A High-End Finish(86)

“Believe it,” he said, reaching over to give my hand a friendly squeeze.

So, that was sweet.

? ? ?

Mac, meanwhile, was still living in my garage apartment and planned to stay there through the restoration of the old lighthouse mansion. He was still insisting on hiring me and my crew for the work and I couldn’t be happier about that. He also insisted that he liked the view from his apartment of the garden and especially the gardener. Me. I liked when he said cute stuff like that, even though my face would turn red. I was just as glad that he was sticking around, because I liked having him nearby. He made me laugh, among other things.

When I finally returned home from Barnacle Beach that day, Mac had been waiting by the gate.

“Irish,” he said.

“Mac,” I said, breathing a sigh of relief. Seeing him made me so happy, I thought I might cry.

“I hear you’ve just escaped from the clutches of a psychopathic killer.” He said it as casually as he might’ve commented on the weather. “You lead the most interesting life.”

“I could go for a little less excitement,” I said.

“That’s too bad. I was hoping to hear you rehash all the grisly details.”

We had a good laugh, and while I thought I’d never want to relive those moments fighting Penny on the cliff, he made it easy for me to talk about it. After an hour of conversation and a glass of wine, I felt better and Mac went back to work on his book.

A week later, Mac announced that he had finished his latest story in record time. He asked me to read the manuscript and give him my honest opinion. I was thrilled and honored and touched, but also deeply afraid that if I didn’t love it, I wouldn’t know what to say.

Thankfully, I loved it. But I still didn’t know what to say to him except that I’d finished it.

He decided we should celebrate, so he invited himself over for dinner. He grilled steaks and I made garlic mashed potatoes and a salad. We had moved to the living room couch to finish the last of our wine before I finally told him my feelings. “I really enjoyed your new book.”

He grinned boyishly. “Don’t hold back. Tell me everything you loved about it.”

“Okay,” I said, laughing. “Well, first of all, Jake Slater is awesome.”

He nodded intently. “That part is autobiographical.”

I laughed again, something I seemed to do a lot when I was with Mac. “I really loved the climax where he was tied up in the cave and the tide was coming in. It was amazing to see how he untied his ropes underwater.”

“That’s his Navy SEAL training.”

“I know. I loved it.”

“Good.” He shifted on the couch until he was looking right at me. “How’d you like his evil twin?”

“Fantastic. Frightening. Truly evil. I believed him completely.” I took a sip of my wine.

“Don’t stop there,” he said, amused.

I hesitated. “Well, I thought this book was more romantic than the others you’ve written.”

“You think so? But I always have a woman or two in the story.”

“But Jake actually falls in love this time. With Shana.”

“What man wouldn’t fall in love with her?” he wondered.

“And she’s still alive at the end. That was a surprise. Any woman Jake gets close to usually dies.”

“Yeah, that’s getting old.” He gave a casual shrug. “But beyond that, there was no way I could kill Shana.”

“I’m glad you didn’t.”

“Tell me what you thought of her.”

“She was wonderful.” I bit back a smile. “Courageous and smart. Their banter was hilarious. But I particularly liked her tangled red hair and wide green eyes the color of sea grass.”

“I particularly liked that about her, too,” he said as he reached out to play with a thick strand of my hair. “I must admit I was inspired.”

“Jake definitely seems smitten by her,” I said, staring at my wineglass.

“I know the feeling,” he murmured.

I met his gaze. “What will your readers think of her?”

He set down his wineglass and took my hand in his. “My editor once told me that if I ever wanted Jake to settle down with one woman, I would have to make sure she was completely worthy of him. Shana is worthy of Jake. My readers are going to love her.”

“I hope so.”

“Oh yeah. Especially when she saves Jake’s life by blasting his evil twin with her nail gun.”

“She kicked his ass,” I said heartily.

Mac laughed as he leaned over and kissed me. “At the risk of repeating myself, I know the feeling.”

? ? ?

My girlfriends took me out to dinner at Uncle Pete’s wine bar to quietly celebrate the end of Penny Wells’s horrific killing spree.

As we all shared the large antipasto salad appetizer, Marigold studied me. “You’ve changed over the past few weeks, Shannon.”

“I’m wearing glasses,” I said. Apparently, getting my head bonked had weakened my eyesight ever so slightly. The ophthalmologist thought I would completely recover my full vision eventually, but for the time being, I was more comfortable wearing my new glasses at night, when my eyes tended to get tired.