Page 54 (2/2)

There wasn’t much of a tourist trade in January, but some would come over from the mainland on the ferry, poke about in the shops, drive up to the cliffs, buy soh, the winter was for islanders

She loved the winter best

At the end of the beach, where it bue, she pivoted and headed back across the sand Fishing boats plied an ocean that was the color of pale blue ice It would change as the light strengthened, as the sky deepened It never failed to fascinate her how many colors water could hold

She saw Carl Macey’s boat, and a figure, tiny as a toy in the stern, raised a hand She saluted back, kept running With under three thousand islanders year-round, it wasn’t hard to knoas who

She slowed her pace a bit, not only to cool down but to prolong the solitude She often took hershe had slipped out alone

Alone was another thing she liked best

And she’d wanted to clear her reat deal to think about Some of which she preferred not to, so she tucked those annoyances and problems away for now What had to be dealt asn’t precisely a proble that made you happy a problem

Her brother was just back fro could have pleased her ether After all they’d been through, and what it had nearly cost, seeing therown up was pure satisfaction

And over the past ht from fear on the island, they’d become real friends It was a pleasure to see the way Nell had bloohened

But all that ht on the rose And its name was Ripley Karen Todd

Needs didn’t need to share their love nest with the groom’s sister

She hadn’t given the , and even after, when she’d waved them both off for a week in Bermuda, she hadn’t seen the whole picture

But when they’d returned, all snuggling and flushed with a honeymoon haze, it couldn’t have been more clear

Just-marrieds needed privacy They could hardly have hot, spontaneous sex on the living rooht stroll into the house any tiht

Not that either of the about it But they wouldn’t The pair of thees plastered on their chests And that, Ripley thought, was so on her own shirt

She stopped, used the outcropping of rocks at the far end of the beach for support as she stretched out calves, has, quadriceps

Her body was as lean and toned as a young tiger’s S

he took pride in it, in her control over it As she bent froed on fell to the sand and her hair, the color of varnished oak, tumbled free

She wore it long because it didn’t require regular tri that way It was just another type of control

Her eyes were a sharp bottle green When she was in the ht fuss with mascara and eyeliner After considerable debate, she’d decided her eyes were the best part of a face ular lines

She had a slight overbite because she’d despised her retainer And she had the wide forehead and nearly horizontal dark eyebrows of the Ripley side of the family

No one would have accused her of being pretty It was too soft a word—and would have insulted her in any case She preferred knowing it was a strong and sexy face The kind that could attract men When she was in the mood for one

Which she hadn’t been, she mused, for several months

Part of that edding plans, holiday plans, the tiles so they could be married And another part, she was forced to adered from Halloween, when she’d ripped open pockets in herself that she had purposely sewn shut years before

Couldn’t be helped, she thought now She’d done what needed to be done And had no intention of a repeat perforlances Mia Devlin shot her way

The thought of Mia brought Ripley back full circle

Mia had an ee Nell had rented it, then moved out when sheany sort of dealings, even straight business, with Mia, the yellow cottage was the perfect solution

It was small, private, simple

It just made sense, Ripley decided and started up the ooden steps that zagged fro, but it was practical Still, maybe it wouldn’t hurt if she took a few days, let the word out that she was looking for a place to rent Soht drop in her lap

Cheered by the possibility, Ripley bounded up the steps, jogged to the back porch

Nell would already be baking, she knew, just as she knew the kitchen would se was that she wouldn’t have to hunt up breakfast It would just be there Delicious, delightful, and on demand

As she reached for the doorknob, she saw, through the glass, Zack and Nell They rapped around each other, she thought, like ivy on a flagpole Wrapped around each otherand wrapped up in each other

“Oh, man”

Hissing out a breath, she backtracked, then ca It would give them time to peel themselves off each other At least, she hoped it would

But it didn’t solve her other proble to have to deal with Mia, after all

She was goingto keep it casual To Ripley’s way of thinking, if Mia knew she really wanted the yellow cottage, she would refuse to rent it

The woman was so damn contrary