Unexpectedly she smiled sweetly, but he didn’t trust the taint beneath the sugar. “We have a newfangled invention. It’s called the Yellow Pages. And we don’t even charge for the service.”
Despite her mother’s intervention, Summer obviously wasn’t any happier about offering hospitality.
Jack met her challenging gaze. “Let me guess. The profit’s in the phone call.”
“Just let your fingers do the walking and your wallet do the talking,” she replied.
So that was her game. His expression tightened even as he thought of his dwindling funds, ones he wasn’t certain would support a second tow when combined with the repair cost. “Fine.”
“Phone’s over there.” She pointed. “It’s in the shop office, which is connected to the house. Just use the last door on the right.”
Relief punctured his worry. So he’d be in close proximity to Danny. “Do you want a deposit?”
She rolled her eyes. “It’s not long-distance to the mainland.” When he didn’t comment, she blew out another exasperated sigh. “So there’s no charge. Geez, you take everything so literally, don’t you? Just don’t call the Congo or Bucharest, okay?”
“Thank you,” he replied stiffly, glancing toward the shop, wishing Danny were still in sight.
She started to walk away, then turned back. “You don’t have to worry about him, you know. My mother’s great with kids, and you couldn’t have landed in a safer place. Edisto Island makes the set of ‘Leave It to Beaver’ look wild in comparison.”
Startled by her unexpected compassion, he wished for a moment that there could be refuge in this uncomplicated little place called... What had she said? Edisto. But even tucked-away little islands weren’t safe.
Summer breezed into the house to grab some iced tea. Hearing the unfamiliar sounds of her mother cooing and speaking nonsensical baby talk, she paused. Quietly she strolled into the living room, watching as her mother played with the baby.
Together, woman and child sat in the ancient rocking chair. Louise was making Danny laugh by twisting her face into some excruciating shapes. It was so out of character for her mother that Summer paused to enjoy the scene.
“You coming in, or you going to stand there all morning gawking?” Louise asked as she blew kisses at the baby.
“Mom, you’ve got to admit that it’s quite a show.”
“Don’t mock. I waited a long time to have you, and now it’s been nearly as long since I’ve had a baby to play with.”
“That’s not the only child left on earth,” Summer pointed out dryly.
“Well, it’s not like you’ve presented me with any grandchildren,” Louise retorted.
Summer rolled her eyes. “Oh, puhlease.”
“Don’t give me that, young lady. Ever since Tyson left, you’ve shut yourself off from men. I may be old, but even I know that’s not a good sign for having children in your future.”
Summer studied her short, practical fingernails. “It’s too soon, Mom. It’s been less than a year.” She purposely left out the fact that her heart was still aching, that the sting of his abandonment wasn’t something she planned to dismiss.
“Or not soon enough,” Louise answered cryptically. “Tyson was never the man for you, and I hate to see you wasting your life mooning over something that never should have been.”
“Mom!”
“It’s the truth and I’m not sorry to say so. We’ve tiptoed around it too long. You won’t let yourself even look at another man. And what for? So you can grow old alone?”
Exactly. But she couldn’t tell her mother that. “You’re being overly dramatic.”
Louise’s expression mirrored her disbelief. From the untouched gray hair and the plain but handsome face to the practical work shoes, nothing about Louise Harding was dramatic.
Lifting one brow, Louise echoed her daughter’s words. “Dramatic?”
“You make it sound as though I’m entering my dotage. It’s not that bad, Mom.”
“I almost waited too long to have you,” Louise countered. A wistful expression settled on her face. “You know I was older when I met your father, then we thought we had more time....” A flicker of old pain crossed her face. “And because I was older, I almost missed knowing you. Don’t wait too long, Summer. I don’t want you making the same mistake.”
“Don’t worry,” Summer retorted. “I haven’t passed the expiration date on my eggs.” Still, she leaned forward to pat her mother’s shoulder lovingly.
A twinkle returned to Louise’s eyes. “That may be, my girl, but don’t keep them under refrigeration too long.”
Nearly an hour later, Jack had learned there were no repair shops on the mainland that could get to his boat any faster than the Hardings. And most of them offered the unsolicited opinion that he was already in excellent hands. So why did those hands feel as if they were preparing a sneak stranglehold?
He considered ditching the boat, which had enabled their escape from Florida a few days earlier, but then they’d be on foot. He couldn’t rent a car or buy plane tickets without using his credit cards, and they would be immediately traced, exposing their exact position. And even though they’d only been on the run for less than a week his hoard of cash was shrinking at a frightening rate.
Opening his wallet, he flipped through the now useless credit cards all embossed with the Jack Anderson moniker. Not a trace of Jack Delancey remained. Everything he had once been was now gone. He walked quietly to the front of the house, searching for his son. Spotting Louise in the living room, he moved closer and watched as she gently rocked the baby. Seeing that Danny was safe, he quietly backed away and retraced his steps to the boat shop.
Before he reached the shop, he spotted Summer. “Any word on my boat?” he asked without preamble.
Summer shrugged, her shapeless overalls shifting with the movement. “I haven’t heard yet.”
“Summer!”
They both turned at the grizzled voice.
Summer moved first in the direction of a stoopshouldered man, dressed in coveralls and a battered baseball cap from which frizzled tufts of gray hair stuck out like slabs of concrete. “Hey, Lloyd,” she greeted him. “This is Jack Anderson. What’s the verdict on his boat?”
Lloyd wiped his hands on the greasy rag he held and offered one wizened paw. Jack accepted the handshake, appraising the mechanic who looked old enough to be Summer’s grandfather.
“It’s not bad,” Lloyd finally acknowledged. “Mebbe a day to fix it. When I get to it.”
“When you get to it?” Jack questioned, trying to hold on to his temper and manners.
“Got boats in front of yours, son. Nearly a week’s worth.”
Dismay flashed across her face before Summer laid one hand on Lloyd’s arm. “But Mr. Anderson is on vacation. He hasn’t made arrangements for anywhere to stay.”
Lloyd’s shrug was eloquent. Clearly the Andersons’ lack of accommodations wasn’t his concern. “Got boats in front of his,” he insisted stubbornly.
Jack opened his mouth to speak, but Summer cut him off, knowing he would only irritate the older man. “Thanks, Lloyd. I’ll talk to you about it more in a bit. Right now, I’d better go see if I can help with lunch. We’ve got fresh fish and hush puppies.”
Lloyd snorted. “Can’t get enough fish.”
Summer’s lips twitched. “Not exactly a treat, is it?”
Shaking his head, Lloyd muttered incomprehensibly. A few words emerged about living next to the ocean and eating fish every day of the world as he ambled away.
Jack stared at the man’s slow gait. “He doesn’t get in a hurry about much, does he?”
“I’ll work on Lloyd,” she replied as they walked toward the house. “If I give him a hand in the shop, it’ll speed things up.”
Jack glanced at her. Clearly she didn’t want him on her island any more than he wanted to be there. Then what she’d said struck him. “You know how to work on boats?”
She gestur
ed at her overalls. “No. This is just a fashion statement.”
So she did possess feminine pique, and it had apparently been provoked.
Shifting his glance, he saw Louise leaving the house, alone. He felt a start of alarm and headed toward her. “Is anything wrong, Mrs. Harding?”
“Louise,” she insisted. “No, everything’s fine. Danny’s asleep. I could’ve rocked him all day.” She sighed, then resumed her normal crisp tone. “Don’t you worry. I don’t have a crib. But I don’t hold with putting babies on regular beds, no matter how much stuff you stack next to the child. Danny’s on a soft pallet on the floor. Skipper’s watching over him. And nothing will get past him to that baby.”
Jack glanced toward the house, the constant worry still nagging. “Thank you.”
Louise nodded briskly. “We’ll be ready to eat in the next hour. You’ll be joining us, won’t you, Mr. Anderson?”
Jack felt compelled to rush their departure, not join the family hour. “I don’t want to impose.”
“What imposition? We always have enough fish to feed half the island.”
Jack remembered the grizzled mechanic’s comment and barely repressed a smile. “I need to be worrying about my boat, not socializing.”
“You have to eat, don’t you?” Louise insisted.
As Jack glanced up, he saw that even Summer was looking at him strangely. Remember, he told himself, low-key, unobtrusive.
“I know when I’m outnumbered. A home-cooked meal sounds great.”
Louise smiled, her face softening. “Did Lloyd look at your boat yet?”
Jack couldn’t prevent a grimace. “Afraid so. He says it’ll probably take about a day to repair once he gets to it.”
Louise nodded. “Lloyd knows his stuff.”
“And no one on the mainland can get to it any faster,” Summer added.
Jack slanted her a glance. He didn’t remember sharing that information with her.
She read the expression on his face. “It’s an old story.”
“Then you’ll need a place to stay,” Louise surmised.
“We’ll get a hotel,” Jack replied.
“Not on Edisto. You won’t find one. But no matter, you and Danny can bunk on the sleeping porch.”
“We really can’t impose.”
Louise tilted her head, considering. “Unless you’d rather have the baby stay inside the house—”
“No!” Jack barked.
Louise’s brow rose, startled by his emphatic declaration. Still, she seemed to take it in stride. “I always liked having Summer where I could watch out for her, too.”
“Mrs. Harding...”
She leveled him a reproving glance.
“Louise,” he corrected. “There’s no need to feel you have to accommodate us.”
Louise fixed him with a steady no-nonsense look. “The porch is there, no one’s sleeping on it and there’s no reason why you and Danny can’t stay with us.”
Jack caught the movement of Summer’s head as she whipped around. Clearly she wasn’t any happier with the invitation than he was. Strangely her reluctance brushed away his. “You say there’s no hotel on the island?”
“Only a bed-and-breakfast in one of the converted plantations that’s always full. And here you’ll be able to keep an eye on your boat.”
Good point. He hoped to bedevil the mechanic into quickly repairing their boat. And then there was the irksome reality of their finances. Hotels cost money. Still, Jack was uneasy. He knew his pursuers weren’t that far behind. They had to get moving quickly. “I want to be honest with you. If I can find a shop on the mainland that’ll get to the boat faster, I’ll take it there.”
“Fair enough,” Louise agreed. “I guess your vacation time’s valuable and you don’t want to be wasting it.”
“Um, right.” A shiver coursed unexpectedly down Jack’s spine at that reminder. There truly was no time to waste.
“Maybe I can repair your boat tomorrow. I should have the boat I’m working on now finished by then,” Summer muttered. “If I start early and it’s not too bad, you could be under way by midday.”
Jack’s brow lifted. She really didn’t want him around. All the better for him.
Louise took his elbow as she steered him toward the house. “Until then, we’ll be happy to have you stay with us.”
Jack caught the fleeting expression on Summer’s face. Despite her mother’s words, she clearly wasn’t happy. But he wasn’t, either. And wouldn’t be until he was off this island, leaving Summer and her contradictions far behind.
Chapter 2
Summer closed the lid of the battered toolbox and pushed at the baseball cap resting on tousled hair hastily pinned up beneath the brim. Her schedule was already crowded between both working as a computer-security programmer and helping at her mother’s shop. Despite that, she had hastily finished repairs on the boat she had been fixing to tackle the Andersons’ boat. Not because of any newly discovered affection for Jack Anderson—rather, the opposite. Since it appeared that her mother, who had flipped over little Danny, might adopt both Jack and his small son, Summer had decided to hasten their departure.
With a pang she realized her mother really seemed to be missing the grandchildren Summer hadn’t provided. And her mother, who’d lost her husband many years ago, had endured more than one human’s fair share of pain. It wasn’t doing either of them any good for the Andersons to linger. Not that Summer resented the baby—Danny was a charmer. But his father was another matter. Unnerving her with those striking blue eyes that watched her every move.
Summer knew Jack Anderson saw her as a mere annoyance. Not even a female annoyance, simply a sexless, nameless anomaly who stood in the way of his vacation plans. And for some unfathomable reason, that irked her. True, with her baggy overalls she hadn’t dressed for the Cinderella ball, but he needn’t act as though she were invisible.
Rather than examine why that annoyed her, Summer had considered it wiser to repair his boat and send him on his way. Turning the key in the ignition, she listened to the purr of the engine and grinned. Looked like that plan was working.
“Sounds great.”
Whirling around, Summer felt the heat of an unexpected flush warming her cheeks. Jack Anderson’s gaze was no less penetrating, and no more interested in anything other than his precious boat.
“Yeah, it’s getting there,” she agreed.
He frowned, shifting his son who sat comfortably straddled across one lean hip. “Getting there? Sounds ready to go to me.”
“Spoken with years of experience as a mechanic?” Summer couldn’t hide the sarcasm in her voice even though she pulled the bill of her cap down even farther, shading what little of her face that could be seen.
“No, but it doesn’t take an Indy race-car driver to steer a station wagon into a garage, either,” he retorted.
She wasn’t ready to give an inch. “You try steering this wagon before it’s repaired properly and you’ll drown your carburetor for good.”
“So what are you suggesting?”
“I’ll take the boat out later and test the engine. If everything checks out, you’ll be cruising again tomorrow.”
“What’s wrong with now?” Renewed urgency sounded in his voice and showed in his expression.
Briefly she wondered what caused his anxiety. But Summer had already resolved she didn’t want to know. Shrugging, she decided just as quickly that she could speed up this process, even if it meant giving in to the overbearing goon.
Danny chose that moment to chortle, flashing his gummy baby grin. For the life of her, she didn’t understand how this adorable child could belong to such a domineering man. Her own lips tightened, remembering the domineering man she’d been engaged to, also remembering the pain he’d caused. She paused long enough to chuck the baby under one of his many chins before turning back to the matter at hand.
Summer’s voice turned brisk as her gaze challenged Jack’s. “All right, I’ll test it today
. Anything to speed up your...departure.”
Her brush-off went unnoticed. “Then let’s go.” Jack reached into the storage compartment, lifted out Danny’s life jacket, strapped it on the toddler, and then put him in a child restraint seat. “We’re ready.”
Amazed, Summer only stared. “Excuse me. This isn’t a group operation. I plan to check out the boat.”
He wasn’t fazed. “Being the owner makes me an automatic member of the group. But you can set the course.”
“That’s big of you,” she muttered. Briefly she considered leaving him to sit on the boat till sundown. But that would only prolong his stay. And the alternative, not testing the engine, wasn’t an option, since he was traveling with his small son. She sighed. “This is normally a solo journey.”
“Don’t you ever stray from the ordinary?” Jack challenged.
Setting her jaw, Summer threw the boat in gear, pleased to see the rocking motion momentarily taking him aback. In moments his long legs were planted firmly on the deck, his lean but muscular body quickly giving in to the natural rolling motion of the sea. Before she could tear her gaze away, Summer had to admit Jack’s was a killer body.
Danny chortled his approval at the boat’s motion, and Summer couldn’t resist a quick smile. Between them, the two Anderson males were trotting out every emotion she possessed.
Fine spray misted her face, and Summer unconsciously tilted her head toward the source. Love of the ocean and her home had always been such a part of her that she didn’t even notice the automatic gesture. She glanced back to see if Danny was uncomfortable. Her heart hitched a bit as she saw Jack tenderly shading the baby’s eyes, then his unguarded smile when Danny giggled in glee at the light mist.
Deliberately Summer turned back to the wheel. She didn’t need any more tenderhearted feelings for a man. Certainly not this one. Any man would have done the same thing, she told herself. It was probably an instinctive parental gesture that clicked on like autopilot. Still, Summer didn’t glance back again as she kept her mind and eyes on the course she had set.
The engine continued to purr as they cruised the gentle coast of Edisto Island. Summer savored the sight of the home she loved. The shore didn’t have the sheer boulder cliffs or outer capes that met surf whipped by storms. Like the Carolina life-style, it was softer, quieter. It was still a place where family descendants lived in Colonial-era plantations and passersby waved to one another. Edisto was a place of shady streets, prizewinning camellia bushes, plankboard homes and serenity. It was the serenity Summer valued the most.
The Hijacked Wife Page 2
