Page 79 of Strangers She Knows

Rae sagged in disappointment. “Is that all?”

Is that all?“Both of them were so good at their jobs, the US Spy Team didn’t want either of them to quit. But in the excitement of the escape, Patrick had been wounded. Fearing for his life, Ruby begged the ship’s captain to marry them—” not that shipboard weddings were legal, but this was no time to be reasonable “—and the captain performed the ceremony.”

“That’s so romantic.” Rae sighed.

Luna smiled.

“By the time they got back to the States, she was pregnant again, and the officials realized because of his wounds, Patrick would never be able to return to active duty. So they both retired from military service and lived happily ever after.”Whew. Kellen had successfully wrapped it up.

Ruby hopped off the window seat and knelt beside Kellen. “What about Ruby’s mother?”

Luna came to join them, sat on the carpet and stared at them both.

Kellen had celebrated too soon. “She came to live with them.”

“But she died and they buried her here.” Rae remembered that tombstone in the cemetery. “What about Ruby’s mean ol’ father?”

“He died alone somewhere else—” Kellen still wondered where “—and he never returned to Isla Paraíso.”

“Good. I did not like that man.” Rae scratched Luna’s head between the ears. “Did Ruby and Patrick have a boy or a girl?”

“Twins, one of each.”

Rae’s eyes shone. “Did you make all that up?”

“What do you think?”

“I think you did. But I like it.”

Kellen hugged her. “I like it, too. And it could have happened.”

“That’s the best part.” Rae went to the window seat and snuggled into the pillows.

Luna joined her.

Kellen picked up one of the books on the shelves, stretched out on the couch, and read, while Rae watched out the window and daydreamed of a happy ending.

33

It was late afternoon when Rae said, “I hear the helicopter!”

They looked out the window, saw Max make another circuit of the island, and when he landed, Kellen and Rae were waiting, fighting against the surges of wind. The air smelled like salt; Kellen could taste it on her lips, and she wondered what news Max would bring about the storm—and everything else.

He acted as if he’d been away for days: he hugged them both hard, took their hands and walked with them toward the house. He had looked the island over. He’d seen no trace of Jamie. He shot a significant glance at Kellen, which told her he’d also seen no trace of Mara. He told them the oncoming storm had gathered strength, and he asked them what they’d done while he was gone. The search of the Conkles’ cottage made him look solemn, and he seemed taken aback when Rae reported they’d entered the cemetery and found Hermione’s grave, and he stared up at the house as if stricken by the same suspicion Kellen entertained. But he kept walking up the stairs, through the front door and into the library. There he sank wearily into the overstuffed chair. “Sweetheart, would you get Daddy a glass of water?”

Rae ran toward the kitchen.

“Did he remember where he put…where Jamie is?” Kellen kept her voice low.

Max was quiet, too. “No. He’s under the influence of something powerful. Not…what we thought.”

“Not moonshine?” They’d spoken of it. She’d assumed…

Max gave a quick shake of the head. “I didn’t stick around to find out what the EMTs had learned, but I got the impression that wasn’t it. Maybe he smoked the wrong weed. Mother Nature’s got some powerful hallucinogenics, and Dylan would be the one to try them.”

Rae came back with the water.

Max drank it in big gulps, as if he had been running rather than flying. “Dylan kept talking about Jamie and the birds. He said she loved the birds.”

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