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EVERY BRIDE NEEDS SOMETHING "BLUE" 8.2
She shivered from the memory of his touch, his taste . . . his kiss. Even a half kiss from him had been enough to knock the sense right out of her. If a kiss to the corner of her mouth and a light stroke along her collarbone could turn her into a puddle of needy—His coat landed on her shoulders, jerking her thoughts mercifully away from that dangerous path. She didn’t bother shrugging it off and flinging it at him. Her little rant on the phone had zapped whatever defiant posturing she had left straight out of her. Instead, she pulled it closed in front of her, and tried not to breathe in the smell of him. Tried to make herself believe she hadn’t thought about that very scent well past the time she’d convinced herself that the whole scene in front of Hartley’s had just been an unfortunately timed chance meeting. Sort of like smashing into Beanie’s sign. Only less painful. Maybe.“So you graciously spared the town more needless gossip,” she said, struggling to pick up the thread of the
EVERY BRIDE NEEDS SOMETHING "BLUE" 8.3
Any other time, she’d have jerked away, made it clear that he couldn’t just . . . invade her personal space. So casually, so confidently. She wasn’t easy, she wasn’t . . . what they said she was. Far from. You’re a stone-cold bitch.Only she wasn’t that either. She was just a woman who’d fallen in love with the wrong man. A woman who’d had her heart shattered into a million pieces and handed back to her on a platter of public humiliation. She wasn’t ready for kisses, confident, casual, or otherwise. Not even if they felt like . . . oh, they felt so good.His lips were warm, firm, and tender all at the same time. He smelled good, he felt good. She wanted to sink in, to drown, to let everything fall away and simply float along on the lovely tingling sensations he was eliciting from her body. She was teetering, so close to that edge . . . then he pressed a kiss just below her ear, and her hair was swinging back into place, his jacket once again nudged up onto her shoulders. She didn’t—co
EVERY BRIDE NEEDS SOMETHING "BLUE" Chapter 9
Calder whipped his head around in the exact same instant he instinctively pulled Hannah into his arms and shielded her with his body. “What the—”She squirmed in his arms. “Calder, let go. I need to—”He set her away from him. “You okay? Call nine-one-one, or you probably know the entire fire crew by name. Get them here. Then stay here. I’ll be back.”She’d already been trying to dig her phone out of her jeans pocket. “I’m on it, but—”He leaned in, eyes right on hers, and kissed her, banged-up lip and all. “Stay here. Please.” Then he turned and took off at a run toward the docks.“Calder!” she shouted after him. “What are you—don’t go down there! You don’t know what else might—”He looked over his shoulder just long enough to make sure she wasn’t running after him, saw that she had the phone to her ear and was talking into it, presumably to the dispatcher, and let out a sigh of relief.Then he turned back and focused on the burning boathouse, which looked like nothing more than a No
EVERY BRIDE NEEDS SOMETHING "BLUE" 9.1
Jonah looked at him as if he’d lost his mind. “Like hell you will.”Calder dipped a chin toward his great-granddaughter. “Is there anyone else here to look after her?”Jonah looked down at her and Calder saw his expression tighten. It wasn’t anger directed at the little girl for being an imposition. He was pretty sure it was anger that she could have been hurt, or worse. Anger possibly directed at himself, since it had taken Calder to wake him up to the situation.“I can watch her,” Calder offered. “I have nieces her age,” he added, thinking how it had affected him to see Jonah as more than the stubborn family figurehead, to see him as Pawpaw. Maybe if Jonah knew he came from a real, whole family, too, he’d see Calder in a new light. “I’m a stranger, though, so . . .” He looked back at the boathouse, now reduced mostly to embers. “Let me go let them know you’re all right. I’ll send whoever is in charge directly here to you.”Jonah looked lost again as he stared at the smoke and embers
EVERY BRIDE NEEDS SOMETHING "BLUE" Chapter 10
“Of course we’re having a bachelorette party,” Kerry assured Fiona. “Why else would we get here four days before the main event?”“Because some of us are putting together the entire event, which we can’t just whip out of our collective asses. It takes time, patience, and planning to create a memorable moment.”“Hang some streamers, bake a cake, and throw some rice,” Kerry said. “The people make it memorable, not the color of the pebbles in the centerpiece. And what the hell are those anyway?”“Terrariums. With little miniature tableaus set amongst the live plants and succulents. They’re called fairy gardens and they’re like little lasting wedding day memories. In this case, each one depicts a seaside scene, something meaningful to the bride and groom. Their centerpiece will feature our lighthouse.”“By the time they see them, they’ll only be thinking about how fast they can ditch the after-party so they can hop a plane and go boink like bunnies.”“Oh, thanks.” Fiona, who was lying fla
EVERY BRIDE NEEDS SOMETHING "BLUE" 10.1
“I’m just helping to expedite the process, that’s all, so they can focus on finding out what really happened.”“What do you think really happened?” This from Kerry, whose expression shifted from her initial delighted reaction to something more serious. It wasn’t a side of her Hannah had seen too often. “Are you sure he’s innocent, Han?”Hannah felt a pinch in her heart, then she remembered that neither of her sisters knew about her colossal mistake in judgment where Tim was concerned. “Well, I can personally vouch for his whereabouts when the fire started. And given his reaction, I think it’s safe to say—”“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold up.” Fiona raised her hand, palm out. “Last night was the rehearsal party. How could you have been—” She broke off, then looked accusingly at her big sister. “You said you went out for a ‘walk.’” She made air quotes around the last word. “What’s really going on?”“I did go out for a ‘walk.’” Hannah mimicked the air quotes. “I ran into Calder—”“How convenient
EVERY BRIDE NEEDS SOMETHING "BLUE" 10.2
Calder drew in a slow breath, let it out, and got his thoughts in order. “I was supposed to meet with Brooks Winstock the evening prior. Wednesday. To discuss the details of a job he’s hiring me to do.”“Which is?”Calder sighed. So, it’s going to be like that, is it? McCrae knew damn well what he’d been hired to do, but was going to put him through his paces. Calder decided that was a good thing. Neat and tidy, all the facts lined up, i’s dotted, t’s crossed. “Building the yacht club. He acquired the property last August and originally had wanted the thing done by this July fourth, but the winter came in early, stayed late, and then he apparently had a falling-out with the architect, hired a new one, then the original contractor walked due to the architect switch.” Calder lifted his shoulders. “When he—Winstock—accepted my bid, he seemed pretty worked up about getting this thing under way as quickly as possible. But he ended up postponing our original Wednesday meeting to yesterday,
EVERY BRIDE NEEDS SOMETHING "BLUE" 10.3
Logan nodded, but didn’t say anything.“So, with that theory in mind, I was walking the harbor road, scoping it out from a contractor’s viewpoint, trying to see it as Winstock might envision it. With the shipyard out of his reach, the only real place he could have a presence on the waterfront would be in Blue’s spot. After that, it’s government-owned property with the Coast Guard, and then you’re out of the pocket of the harbor itself into less showy property units.”“What makes you think his vision includes more waterfront property?”Calder shrugged. “That’s all he’s gone after so far. If he wants to make his mark, and especially if he envisions tourists being any part of his scheme, the waterfront is really the only place to do it.”Logan made more notes, but said nothing.“Bottom line, I can’t help but think Winstock is using me, somehow, some way, to get to Jonah. I told Jonah as much the day we met, and that was before my talk with Owen. It’s the only reason I can see for Winstoc
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EVERY BRIDE NEEDS SOMETHING "BLUE" 11.4
She boggled at him. “Ten days to let someone with Brooks’s resources cover his ass? And what if I’m right and this was just the first volley?”Logan rubbed a hand over the back of his neck and swore under his breath. “Then we’ll cross that road when we come to it.” He kept talking when she would have jumped right back in. “I’m not canceling my honeymoon. It took too long to figure out the logistics in the first place. I won’t do that to Alex, and if you say anything, she’d be the first one to do it herself to help me.”“No, no, I wouldn’t want you to and I’m not going to say anything, I promise. I just—can’t someone you trust in a nearby precinct step in to handle things? Machias maybe? Or Lubec? It’s a hike, but they have more resources than we do.”“If something happens, then yes, at least temporarily until I can get back.” He looked at her. “If something happens, I will come back immediately, Hannah. But without any proof other than a string of hunches on your part—and mine,” he ad
EVERY BRIDE NEEDS SOMETHING "BLUE" 11.3
“I can’t rule it out, but it doesn’t seem likely. Not based on what I know at the moment, anyway.”“Except you don’t know anything.”They both fell silent for a moment and she ran through the previous night again in her mind, then started to list everyone connected with the docks, with Jonah, with the proposed club . . . but nothing stood out, nothing niggled, nothing seemed off. Except Winstock. Who had a lock-tight alibi.Then Logan suddenly swore under his breath.“What?” Hannah demanded. “What just occurred to you?”“There is one other thing after all,” Logan said quietly.Something in his tone made her feel a thread of alarm. “Just tell me already.”“A possible motive for Calder Blue.”“What reason could he possibly have—”“You know the family feud story, that the children Jed took might have been his, or might have been Jeremiah’s.”“That was over a century ago. What on earth could tie that to—”“If they were Jeremiah’s kids, or even one of them was . . . it’s possible then that
EVERY BRIDE NEEDS SOMETHING "BLUE" 11.2
“Tim and I are no longer together,” she said, just putting it out there, boom, done. He’d hear about it from Alex or their sisters anyway.He glanced at her, then reached over and put his hand on her arm, squeezed gently, before returning it to the steering wheel. “I should have called, or pushed, or gotten Barb to push. I’m—you know I’m not good at this stuff.”“Logan,” Hannah said quietly, abashed now, her irritation fleeing as quickly as he’d stirred it up. “I—I guess I owe you an apology. The whole family. Barb, too. I should have said something. Maybe not when it happened, but at some point since then. I just . . . I had to deal with it on my own. I didn’t say anything at the time, because we broke up over Christmas. I knew it was a special holiday for you and Alex, you’d been together a whole year.” She smiled over at him. “Fiona spilled to me in an e-mail that you were going to pop the question over the holidays.” She punched his shoulder, and he mock winced. “Who knew you were
EVERY BRIDE NEEDS SOMETHING "BLUE" 11.1
“Did someone die?”Hannah turned to find her brother in his big, police-issue SUV, idling at the curb. “No,” Hannah said, sniffling and smiling as she wiped her eyes. “Just . . . sister stuff.” She reached down for Alex’s hand, and squeezed it, felt better when Alex held on just as tightly.“I’m getting calls,” he said, mildly. “If you guys are going to keep this up, could you at least do it somewhere less . . . public?”Hannah looked back at the other three, then glanced past them to the gold letters painted on the shop window. They were all still standing outside Linda’s Nail Emporium on High Street. “Oh,” she said, looking back at Logan. “Right.” She gave Alex’s hand a final squeeze, then let go and walked over to the curb.“Actually,” Kerry called out, “we were just talking about The Lumber Yard. You know, that male strip club in Augusta.”Logan’s eyebrows did a slow climb as he looked from Kerry to his lovely bride-to-be.To Kerry’s delight and Hannah’s surprise, Alex simply smil
EVERY BRIDE NEEDS SOMETHING "BLUE" Chapter 11
“No strippers?” Kerry shook her head at the other three women. “If Delia were here, she’d side with me.”“She finally got the inspector out at her new place—no way was she missing that for a mani-pedi. And it would still be two against three,” Fiona said, beaming smugly.“My disappointment, it is deep,” Kerry replied gravely. “It’s like you all have lost your will to live.”“Maybe we’ve just lost our will to drive several hours to see men disrobe in front of a room full of women,” Fi shot back, smiling even more sweetly.“You all can go if you want to,” Alex said hastily. “I just—” She shrugged. “I’m good with the hot, naked guy I already have.”“Nobody likes a spoiled winner,” Kerry said, but she was giving Alex a high-five as she did so.Fiona groaned and clapped her hands over her eyes. “Bad images, bad images. I’m happy for you, but seriously, consider the audience.”Kerry rolled her eyes and slung an arm around Fi’s shoulders and pulled her in for a side hug. “That reaction is pr
EVERY BRIDE NEEDS SOMETHING "BLUE" 10.5
“That’s not what I mean, and you know it.”For his part, Calder just leaned back and propped his booted foot on his knee again. He didn’t need Hannah’s help, but the entertainment value alone made it well worth any potential future complications. Professional or personal. He liked seeing Hannah in litigator mode. Anyone who thought her cold must not have been paying attention. She was fiery, passionate, anything but icy. He felt other parts respond to that train of thought and deliberately looked back at Logan. Yeah, that took care of that. For now.Calder spoke. “I’ve already explained to your brother, the chief here, that I was looking out over the docks and the harbor after my meeting was canceled, trying to figure out what Brooks Winstock’s bigger plan might be, when I ran into you lecturing some poor jerk in D.C. who was trying to hire you—”“That’s not pertinent to this investigation,” she inserted calmly enough, but he’d been watching her and hadn’t missed the brief flash of su
EVERY BRIDE NEEDS SOMETHING "BLUE" 10.4
“Hannah,” Calder said, as Logan also stood, but she merely nodded at him before turning back to her brother. It was only then that he noted she was carrying her leather day planner, and—a briefcase? Who brought a briefcase with them while on vacation for a family wedding?Hannah McCrae did. He found himself fighting a smile as he pulled out the chair next to his. “I won’t need that,” she said to him, “but thank you.” She looked at Logan. “Calder didn’t torch Jonah’s boathouse,” she told him. “And you’re wasting valuable time you could be spending on finding out who actually did.”“Excuse me, Counselor,” Logan interrupted, appearing surprised, but otherwise not at all perturbed by her sudden intrusion. “I’m not done questioning Mr. Blue. I’ll be happy to talk to you separately. In fact, you’re next on my list.”“There’s a list?” she asked. “Good. That’s very good. But I’m not leaving.” Calder shifted behind the chair, and pushed it in for her as she apparently changed her mind and took
EVERY BRIDE NEEDS SOMETHING "BLUE" 10.3
Logan nodded, but didn’t say anything.“So, with that theory in mind, I was walking the harbor road, scoping it out from a contractor’s viewpoint, trying to see it as Winstock might envision it. With the shipyard out of his reach, the only real place he could have a presence on the waterfront would be in Blue’s spot. After that, it’s government-owned property with the Coast Guard, and then you’re out of the pocket of the harbor itself into less showy property units.”“What makes you think his vision includes more waterfront property?”Calder shrugged. “That’s all he’s gone after so far. If he wants to make his mark, and especially if he envisions tourists being any part of his scheme, the waterfront is really the only place to do it.”Logan made more notes, but said nothing.“Bottom line, I can’t help but think Winstock is using me, somehow, some way, to get to Jonah. I told Jonah as much the day we met, and that was before my talk with Owen. It’s the only reason I can see for Winstoc
EVERY BRIDE NEEDS SOMETHING "BLUE" 10.2
Calder drew in a slow breath, let it out, and got his thoughts in order. “I was supposed to meet with Brooks Winstock the evening prior. Wednesday. To discuss the details of a job he’s hiring me to do.”“Which is?”Calder sighed. So, it’s going to be like that, is it? McCrae knew damn well what he’d been hired to do, but was going to put him through his paces. Calder decided that was a good thing. Neat and tidy, all the facts lined up, i’s dotted, t’s crossed. “Building the yacht club. He acquired the property last August and originally had wanted the thing done by this July fourth, but the winter came in early, stayed late, and then he apparently had a falling-out with the architect, hired a new one, then the original contractor walked due to the architect switch.” Calder lifted his shoulders. “When he—Winstock—accepted my bid, he seemed pretty worked up about getting this thing under way as quickly as possible. But he ended up postponing our original Wednesday meeting to yesterday,
