Chapter 19

Harper

I was feeling completely off balance. I guess in my little girl mind, there was a logical progression of how a relationship moved forward. I’d believed that you became friends, then confessed that you liked each other, dated for a while and maybe were exclusive, then came kissing and sex, then the proposal and the marriage. I guess I’d fallen off a hay wagon because obviously things didn’t work that way.

I’d thought that Brayden was making overtures to keep me in his life, and yet the words weren’t there. I guess I’d just become another one in the long line of women he’d most likely been with over the years since I’d seen him. I’d been reading too much into his gesture to have me stay at the guest cottage. I was there as a companion to Meghan. He’d said that she was lonely and needed people around her. What was I thinking?

There was nothing I could do but back off and concentrate on building my business. I had everything I needed; my laptop, my knowledge, a place to stay and a dear little friend in Meghan.

We were growing closer with each day. The day after the tenor’s reception, she was waiting on the dock for me, waving wildly. “I’m so glad you’re back,” she prattled on. “I had more I wanted to tell you about the new friends I made by Mrs. Sims’ sister’s. They do each other’s hair, put on makeup, and talked about boys the whole time.”

“I think you already have a marvelous sense of style, honey. They should be learning from you.”

“Oh, I know. Really, I think I do have a knack for it, but I didn’t want to be a show-off or anything, you know?”

“Good thinking. They’ll figure it out on their own.”

“So, I was wondering, do you think Uncle Brayden might let me invite them over for a sleep-over sometime?”

I had to curb my smile at the image of Brayden surrounded by a group of giggling young girls with curlers and vivid violet eye shadow. “Well, gee, honey, I don’t know. He might let you invite them to Utopia and have your sleep over there, though. You might try that first.”

“Good idea, Harper. I hadn’t thought about that. That might be extra cool because of the pool and tea room and everything. I’ll bet Chef would make us some cupcakes with pastel frosting and sprinkles.”

“He might do just that, but before you start making out invitations, I suggest you talk to your uncle. And don’t be surprised if he doesn’t jump on it right away. He’s got a lot on his mind right now.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing wrong, exactly. Just a lot of responsibility and special events scheduled.”

We were sitting by the pool and Mrs. Sims brought us out two lemonades and a bowl of chips. “Ohhh, I love this,” Meghan said, digging in. “You know, Harper, I like spending time with you. You’re not really like most moms; you’re lots of fun.”

I didn’t know how to answer that but opted to simply say, “You’re easy to be fun around, honey.”

“Thanks! Hey, would you like to hit some tennis balls with me?”

I was a little tired from the night before, but we were on a good conversation roll and I didn’t want to slow that momentum. “Sure. Let me go and get changed. I’ll meet you on the court in about twenty minutes.”

“Okay,” she agreed and sipped her lemonade as I headed toward the cottage. It felt good to be back there and I dropped my bags on the bed and went in to brush my teeth and pull my hair into a ponytail. I found some shorts and a t-shirt in a drawer and dug socks out for my sneakers. I hoped they had an extra racquet since that wasn’t something I owned.

Heading toward the tennis court, I noticed someone standing with their back to me, talking to Meghan. I looked around for a sign that Brayden had come back or that Captain Bob was on the dock, but no one else was around.

As I drew closer, the voice sounded familiar. “Meghan?” I called and they both turned around. It was Collin!

“Collin, we weren’t expecting you,” I stuttered.

“Oh? I was just having a chat with Meghan here.”

“Is Brayden here with you?”

“No, he’s busy working. So, Meghan,” he said, turning toward the girl, “how is it you came to live here?”

“Meghan…” I interrupted but the girl was too well-mannered. She looked up at Collin and said, “Uncle Brayden took me in when my parents were killed.”

“Is that so?” He spun around and gave me a look that frightened me.

“Meghan, please go up to the house and ask Mrs. Sims to come down here. I need to speak with her immediately.”

Meghan looked surprised, but obeyed me and started skipping up the incline toward the house.

“What brings you here, Collin?”

“I believe you know.”

I shook my head. “Not really.”

“I find that fascinating since it appears that my brother has adopted my niece without so much as letting me know she exists.” His face was stormy. I wasn’t sure whether it was appropriate, but I was a little afraid of him at that moment.

“I really don’t know a lot about it. You know, Collin, you should have let Brayden bring you over. This is his house, and I know he would have liked to be the one to show you around.”

“Yeah, I know about how much I’d see with him. That’s why I came on my own. Wasn’t too hard to find, since I had a guide.” He pointed out someone standing down by the dock.

I could tell from where I was that they wore one of Brayden’s employees’ uniforms. It likely had the embroidered script ‘U’ on the pocket, but that didn’t matter. Whomever it was probably recognized that Collin was Brayden’s brother and when asked to bring Collin to Vermillion Key, he would never dream that he was being manipulated. Brayden was right about one thing. Collin was not stupid, but he was very good at finding out what he wanted to know.

I took a different tack. “Why don’t you come up to the house and have a drink by the pool? It’s really a steamer today. You can see most all the island from there, and that saves you walking around. I’ll do my best to give you a pointing tour.”

He didn’t seem to have any problem with that, and he seemed bothered. He wasn’t gloating as I might have expected. Something was on his mind; perhaps the idea that his late brother was still alive in Meghan. In any regard, he nodded. I motioned in the direction of the house and moved to walk behind him up the incline. His attention was on the luxurious details of the grounds, not on me. I pulled out my cell and quickly texted Brayden. COLLIN HERE AT THE HOUSE. KNOWS ABOUT MEGHAN. COME QUICKLY.

I watched the way he moved as he walked. He may have had a drink or two, but he didn’t appear to be drunk. Probably the best thing I could do was to keep his attention diverted.

We’d reached the pool patio, and Meghan came out with Mrs. Sims. The older woman had a concerned look on her face. I had no idea if she knew anything about Collin, but it wouldn’t take much to recognize that he was related to Brayden and she certainly knew that the island was off limits to others. I hoped she’d pick up on the fact that Collin represented some danger.

I hated this feeling; being trapped. Collin would pick up on that. Bullies could smell fear, and it empowered them. I’d known him all my life and still wanted away from him. I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket and knew Brayden was texting back.

“Mrs. Sims, would you mind preparing lunch for us and serve it here on the patio? We have an unexpected guest with us. This is Mr. Brayden’s brother, Collin.” As I spoke, I gave her a hard look, hoping she would pick up on the danger. Her expression did not change an iota. She was either a very good actress, or it went right over her head.

“Certainly, Miss Harper. I was just telling Meghan that she’d made a mess of videos in the media room and she’s to put them back, in alphabetical order,” she turned to give Meghan a look, “before she can play tennis or join you here for lunch.” She glared at Meghan, who slowly slunk inside.

“Nice to meet you, Uncle Collin,” Meghan mewled as though she hoped he might intervene and commute the sentence.

I knew she would be fascinated by meeting her father’s other brother and yet she would be clueless how much danger that could represent. Collin was unpredictable and had it in for Brayden. He would cause trouble; there could be no doubt about that.

I nodded and quickly changed the conversation before Collin could say anything more. “You didn’t bring Stephanie with you?”

“No,” was his curt response.

“Darn. I’ve been afraid to ask her to visit, Brayden being so protective of things, and would have liked if she could see it.”

“Why?”

I looked up at him. “Excuse me?”

“Why is he protective? Who is he afraid of?”

I shrugged, taking a sip from my drink. “You should know that better than I. He’s your brother. He just seems sometimes almost paranoid. I write it off to the fact that he has so many employees and that someone could become disgruntled. This is a remote place, you know.”

He nodded. I hoped I was making logical sense. His next question took my breath.

“Why are you here?”

I hesitated. I knew I couldn’t lie; he was too smart for that. The best I could do was slant things and sometimes the truth was the best way to do that.

I looked down at the paving stones. “I’m beginning to ask myself that same question. I mean, you remember we were an item back in high school and I thought he was wanting to rekindle that. I’m not so sure, now, though.”

“Why not?”

“He’s not opening up to me. One minute, I’m his girlfriend and the next I feel like I’ve been hired as a companion to the girl.” I deliberately did not name her as that suggested a closely-knit group of which he was not a part—a fact that would further anger him.

Mrs. Sims emerged at that moment, a tray in her hands. There were only two place settings, which told me exactly what I wanted to know. She had picked up on the danger and had sent Meghan off on a chore so she would be out of the way.

Collin stood up. “Where’s the can?” he asked, and I pointed to the pool cabana.

“Right in there.”

He nodded and headed toward it as Mrs. Sims was laying the plates and glasses. As soon as he was out of hearing, she whispered, “Have you contacted Mr. Brayden?”

I nodded and slipped my phone out of my pocket. ON MY WAY. “Yes, he’s coming. Keep Meghan upstairs, no matter what. I’ll handle Collin.”

“I know,” she muttered under her breath as Collin emerged from the cabana and headed back toward me.

“Mrs. Sims, would you send something to drink down to Collin’s guide there on the dock?” She nodded and understood that the only person she could summon to take it down would be Captain Bob.

I sat back, content that I’d done all I could for the moment. Now, I just had to wait. I picked a topic that I hoped wouldn’t rev him up. “Has Brayden told you about the website I’m building?” I asked as Mrs. Sims reappeared with large bowls of salad and a platter of sandwiches. She nodded briefly to me and I relaxed a bit.

“No.”

“Well, you’ll probably find it kind of funny considering that I was pretty much a wallflower in school, but I’m building a new kind of dating website.”

“Okay.”

He clearly wasn’t interested but was using his energy to survey the island from this elevated vantage. I let him do it.

“Oh, that’s right. I promised you a tour. Well, let’s see. That building over there,” I pointed to where I was staying, “is the guest house. That’s where I’m staying.”

His eyebrows went up at that. I suppose he imagined that I would be rooming at the big house with Brayden.

“Why?”

I raised my eyebrows and lifted my chin, letting him know I didn’t understand his question.

He sighed, not sure if I was as stupid as I appeared, or whether I was pretending. “Why are you living there?”

I shrugged again. “You’d have to ask Brayden that. That’s where he put my things.”

I pointed out a few other interesting points and then talked about the red sunsets that had given the Key its name. “You know, it’s hard to believe that Cuba is only about eighty miles from here,” I said, pointing. I knew I was sounding like a tour guide, and a silly one at that since Collin had grown up here, just as I had.

I switched to the topic of whatever happened to… the conversation old classmates had. He was fairly uncooperative but it did trigger some reminiscences about his high school exploits, most of which should have landed him in prison. He regaled me with these, one after the other, and I wondered how I was supposed to respond. Should I laugh? Be in awe?

From the corner of my eye, I could see Captain Bob lurking in the shadows next to the sliding door. He was not in uniform, but sitting in a rattan chair, holding a magazine. I supposed that Mrs. Sims had given him some alternate role in case Collin should see him.

That was when I heard the motor and saw a large cabin cruiser approaching the dock. Finally! Collin heard it, too, and put down his fork with a clatter. He shoved his plate aside angrily and stood up, striding toward the boat and Brayden.

I felt a knot of fear in my gut, at least until I could see that Brayden was not alone. There were men with him, men in suits that bulged. They fanned out behind him but there was no mistaking their fitness in their walk and that their heads were looking from left to right, gauging the situation as they approached. I stood up and hurried inside, locking the slider.

Captain Bob had already been alerted and was standing, watching the approaching people from a window. He was holding a revolver in his hand.

I went to find Mrs. Sims. She was in the kitchen, and she was holding a gun in her hand as well. “Where’s Meghan?” I asked.

“Go to the media room and tell her to take you to the panic room. She knows. Don’t come out until you see one of us motion to you on the monitors. Lock the door; she’ll show you how. You’ll be able to hear us.”

Alarmed, I ran toward the stairs going down and Meghan was standing in the doorway of the media room, a frightened look on her face. She knew enough to take precautions but was confused whether she should go into hiding on her own.

“Panic room?” I asked briefly and she nodded, grabbed my hand and pulled me into the media room. The room was very dark and the floor slanted, like in a full theatre. She tugged me toward the projection screen and slid around behind it, tapping something on the wall and a door swung open.

We entered the panic room and locked the door.

I’d never been in anything like that. It was the stuff of movies. The closest thing I could describe was a sort of bunker with panels of blinking switches and a set of monitors that allowed us to see all over the island and in every room of the house. Isn’t this reacting just a little bit? After all, there was only Collin, and Brayden had brought what looked like a deployment from the Secret Service. But, I understood that Brayden couldn’t handle things as coolly if he had to worry about where Meghan was, so I was content to have a seat and watch the show. Meghan seemed unconcerned.

“Have you been in here before?” I asked.

She nodded casually. “Oh, sure, lots of times. Uncle Brayden always brings me in here, or Mrs. Sims, when a big blow is coming in. According to him, the whole island could go underwater and we’d be all cozy and watertight, like a submarine.” She pulled out her cell phone, settled onto a bunk and began whatever it was that teenage girls do on phones. I could hear a tinkle of music, so I assumed she was playing a game.

I spotted the screen that showed the patio and the yard leading down to the docks. Collin was walking casually, if not jauntily, toward Brayden with his hands in his pockets. He must have been walking very slowly because it had taken a couple of minutes for Meghan and me to get down to the room. The men with Brayden had fanned out and were intently watching Collin. I could see Brayden’s mouth moving, but couldn’t hear what was being said. I saw Collin shrug, but his hands stayed in his pockets. One of Brayden’s men had circled around while he was talking and now approached Collin from the rear. As I watched, the man put a hand on Collin’s shoulder and began searching him. I was more than a little shocked to see him pull a gun from Collin’s pocket. What the fuck?

I was glad Meghan was involved in her phone and not watching. I was careful not to make any sounds. A beeping began on the console and I saw Captain Bob’s face up close in the monitor. He was signaling me to open the door.

“How do I let him in?” I asked aloud.

Captain Bob, himself, answered me. “The green button next to the door. Just flip the switch.”

I opened the door and waited for him to enter. He shook his head. “No, just came to retrieve you two. Meghan, your uncle would like you to go on up to your room for a while and Miss Harper, you can do as you please.”

I glanced back up at the monitors and saw the group, including Collin and Brayden, reboarding the cruiser. “I guess I’m going down to the guest cottage. I think I’d like a nap,” I told Captain Bob and he nodded. I hugged Meghan as we parted at the top of the stairs.

She was halfway up the stairs when she called to me. “Harper?”

“Yes, honey?”

“Was that man really my uncle?”

I paused briefly, not sure how much I should say. This didn’t involve me and Brayden had obviously told her something all these years. I didn’t want to make him out to be a liar to his own niece. She would only understand that he lied, but not why. Brayden would have to deal with this when he got back. I decided to try and walk around it.

“It’s a complicated situation, honey. I don’t know very much about it at all. What do you say let’s wait for Brayden to come home and we’ll all talk about it?”

She looked upset and doubtful. She shook her head. “It wasn’t fair for Uncle Brayden not to tell me the truth. He’s my family, too, you know.”

I sat down on the bottom step of the stairway and motioned for her to join me. She came and plopped down. “Honey, you know how there are things that happen in your life and when you were younger, you didn’t understand it? Then, that something happens and now you’re older and you suddenly understand the same thing?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“That will happen to you more and more as you grow older. And this is one of those things. But, and this is the important part, when you really know you’re growing up is when you are very sure you’ve asked all the right questions and gotten all the possible information before drawing a conclusion. This is what I’m trying to tell you. You trust your Uncle Brayden, right?”

“I guess so, but I don’t know why he didn’t just tell me.”

“If you trust him, you will wait for him to tell you why. That’s all I’m saying. Not only will he tell you, but then you can ask him questions. He’s the only person in the world who can tell you why he did what he did, or didn’t do. Would that be fair?”

She thought a few seconds and then nodded. “I guess that makes sense.”

I patted her shoulder. “I knew you would understand. Now, why don’t you do as he asked and go on up to your room. I’ll ask Mrs. Sims to bring you something to eat and I’m sure you’ve got some friends to text with. He’ll be back and then you and I will both ask him questions. Fair enough?”

She nodded again and stood up. “Harper?”

“Yes, honey?”

“I’m really glad you’re here.”

“I’m glad I’m here, too.”

Meghan continued up to her room, and I stood up and went in search of Mrs. Sims. I almost ran into her in the doorway of the kitchen. Her hands held a tray.

“Meghan?” I asked and she nodded. I gave her sort of a side hug and left for the cottage.

For now, my world had returned to normal. I had a whole ton of questions for Brayden, but it was, for the most part, normal.