Page 76 of Summer Tease
I tense. Miami girl? Is that why he went there last week? To see a woman?
Doesn’t matter.
“He’s got a piece in Miami?” Grams asks, her mouth full of brown cookie.
“So they say,” Lu says, taking a miniscule bite of hers. “It’swhy he goes there all the time. Someone he met while he was on the force there.”
Deedee nods to confirm. “He’s real close-lipped about it.”
“Just like his grandpa,” Grams mutters.
The conversation shifts down other avenues, and the time for questions about Miss Miami has passed. Not that I would’ve felt like I could ask them even if it hadn’t. Showing too much interest would be dangerous. Grams is too smart not to catch on.
I leave not long after and make another stop at the city offices in case I’m lucky enough to catch Jane. If not, I’ll be tempted to march in and start going through filing cabinets.
But my luck is in this time. Jane is at her desk, typing away at her computer. When I tell her what I’m after, she clenches her teeth. “I’ve been through all of those documents,” she says as she leads me to a big filing cabinet, “and none of them are older than about thirty years. I’m guessing the ones before that got damaged in that big hurricane that hit the island. What do you need the documents for?”
“An interested buyer,” I say. “It’s the one thing standing between us and a contract, I think. He basically wants confirmation that the dock is on our property rather than the Palmers’.”
She opens the cabinet. “He has a boat he wants to dock there?”
I hesitate, wondering how forthcoming I need to be about things. But I have no reason to hide anything. This is a house sale. A business transaction. “Kind of. He wants to rebuild the dock at the same time as he does the one next door. Connect them, I think.”
Jane’s hands pause in their flipping through the files, and her gaze darts to me. “It’s Mark Wallace?”
“Yep,” I say, keeping my voice upbeat.
Jane’s eyes stay fixed on me for a second, then she returns to the files without saying anything. She doesn’t have to. It’sobvious she’s not thrilled. She finally pulls out a group of folders and sets them on top of the cabinet. “If it’s here, it’d be with these papers. But I’d honestly be surprised.”
“And if it’s not?”
She grimaces. “You’ll probably have to get a surveyor out there.”
“Thanks for your help,” I say with a smile.
For the next fifteen minutes, I flip through the papers, quickly glancing at the names and dates. But she’s right. There’s nothing that goes as far back as I need. Of course. Nothing can just be easy or straightforward.
I thank Jane again and call Eugene on my way out to let him know I’m still around and that we’ll need a surveyor out here stat.
I grab a few food items from the general store—it’s no homemade chicken alfredo, but it’ll do—and head home. I set the grocery bags on the counter and start putting the perishable things away. Glancing at the backyard, I do a double take.
Beau is sitting on the dock, his legs swinging over the edge. He’s wearing shorts and a white T-shirt but no shoes. He almost looks like he’s…waiting.
Part of me wants to run away before he realizes I’m home. Two weeks ago, I would’ve felt confident to take on Beau Palmer—or any Palmer for that matter—and come out of the interaction unscathed.
I don’t feel that now. I feel unsure of myself, of what I want, of whathewants. Especially given whatever he has going on with this girl in Miami.
He glances over just then, his gaze fixing on me.
Busted.
I try to buck up some confidence and head for him.
“You don’t look surprised to see me,” I say, shutting the sliding door behind me.
“I’m not. I’ve got ears all over this island.”
I slip off my sandals and take a seat next to him. Have his island ears told himwhyI didn’t leave yesterday? Or is there a chance he’s assuming I’m here for him? I feel the urgent need to clarify this matter.
