Her favorite spot on the entire island, Full Moon Bay, was north of Rock Pointe, the lodge and resort area her brother owned, Henderson’s apple orchard and even the lighthouse. A gem of sugar-soft sand accessible only from the main road by a narrow deer path, no one but the locals knew of the bay’s existence. When she was little, Grace had gone there to hunt for agates, and when she was older, for bonfire parties with friends. She’d skinny-dipped more than once in the shallow waters of Full Moon Bay, and, in fact, had lost her virginity there to some boy from Chicago who’d been there on vacation with his family. Funny, but she couldn’t even remember the boy’s name.
As much as she would’ve loved seeing the bay after all these years, the idea of hiking to the deserted northeast end of Mirabelle alone in the pitch-black stillness of the night sounded a bit bizarre. Instead, she walked into the bathroom, splashed water onto her face and patted her skin dry. Glancing through her window toward the barns behind her house made her think of Louie. Was he adjusting to Mirabelle any better?
The hell with it. She pulled on a sweatshirt and sweatpants, remembering that even after a hot day the nights on the island could get chilly, and slipped out the back door. She flashed on the possible complication of being discovered by Sean or one of his stable hands, but quickly dismissed that risk. She’d snuck into the Duffy’s barns on many occasions when she’d lived here. Besides, what was the worst thing that could happen if she did get caught?
IT WAS PAST MIDNIGHT.
Sean sat in front of his computer screen in his office off the kitchen working up a new shift schedule for the stable operations. He’d already taken care of the livery schedule, prepped the day’s bank deposit and gathered and emailed off the last two weeks of hours to his payroll accountant. All that after taking care of the carriages that had come rolling into his yard after the last of the shuttle runs around the island.
He finished the schedule and then stood and stretched. He was done for the night, and Austin still wasn’t home. Granted, it was Friday night and he’d said it was okay to stay out late, but he’d made it clear to Austin that curfew on this island for sixteen-year-olds was midnight on Friday and Saturday. Sean had checked with Garrett.
His hands stuffed deep into his front jeans pockets, he walked outside and onto the wide, wraparound front porch, staring out into the night and hoping he was going to see a tall, lanky teenager coming toward him any minute. More than likely, Austin had made some friends and simply lost track of time. But what if he’d been scrambling around on the boulders along the shore? What if he’d slipped and fallen into the water? Sean didn’t even know if the kid could swim.
The longer he stood there, the madder he got. The little shit. No wonder Denise wanted to get rid of him.
No, that wasn’t fair. The truth was he couldn’t blame the kid for acting out. Rebellion was probably in his genes, and Sean knew exactly from which side it’d come.
He paced the length of the porch and glanced out over the pastureland. Finally, he’d found a purpose for the money that had been put in a trust fund when his mother had passed away. Buying this old farmhouse and the one hundred plus acres of land along with the four barns, more than sixty horses and ten carriages would’ve made his mother happy.
Unlike the rest of the island with its Victorian gingerbread charm, the only quaint thing about this farmhouse was that it had been painted red with white trim to match the barns. Sean was okay with that. In fact, he rather liked this old house. With its wide-open rooms and simple design, it wasn’t far off the mark of something he’d build on his own, given the chance.
He especially liked the fact that his property was at the outskirts of town, although as such, it was dark here. For Austin’s sake, Sean had left every light on inside the house, as well as outside. He’d even left the floodlights on by the barns, hoping the kid would find his way.
He was starting to wonder if he was going to have to call Garrett Taylor when he caught some movement near the road. A shadowy form took shape. It was Austin, and he seemed to be taking his sweet time making it up to the house.
“Hey,” Austin said sourly, as he came close.
Questions swirled around in Sean’s mind, one after another. What have you been doing all this time? Who have been with? Have you eaten supper? He settled for, “Where you been?”
“Around.”
That tipped the scale, and Sean’s badly worn patience snapped. “You couldn’t take the time to answer your cell phone?” He’d called Austin’s number no less than four times and had left two messages. “I need to know where you are, so you need to answer your phone when I call. And you’re past curfew. I expect you to follow the law on this island.”
The kid rolled his eyes. “Or what? You gonna send me back to Mom’s?”
“That’s the second time you’ve mentioned that. Maybe that’s what you want, huh?”
Austin didn’t say anything.
“Stay. Don’t stay,” Sean said. “I don’t really care one way or another, but if you decide to stay, then you’d damned well better not make any trouble on this island. It’s my home and the people here are important to me.” He took a breath. “Get this through your head right here and now. Tow the line or leave.”
Austin glared at Sean. “You’re not my dad, okay? Not really. So you can’t tell me what to do.”
“That’s the way it’s going to be?” Anger, frustration, and concern all battled inside Sean for dominance. “Well, then, fine. Go,” he said. “You think I really care what you do, or when you do it?” he said, anger pushing through.
“Figures.” Austin glared at Sean. “You’re just like Glen. I don’t know why I thought you might be different.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I can’t go home, okay? If I do I’ll have to go to juvie. The judge agreed to waive detention only if I came here.”
Denise had definitely not said anything about a judge, court or juvenile detention. She’d said he’d gotten into some trouble, but Sean had been too blindsided by the whole deal to ask for specifics. “What did you do?”
“What difference does it make?”
“I want to know.”
Austin hesitated. “Broke a teacher’s car window.”
“Why?”
“Because he’s a dick.” He looked away. “He told our class that we could skip the final if everyone was getting Bs by the last week of school. We did it, but then he made us take the test anyway.”
“So a teacher’s a jerk and you’re in trouble. Was it worth it?”
“Hell, no. I’m stuck here for the summer, aren’t I?” Austin pushed past him on the porch and went into the house.
“Wait a minute.” Sean followed him inside. “We need to get something straight.”
He stopped, but didn’t turn.
“This is working ranch, not a playground. I don’t care if you stay out until curfew every damned night of the week, but you’ve had enough time to get settled. No more sleeping in until noon. You stay here, you work here just like everyone else.”
“Whatever.”
“No, not whatever. I don’t want to hear the word whatever the rest of the summer. Understood?”
Silence again.
“Understood?”
“Yes!” the kid hissed through clenched teeth.
“Good.