Page 27 of The Other Lady Vanishes

“You’re not really interested in talking about this, are you?”

“No, I’m not.”

“Why not?”

“I’ve got other things on my mind at the moment.”

She looked as if she wanted to argue, but she managed to beat back her concern for his rather dim employment prospects. She gave him a cool smile, got to her feet, and picked up her little pistol.

“Let’s go into the living room,” she said. “The chairs are more comfortable there.”

She had a point. The wooden kitchen chairs did not invite extended sitting. He collected his own gun and followed her into the living room, enjoying the cozy feel of the small house. The floral upholstery on the sofa and chairs was badly faded and so were the curtains, but it wasobvious that Adelaide had repainted. The walls were a smoky shade of green that reminded him of the inside of an avocado. The deep purple trim around the doors and windows could have been stripped off the outside of an eggplant.

A recent issue ofLifemagazine and a novel sat on the coffee table in front of the cushioned sofa. A bookmark was positioned in the middle of the book.

Adelaide came to a halt in the center of the room and looked around. Jake got the impression that she was trying to figure out what to do with him. Her gaze fell on the card table near the bookcase. She brightened.

“We could play cards,” she said.

He smiled. “All right. Are you a betting woman?”

“Not if it involves money. I don’t have enough to risk. But I’ve got a box of seashells we can use for wagers.”

“That will work.” He glanced at the book on the table. “I see you’re reading the new Cooper Boone spy novel.”

“Deception Island. Yes, it just came out. I love the way Cooper Boone travels to mysterious places around the world and confronts dangerous villains. Did you read the first one,Code Name: Arcane?”

“I did, as a matter of fact.”

“What did you think?”

“All that stuff about villains with secret island fortresses, weird art collections, and strange weapons isn’t exactly realistic.”

Adelaide gave him a steely smile. “That’s probably why they call it fiction.”

For the first time in a very long while, he laughed. Adelaide looked as surprised as he was.

Chapter 15

They were both still awake when the first light of dawn seeped into the sky. Jake put down the last hand of cards.

“Gin,” he said. “You owe me three shells.”

Adelaide pushed the last of her shells across the table. She eyed the large stack on Jake’s side.

“You’re awfully good at cards,” she said.

“Sometimes I get lucky.” Jake pushed himself to his feet and stretched in a leisurely manner. He checked the gold watch on his wrist. “Time for me to go.”

“Won’t you stay for breakfast?” she said quickly. “Eggs and toast? It’s the least I can do under the circumstances.”

“Thanks, but I should be on my way. Wouldn’t want anyone passing by your house to see me leaving at this hour.”

“I doubt that anyone would notice. It’s not like I have a lot of neighbors. Just you and the summer visitors who rented the cottage at the other end of the beach. They’re only here on the weekends.”

She realized that at some point during the night she had becomeaccustomed to his presence. A quiet intimacy had settled on them. Not that it had been a night of true confessions, she thought. Instead, they had talked of everything and nothing—the weather, the scandals of the stars rumored to be vacationing at the Burning Cove Hotel, the clever names of the teas and tisanes that she had invented to promote her special blends at Refresh, the rumors of war in Europe—but they had somehow arrived at a mutual agreement to respect each other’s secrets.

It wasn’t that they weren’t curious about each other, she realized, but for now, at least, they weren’t going to try to push past each other’s boundaries.

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