But she was his concern.
He had to keep her from acting like a stubborn idiot. She would understand that—if only he could tell her the truth about Sheila.
But that was one thing he couldn’t do. Kelsey would have his ass in jail so fast his head would spin. And then…
Then there would be nothing he could do.
“Don’t go out there again,” he said, forcing his jaw to unclench and allow him to form words. His voice came out ragged and rough.
Her eyes narrowed further still, and she replied with cool, “who the hell are you to tell me what to do?” dignity.
“Look, Dane, no one around here is really paying any attention to me. Don’t you understand yet? Someone needs to be concerned. No one else is. Therefore, in my opinion, I have to be.”
“It’s not that we’re not concerned,” Cindy murmured.
They both ignored her. Dane spoke firmly. “Don’t go out to Latham’s again.”
“Dammit, Dane!” she said, losing her composure at last, her eyes sizzling, her fingers tightening on her beer bottle. “Don’t come on to me like the gestapo. You’re not my father,” she said.
He caught her eyes then, held them hard. “Let’s hope not,” he said.
She flushed slightly. Her gaze fell from his, and she studied the quiche she’d been pushing around her plate, the grip she had on her beer bottle becoming white-knuckled.
“Kelsey, I’m not trying to come on like anything or act like a father. It simply isn’t a good idea to visit a man like that alone. Okay, maybe I am sounding like the gestapo. But he’s not just mean and nasty, he’s damned scary. Pay attention to me. Don’t go near him again. Please.” He would try anything. It was imperative that she understand Latham was dangerous.
She looked up at him, then looked down again quickly, silent for a moment.
“Kelsey, listen to him. He’s right,” Cindy suddenly pleaded.
Kelsey threw up her hands, almost knocking over her beer bottle, barely catching it. “Okay, look, both of you, I’m sorry. I was wrong. I shouldn’t have gone out there, and I won’t go visiting Latham alone again. Actually I wasn’t planning on visiting him again anyway. It’s not like it was a social call. But the trust funds mean that there’s a connection between Latham and Sheila. I was just hoping that maybe she had said something to him. I want to believe with all my heart that Sheila is just being rude and careless, forgetting all about me. I’d love for someone to tell me she’s on vacation in Switzerland with a wine baron. But I just don’t believe it. And asking Andy Latham if he had seen her, if he knew where she was, seemed like an intelligent move to make. She may hate him, but whether she likes it or not, they’re connected through her mother’s will.”
“He’d be the last person Sheila would go to,” Cindy murmured.
“Yes, but because of the money, she might have told him if she was going to be away, or she might have made an appointment with him regarding the trust or something. Look, he’s never been my favorite person, either. But I still don’t think he’s actually dangerous,” Kelsey said, defending herself.
From somewhere a muted ringing sounded.
“Excuse me,” she said, looking pointedly at Dane. He was still blocking her way. “Cell phone.”
He backed away. Just a hair. She didn’t want to touch him, but she was going to have to brush by him.
She did. She scraped by his taut form. She still carried the aroma of a subtle perfume.
Once past him, she dug into her purse, which she had tossed on the far end of the bar. She glanced at the caller ID and said a cheerful, “Hey!” into the phone. She listened to the voice at the other end, then spoke again. “No, she hasn’t shown yet.” She looked across the kitchen at Cindy and Dane, who were both staring at her. “I’m not alone,” she said into her phone. “Cindy and Dane are here.”
Cindy arched a brow to Dane, but her question was quickly answered.
“Larry says hello to you both,” Kelsey said.
Larry Miller. The weekender who had almost been one of them. Dane had heard that Larry was around now and then, but he hadn’t seen him. Larry’s father had passed away, and his mother had moved somewhere up north. They had sold the condo they kept on the Keys, as well, so even Larry’s little place was gone. Maybe property was what made a place home. He had Hurricane Bay, so perhaps it had been inevitable that he would come back.
Larry hadn’t really been an islander, but he’d still run with their crowd. Good old Larry…
Poor Larry.
He had fallen in love with Sheila, married her, tried to give her the world. A decent guy. Studious, cautious, a talented artist.
“Tell him hello for me,” Cindy said.
“Ditto.”
Kelsey nodded. “Cindy and Dane say hello.” She listened while Larry spoke, staring out the sliding glass door from the kitchen to the patio. “Yeah, I know, everyone is saying the same thing.” She gazed at Cindy and Dane again. Her look said that phone calls should be private. But she didn’t move away, and Dane wasn’t about to be courteous and suggest he and Cindy go somewhere. Kelsey kept talking into her phone. “Maybe she’ll show up, maybe she won’t. Anyway, I’m still going to spend the week at the duplex. With Cindy. Yeah, she’s right next door. Nate’s in good shape—hey, he said he saw you a couple of weeks ago. You didn’t mention that you’d been down here.”
Whatever he said next, Kelsey didn’t answer. “Listen, I’ll call you as soon as I hear from Sheila or find out what she’s up to, okay?”
She touched a button on her phone and returned it to her purse, then slid back up on the bar stool. “Larry is concerned,” she said.
“Poor thing. He never fell out of love, did he?” Cindy said.
“Maybe not,” Kelsey said. “He still cares about Sheila, but he’s certainly gotten over her. He’s been doing all right. He’s great to look at, smart, has a good job. He was dating one of our models. Beautiful girl. But a man can move on and still think of his ex-wife as a special person. He doesn’t get down here that often, but he still thinks of the old gang as his friends. Funny, though. He said he’d been down about a week ago and heard that Sheila was around, but he couldn’t track her down. When I told him what I was doing with my vacation time, all he said was that he’d been down on business and hadn’t had a chance to really do anything or see anyone.”
“Maybe he didn’t think it was worth mentioning. He must have come and gone really quickly. He didn’t see me, either,” Cindy said.
“He said he was down here with a client, just long enough for a drink and dinner,” Kelsey said. “Apparently he saw Nate, though. But Nate didn’t mention to me today that he’d seen Larry. That was strange, don’t you think? Especially when he knows Larry and I work together.” Kelsey had been musing aloud. She didn’t seem to mind that she had spoken in front of Cindy, but when her eyes touched Dane’s, she seemed to stiffen again.
Somehow he had become the enemy. Things hadn’t been right between them for a long time. He hadn’t expected hugs and kisses, but even so, he didn’t want to be the enemy, not when it was so important that she listen to him. But she was in no mood for that now, so he might as well get going.
Dane set down his beer bottle. “Gotta go,” he told Cindy, giving her a kiss on the cheek.
“You have to go? It’s early,” Cindy said.
“I have an appointment.”
“A date?” Cindy asked hopefully.
“An appointment,” he repeated.