“It’s right here.” Lisa turned on her flashlight and went in first. Stepping carefully, she bent at the waist with one hand holding the light, the other grasping the rough wall for support. Slowly she descended the jagged, rocky slope that led down into the cave. “Watch your step. The rocks can be slippery. There’s a rough path worn in the slope from foot traffic, but you still have to be careful or you could slip and fall.”
They descended into the cool, dark cave until the path leveled out.
Lisa stopped and flashed her light around a large cavern. “Anna told me once this cave goes on for miles. If you go that way,” she said and turned around, pointing the beam of her flashlight past the opening to where the cave curved in the opposite direction, “it goes all the way to the sea. There’s a huge opening down in the bay so large you can hide a boat in it. Years ago, her family used to store rum in here. They made a fortune selling it to the states during Prohibition.” She pointed the flashlight downward to show him where the sand-covered path split and veered off into opposite directions. She gestured toward the left. “We’re going that way.”
They walked a short distance on the damp, uneven ground then encountered another incline. High-pitched squeaking sounds echoed above their heads.
Shawn stopped behind her. “What’s that noise?”
She turned around and flashed the light toward the high ceiling. “It’s just a few bats. Don’t worry, they won’t bother us.”
They followed the path upward through a narrow opening chipped in the rock that led them into a manmade tunnel.
Shawn flashed a ray of light along the low ceiling, examining the huge wooden beams. “How did you find this place?”
“My cousins and I used to come with Aunt Elsie to visit Anna. We spent hours combing through the woods and playing down by the shore. One day we came across the opening by accident. The next day we snuck back here with flashlights and explored the interior.”
“How old were you?”
She kept her light focused on the ground, careful not to trip on loose rocks along the way. “Oh, probably ten.”
“You weren’t afraid to climb down into a dark hole?”
The amazement in his voice made her laugh. “Uh-uh. Why would I be afraid? I was with my cousins. Back then, we had no conception of danger. Oh, we knew better than to tell Elsie about it, though. She would have had a heart attack on the spot—that is, after she gave us all a good lesson with a switch. We all swore to keep our discovery a secret.” She smiled to herself. “And everyone did—except me. Years later, I shared my little tale with Anna. That’s when she told me about her family making and selling rum during the Roaring Twenties. She also scolded me for being so reckless and told me not to go into the cave anymore.” She automatically shrugged, even though she knew he couldn’t see it in the dark. “But I did anyway. I couldn’t resist the temptation to explore.”
She thought of something else and turned around abruptly, splaying her hand on the center of Shawn’s chest to prevent him from crashing into her. The flashlight dangled in her hand, casting its light at their feet. “Most people laugh at the notion, but I think there is a good possibility of pirate treasure hidden on the island.”
“Now, why do you believe that?” he replied with a chuckle.
The heat of his chest warmed her palm, distracting her as it rose and fell with each breath. The crown of her head brushed his chin, making her realize how close they were, but she couldn’t seem to move away. “Just ask any of the old timers on the island about it and they’ll talk your ear off,” she blurted in an effort to keep her mind off his nearness. “They swear this island was overrun with pirates back in the day because of all the huge caves and the fact that it was uninhabited.”
“So, you want to hunt for pirate treasure,” he murmured in a deep, sexy voice. His palm deftly slid across her shoulder and rested on the nape of her neck. “That’s an adventure for another day, isn’t it?”
The gentle touch of his hand sent a tremor down her spine. When she lifted her chin, his face was a mere silhouette in the shadowy light cast by the flashlights. His lips were a breath away from hers.
Something scurried past their feet, startling her. “What was that?” She tried to move out of its way, but instead, bumped into the damp wall.
Shawn took her by the arm and gently turned her in the right direction. “I think we’d better get going.”
They continued walking through the dark tunnel, ducking under spider webs and occasionally hearing odd sounds. Eventually they came to a wooden door.
Lisa pointed her flashlight at it. “This is it.”
Shawn stood close behind her. “Where are we?”
“We’re at the house.” She pulled up on the metal latch and pushed on the door. It wouldn’t budge. She pushed harder to no avail. “Oh, no. I hope the workers haven’t sealed it.”
Suddenly, Shawn’s large hands were on each side of her pressing on the damp, wooden structure. His body leaned so close she could feel his heart beating and hear him breathing in her ear. She moved aside as he braced his shoulder against it and pushed hard. It moved slightly. They both pushed again. It creaked loudly when it finally gave way, causing them to stumble into a small storage room in the cellar. The door served as the backside of movable shelves.
“This door badly needs its hinges oiled,” Lisa said as she pushed the shelving back into place until she heard the latch click. “Come on, let’s go upstairs.”
The huge house, built on the top of a hill, had a lower level, a main level, an upper floor and an attic. They took the stairs to the main level and walked into a wide, but empty interior courtyard in the center of the building. Lisa stood silently, allowing Shawn a few moments to take in the old-world grandeur of the setting. His eyes flared with astonishment at the two-story room with red brick flooring and Roman Tuscan columns made of stone. The second floor had a decorative wrought iron railing around the entire perimeter. Sunlight flooded through the “lunette” or half-moon-shaped windows above the doorways lining the balcony.
“Anna used to have dozens of potted plants down here lined up between the columns. The one thing I remember most about this room is the natural brightness and the greenery.” She glanced around. The light-colored walls were freshly painted, but bare. She assumed the commission had removed the portraits of Anna’s ancestors for cleaning and not taken them down permanently. She made a sweeping motion with her hand. “This courtyard leads to several individual parlors, the library, the dining room and a great room. What do you want to see first?”
He chose the library and she led him into a corner room with heavy, ornate floor-to-ceiling shelves filled with antique books, brightly upholstered sofas and Persian rugs. They systematically walked through every room, peeking under the dust covers to view the furnishings. Some rooms were finished; others were empty and undergoing restoration. Painting equipment, ladders and other items were scattered throughout the house where the workers were finishing their tasks.
They took the stairs, decorated with the same style of ornate wrought iron railing as the balcony in the inner courtyard, to the second floor to view the bedrooms. Up there, they opened Anna’s bedroom door, walked past a dark, four-poster bed and opened the double, French-paned doors to a wide veranda. Scaffolding encased the entire back of the house for painting, but they were still able to get a good look at the gently sloping landscape dotted with palms and in the distance, the calm, aqua waters of the Caribbean. Light, puffy clouds drifted lazily across the blue sky.
Shawn leaned against the railing and gazed across the property. “I can’t imagine what it must have been like to live here. This place is like a... a tropical castle.”
She stood next to him, wondering what it would be like to live here with him, just the two of them, wandering through this huge house together and discovering all of its secrets. “Anna was born here and lived here for ninety-seven years. She loved it so much she rarely left the premises. I can underst
and why she wanted it preserved forever.”
“You were fortunate to have known her.” He slid his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. “Thank you for bringing me here. It was well worth the risk of letting you drag me through a damp, bat-infested cave.”
She laughed. “Don’t forget about the snakes and spiders.”
“You’re the first—no—the only female I’ve ever known who didn’t go all ballistic over that stuff.”
“Why bother?” She shrugged. “It’s a fact of life around here.”
He smiled and squeezed her shoulder, dipping his face close to hers. “You’re amazing.” His gaze dropped to her lips and her pulse began to race. She lifted her head, sensing his intent to kiss her—
The jarring sound of a car door slamming jerked her back to reality. She gasped and pulled away. “Did you hear that?”
Shawn looked puzzled. “No, hear what?”
Then they both heard it.
“Someone is here!”
“I thought you said no one would be here today!”
With Shawn on her heels, Lisa shut the veranda doors and tore out of Anna’s bedroom. “There shouldn’t be anyone here but us.”
She ran along the balcony to the other side of the house into a front bedroom to look out the window. “Oh, my gosh.”
Two late model cars had pulled into the driveway and three people were standing in front of the house gazing up at the exterior.
Lisa pulled back, worried they might see her. “It looks like a couple of council members and the president of the Island Preservation Commission. We have to get out of here now. Elsie would die of embarrassment if I got caught sneaking around.”
Their tennis shoes pounded on the wooden flooring as they ran to the stairway and thundered down the stairs. Lisa came to an abrupt stop at the bottom and peered through the courtyard. “Oh, no, they’re at the front door.” She cut a sharp right through an arched doorway and sprinted through a small, empty parlor to a back stairway.
“Where are we going? This isn’t the way we came.”
Voices echoed through the house as the new arrivals entered the courtyard through the front door.
“We’re going leave by the kitchen,” she whispered. “It’s in the rear of the house. There’s no time to go back through the tunnel. They might see us cutting through the courtyard. Besides, that door in the cellar made enough noise to wake the dead.” She waved her hand. “Follow me!”
She crept slowly down the stairs to keep the creaking of the old wood to a minimum. At the bottom, Lisa ran into a long, narrow kitchen filled with wall-to-wall cupboards, scarred wooden countertops and a large cast iron stove. She slowly pulled open the back door and waited for Shawn to exit then shut it quietly behind her.
They ran across the grounds behind the house, not stopping until they were on a footpath that led into the woods.
Once they were out of sight, they collapsed on the ground, laughing like a couple of errant teenagers.
“You’re crazy,” Shawn managed to say between gasps of breath. “Do you realize how close we came to getting caught?”
“I’ve been here several times on a Saturday and I’ve never encountered a soul,” she said, wiping stray wisps of hair from her brow as she lay on her back. “I wish we’d had more time. There were many things I didn’t have the chance to show you, like the secret staircase to the attic. You’d be surprised at all the unique nooks and crannies my cousins and I discovered about this place.”
Shawn propped himself up on one elbow. “Do me a favor and stay out of that cave unless I’m with you, okay? Our phones didn’t work in there. I checked. If something happened and you couldn’t make it back out, no one would know where to look for you.”
“Except you.” She made a face at his request then switched to a mischievous grin. “Does that mean you plan to do this with me again?”
He leaned over her and looked searchingly into her eyes. “Do you want me to come back here with you again?”
“Yes,” she said, the word escaping her lips in barely a whisper. “I’d love for you...and me...”
“This is the most fun I’ve had in a long time. I know that sounds clichéd, but it’s true. I enjoy being with you, Lisa, and I know you feel the same way.” He slid his arm around her waist, drawing her toward him.
She knew she should deny it and push him away, but his words had awakened the lonely little girl inside her. Yes, she did enjoy being with him—too much and it left her vulnerable to getting her heart broken again.
He lifted his hand to her face, his smooth fingertips brushing her cheek. Her breath caught in her throat as he slid his palm behind her head and pulled her toward him, placing a tender kiss on her lips. The sweet pressure of his mouth on hers made her pulse race, awaking desires that she had tucked away in her heart months ago.
She circled her arms around his neck and breathed in his scent, feeling the strength of his arms surrounding her, the warmth of his skin against hers.
His arms tightened around her, pulling her close as they deepened the kiss. “I’ve wanted to do this ever since yesterday,” he murmured, “when you fell into my arms.” He pulled back and smiled. “I’ve never had that happen before.”
Her face grew warm at the thought. “I didn’t do it on purpose, I swear.”
He smiled. “I’m glad you did, though.”
A long snake slithered across the trail. They froze, waiting for it to go on its way.
She sat up. “We’d better get going. We’ve got some heavy duty walking to do.”
Shawn stood, then reached down and took her by the hand, helping her to her feet. “Since we’re not going back through the cave, how do we get out of here?”
“Through a hole in the fence,” she said wryly. “This trail leads to the road. We can take it all the way back to the hotel, but we need to hurry. I don’t want to run into those council members on their way driving back to town. I’m sure they didn’t see us running across the grounds, but this road is private. It cuts through the heart of Anna’s property and seeing us walking along might make them question what we’re doing here. Let’s go.”
“Fine with me.” He glanced around cautiously. “I don’t want to be in or near this forest when it starts getting dark.”
They walked along the narrow trail through the dense forest until the path intersected with the road. Lisa pointed to a spot where a car had gone into the ditch and damaged the fence. They stepped over the torn metal fabric and jogged back to the Amaryllis.
“I’m beat,” Lisa said once they arrived at the hotel. “I need to go home and take a shower.”
They were silent on the ride back to her house. She’d begun to have second thoughts about kissing him and wondered if he had, too. They’d only known each other a few days and given the fact that she still opposed his development on the Regis property, the situation between them could grow uncomfortable in the near future, both personally and professionally. She didn’t want to put herself in the middle between Shawn and the women in her business league, not now—not ever.
He stopped the car in her driveway and leaned over to kiss her goodbye, but she pulled away. “I don’t think this is a good idea, Shawn. Given the situation we’re in professionally and the fact that you’re only staying temporarily, it might be best if we simply remained friends.”
Disappointment clouded his eyes, but she knew by his silence that he understood they had both made an error in judgment. “All right, Lisa. If that’s what you want.”
“It’s how it needs to be.” She opened the car door. “Goodbye, Shawn.”
She heard his car pull away as she walked in the house, but she didn’t turn around and wave goodbye. She didn’t want him to see the sadness in her eyes.
***
On Monday morning, Shawn sat at his desk, bouncing his pen on his note pad as he mulled over Lisa’s desire to remain friends only. It had disappointed him, but he respected her decision and understood he needed t
o let it go. In a few months, Wyn would turn the hotel over to a new manager and he’d head back to the states. Getting involved with Lisa would simply complicate matters.
Why, then, did it bother him so much?
He booted up his computer and typed the password to access his email. His Internet “pen pal,” Island Girl, had replied to his previous message. As he read it, he decided to set up a place and time to meet her.
He created a new email document and began to type:
Dear Island Girl,
You raise some valid questions. I assure you, I’m well over eighteen years old. I’m actually thirty-five. I also live on Enchanted Island, so deciding on a neutral place to meet will be easy and convenient for both of us.
Are you familiar with the establishment next to the Hideaway Cove Resort—Nigel’s Bar and Grill? If so, is next Wednesday night at eight o’clock convenient? If you aren’t comfortable meeting there, feel free to pick another place.
You shouldn’t have any trouble recognizing me; I’ll be wearing a red shirt.
Waiting to hear from you,
City Boy
To his surprise, within five minutes, he received a reply.
Dear City Boy,
Yes, I’m available on Wednesday evening and I’m very comfortable with meeting at Nigel’s. I know the owner and can vouch that he makes the best conch chowder on the island.
A red shirt? Sounds like a good plan. I’ll wear a red ribbon in my hair.
See you then,
Island Girl
Happy to be able to finally meet this woman, he closed his email and locked his computer, aware that he had to get some work done today.
He wanted to go to Morganville with Pete to look around the business district. He needed to see firsthand what types of vendors had established shops there so he didn’t duplicate them when leasing space in the mall. But he couldn’t simply wander along Main Street, staring through shop windows and asking nosy questions. Knowing how the island gossip network operated, his presence would probably create the impression that he was gathering ammunition to shut them down. He’d concluded that he needed someone reputable from the island to give him a tour and he only knew one person who could fill that role.
Lisa (Beach Brides Book 6) Page 6
