Safe in His Arms--A Clean Romance

by Anna J. Stewart

  “That one,” Mrs. Bumble said with a shake of her head. “On the go with one adventure after another, from sunup to sunset and the sweetest heart in town. But she’s right about the caves. They’d be worth a look. I’d take one of the deputies or the sheriff with you, though. The tide down there’s unpredictable. And maybe not safe for everyone.” She angled a look at Phoebe, who was torn between watching Charlie and her friends and finishing up her application.

  Hunter and Mrs. Bumble chatted awhile longer, and he got some leads on who he should talk to first about the town, beginning with BethAnn Bromley, the wife of a late state senator who had returned to Butterfly Harbor last summer. “You’ll get an earful of gossip along with the facts, but you’ll have far more information than you thought possible,” Mrs. Bumble said as she presented Phoebe with her very first card.

  Phoebe patted her heart.

  “You’re welcome,” Mrs. Bumble responded without hesitation, then quickly processed Phoebe’s books. Soon they were on their way back toward Main Street.

  When Phoebe seemed to be steering him toward the ice-cream parlor again, he shook his head. “Not today, kiddo. We’ll save that for a special occasion. Let’s see. There’s a Chinese takeout over there. On a Wing. Clever. Looks new. Want to try?”

  Phoebe scrunched her nose and shook her head.

  “Right. I forgot. You’re not a fan.” Proof no child was perfect. Personally, Hunter could have lived on Chinese food. “Hey, I know. How about we get a sandwich and drinks at the diner and eat at the beach?”

  Phoebe’s brow creased, then after a moment, she nodded.

  “Great.” Crisis averted. “Let’s go see what they have.”

  Phoebe hugged her books against her chest and surprised him by skipping beside him. The sight nearly stole his breath. Phoebe had been so controlled these last months, so deliberate even with every step she took, and yet today, she was smiling and skipping like any little girl. But he longed for the day he knew she could be truly happy and carefree again.

  His throat tightened. Phoebe’s laugh had always been one of the sweetest sounds he’d ever heard. And oh, when she sang, his heart just took flight. He could remember the look of pure joy and pride on his sister’s and brother-in-law’s faces when she’d performed, by herself, in the first-grade talent show. Brent had presented her with a bouquet of six roses afterward and hoisted her into his arms, declaring her to be the next Broadway sensation. Phoebe had laughed and squealed, clutching her roses to her chest, just as she held on to her books today.

  She tugged on his hand. “Sad?”

  “I’m not sad, kiddo. Not really. Just remembering something.” He had to blink quickly to force the tears back.

  Phoebe looked up at the sky above them and pointed.

  “Yeah. I was thinking about your mom and dad and how much I miss them.” He bent down when tears pooled in her eyes. “I was thinking about your talent show, remember that? How beautifully you sang?” He swiped a thumb across her cheek before he tweaked her chin. “They were so proud of you. And they’d be so proud of you now, Phoebe.” He willed her to feel the pride and joy she brought to him. “They loved you more than anything in the world.”

  She nodded, her chin wobbling.

  “It’s okay to be sad. You know that. We’ve talked about that. And you can talk to me about anything. Always.”

  Phoebe nodded.

  “Okay, then. Let’s get that lunch.”

  * * *

  “LOOKING GOOD UP THERE.”

  Kendall twisted suddenly and nearly flipped over the side of the scaffold. A container of spackle in one hand, she pressed her free hand over her racing heart. “I should put a bell around your neck.”

  Hunter had quickly moved in when she’d wobbled and grabbed hold of the crisscrossing pipes as if he’d somehow catch her if she fell. “Sorry. Thought you heard us come back. You going to do this whole thing yourself?”

  “Yes.” Kendall almost didn’t understand the question. “Of course.” She’d made good progress today. “Why? You want to help?”

  “Trust me.” Hunter grinned and shook his head. “You don’t want me anywhere near tools or home repair. I’m a menace. Or so my father used to tell me.”

  “Doesn’t take a genius,” Kendall said, then realizing how that might sound, she bit her lip. “Sorry. I guess maybe it does take a bit of...”

  “Talent. The word you’re looking for is talent. Have you had dinner?”

  Dinner? She hadn’t had lunch. She’d zeroed in on the task and hadn’t come up for air except for bathroom and water breaks. “No.”

  “Great.” He held up another paper bag, this one larger than the first one they’d presented to her last week. “We brought you a sandwich. And kettle chips. Paige said someone named Ursula was trying them out at the diner. Vinegar flavored. I liked them. Phoebe, not so much.”

  Kendall couldn’t stop herself. She looked past Hunter to where Phoebe’s nose wrinkled, and she shuddered. The little girl was so small she almost vanished behind the pile of books in her arms. “You don’t have to keep bringing me food,” Kendall said. “I can feed myself.”

  Hunter set the bag down on the bottom plank. “You’re welcome.”

  Kendall took a long, steeling breath. “Thank you.” Contrary to what he believed, she did have manners.

  “We ate at the beach. Tuna fish sandwiches, chips and a chocolate chip cookie for dessert. I also think we ate more than our share of sand. Stuff gets everywhere.”

  Kendall stared at him. Did he not get the message? She didn’t want to chitchat. She didn’t want small talk. She wanted to be alone for her own peace of mind.

  “Yeah, well, it does at that. I need to get back to work. Thank you, again,” she added at the last second when her stomach growled. “For the dinner.”

  “We’re going to visit Duskywing Farm tomorrow,” Hunter called up to her when she turned her back on him. “Can we get you anything?”

  “No, thank you. Um. Calliope brings me stuff sometimes.” Sometimes? Try every other day. “I was going to fill the window boxes,” she called when he started to leave. “If you and Phoebe wanted a project. Calliope can help you choose something. Or if Lori Knight is there—ask her. She works part-time at the Flutterby Inn, but she’s a miracle worker with flowers and plants.”

  “Great info, thanks. Have a good evening.”

  “Yeah,” Kendall said into the wind that was picking up as the day drifted away. “You, too.” Confused, unsettled, she abandoned her plastering and descended the three stories to the ground. How could a man be both too pushy and yet not? All day she’d been planning what to say to him when she saw him again. Now that she knew who he was, what he’d done with at least part of his life, she felt she owed him a compliment or at least an acknowledgment, but once again, he’d appeared out of nowhere and thrown her off-kilter. And for a moment, she’d almost smiled at the sight of him. At the sight of Phoebe.

  “You’ll get another chance. He’ll—they’ll—be here awhile.” She made quick work of the cleanup today, storing and stashing her tools and supplies almost in record time. She plucked the bag off the plank and carried it inside with her for after she showered and changed.

  Between erecting the scaffolding, all the climbing up and down and the upper-body stretches as she’d plastered a good third of the lighthouse tower, every muscle in her body ached. But in a good way. In a maybe-I’ll-sleep-tonight way.

  Tonight she sat at the small square table next to the bare window overlooking the ocean. She needed to replace it with double-paned glass because of the breeze eking through, but there was something oddly comforting about the sound of the wind pushing in that relaxed her. A promise of more work, maybe? Or a reminder that life continued to roar, continued to move forward, no matter how stuck she was.

  She popped open the paper container and ran h
er finger almost lovingly over the soft white bread encasing lush, thick tuna salad. A smile tugged at her mouth as she remembered how, when she’d been in the army, she’d dream of tuna fish sandwiches and potato chips. Once, when she’d video chatted with Sam. The two of them had laughed so hard, Kendall had cried.

  She’d cried for almost two days after, the desire to hold her fiancé in her arms so overwhelming she didn’t know how she remembered to breathe. It had been Matt who had found her, curled up in her bunk, trying so hard not to let the tears fall she’d almost suffocated herself. Most of the time she was fine. Both she and Sam had known going in that deployment was going to be hard, and they’d done pretty well the first two years. Until a single picture of her childhood-sweetheart made her realize how much of her life was slipping away.

  Matt had understood. As much as he could. What he was able to do as a sounding board became as vital to her as the stifling, hot air she breathed every day. The others in their battalion were understanding but tended to try to tease her out of her moods rather than just let her spew. But Matt, he’d set himself as the target and let her fire. Time after time. Word after word.

  She never would have made it back if it wasn’t for him. And sometimes, when those voids had gotten so dark and the depression so deep, it was only the thought of her friend that had kept her from sliding into the abyss.

  But now, today, for the first time, she found herself smiling at, of all things, a tuna fish sandwich. And for the first time, it felt okay.

  CHAPTER SIX

  “PHOEBE!” IN THE darkness of the night, Hunter raced around the tiny cottage, flipping on lights. He checked under her bed, the bathroom, even the closets. It had been months since she’d done this, taken off in the night in search of her parents who were never coming home.

  Panic seized him around the chest and squeezed, slowing time to the point where he felt as if he were slogging through mud. He’d walked through minefields, hunkered down in foxholes with dedicated soldiers, even stared down the barrel of a gun when he’d snapped the wrong photo. But the abject terror over not being able to find his niece erased all reason and rationality from his mind.

  “Phoebe!” he called again as he ripped open the door and raced to the motor home, looking in every nook and cranny he could think of. He found nothing.

  The door to the keeper house swung open, and Kendall stepped out. Her long legs were bare beneath the snug black shorts and tank she wore. Her hair was loose and flowing around pale, scarred shoulders accented by the moonlight as she strode toward him, barefoot.

  Only then did he feel the rocks and dirt beneath his own bare feet. The pajama pants he was wearing did little to keep the chill of the night off his skin as he shivered. Why wouldn’t his brain work?

  “What’s wrong?” Kendall demanded in a tone he’d never heard from her before.

  “Phoebe. I woke up to check on her. Sometimes she has nightmares,” he explained as he turned around, searching the darkness for any sign of his niece. “And she sleepwalks. She’s not inside. She’s not in the motor home. What if... Oh, God.” His gaze froze on the edge of the cliffs. “What if she fell? What if...”

  Guilt and dread slithered down his spine. He took a step away from Kendall, toward the cliffs.

  Kendall caught his arm, stopped him. “I’ll get a flashlight and look. You wait here.”

  “But—”

  “You. Wait. Here,” Kendall ordered, her eyes flashing in the dimness of the porch light. She raced back inside and returned seconds later with shoes on her feet and an industrial flashlight in her hand. She was already scanning the beam in every direction.

  She detoured around him, heading to the cliff’s edge. Hunter tried to make his heart beat again as she scanned below. “She’s not down there.” She headed back, aiming the light high and over and around and... She stopped and let out a breath he could actually hear. “There she is.”

  “What? Where? Where is she?” Hunter raced over and stood behind Kendall as she arced the light up to the top of the scaffold. “Phoebe.” If the sight of his niece sitting there, her favorite book clutched in her hand, was supposed to make him feel better, it didn’t. If anything, the fear surged again.

  “Don’t.” Kendall reached back and gripped his arm. “Don’t yell. Don’t get mad. Not yet. Not until I get her down.”

  “I’m not mad, I’m terrified.”

  “I know.” She squeezed his arm. “I can feel it. Let it go, Hunter. It’s not going to do either of you any good, and I need to focus. Here. Take this.” She pushed the flashlight into his hand. “I’m going to get her.”

  “What? No, wait, you can’t—I mean, of course you can. You’re...capable.” More than, he acknowledged. Having served in the military, she knew what pressure was, and she knew how to process fear probably better than most. But that didn’t make the idea of Phoebe being where she was any easier.

  “Hunter, pull it together,” Kendall snapped. “I get you’re scared. And believe me, Phoebe and I are going to have a long talk about what’s permissible around this area and what is not. But we aren’t going to do that now. Right now I’m going up there and I’ll bring her down to you. Okay? Nod for me, Hunter.”

  “Yeah. Yeah, okay.”

  “I need you to trust me.” She grabbed his other arm and gave him a good shake. “I won’t let anything happen to her.”

  “Yeah.” He nodded again.

  Kendall stepped back and headed to the scaffold. She stood there for a moment, hands on her hips, and looked up at Phoebe. “Hey, Phoebe. You doing okay up there?”

  Hunter flashed the light up and caught Phoebe’s nod. Near as he could tell, she wasn’t scared at all. If anything, she looked as surly as Kendall had the day they’d turned up unannounced.

  “Is it okay if I come up?” Kendall called. “I bet the view is pretty great up there.”

  Phoebe turned her head toward the ocean, shifting a little.

  “I can feel your fear from here, MacBride. Suck it up.” Kendall glanced over her shoulder at him, but where he expected to find anger and irritation, he saw understanding. Compassion. And, thankfully, a bit of terror, too. “Phoebe? May I come up?”

  Phoebe nodded and tucked her hair behind her ear. Hunter made sure he kept the light on Kendall as she climbed up the side of the scaffold, the pipes and planks creaking as she did. The muscles in her arms and legs strained as she moved effortlessly to the top of the structure. She walked carefully across, speaking to Phoebe in words he couldn’t quite hear. The wind had picked up and Hunter considered going back inside for a jacket for his niece. By the time he aimed the light upward again, he saw Kendall and Phoebe weren’t climbing down as he’d expected.

  Kendall had taken a seat beside her.

  * * *

  “WOW.” KENDALL TRIED to sound casual beside Phoebe and not to appear as if she was assessing the young girl’s condition. Physically she appeared to be fine. The hem of her sky blue pajamas ruffled in the night breeze. Her hair was loose and tangled around her bright but sullen face. “I was right. The view’s pretty great.” Not that she could see very much in the darkness, but the moon was full enough to cast a glistening sparkle against the ocean. “You do know you shouldn’t be up here, right?”

  Kendall leaned back against the lighthouse and drew one leg up, hooked her hands around her knee and closed her eyes.

  The plank creaked a bit as Phoebe shifted, probably, Kendall thought, to look over at her.

  “Can’t say I blame you, though.” Kendall took a long, deep breath. “It’s not just the view, is it? It’s the sounds. The way the waves crash against the rocks and the wind rushes against your ears. It’s like the higher you go, the more peace you can find. Or the closer to heaven you can climb.” Kendall opened her eyes and tilted her head. “That’s what you were thinking, wasn’t it? That if you climbed high enough, reached far
enough, maybe up here you could see your parents again.”

  Phoebe blinked, and inclined her head in a way that told Kendall she’d hit the target on the first shot.

  “Can I tell you a secret?” Kendall laughed at Phoebe’s arched brow. Boy, this kid was old for her age. “Of course I can. You’re like the best secret keeper ever, aren’t you? I’ve done the same thing. Still do. I climb as high as I possibly can, hoping, praying that when I get to the top I’ll find...” She cleared her throat, still unable to say Sam’s name without feeling her heart fracture. “One time I climbed the highest mountain I could. So high there was snow at the top, all hoping I could find what I lost. But I didn’t.” What she had caught was a nasty case of pneumonia and an extended stay in the hospital followed by a psych exam. “And neither did you.”

  Phoebe shook her head.

  “You put a right scare into your uncle. You know that?”

  Phoebe looked down to where Hunter was whipping the flashlight back and forth like he was directing a plane for landing.

  “We’re fine, Hunter,” Kendall called down, but she knew from experience nothing was going to replace the feeling of Phoebe in his arms again. “We’ll be down in a minute.” She heard him mutter something before the light clicked off. Kendall turned her attention back to Phoebe. “Here’s another secret, but it’s not mine. It’s your uncle’s.”

  Phoebe shifted around, pulled her legs under her and looked at Kendall, all expectation.

  “He loves you.”

  Phoebe rolled her eyes.

  “Okay, you know that already, don’t you? But there’s even more to that. Because when you were born, you became a part of him. Like a little piece of you broke off and lodged in his heart. Just as it got caught in your mom’s and dad’s hearts. The idea of anything happening to you—” Kendall swallowed the tears burning her throat. “The idea of losing you is literally the worst thing he can think of, and when he couldn’t find you tonight, when you took off without telling him, without telling anyone, well, that little piece starts vibrating and telling him something is very, very wrong.”