me.”
Jordy smiled, charmed indeed.
“We must meet. For tea. Could you fit us into yourschedule, say sometime early in the upcoming week? I realize this isn’t proper notice, but Malacai said your stay in Florida was to be brief.”
So Cai had spoken of more than just her drawing to his grandfather?
“Sounds wonderful. I teach in the mornings on Monday, so perhaps that afternoon?”
“Delightful! We’ll expect you at the docks at three.”
“The docks?”
“Oh, dear, where are my manners? We reside on Crystal Key, Gulf-side of Mangrove. We use the docks at Dobs’ Storage. Dobs will escort you to our slip. Malacai will collect you there if that’s convenient. Or I can have him call at your hotel.”
“No! I mean, that’s very kind, but I’m certain I can find it. It’s really no bother.”
“Nonsense. The mangroves aren’t the easiest to maneuver, especially for a novice. Malacai can find his way through the maze on a moonless night. You find Dobs and we’ll take care of the rest. Dilys puts on a delightful tea and she’ll be happy to add another teacup to the tray. We don’t have many visitors out this way.”
Jordy heard a trace of loneliness in his voice, and her heart softened further. And who was Dilys? Interesting name. Some British form of Phyllis maybe? Perhaps she was British as well. Odd that Cai had no accent. She wondered about that, and why his grandfather lived with him, and several other things she had no business being curious about. “Until Monday then.”
Alfred rang off and Jordy finally took her shower. Maybe seeing Cai again was exactly what she needed. Perhaps seeing him in his own surroundings would deconstruct the mystery she’d spun around him.
Rejuvenated by the shower, she went to retrieve her sketch pad, but found herself picking up Cai’s book instead.After all, it was this book that had indirectly brought them together.
She wandered out to the balcony, looking at the cover. The man dominating it was cloaked in a deep, black robe, so all that was visible was the bright blue of his eyes and the slash of his cheek. She curled up in the thickly padded papasan chair, laying the book open on her thighs.
Several hours later, the sun almost fully set, her Coke warm and flat, she got up and wandered inside, eyes riveted to the current page. She clicked on the lamp and crawled into bed, still turning the pages.
She’d left Florida hours before and was now deeply ensconced in Cai’s world. How she could be so far from home, and yet feel she’d finally arrived there, she had no idea. She turned another page.
E IGHT
S he wore a sleeveless T-shirt dress of pale yellow that ended just above her knees and clung to her slight curves. Her legs were tan and bare save for her flat leather sandals. Wisps of hair blew in wild, short tendrils around her head like a fairy halo. And his reaction was like a sucker punch to the gut; hard, swift, and unexpected.
Cai hadn’t been thrilled with his grandfather’s sneaky liaison. With an air of wounded pride, Alfred had informed him he merely wanted to spend an hour or two in the company of a delightful young woman with similar interests.
Cai had his doubts. He never should have let him look at the dragon sketch, but it had been his cover for being gone from Crystal Key. It had seemed harmless. Now he had to see her again, when he’d worked so hard not to.
After only one meeting, she had found a way into his head and stubbornly refused to leave. For that reason, he’d gone out of his way to conclude his business with her from a distance. She was leaving shortly and there was too much going on in his life to include her on his ever-growing list of concerns.
Standing on the dock waiting for him, she was a goldenpromise that his life could get real interesting, real fast, if he’d only let it. Damn, Alfred.
Cai pulled the boat up and cut the engine. He would stick to his plan. Polite within the boundaries of social acceptance,
Jordy smiled, charmed indeed.
“We must meet. For tea. Could you fit us into yourschedule, say sometime early in the upcoming week? I realize this isn’t proper notice, but Malacai said your stay in Florida was to be brief.”
So Cai had spoken of more than just her drawing to his grandfather?
“Sounds wonderful. I teach in the mornings on Monday, so perhaps that afternoon?”
“Delightful! We’ll expect you at the docks at three.”
“The docks?”
“Oh, dear, where are my manners? We reside on Crystal Key, Gulf-side of Mangrove. We use the docks at Dobs’ Storage. Dobs will escort you to our slip. Malacai will collect you there if that’s convenient. Or I can have him call at your hotel.”
“No! I mean, that’s very kind, but I’m certain I can find it. It’s really no bother.”
“Nonsense. The mangroves aren’t the easiest to maneuver, especially for a novice. Malacai can find his way through the maze on a moonless night. You find Dobs and we’ll take care of the rest. Dilys puts on a delightful tea and she’ll be happy to add another teacup to the tray. We don’t have many visitors out this way.”
Jordy heard a trace of loneliness in his voice, and her heart softened further. And who was Dilys? Interesting name. Some British form of Phyllis maybe? Perhaps she was British as well. Odd that Cai had no accent. She wondered about that, and why his grandfather lived with him, and several other things she had no business being curious about. “Until Monday then.”
Alfred rang off and Jordy finally took her shower. Maybe seeing Cai again was exactly what she needed. Perhaps seeing him in his own surroundings would deconstruct the mystery she’d spun around him.
Rejuvenated by the shower, she went to retrieve her sketch pad, but found herself picking up Cai’s book instead.After all, it was this book that had indirectly brought them together.
She wandered out to the balcony, looking at the cover. The man dominating it was cloaked in a deep, black robe, so all that was visible was the bright blue of his eyes and the slash of his cheek. She curled up in the thickly padded papasan chair, laying the book open on her thighs.
Several hours later, the sun almost fully set, her Coke warm and flat, she got up and wandered inside, eyes riveted to the current page. She clicked on the lamp and crawled into bed, still turning the pages.
She’d left Florida hours before and was now deeply ensconced in Cai’s world. How she could be so far from home, and yet feel she’d finally arrived there, she had no idea. She turned another page.
E IGHT
S he wore a sleeveless T-shirt dress of pale yellow that ended just above her knees and clung to her slight curves. Her legs were tan and bare save for her flat leather sandals. Wisps of hair blew in wild, short tendrils around her head like a fairy halo. And his reaction was like a sucker punch to the gut; hard, swift, and unexpected.
Cai hadn’t been thrilled with his grandfather’s sneaky liaison. With an air of wounded pride, Alfred had informed him he merely wanted to spend an hour or two in the company of a delightful young woman with similar interests.
Cai had his doubts. He never should have let him look at the dragon sketch, but it had been his cover for being gone from Crystal Key. It had seemed harmless. Now he had to see her again, when he’d worked so hard not to.
After only one meeting, she had found a way into his head and stubbornly refused to leave. For that reason, he’d gone out of his way to conclude his business with her from a distance. She was leaving shortly and there was too much going on in his life to include her on his ever-growing list of concerns.
Standing on the dock waiting for him, she was a goldenpromise that his life could get real interesting, real fast, if he’d only let it. Damn, Alfred.
Cai pulled the boat up and cut the engine. He would stick to his plan. Polite within the boundaries of social acceptance,
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