Page 29 of Pirates in Calusa Cove

Keaton sat up a little taller, leaned in a little closer, and hung on to every word. Anything to know her better, because fear still gripped his heart like a disease. He resented that feeling. He wanted to brush it under the rug and ignore it, to somehow make it go away.

But he couldn’t. And there was a part of him—even if he wanted to deny it—that didn’t want to. For the first time since Petra had died, he felt alive. Not that he’d felt dead inside for all these years. It wasn’t that. He’d lived his life. He’d enjoyed his career, his friends, and his family.

He’d cared about all those things with every fiber of his heart. But his soul? That had belonged to the woman he’d buried. And now, it had come to life, and he had no idea how he’d managed these ten years with his feet firmly planted in the past.

“Trinity could be such a little brat.” Monty chuckled. “She knew how to boss people around, just like her mother. But there were always subtle differences. If anyone bothered to take a closer look, they’d see it. They’d see a young woman who left a twenty-dollar tip when five was plenty. Or a girl who went out of her wayto put lunch money on a wild redheaded girl’s school card.”

“Audra always wondered who’d done that.” Dawson laughed. “We were talking about that a couple of months ago. Everyone assumed it was Silas.”

“I’m sure he did, too.” Monty smiled. “Another misunderstood soul of Calusa Cove. But Trinity was so hell-bent on her mother’s approval, she wouldn’t dare get caught doing a good deed.”

“No offense, sir?—”

“I get your former military, and that stuff is ingrained in your psyche or something, but please, I beg of you, stop it,” Monty said, interrupting Keaton.

“I’ll try.” Keaton rubbed his hands on his jeans. “I mean no disrespect to your family, but wouldn’t doing that kind of stuff make you proud?”

“Me? Hell yes.” Monty nodded. “But sadly, not Porsche. That woman, and I get what a bastard it makes me to say it that way, but if you ever meet her, you’ll agree, she believes there are stations in life.” He lifted his hand over his head. “She’s up here, and everyone in Calusa Cove is down here.” He lowered it to his ankle. “Porsche treats most people like they were put on this earth to serve her. If she gets what she believes is poor service, she’ll leave you a penny tip because she believes that will teach you a lesson. Writing negative reviews is one of her favorite pastimes. So, my lovely little daughter spent from the age of ten to eighteen trying to please her mother. It never happened, and Trinity finally figured out that it wasn’t worth the effort. But it all came at a cost.”Monty tapped his chest. “I take ownership of some of it, because I spoiled that child.”

“She’s not that bad,” Keaton found himself saying.

“Trust me, she’s a princess. Date her long enough, and you’ll learn.”

Dawson chuckled.

Keaton pounded his chest. He wasn’t even sure they were a thing. One night doesn’t make for a relationship. The fact they hadn’t fought for twenty-four hours was a big deal, but still, caring didn’t mean two people could make it work.

“Monty, is there a point to all this?” Dawson asked. “Because I still need your word that the word ‘jewels’ will not come out of your mouth and I really need to head out. Mallary is still missing.”

Monty lifted his gaze. “You have my word, but Mallary’s family has already called me five times since they learned Trinity was found.”

“I’m not surprised by that,” Keaton said. “They were close friends and I’m sure they are worried sick. I wish we had more information to give them.”

“I’m afraid the Coast Guard might be suspending the dive portion of the rescue,” Dawson said. “State’s getting involved now.”

“Is that typical?” Monty asked.

“It depends on a variety of things and right now, I don’t have enough information to speculate why,” Dawson said.

Monty nodded. “Mallary’s parents have been incredibly kind and very concerned for Trinity. However, with each phone call, they have asked me the same question,and that’s if the jewels from theFlying Victoriawere found, which I suppose I don’t find all that odd, since it’s one of the things Trinity asked about when she woke up.”

“These jewels have been at the heart of the search ever since Jared’s boat went down last year.” Dawson rested his hand on Monty’s shoulder. “While Trinity didn’t go around blabbing to the world what she was doing—as a matter of fact, she kept it to just us—we all know that Mallary told everyone who would listen.”

“I know, and that’s one of the reasons this is so hard.” Monty let out a long breath. “I don’t like blaming a missing girl, who might be dead, but her actions are probably what set this in motion. Pirates were probably watching Trinity for weeks, maybe longer.

That thought burned through Keaton’s body like a wildfire.

“Pure speculation,” Dawson said calmly. He was always the voice of reason.

“All Trinity wanted to do was help. It’s all she’s ever wanted to do, but she never wants to take credit for it. While she wants this town to see her, she doesn’t want to own much of what she does,” Monty said softly. “Like when she asked me to help her buy that boat. I thought she should keep it at the big marina. But no, she had to do it at Mitchell's, which is fine. Baily is a great person. But when I bought the thing, the marina gave us a year of free docking.” Monty shrugged.

“Don’t ever let Baily know that,” Dawson said.

“Never.” Monty waved his hands. “I shouldn’t have even told you, but that’s Trinity.” He laughed, shakinghis head. “The house she bought? It was owned by a couple who had to move up north for family reasons. They were also upside down and had to sell fast. She came in, offered them over the asking price without batting an eye, and she did that without daddy’s help.”

There was a lot about Trinity that Keaton didn’t know. Money didn’t necessarily buy respect, and Trinity felt as though she needed to earn it. Except, she kept doing it the ass-backward way.

“You raised a lovely girl.” Keaton stretched out his hand. “For the record, I’m not sure we’re dating, but I’m hoping to change that.”

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