ways, she thought she’d just given Daphne and Penelope the best gift of all. She’d given them a second chance to know their family and to become sisters.

  She’d given their father a second chance as well. She just hoped he’d take it. Daniel had never liked a challenge where the odds were stacked against him. He’d rather walk away than be made to look like a fool.

  Colleen smiled, thinking she’d have some help on that end. Theia had proven herself adept at handling Daniel last fall. She wondered how the girl would feel if the DNA results proved Daniel was her father. For that matter, how would Daniel feel? Colleen hoped he didn’t mess up as badly with Theia as he had with Penelope, Daphne, and Clio.

  Daniel’s youngest would be here if not for her mother once again intervening. Still, she would have expected Clio to ignore Tara’s wishes and hop on a plane, making her way to Harmony Harbor on her own. She was as hardheaded as her mother and father combined.

  “It looks like the moment of truth is upon us, Simon,” Colleen said when both girls looked up from their papers to stare at George.

  Exhausted from running away from Penelope’s twins, Simon barely managed to lift his head, but he did manage a rather remarkable facsimile of a stink eye. She supposed she shouldn’t be surprised that he wasn’t overjoyed the twins would be here for a month if their mother agreed to the terms Colleen had set out in the codicil.

  “Is this some sort of joke? No one in their right mind would expect someone to walk away from their life for an entire month.”

  Colleen sighed. “Leave it to a lawyer to look for a loophole.”

  “I can assure you your great-grandmother was of sound mind when the will was drawn, Daphne. I pointed out some of the obvious problems that might result from the stipulations, but she was adamant, and I believe she had her reasons. The job you will be given is a paid position, and of course you receive free room and board.”

  “What about day care? Will there be someone available to look after the boys while I work?”

  “Your grandmother and I will be delighted to look after the children for you, Ms. Penelope,” Jasper said.

  “Are you sure? They can be a handful.”

  Jasper smiled. “So were your cousins. We’ll be fine, and may I say I think your time here will be good for all of you.”

  Daphne stared at her sister. “Are you seriously thinking of staying?”

  Penelope shrugged. “I don’t have any reason to go home.”

  “I know you and your husband are separated, but what about your practice?”

  “It’s a little difficult to sell yourself as a relationship expert when your marriage imploded as publicly as mine did. I took a leave. Honestly, I don’t even know if I want to practice anymore.”

  Colleen recalled Kitty mentioning something about Penelope’s marriage crashing and burning on live TV.

  “Unlike you, I don’t have the luxury of taking a leave.”

  “You’re really going to stay at the same legal firm as your ex?” Penelope said.

  “Of course not, which is why I have to get back to New York and pound the pavement.”

  “You don’t, not really. You told me you’re living out of a suitcase at a Best Western. So stay here and figure it all out. We can figure it out together,” Penelope added softly, as though afraid to be rejected.

  “I don’t know.”

  Jasper’s gaze moved from Simon to where Colleen sat, a congratulatory smile hovering on his lips. He might not be able to see or hear her, but Jasper sensed her presence. He knew she’d be here to see how it played out.

  “Come on. It might be fun.” Penelope bit her lip and then lifted her eyes to Daphne. “We
don’t know how much time we have left with Dad. I have things I’d like to work out with him. I’m sure you do too.”

  “We’ve been here since yesterday afternoon, and he’s yet to grace us with his presence. If you ask me, that doesn’t sound like a man who wants to make amends to his daughters.”

  Jasper rubbed the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger before saying, “Your father wasn’t up to receiving visitors yesterday, but he’s feeling better today. We’ll arrange for a visit this afternoon. Does that work for you both? Perhaps lunch on the patio?”

  “Is he up to lunch on the patio?” Penelope asked, glancing from Jasper to her sister.

  “Leave it with me,” he assured her with a faint smile, his eyes once again drifting to where Colleen sat on the window seat.

  She sighed. “You have no idea what a snake he is, my boy. No idea at all.”

  George beamed across the desk at the girls. “This is wonderful news. Just wonderful. I’m sure your great-grandmother is smiling down on you both from heaven.”

  Jasper raised an eyebrow in the direction of the window seat, as though asking if she was going to make her presence known. She’d done it with Daniel, which was why he was no longer residing at the manor. So she thought it best not to alert the room to her presence. George was likely to have a heart attack if she did.

  “You have all the time in the world to make up your mind, of course, but are you leaning toward keeping the manor in the family or selling?” her attorney asked the girls.

  “Selling,” they both said at the same time and then smiled at each other.

  “Oh, I see,” George said, appearing flustered. “You are aware that the shares can’t be sold to anyone outside the family, aren’t you?”

  “Yes. Our father doesn’t want us to sell, but if we choose to, he’ll buy the shares from us.”

  “But we can also sell them outside the family if we decide to. A trust can be broken when it can be proven it causes undue hardship to a beneficiary.” Daphne withdrew what appeared to be a legal document from her purse and handed it to George.

  Jasper looked at her like he couldn’t believe that either Daniel or the girls would conspire against them.

  “The henhouse is overrun with foxes, my boy. And it’s past time we expose them.”

  * * *

  “Don’t worry, it’ll be a couple days at most, T.” Theia mimicked Caine’s voice as she crossed the bridge over the pond with her phone pressed to her ear. “Well, FYI, it’s not days; it’s”—she glared at the swan gliding beneath the bridge, which had the audacity to make a loud snorting sound and interrupt her tirade—“a month. I am not staying a month, Caine. You can’t afford to keep me on this job for a month. Besides, they told the lawyer they’re selling, so we’re good.”

  “No, we’re not good. They have a month to get to know their family and a month to fall in love with the manor. An entire month to change their minds. I need you there to keep reminding them that the best thing for them to do is sell.”

  “But maybe I don’t think it’s the best thing. Maybe the best thing for both of them is to get to know their family. They’re not like you and me, Caine. The Gallaghers are great. They’ll be there for them. And from where I’m standing, Daphne and Penelope could use someone on their side for a change.” She stopped walking and leaned on the rail, worried that she’d said too much, worried that she’d inadvertently hurt him. “I’m sorry. I just hate lying to everybody.”

  “I know, and I’m sorry to ask you to. But you’re wrong, you know. About the money? I’ll give you a thirty-thousand-dollar bonus to stay the month and see the job through. I’ll wire ten thousand into your account now.”

  “It’s worth that much to you?” She thought about what the money would be worth to Holden’s wife and son. Combined with Theia’s savings, she could cover his four years in college.

  “Yes. I haven’t got a clue who’s working for my grandmother. I tried to get her to tell me, but she won’t. She says she no longer trusts me to get the job done.”

  “You know what? I really don’t like your grandmother. She’s vindictive and mean, and I hate that she can hurt you.”

  “She’s sick, T. She tries to hide it, but I know that she is. I don’t think she has long to live, and that worries me.”

  “Because she’ll be desperate to see this through before she dies.” A shiver ran down her spine.

  “It’s the only thing she cares about. It’s what’s driven her for the last sixty years.”

  And it’s what’s driven you your entire adult life, Theia thought. Emily made sure that it did. Which was why Theia said, “I’ll do it. I’ll stay. But this is the last time I ever do something like this, Caine. I mean it. I don’t care how much you pay me.”

  “It’s the last time. I promise. The money will be in your account by the end of the day.”

  “Fine. I’ll talk to you later.”

  “T, you’re wrong about something else. You and I, we’re family. We always have each other’s back. We don’t need anyone else.”

  “I know that, you big dope. I said yes already.” She held the phone over the pond, afraid he’d hear her sniff away her tears. She rubbed her nose and then went to bring the phone back to her ear when the swan leaped from the water, gigantic wings flapping, its beak opened wide. She released a startled yelp and pulled her hand back just in time. Its beak brushed the tips of her fingers. “A swan just tried to eat my phone!”

  “T, it’s me. You’re allowed to get emotional. It doesn’t mean you’re weak, you know.”

  “What are you talking about? I’m serious. There’s a killer swan in the manor’s pond.”

  “Really? Maybe that’s an angle you should explore with the twins and Penelope.”

  “Thanks. But I’ll run this op my way.”

  “Whatever you say, Lieutenant.”

  She loved Caine, and as she’d just proven, she’d do anything for the guy. But she knew herself. If she didn’t figure out a way to assuage her guilty conscience, she’d end up with an ulcer before the month was out.

  She crossed the manicured lawn to the path through the woods. She was on her way to Daniel’s house. Jasper had asked her to retrieve him for a father-daughters’ lunch this afternoon. She’d been only too happy to oblige. She needed some one-on-one time with the man.

  And as she thought about the come-to-Jesus talk they were about to have, she realized what she had to do to be able to live with herself. She’d make Daniel into the perfect father. She’d turn him in to exactly the kind of father she’d always dreamed of.

  Chapter Seven

  What the hell happened to you?” Liam shouted as he dragged Marco into the Coast Guard rescue boat.

  Marco grunted in response, leaning heavily against the side of the boat as he tried to catch his breath. He needed a minute to recover, but mostly he needed to figure out what to say.

  He couldn’t share his suspicions with his best friend. His best friend whose father was the chief of HHFD. If Liam thought for a second that someone had deliberately put Marco’s life in danger, he’d go to his father whether Marco wanted him to or not. And Marco wouldn’t be responsible for ruining a man’s career unless he was a hundred and fifty percent certain what happened onboard the freighter was intentional.

  They’d been participating in an interagency exercise, simulating a response for a hazardous-material emergency on an offshore vessel. HHFD, their hazmat team, the US Coast Guard, the harbormaster, and three neighboring fire departments were all involved. This wasn’t the first time Marco had been used as an alternate on the hazmat team. But it was the first time he’d nearly gotten himself killed doing so.

  Two screwups within a three-day window wasn’t going to look good on his record. Maneuvering in the heavy suits onboard the freighter had its challenges, but until today those challenges hadn’t involved him being tripped by a hose and falling overboard. Between the noise, the thick smoke, and the number of players inv
olved on the freighter and in the water, no one had immediately registered that he’d fallen overboard.

  Liam crouched beside him to help remove the equipment that had nearly dragged Marco to the bottom of the ocean. “That was too close. If it were anyone else but you, we would have been too late. You would have—” He ripped the protective gloves off Marco’s hands and fired them across the boat.

  It was an unusual display of anger from his even-tempered best friend. Anger motivated by fear. It was a reaction Marco understood. His anger would have been far worse had their roles been reversed.

  Liam’s older brother Griffin, a chief warrant officer with the Coast Guard, turned from where he stood at the helm, his eyes narrowed on his baby brother. His concerned gaze moved to Marco, and he did a quick head-to-toe scan and then raised his eyebrows in an Are you good? expression.

  Marco nodded and decided it was time to convince Liam of the same. “What are you talking about? It would have taken a lot more than a dip in the ocean in a hazmat suit to take me out. Just ask my niece. She doesn’t call me Merman for nothing.”

  “Shut up,” Liam said, taking a look around. “What the hell.” He pulled him in for a hard hug. “I don’t give a crap what they think.”

  “Aw, you two are so cute together,” Sully, the commanding officer and Griffin’s best friend, teased.

  The rest of the crew took up where Sully left off. The teasing continued nonstop all the way back to the harbor. After the first five minutes, it got annoying, but it helped lighten the mood and ease the tension stringing Marco’s muscles tight. All that changed once they reached the dock and the crew disembarked. Marco gathered up his equipment with Liam’s help. They were just about to join the others on the dock when Sully and Griffin cornered them.

  The two men, wearing their orange vests and navy shirts and pants, crossed their arms, their expressions serious.

  “All right, from the beginning. What happened out there?” Griffin said. He was an older, fairer, taller, and more muscular version of Liam and had a don’t-mess-with-me air. He’d been a Navy SEAL for close to twenty years before joining HHCG, and it showed. But growing up, Marco had been almost a permanent fixture in the Gallagher household, and he wasn’t easily intimidated by Griffin.