Her call asking if he still needed her help was a complete about-face, and she’d known as she talked to him she was the last person he’d expected to hear from.
The real reason she’d made the call was she’d remembered that the Blue Diamond Ranch was located in Kincade, California, the same town as the address on the letter she’d found in her mother’s journal.
“There’s that frown again,” Spencer teased, but Maura heard the slight edge to his voice.
“Spencer, dear, behave,” his mother admonished as she brought the coffee carafe and a plate of cookies to the table. “Maura’s probably weary from the long bus ride.”
Maura flashed Spencer’s mother a grateful smile.
“The coffee smells wonderful,” she said.
“Cream and sugar?” Spencer asked politely, as his mother filled three cups, then returned to the counter to replace the carafe in the coffee machine.
“Cream, thank you,” Maura replied, forcing herself to meet Spencer’s blue gaze. The glint of humor together with the infectious grin slowly spreading across his handsome features caught her off guard and sent her pulse skittering wildly.
“You’re welcome, red.” He poured cream into her cup.
Maura bristled at the use of the detested nickname. She dropped her gaze, stifling the urge to tell him not to call her “red,” knowing full well that to voice her displeasure would surely result in Spencer using the nickname at every possible opportunity just to annoy her.
Schooling her features, she glanced at him once more and for a dizzying moment Maura wondered if her heart had stopped beating. The air between them crackled with tension and something much more dangerous. Her heart restarted itself, beating at an irregular pace.
An emotion she couldn’t define flared briefly in those dazzling blue eyes before it vanished, making her wonder if she’d seen it at all.
“I thought your father would be back by now,” Nora commented as she rejoined them at the table.
“Where is Dad?” Spencer asked, leaning back casually in his chair.
“He had a few errands to run,” his mother replied. “He said he’d be back by four, but it’s nearly five. Oh…here he is now,” she added as the kitchen door opened and her husband appeared.
“Sorry I’m late, dear.” Elliot Diamond dropped a kiss on the top of his wife’s head. He smiled at Maura. “Hi, Maura. It’s nice to see you again. Did you have a good trip?”
“Yes, thank you,” Maura replied politely.
“Why are you late?” Nora asked her husband.
“Oh…I stopped by Michael’s place on my way home. I picked up a few groceries and put them in his fridge. He gets back from his cruise tomorrow, remember?”
“Of course!” Nora said. “Was everything all right over there?”
“Everything looked fine,” Elliot assured his wife before turning to Maura. “We’ve had a rash of break-ins in the area recently and so we try to look out for each other. Michael Carson is a neighbor and one of our oldest and dearest friends. Is that fresh coffee I smell?” he asked, moving to the counter.
Maura felt the blood drain from her face and her heart slam against her breastbone at the mention of her father’s name. Surely she’d heard wrong?
“Did you say your neighbor is Michael Carson?” Her voice seemed to come from somewhere far away.
“Yes,” Elliot Diamond answered as he poured himself a coffee. “He owns Walnut Grove, the adjoining property,” he went on. “He and his wife had been our friends for more years than I care to remember. He’s a widower now and has been for over a year. Do you know him?”
Chapter Two
Maura couldn’t breathe. Her chest felt tight, and she wondered for a moment if she was having a heart attack. To learn that her father was a close friend of the Diamond family was a bonus she hadn’t expected.
Realizing everyone was staring at her, waiting for her to respond, she gathered her scattered thoughts and with a calmness she was far from feeling forced air into her lungs.
“I’m sorry. It’s Mitchell, not Michael, who I was thinking of. Mitchell Carson was an old friend of my mother’s,” she quickly improvised, hoping she didn’t sound too foolish. “I haven’t seen him in years.” She smiled. “Your neighbor was on a cruise, you say? That must be a wonderful way to spend a holiday.
“I’ve never been on a boat or a ship. Well, that’s not strictly true,” she hurried on nervously. “I have ridden in a motorboat, but a cruise ship…that’s totally different.” She paused briefly for breath.
“I read somewhere that the cruise ships they’re building these days are as tall as some skyscrapers,” she soldiered on. She knew she was babbling but she couldn’t seem to stop. “Have you and Elliot been on a cruise?” she asked.
“As a matter of fact we’ve been on several,” Nora Diamond replied.
“Oh…where did you cruise to?” Maura asked, relieved that she appeared to have succeeded in smoothing over those awkward moments.
Though she longed to find out more about their neighbor, Michael Carson, the man who was her father, she decided it would be best to steer clear of the subject, at least for now.
Nora turned to her husband. “Our first cruise was to Alaska, wasn’t it dear?”
For the next few minutes Maura heard about their cruise experiences, and though she listened attentively and asked questions, beneath her outward show of interest her thoughts were in turmoil.
To add to her agitation she was intensely aware of Spencer’s penetrating gaze. He’d risen from the table and was leaning against the counter giving the impression of a casual listener, but there was nothing casual in the way his blue gaze remained focused on her.
She had the distinct impression he hadn’t been taken in at all by her stumbling attempts to redirect the conversation, or her interest in cruising. And the frown that darkened his handsome features confirmed he was still puzzling over her reaction.
Maura brought her hand to her mouth to stifle a yawn.
Her hostess was quick to notice. “Maura, my dear, you must be exhausted, and I’m chattering on about cruises.”
“I’m sorry,” Maura said. “I guess the bus ride made me more tired than I thought.”
“Spencer, show Maura to her room,” Nora continued. “You can relax for a while. Have a nap. Dinner is at seven.”
Maura rose from the chair. “Thanks for coffee.”
Spencer eased himself away from the counter. “If you’d like to come this way.”
Maura kept her smile in place and followed Spencer from the kitchen. He was silent as he led her up the oak stairs.
“The house is beautiful,” Maura commented. “Have you lived here all your life?”
“Yes,” Spencer said. “The Blue Diamond Ranch has been in our family for several generations.”
“Are all the neighboring properties horse ranches, too?” she asked.
“No,” he responded, but he didn’t elaborate on his answer as she’d hoped. The temptation to ask him about Walnut Grove was strong, but she kept silent. At