by Owner
“Interesting concept,” Jon said.
“People inland will buy anything.” Flossie leaned in. Jon leaned away. “My sister in Bangor buys up old pianos. Condition doesn’t matter. She scrimshaws pictures onto the ivory keys and sells them as jewelry pendants for outrageous money.”
“How innovative.”
Flossie clapped her hands together and grinned at her husband. “Our island will be the Treasure Island of the flea market trade. Isn’t it exciting, Merle?”
Merle grinned at her indulgently.
A husky male server, laden with lobster dinners, plucked up their plastic numbers and plunked down a huge tray that took up most of the tabletop. Jon jumped up at the opportunity to split before Flossie recognized him. Lucky Spot hadn’t come along to put the paw on him.
“Thanks for the input,” he said. “Have a good evening, folks.”
“Welcome back,” Maddie said when he sat down next to her again.
He barely had time to read over his placemat before the lobster stared up at him from a platter, still madder than hell. Suddenly, Flossie’s beady little eyes didn’t seem so accusing. She didn’t come with antennae. Jon eyed the lobster, blankly.
“Let me help.” Maddie reached over.
“Please.” He sat back and gave her room to work. Her warm body and lush curves brushed against him, and in no time, he didn’t care what he ate.
Almost. The claw and tail meat were delicious in melted butter, but no way was he sucking the meat from the legs. He sure as hell didn’t mind watching Maddie do it though. He pushed his plate toward her.
She looked quite lusty, breaking and biting the shells, sucking out the meat, her mouth shiny from butter, her tongue wet, her teeth glistening. He’d like to lean in and suck on her lips, but he still wasn’t sure what his status was amongst her friends. He wasn’t a boyfriend or a stalker…so who was he?
He looked around the table. Jill’s cousin Jack seemed to have moved up in rank. Sue was hand-feeding him, her fingers dripping butter, her dark hair swirling around her shoulders as their lips touched every so often.
Even Lyndsey’s supposed ex-boyfriend, Tim, seemed to lick warm butter from more fingers than his own.
Jill, who was licking no one, smiled over at Jon like he was dessert. “I hear you’re a houseguest of Maddie’s parents.”
He nodded and grinned. He was a houseguest who happened to sleep within sleepwalking distance of Maddie’s bedroom. He still held hopes for that adventure.
“Why don’t we all get together and do something tomorrow?” Jill glanced around at everyone, but beamed at him.
“I’m afraid my time’s not my own. This is a working weekend for me. I have to see what the mayor and Barbra have planned.”
“I’m free,” Maddie volunteered.
“I am, too, after the traps are in.” Tim had his arm draped possessively around the back of Lyndsey’s chair, his fingers toying with one of her red curls.
Of course Jack was going if Jill did, and Sue was going wherever Jack went.
“There’s a contra dance at the church hall,” Jill said.
Jon wasn’t sure what a contra dance was, but one thing was sure, the mayor and Barb wouldn’t be dancing so that left him out.
Eventually, plans were made, the food was eaten, pitchers of beer and soda emptied, and talk dwindled. Everyone settled their bill, with Maddie insisting on paying for him, saying she owed him a lobster dinner.
“Our bet.” He arched a brow, remembering.
She nodded.
Yep, she was admitting she measured men by a Daddy’s girl standard.
Jack and Jill were the first to say good night.
And then they were five. He couldn’t say his feelings were hurt when after a short pause Sue spoke up. “Might as well get my beauty rest.”
When Sue stood, so did Lyndsey. “We drove in together.”
Tim’s smile faded after Lyndsey’s exit, and he quickly headed for the door, too.
“Alone at last.” Jon hopped his chair closer to Maddie’s. “What do I get for not saying one word out of line?”
“You were very well behaved. But that was only in a short-term situation. In the long run, you’d blow it.”
“Maybe not. We’ll never know.”
“Jon, you were bothered by Barb and spilled water. You stepped up, insisting it was something you’d said, when you know darn well it was my touching her that bothered her. It was all you could do not to butt in, and I have my doubts that you still might before you leave. The longer you’re exposed to my situation—”
“Let’s not talk about my leaving, let’s talk about my staying. The night,” he whispered near her ear, “in your room.” He traced his finger along her arm, enjoying her flesh shiver beneath his touch.
She allowed a few more strokes before she stood up almost knocking her chair over. “I think it’s time to say goodbye one last time.”
From past experience on Rose Island, and in the washroom at the gift store, and on the backyard of Flossie’s birthday house, he liked the way Maddie said her goodbyes.
During the drive home, Jon had his hand on Maddie’s knee, and she hadn’t brushed him off. He was hoping for a long look at her yellow bedroom. Of course, he’d settle for sharing the red room if he had to.
In the shadowy darkness of the car, he blurted in honesty, “I can’t seem to spend enough time with you. Or in you.” This whole affair with Maddie spiked his juices—his brain fluid, testosterone, and whatever else ran through his body.
She nudged his hand away. “We were supposed to cure you of that problem, not add to it.”
“How come you don’t have a problem?” he accused, grabbing hold of the steering wheel with both hands.
“I never said I didn’t have any difficulties where you’re concerned.”
That brought a smile to his lips. If she wasn’t dead set in her mindset, that meant she was thinking about him. He sure as hell wanted her thinking about him and wanting him, and as wildly as he did her.
By the time they pulled up to the house, he had an inkling her heat had cooled down. Sure enough, as she got out of the Jag, she said, “We have another night before we have to say goodbye.”
“That’s easy for you to say, you aren’t on red-alert all night.”
“I can have Rita change you to another room.” Concern shone in her eyes.
He considered it for a second. But, that might put him on the opposite end of the house, away from Maddie.
“No. What do you think I am?” Yellow came to mind, yet it didn’t seem so bad with her room being yellow and all.
“Someone very important to me,” she said softly.
He liked being important to her, and he wanted to become a whole lot of things to her. Things that made for a lasting relationship.
Moonlight touched her face. His breath halted. He wanted her so bad. He touched his lips to hers. Hers were warm and responsive. He licked his tongue across her lips to part them and slipped his tongue inside. Soft and wet and warm. He needed to be inside her.
On a gasp, she broke away. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Coward.” He was caught in a trap like a lobster, and Maddie had him by the tail.
He caught up to her at the front door and together they strode inside and up the grand staircase to the bedrooms.
“Sleep tight.” She waved from her doorway.
“Yeah, right.” He sucked in his breath and headed for a cold shower. After that, a hundred or so sit-ups cured what ailed him.
He had a revelation the next morning as he bounded down the oaken stairs. Exercise relieved sexual tension. Stomach muscle burn took his mind off his other, harder muscle. He’d slept without tossing from red wall-to-red wall.
He looked around the hollow dining room. It was only him and Barb. What did he do to deserve this? He lived clean. He was kind to old people and animals. Spot loved him. The hound had lavished sloppy attention all over Jon.
&nbs
p; “Sleep well?” Barb asked.
“Yes.” Jon poured himself a cup of coffee. Black. He had a sense he’d need his wits about him.
“How’s your case study of the island going?”
Jon related both Rodger and Denky’s ideas for moneymaking solutions.
A laugh bubbled from her perfect, rose lips. “A junkyard and a graveyard.” She arched one of her well-groomed eyebrows. “I’m afraid either option would have the Bains rolling in the family vault, which happens to be on the Tidewater property.” She fingered her china cup with her delicate fingertip. “Most of them were born, lived, and are buried here. A rather shortsighted existence.”
“You prefer to live off the island.” He nodded, the choice perfectly understandable.
“Island life isn’t for everyone, as you can tell by the sparse population on most of the islands.” She sipped her coffee, picked at the remainder of her waffle with berries. She was in excellent shape for a woman who couldn’t exercise.
“I imagine life here can get claustrophobic.” He’d felt a touch of it himself in the beginning.
“And revenue is such a dilemma on an island of our size, especially when the islanders don’t want any disruption to their present lifestyle.” She waved her hand and her diamond bracelet sparkled, catching the early morning sunlight. Big diamonds. Three rows of them.
“I wondered why CC wasn’t retained on a pay-for-performance basis?” he asked, now that he had her loosened up.
“I don’t recall.” She rubbed her temples. “I need something for this headache. Excuse me.” She threw the switch on her wheelchair and rolled from the room.
The mention of CC Consulting seemed to bring on her instant headaches. He wondered why. He heard voices in the foyer. Barb taking her leave, Maddie and her father arriving.
“You’re up early.” Maddie’s violet eyes lit up at seeing him. That pleased him.
“Yes, your mother and I were having breakfast together, but then another headache came upon her.”
The mayor slathered his waffles with butter and blueberry syrup, seeming unconcerned about his wife’s headaches this morning when yesterday he’d catered her supper. Curious. A lover’s quarrel?
Right now the only lover he was interested in sat next to him wagging her green sneakered foot.
“Anyone going to the dance tonight?” she asked.
The mayor didn’t look up from his waffles. “I have a prior engagement and your mother’s staying in.”
“I’m free,” Jon volunteered. Dancing and holding Maddie in his arms sent an ecstatic jolt from his big head to his little one.
“On a second thought, I might drop in at the dance afterwards,” the mayor said.
“I’m going into the clinic for an hour and then hopping the ferry to Tinkerport to shop for a few items. Anybody need anything?” Maddie looked to her father.
“No. While I was in Portland last week, I saw to your mother’s and my needs.”
“I have needs.”
Maddie’s eyes bugged. Sometimes she was so easy to bait.
“Melted butter from last night’s dinner splashed onto my pants. I’ll need clean ones to dance in.” He grinned at her.
“Rita will do your laundry,” the mayor spoke up.
“Not necessary. I’m leaving tomorrow, and I’d like to see Tinkerport.”
Mayor nodded. “So you’re staying another night. I’ll make sure Rita sets out fresh pajamas.”
Maddie checked her wristwatch. “Let’s meet at the clinic in an hour and a half.”
She ate and bolted from the table while Jon lingered over his coffee, keeping the mayor company as he finished his breakfast.
“How’s your sister and the baby and the rest of your family?” The mayor’s eyes crinkled with interest.
“All good.”
He seemed sincere so Jon told him about Sarah’s last weeks of pregnancy. Her size, her waddle, and her temperament.
The mayor chuckled good-naturedly.
Now seemed like a good time to find out what he knew about the nefarious consulting firm. “Did someone check on CC’s credentials and references?”
“I believe Barbra did.” He gulped down his coffee. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m waiting on a fax.”
The mention of CC Consulting around the Bain breakfast table certainly emptied a room. With the mayor holed up in his office, Jon decided to get some fresh air and see if Fred, the gardener, was working today.
He strolled the perimeter of the house and over to the path leading to the shore, but no Fred. Guessing Saturday was the man’s day off he wandered back toward the entrance when he spied the gardener almost hidden in a bed of bright pink and white flowers.
“How’s it going?” Jon squatted down eye level and peeked in at him through some tall stems.
Fred plucked up weeds. “Staying until Sunday, I hear.”
“Yes, then back to the coal mines.” Well, the coal mining regions anyway.
“Bet you’re going to miss all this.”
“You bet.” Some of it anyway. Maddie, mostly. “Can we talk for a minute?”
“Go ahead.” Fred continued to weed.
“Do you recall who recommended the consultant, Charles Chambers, to you?”
“Sure do. Barbra mentioned him while we were ordering bulbs for spring planting.”
Barb, huh? Two board members had named Barb as Chambers’ champion, and one, the mayor. Elmer could hold the deciding vote.
And then what? What did it matter who brought CC onboard? What did it prove? Negligence. Deception. Bias. Maybe none of those things.
“Have any ideas you’d like to run up the flagpole?” Jon asked. Most everybody seemed to have one.
Fred stopped pulling weeds and faced him. “Export.”
“Export what?” Jon’s thighs ached from sitting on his haunches. He hoped Fred’s idea was a quick one.
Funny, but his muscles hadn’t hurt when he’d been in this same position sucking on Maddie’s toes yesterday. Of course, her arousal had kept him entranced.
“Organically homegrown Maine fruits and vegetables and flowers,” Fred said.
“Got a market in mind?”
“Lots of Maineland restaurants and groceries buy fresh organic produce. Customers pay fancy prices, too. Town sets up a co-op, similar to the lobstering one. Everybody sells to the co-op. They ship fresh. Percentage of the profit goes into the town’s budget.”
“Are there many growers on the island?”
“Myrtle’s blueberries, Flossie’s herbs, Mz. Gregory’s tomatoes, for starters. There are a dozen or so others.”
“I’ll make a notation.”
Fred waited, staring at Jon’s shirt pocket until he whipped out his trusty little leather-bound tablet. When Jon finished, Fred smiled and went back to tending his flowers.
Standing, Jon shook out his legs. He had time for a quick call to Craig. Not wanting to disturb the mayor, he used the phone in the living room. Cryptically, he reported his findings on the mayor and Barb, and then asked about Gracie. Sarah and Craig were holding up the christening until he got home. Jon told them he hoped to be on the road by Sunday evening.
It was time to meet Maddie. He sped down to the clinic.
She sat in the sun on a wooden bench outside the door to the clinic. As he pulled up, his chest flooded with warmth. For some reason, the simple act of Maddie waiting for him made him feel good on the inside.
“I warn you,” she said as she got into the Jag, “Tinkerport is no shopping extravaganza. A few blocks of stores at best.”
“I only need one pair of pants.” Or none, if he got lucky.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“Unless we drive inland, we don’t need a car in Tinkerport.” Maddie took his arm in the hot, dusty parking lot. “The small seaport only has a handful of streets. But it is picturesque.”
He nodded. Picturesque meant few amenities. As they walked away, he glanced back at the Jag only once to check its proxi
mity to the other vehicles. Not that another ding would matter much at this point.
At the bottom of a stony path, they joined other passengers waiting for the boat to dock. Seemed the ferry landing was the water cooler of Bain Island. People milled about, some beside their vehicles, exchanging local gossip and news.
Maddie and a woman with brown tufts of hair confided more than Jon cared to know about bikini waxing. “I’ll be over here.” Jon spied Elmer and wandered away.
Elmer and a female companion, both clad in sleeveless denim jackets with Highway Honeys emblazoned across the back in shiny studs, stood next to the infamous green motorcycle.
“This is my favorite riding partner, Helgie.” The biker put a proprietary arm around her shoulders.
Jon smiled, and the gray-haired woman returned his smile. Today, she didn’t smell of BenGay or carry a purse. And either she didn’t recognize him or didn’t hold any hard feelings once the baseball left the playing field.
“Where you headed?” Elmer hugged Helgie closer. “We’re going biking inland.”
“Maddie’s showing me around Tinkerport.” He pointed to her standing with the brown-haired woman, who was scratching her bikini line.
“You two an item?” Helgie asked.
“Harbor Inn’s fire left him roomless,” Elmer answered for him.
“Too many bedrooms in that big house.” She winked speculatively.
“I have my own bedroom,” he assured her, acting uninterested in visiting Maddie’s bedroom, when it was what he lived and breathed for.
“Mayor and the missus argue, I hear.” The gray-haired biker babe elbowed Jon. “Maddie taking sides?”
He turned to Elmer. “Now Helgie, dear.” Elmer squeezed her and she giggled.
Jumping in during the giggle, Jon said, “I’m aggregating opinions on the island revenue issue. Either of you like to conceptualize your visions?”
Elmer flicked a bug from his shiny chrome headlight. “Bow and arrows.”
“How do you figure?” He squinted against the sun’s glare bouncing off the chrome.
“The bow and arrow is quiet.”
Jon nodded, so did Helgie.
“Hunters are quiet so as not to chase off the game. Occasional deer hunters ferry over to Bain Island during bow and arrow season. If we set up a lodge on the southern end of the island, we can draw more hunters in with package deals. Hunters are enthusiasts, like bikers. They don’t mind spending the dough.” Elmer ran a loving hand over the bike’s custom finish. His other loving hand still rested on Helgie.
