Deep Waters (34 page)

And, of course, he had still not found a way to float on past the whirlpool in the river that was his relationship with Garrick Keyworth.

But all of those problems seemed more manageable now than they had before he had stepped into the elevator.

“What else did you buy at the Market besides noodles and balsamic vinegar?” Charity asked.

“Some good capers, fresh basil, extra-virgin olive oil, bread, wine. The basics.”

“Wonderful. I do believe it's your turn to cook.”

“Going to be tough to beat your peanut butter sandwiches.”

“I'm sure you'll come up with something.”

Elias let that slide. “Your sister doesn't approve of me. I doubt if your brother does, either. Loftus looked worried, too.”

“It's your reputation as a man of mystery that concerns them. They don't really know you. Don't worry about it, Elias. It's not as if we're getting married.”

Elias's good mood went south in a single heartbeat. He gazed straight ahead at the road that was taking them back to Whispering Waters Cove. “What if we were?”

Charity turned her head to look at him. The wariness in her was sudden and profound. “I don't understand.”

“I just asked a simple question.”

“It's not so simple, and you know it.”

It had seemed simple enough to him, but he did not want to get into an argument about it. He could sense the riptide waiting in the shallows. “Will you answer it?”

She was silent for a few seconds. “All right, if we were planning to get married, which we're not, I wouldn't let Meredith's or Davis's opinion influence me. There. Satisfied?”

“Yes,” he lied. He was far from content with her answer. But he knew that was his own fault. He hadn't asked the right question. Water flows in the channel that is provided for it. The wrong question created the wrong channel.

Crazy Otis was perched on a slow-moving carousel horse, preening his feathers, when Elias arrived to fetch him late that afternoon. The parrot squawked in greeting and stretched his wings.

“Ready to go home, Otis?” Elias stepped onto the revolving carousel and held out his wrist. “Our turn to cook tonight.”

“Heh, heh, heh.” Otis ambled onto Elias's arm and climbed up to sit on his shoulder. He nibbled playfully on a few strands of hair.

“Sure am glad to see you,” Yappy said as he shut down the carousel. “Gettin' tired of running this thing for that bird. He's been riding all day for free.”

“Thanks, Yappy.” Elias stepped down onto the pier planking. “I know Otis is very appreciative.”

“Uh-huh.” Yappy scowled at some parrot droppings that had landed on a golden horsetail. He jerked a handkerchief out of the pocket of his overalls and wiped up the evidence of Otis's recent presence. “It's Charity's fault. If she hadn't hit on the idea of using my carousel to cheer Otis up, he'd never have developed a taste for riding it.”

Elias reached up to scratch Otis's head. “Guess there's a bit of the thrill-seeker in Otis. Charity discovered it.”

“Well, I can't complain too much.” Yappy wadded up the soiled handkerchief and tossed it into a sack. “The kids go crazy when they see Otis sittin' on one of the horses. Always do a lot of business when that bird is here.”

“If you're thinking of a long-term contract, I'm sure Otis would be willing to negotiate a reasonable rate for his time.”

“What are you? His manager? I ain't payin' that bird no fee. He gets free rides, and that's it. Take it or leave it.”

“When you put it like that, how can he refuse?”

Otis uttered his dark chuckle again.

Yappy shrugged. “Deal.”

“Any local news? Has Tybern made an arrest?”

“No. If you ask me, it was one of those Voyagers that killed Gwen Pitt. Most of 'em have left town. All had alibis, Tybern says, but who can be sure where everyone was that night? Seems logical to me that one or two of 'em could easily have lied for some of the others.”

“If you want my opinion,” Ted said as he came up behind Elias, “I think Swinton did Gwen Pitt. Probably
pissed because she wouldn't give him what he considered a fair share of the profits.”

Yappy shrugged again. “Possible. Real possible. Bea thinks Swinton did it, too. So do most folks in town.”

“I don't know,” Elias rubbed Otis's head. “Swinton is the type who sends other people to do his dirty work.”

“So maybe he hired someone to kill her,” Ted suggested. He walked forward and lounged against a carousel horse. The slogan on his T-shirt of the day read
Tectonics Happen.

“Maybe,” Elias said. “But I don't think so.”

“Why not?” Ted asked.

“It's not as easy to find a hit man as films and mysteries make it appear. It costs, for one thing. A lot more than I think Swinton would have been willing to pay. And there are risks. The hit man is the first one to talk if he's picked up.”

Yappy squinted. “You sound like you've had some personal experience along those lines.”

“I had a client a few years back,” Elias said. “He decided to renege on a contract, but he didn't want to leave any witnesses. I was a witness.”

Ted stared. “Was the client from Seattle?”

“No. It all happened in a place where business is done a little differently than it is in Seattle. Any sign of Swinton?”

“No,” Yappy said. “His motor home is still parked out there on the campground. Wouldn't think he could afford to just up and walk away from an expensive RV like that.”

“The motor home is too conspicuous,” Elias said. “Swinton must have decided to cut his losses when he left town.”

“Tybern says if no one shows up to claim it by the end of the week, he'll have it towed away as an
abandoned vehicle.” Ted absently scratched his belly. “So, how did things go in the big city today? Meet Charity's stepbrother and stepsister?”

“I met Meredith.” Elias stroked Otis's neck. “And the ex-fiancé.”

“That'd be Loftus,” Yappy muttered. “He as big as Charity says?”

“Only about six-three,” Elias said.

“Guess that looks big enough when you're five-foot-four like Charity,” Yappy said.

“He's about to get engaged to Charity's stepsister,” Elias added.

Yappy looked thoughtful. “That a fact?”

“Charity said something once about Meredith and Loftus being a good match,” Ted muttered.

“She didn't seem to mind that Loftus and her stepsister were going to get engaged,” Elias said carefully.

Yappy beetled his brows. “Hard to tell with women.”

“Yeah,” Ted nodded sagely. “Real hard to tell with women.”

When it came to philosophies that a man could live by, that one was as good as any, Elias thought.

“That was great, as usual. You do incredible things with noodles, Elias.” Charity dried the last dish and stacked it neatly on the shelf above the sink. “It's getting late, and we've had a long day. I should be on my way home.”

Elias stilled in the act of crouching to place the vegetable steamer inside a cupboard. “You're going home?”

“It's nearly nine o'clock. I've got some bills to pay. I should do a wash, too. I've been so busy lately that I'm getting behind on my routine maintenance.”

Elias straightened slowly. “Is that a polite way of
saying that you think we're spending too much time together?”

“No.” She saw the chill, remote quality gather in his eyes and sighed inwardly. She took two steps forward, moving to stand directly in front of him. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him lightly on the mouth. “It's a polite way of saying that I've been so busy, I'm getting behind on things at home. Simple. Straightforward. No hidden meanings.”

He rested his hands on her hips, his fingers warm and strong on the curve of her waist. “I've got a simple, straightforward solution.”

“What's that?”

“Move in with me.”

It was Charity's turn to go very still. Suddenly, it was hard to breathe. The old sense of panic welled up out of nowhere, threatening to swamp her. Elias had said nothing about love. She could not be sure the word was even in his vocabulary. Another man who did not love her was asking for a commitment from her. And she could not, dared not give it.

“I don't think that would be a good idea,” she whispered.

Elias's jaw could have been hewn from stone. “Why not?”

“We're still getting to know each other.” She struggled desperately for logical reasons, reasons she could use to convince him. There was no way to tell him the real truth. He would not understand. “We're two very independent people. We shouldn't rush into anything. What if it doesn't work out? It would be awkward to try to go back to the way things are now.”

“You're making excuses. What's the real reason you won't move in with me?”

“I'm telling you the real reasons.” Her palms tingled. Her skin got hot and then very cold. She could
feel her heart pounding as the panic swirled within her.

“It's because I haven't turned out to be one of your more successful projects, isn't it?” Elias's hands tightened around her waist. “You're not content with the results you're getting.”

“Elias, that's not how it is.”

“You'll never turn me into another Brett Loftus.”

“I don't want another Brett Loftus.” Her voice was starting to rise. She could hear the anxiety in it, a thin, edgy, discordant note.

“What do you want from me, damn it?”

Anger came to her rescue, diluting some of the hysteria. “The real question is, what do you want from me?”

“I told you, I want you to move in with me.”

“Why?” The single word came out as a small shriek.

“Why?” Elias's eyes were brilliant with an emotion that could not be clearly identified. The only thing certain about it was that it was very, very intense. “You have to ask me that?”

“I don't think it's too much to expect a reasonable answer. Is it because we're good together in bed?”

He looked startled, although whether from her question or her tone of voice, Charity did not know.

“That's only one reason.” Elias suddenly sounded cautious. “There are others.”

“We both like to cook?”

“An interest in good cooking is something we have in common, isn't it? I thought women liked that in a relationship.”

“Are you implying that our relationship is based on sex and food?”

“There's a lot more to it than sex and food.”

“Such as?” she challenged.

“We both came to Whispering Waters Cove to reinvent
ourselves. We both own small businesses on Crazy Otis Landing.” A hunted look appeared in his eyes. “Hell, what's wrong with sex and food, anyway?”

How could he be so blind, she wondered. Didn't he see what they really had between them? Didn't it matter? She smiled grimly. “Nothing is wrong with sex and food. But I was looking for a relationship with something more than just the basics in it. When you buy a car, you don't buy the stripped-down model. You usually get one with a few nice accessories. Leather upholstery, maybe. Or tinted windows.”

His eyes narrowed. “You're upset.”

“You noticed, did you?”

“Is it because I asked you to move in with me?”

“No, because you asked me for all the wrong reasons.” She tried to step back out of his arms. She had to get free before she made a bigger mess of this situation than she already had.

His hands clamped more fiercely around her, imprisoning her. “What the hell are the right reasons?”

The panic exploded. “Love is the little accessory that I had in mind.”

Otis, perched on top of his cage, responded to her high, shrill words with a loud squawk of alarm. Out of the corner of her eye Charity saw him stretch his wings and fan the air. He lengthened his neck and lowered his head as if preparing for an attack.

Elias's reaction was just as startling. He looked dumbfounded.

“Love?” He sounded as if a bone had gotten caught in his throat. The single word came out hoarse, ragged, chewed to pieces.

“Yes. Love.” Charity took a deep breath. The panic seeped away as quickly as it had come. The claustrophobia
vanished. Bringing the truth out into the open had cleansed the wound, but now it ached.

A terrible silence descended.

Elias stared at her as if she had metamorphosed into an alien creature from Saturn. Too bad the spaceships had never come to Whispering Waters Cove, Charity thought. At that moment there was nothing she would have welcomed more than a nice little getaway tour of the galaxy.

She tried to shake off the misty despair that seemed intent on creeping in on the heels of the recently departed panic.

It was over. She had gone too far, too fast. Elias was not ready for love. He might never be ready. The shield of Tal Kek Chara had become his prison.

“Sorry.” Charity steadied herself. “I got a little carried away there. Like I said, it's been a long day. I really should go home now.”

Elias released her slowly. “I'll get your jacket.”

He turned his back to her, walked across the room, and plucked her green jacket from a wall hook. Without a word he held it out to her.

Charity was horrified to see that her fingers shook a little when she took the jacket from his hand. She pulled it on quickly, fumbling with the buttons. Then she hurried to the door, opened it, and stepped into her shoes.

Elias eased a still-tensed Otis into his cage. The bird glowered accusingly at Charity.

Elias shut the cage door. He crossed the room, put on his shoes, and picked up the flashlight that he kept in the hall. He followed Charity out onto the porch.

Silently they went down the steps, through the shadowed garden, and out the gate.