Jayne Krentz - Dawn in Eclipse Bay

Definitely should not have answered the door, Lillian thought. At the very least, she ought not to have invited Marilyn inside. But it had been impossible to ignore the bleak pain in the other woman’s eyes. The sisterhood thing.

“I really shouldn’t have come here,” Marilyn said. “I had no right to dump this on you. But I woke up this morning needing to talk to someone and I couldn’t think of anyone else. You and I have a common bond.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Gabe.”

“Gabe?That’s stretching the definition of a common bond a bit far, don’t you think?”

Marilyn rested a hand on the windowsill. “Don’t worry, I’m not even going to try to take him away from you.”

“Oh, hey, thanks. I appreciate that.”

“I’m a pragmatic woman,” Marilyn said. “I don’t waste time beating my head against stone walls. You don’t have to think of me as your competition.”

“Well, as a matter of fact I hadn’t thought of you in quite those terms.”

“When I saw you two together that night at the old Buckley place I knew that I had no chance of ever resuming my relationship with him. You can offer him something I can’t.”

Lillian felt her insides tighten. “I suppose you mean Harte Investments?”

“I’m sure it’s not just the company,” Marilyn said. “He probably finds you attractive, too.”

“Gosh. You really think so?”

Marilyn sighed. “You want to know a little secret? I used to blame your family and Harte Investments for the breakup of my relationship with Gabe.”

Lillian stilled. “I see.”

“A part of me will always wonder what would have happened if he hadn’t been so obsessed with competing with you Hartes. Who knows? Maybe he and I could have had something lasting together.”

Enough with the sisterhood thing, Lillian thought. She had done her politically correct duty. She straightened away from the counter.

“If you don’t mind, I have a lot of things to do this morning, Marilyn.”

Marilyn regarded her with an apologetic expression. “Yes, of course. Forgive me. I didn’t mean to get into old history.”

“Didn’t you?”

“No. I just wanted to talk to someone.” Marilyn blinked rapidly and wiped moisture away from the corner of her eye with a fingertip. “Things have been a little rough lately, what with the divorce and getting my campaign organized and now finding out that my campaign manager had an affair with Trevor.”

Lillian hesitated. “You’ve been under a lot of stress. Maybe you need to take some time off. Go somewhere quiet and relax before you start your big push for office.”

“I can’t afford to take that kind of time. Not at this juncture.” Marilyn squared her shoulders. “I intend to go to Washington, D.C., one of these days, so I’d better get used to dealing with stress, hadn’t I? But I shouldn’t have come here. It wasn’t fair to you.”

“Forget it. That’s certainly what I intend to do.” Lillian went past her and opened the front door. “Good luck in the campaign, Marilyn.”

“Thank you.” Marilyn walked out onto the porch and went down the steps to the Mercedes. She paused just before getting behind the wheel. “I hope you’ll vote for me.”

Lillian watched her drive away and then slowly closed the door. She walked to the table, picked up her mug and carried it into the second bedroom. She looked at the blank canvas propped on the easel.

For a long time she sipped tea and contemplated the empty white space, trying to get back into that alternate reality where she stood within the vision. But it was hopeless. Too many real-world thoughts barred the way.

“… You want to know a secret? I used to blame your family and Harte Investments for the breakup of my relationship with Gabe.”

After a while she gave up trying to get into the zone. She went into the kitchen and took a bottle of wine and some cheese out of the refrigerator. She put both into a paper sack.

She went upstairs to her bedroom, opened a drawer, selected a nightgown and a change of underwear, and put them into a leather tote. In the bathroom she quickly packed the basics into a small, zippered case and dropped the case into the tote.

Carrying the tote in one hand, she went back downstairs, collected the sack with the wine and cheese inside and a jacket. She left the cottage through the mudroom door.

Outside she was met with a brisk, bracing wind and the roar of the surf down in Dead Hand Cove. The day was already darkening into night.

She walked across the top of the bluffs to the old Buckley place.

Gabe opened the back door just as she raised her hand to knock. He looked at the bulging tote bag.

“Looks like you plan to stay awhile.”

“Thought I’d spend the night if it’s okay with you.”

He smiled slowly, emerald eyes warm and sensual.

“Oh, yeah,” he said.

She walked into the kitchen.

“Don’t want to push my good luck but curiosity compels me to ask.” He took the tote and the sack from her. “Why the change of heart?”

“Marilyn came to see me today. You know, it’s one thing for my mom and your grandfather to mess with my mind. They’re family. They got a right, I guess. But having your ex-girlfriend try the same trick is going too far. Got to draw the line somewhere.”

He closed the door and looked at her. “Marilyn paid you a visit today?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Why?”

“Among other things, she said she needed to talk to someone about the real reason she’d fired Claire.”

“And that reason is?”

“She thinks Claire had an affair with Trevor.”

“Shethinks that or she knows it?”

“Let’s just say she’s convinced of it.” She unfastened her cloak. “At any rate she doesn’t trust Claire anymore. So she canned her.”

Gabe took the cloak. It spilled from his hand in an iridescent waterfall.

“What’s the big deal?” he said. “Marilyn is divorcing Thornley. Their relationship was obviously based on Trevor’s electability, not true love. Why worry about an affair with Claire that may or may not have happened?”

“For heaven’s sake, Gabe. Would you want to employ someone as your close, personal assistant who had slept with your wife?”

He didn’t miss a beat.

“I’d destroy any man who slept with my wife.”

The absolute finality of that statement made her catch her breath. “I see.”

“But I’m not a politician,” Gabe continued. “Politicians are different.”

She thought about Marilyn’s disturbed behavior. “I’m not sure that they’re so very different.”

“Marilyn mention me?”

“Oh, yes.”

“What did she say?”

“What everyone else seems to be saying. Something about your interest in me probably being linked to an obsessive interest in Harte Investments.”

He watched her with unreadable eyes. “And that observation is what made you decide to come over here this afternoon?”

“I’m here because I want to be here.”

“Glad to hear that. You do realize that you probably won’t get home until noon tomorrow.”

“Not like I’m getting much work done here in Eclipse Bay, anyway.”

She did not return to the cottage until after lunch the following day, just as Gabe had warned. He walked her back across the bluffs and left her at the front door with a long, lingering kiss.

“I know you need to paint this afternoon,” he said. “Why don’t I come over here for dinner tonight? I’ll bring the wine this time.”

She went into the house and smiled at him through the screen. “That’ll work.”

He raised a hand in casual farewell and went down the steps. She watched him walk away across the bluffs, hands shoved deep into the pockets of his jacket, his dark hair ruffled by the wind. A dark squall line hung across the bay, moving swiftly toward shore.

Memories of last night’s lovemaking ignited hot little sparklers of pleasure deep inside her. But there was something else burning down there, too, a long fuse that promised a painful explosion sometime in the future when this very adult relationship blew up in her face.

Don’t look too far ahead. Just take it one day at a time. That’s all you can do for now. That’s all you dare to do now.

Gabe was right. She needed to paint.

She hung her jacket in the closet and started toward the hall that led to her makeshift studio. Halfway across the living room she noticed the light on the answering machine and changed course. She went to the table where the phone sat, and punched up the message.

She was startled to hear Arizona Snow’s harsh whisper.

“… Being tailed by an institute spy. Bastard’s too smart to get close enough for me to get a look at him but I know he’s out there somewhere, watchin’ me. I can feel him. Must’ve seen me doin’ recon and knows I’m on to the plans for the new wing.“I called you on accounta I don’t know Gabe’s number. I’m at a pay phone at the pier. Can’t risk leaving all the details on that machine of yours. When I leave here, I’ll head for my place and hole up there.“I got to talk to you and Gabe. Heard you two are shackin’ up together so if this message gets to you, I figure it’ll get to him, too. My place is the only safe house in the sector. Appreciate it if you two would come on out as soon as you can. Things are getting hot around here.“Gotta go. Bye.”

There was a muffled crash on the other end of the line. Arizona had hung up in a hurry.

Lillian glared at the answering machine. “You know,” she said to the universe at large, “I came out here to find a nice, serene place to do some painting.”