The Other Lady Vanishes (Burning Cove #2)(24)

A recent issue of Life magazine and a novel sat on the coffee table in front of the cushioned sofa. A bookmark was positioned in the middle of the book.

Adelaide came to a halt in the center of the room and looked around. Jake got the impression that she was trying to figure out what to do with him. Her gaze fell on the card table near the bookcase. She brightened.

“We could play cards,” she said.

He smiled. “All right. Are you a betting woman?”

“Not if it involves money. I don’t have enough to risk. But I’ve got a box of seashells we can use for wagers.”

“That will work.” He glanced at the book on the table. “I see you’re reading the new Cooper Boone spy novel.”

“Deception Island. Yes, it just came out. I love the way Cooper Boone travels to mysterious places around the world and confronts dangerous villains. Did you read the first one, Code Name: Arcane?”

“I did, as a matter of fact.”

“What did you think?”

“All that stuff about villains with secret island fortresses, weird art collections, and strange weapons isn’t exactly realistic.”

Adelaide gave him a steely smile. “That’s probably why they call it fiction.”

For the first time in a very long while, he laughed. Adelaide looked as surprised as he was.





Chapter 15


They were both still awake when the first light of dawn seeped into the sky. Jake put down the last hand of cards.

“Gin,” he said. “You owe me three shells.”

Adelaide pushed the last of her shells across the table. She eyed the large stack on Jake’s side.

“You’re awfully good at cards,” she said.

“Sometimes I get lucky.” Jake pushed himself to his feet and stretched in a leisurely manner. He checked the gold watch on his wrist. “Time for me to go.”

“Won’t you stay for breakfast?” she said quickly. “Eggs and toast? It’s the least I can do under the circumstances.”

“Thanks, but I should be on my way. Wouldn’t want anyone passing by your house to see me leaving at this hour.”

“I doubt that anyone would notice. It’s not like I have a lot of neighbors. Just you and the summer visitors who rented the cottage at the other end of the beach. They’re only here on the weekends.”

She realized that at some point during the night she had become accustomed to his presence. A quiet intimacy had settled on them. Not that it had been a night of true confessions, she thought. Instead, they had talked of everything and nothing—the weather, the scandals of the stars rumored to be vacationing at the Burning Cove Hotel, the clever names of the teas and tisanes that she had invented to promote her special blends at Refresh, the rumors of war in Europe—but they had somehow arrived at a mutual agreement to respect each other’s secrets.

It wasn’t that they weren’t curious about each other, she realized, but for now, at least, they weren’t going to try to push past each other’s boundaries.

“No point causing gossip,” he said.

She smiled at that. “In this town people have genuine celebrity scandals to entertain them. I doubt if anyone would bother to gossip about us, but I understand the concern. I’ll try to find a locksmith today and see about installing better locks.”

She opened the kitchen door for Jake. A thick morning fog was rolling in off the ocean. It would be gone by noon but for now it cloaked the world in a weightless mist.

Jake stepped outside, took in the scene, and looked satisfied. “No one will see me leaving your place, not in this fog.”

“Are you sure you won’t stay for breakfast?”

He stopped and looked at her. He smiled. “You and the fog just talked me into it.”

“I’ll get the eggs going.”

“I’ll come back inside in a few minutes,” he said. “I want to take a look around the outside of the laundry room window and see if I can find any signs of the intruder.”

She tightened her grip on the doorknob. “And if you don’t find any evidence? Will you conclude that I imagined the whole thing?”

He paused at the edge of the back porch. “Regardless of what I find or don’t find, I believe you had excellent reasons to conclude that someone broke into your house last night. I don’t think your imagination got the better of you. I don’t think you were suffering from bad nerves. Are we clear on that?”

She relaxed. “Yes. Thank you.”

She stepped back into the kitchen, closed the door, and crossed to the stove. She picked up the cast-iron pan and put it on a burner.

The telephone on the wall rang just as she started cracking eggs into a bowl. Startled, she dropped one of the eggs. It broke on the green tile countertop.

It’s just the telephone. Get hold of yourself, woman.

But she could not think of a single person who would call her at such an early hour.

Paranoia is a sign of mental instability.

She reminded herself that she had just spent a sleepless night after discovering evidence that someone had invaded her home. She had a right to be jumpy.

She wiped her hands on her apron and picked up the receiver.

“Hello?” she asked, trying not to reveal her anxiety.