Rogue Wave, Isabel Jolie [ink ebook reader .TXT] 📗

I mumbled, my mouth dry and icky.

She waved one hand then blinked, and with perfect pronunciation, “Good morning to you.”

“You must wonder what I’m doing here?”

Once more she blinked. I reminded myself to slow my speech.

“Tate asked me to sleep here in your room.” Then I sat up quickly. “Has Tate been up here?”

“Tate?”

“Stay. Here.” I commanded.

I took the stairs two at a time. In the middle of Tate’s bedroom, the empty chair remained, his bed where I placed him in the early morning hours empty, the bedspread smooth, freshly made.

I ran down the hall and down the next flight of stairs, slowing once I saw him, coffee cup in hand, leaning against the kitchen counter.

“Coffee?” he asked.

My shoulders rounded in relief. “Did you sleep?”

“Some.”

“Jasmine’s up. I think she was confused finding me in her room.”

A stair creaked. Jasmine’s legs came into view as she slowly descended the stairs, one by one, scissors gripped in one hand and held out like a weapon. She visibly softened when she found only Tate and me in the kitchen. She held out the scissors with a sheepish expression.

“Scare,” she offered.

Tate glossed over her comment. “You want coffee?”

“Thank you.” She might only be thirteen, but she already liked coffee and hot tea.

“Sit. Both of you.” Tate gestured to the breakfast bar.

I excused myself to go brush my teeth and to find a hair band to pull my hair back. When I returned, a steaming cup of coffee awaited me, and Tate stood in front of the stove, coddling a mixture of scrambled eggs. His t-shirt strained around his biceps, and his longish hair was pulled back. He didn’t normally wear it back, but I suspected he was too wound up to handle the distraction of hair blowing around his face.

“I want to take both of you over to Alice’s this morning,” he began, his back to us. “Can you both hang there today?”

“Why Alice?”

“There are some things I need to do today.” He spun around, brandishing the spatula like a presentation pointer. “And I feel like you are both sitting ducks here in this house.” Jasmine’s gaze batted back and forth between the two of us.

“Tate, this island isn’t big. If someone is here, they can just as easily find us at Alice’s as here. Or at my house.”

He shook his head. “No. Here we’re on the beach, exposed. Alice lives on the inner island. No one from a ship can see through the tree canopy. Plus, Alice knows this island better than anyone. If someone came looking for you, she’d know where to hide.”

I slowly shook my head, not buying it. Anyone could be found here.

“Remember that cat?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“There are places to hide.”

Truth. The only reason we found that cat was because he came out by choice. If he’d remained hidden, well, he probably would’ve been gator food.

“Are you sure you want to bring Alice into this?”

He returned to the business of stirring the eggs on the heat. “It’s either that or send you guys to the mainland. Maybe to Florida? But…I don’t like you being so far away from me.”

His gorgeous blue eyes met mine at his admittance, and a warmth surfaced. I didn’t want to be away from him either. Thoughts of last night at my place surfaced. Heat emanated off my face.

If Jasmine wasn’t with us, I’d wrap my arms around him. Hold him. His smoldering gaze made me suspect his thoughts were along the same lines as mine.

Jasmine remained poised, watching us both. The scissors lay on the table, resting near her right hand.

I cleared our plates, rinsed them, and set them in the dishwasher. Jasmine excused herself to pack for going out for the day. I joined Tate by the back door where he stood staring out at the ocean. The skyline cast a scarlet hue over the horizon.

“Is it supposed to storm today?” I asked.

“There’s a storm over the ocean. Last time I checked, it shouldn’t come inland, at least not until it hits the Northeast.”

“I don’t like this.”

His thumb grazed my lips, and he caressed my cheek, then bent me back and kissed me with a searing intensity that left me leaning against him for support.

“It’ll be okay. Trust me?”

I answered without hesitation. “I trust you. But I’m scared. You are scaring me. Let me come with you and help.”

“Luna, by helping with Jasmine, you are helping me. This is my problem. My mistake to fix. If I seem scared, it’s only because they found my weakness.”

“Which is?”

“You.” He placed a soft kiss on my forehead. “I can’t let anything happen to you. I’ll take care of this. Pay them what they want. Put this behind us.”

A creak on the stairs announced Jasmine’s return. He kissed me softly, and I let go.

When we arrived at Alice’s deep green cottage, she stood by the front porch railing, watching out for us.

“Come inside.” She welcomed us with a boisterous smile. Her loose dress cascaded down to the ground and skimmed above her purple leather sandals. Her stacked toe rings glistened in the morning sun that filtered through the tree limbs.

Tate followed us inside and scanned behind him before pulling the heavy wooden front door closed. I didn’t know exactly what he feared, or what he was imagining would happen. I didn’t know how bad these men from his past were. But his unease unsettled me. I paced the room and fidgeted.

On Alice’s stove, a mixture brewed. I hovered over it, inhaling. It smelled like cinnamon. Granules of her seasoning floated on top. Using a ladle, she spooned the hot liquid into mugs for each of us. Then, almost ceremoniously, she tied woven bracelets on our right wrists, then methodically clipped the extra string, chanting a nonsensical series of letters.

Tate and I locked eyes as she bent over my wrist, administering her odd gift, and he smirked. I refused to mock her. Yes, we all thought of her as the island eccentric, but when push came to shove,