Chapter 2
"Oh no, oh my goodness," Delphine cried, clutching her chest. "I'll call the fire department, but it will take them forever to get here."
An unrelenting wind churned up the waves—and the little boy's frightened sobs.
Lena looked around. "Is there anything we could use? Do you have a water hose, a fire extinguisher, anything?"
Before Delphine could answer, a tall figure bolted past them, carrying two fire extinguishers.
Stopping just short of the flames, the dark-haired stranger pulled the pin on the first extinguisher and started spraying.
Lena thrust Nutmeg into Delphine's arms and ran to pick up the second extinguisher he'd dropped in the sand.
They fought the flames for a couple of minutes with considerable success, but the fire had already consumed several feet of the pier—the end nearest the beach and the awning were destroyed. The boy wouldn't be able to walk back down the pier even if the fire were completely doused.
Lena yelled above the ocean's roar, almost drowning out the boy's cries. "He won't be able to get off this way!"
The firefighting stranger yelled back, "I know! Keep spraying! We can't let the wind carry any flames to the trees." He pointed to the lush area just beyond the sand, then turned to the sobbing little girl. "Can he swim?" he yelled, pointing at the boy.
"Kind of," she answered.
Kind of? Lena glanced at the boy. He looked maybe four or five. Well, that makes sense. Maybe she meant he could at least doggy-paddle. But the waves looked rough. And if the currents were strong . . .
Before she could process her thoughts, the stranger was pulling off his shoes and marching into the surf. A moment later he dove into the waves and disappeared until his head popped up near the end of the pier.
He was calling out to the boy. "Kai, jump to me!"
Kai shook his head.
"He's afraid of sharks," the little girl said.
Oh, good grief. This is not the time. Come on, kid, just jump.
"Look at me, Kai," the man was saying, his words calm but firm.
"Just look at me. I've got you." The confidence and compassion in his voice pinched her heart.
The waves swallowed the rest of his words, but she could still see him talking to Kai while she continued to douse the remaining hot spots on the pier.
At some point, Delphine had handed Nutmeg over to the girl and was using the stranger's extinguisher to help as well.
Finally, Kai inched toward the end of the pier and jumped into the strong arms of the man.
A minute later, those strong arms carried Kai ashore. He set the boy down and crouched in front of him, his expression full of sympathy and worry. "You okay, Kai?"
Kai nodded. The little girl practically dropped Nutmeg and hugged Kai until he squirmed.
Delphine tossed her extinguisher aside and focused on the kids. "Where is Dek? He's supposed to be watching you."
The girl shrugged. "He said we could play on the beach. He said he had to use the phone inside the maintenance building."
Delphine looked like she could snap Dek's neck. Whoever Dek was.
Something dark marched across the stranger's face. He turned to Delphine. "You report the fire to Mr. Van Horn. I'll chat with Dek."
Delphine looked at him for a long second, then nodded. Apparently, she believed the man would deal with this Dek fellow appropriately. "Come with me," she said to the kids. "Let's go inside. We need to get you dried off, Kai."
Lena picked up a shaky Nutmeg, who looked stunned at all the drama. She didn't have a leash and wasn't sure if he was inclined to run off, so she held him—an arrangement the Maltipoo seemed very content with.
"Are you okay?" a deep voice asked. She turned, and for the first time, looked into the blue-gray eyes of the dripping wet hero. His soaked button-down shirt and slacks clung to his athletic form. Not that she needed to be noticing his muscles, but . . . well, she wasn't blind.
He looked kind, but the worry in his expression surprised her. When she saw his concern growing, she realized it was because she hadn't answered his question.
"Yes, yes, I'm okay. I'm fine."
His shoulders relaxed.
As she looked down at Nutmeg, everything prior to the fire came rushing back. Cassidy isn't here.
Where was she? A new cold dread snaked down her spine.
She'd come all this way expecting to find her irresponsible cousin lounging and enjoying her island life with her wealthy, yet shady, boyfriend.
She'd wanted to talk Cassidy into coming home before something happened.
She didn't know what that something might be.
She didn't expect to not find her. She needed to talk to Delphine again.
She realized the stranger was staring at her.
He stepped toward her. "Hey, I'm Nash." He nodded toward the charred pier. "Thanks for your help."
"Oh, sure. Well, I didn't do much. Thank you for swimming out to the boy. You saved his life. That was . . ." Why did she feel her cheeks warming? She was just thanking the handsome man for saving a kid's life.
She ever-so-eloquently cleared her throat, shifted Nutmeg into the crook of her left arm, and extended her right hand to Nash. "I'm Lena."
His handshake was warm and firm . . . and made her breath catch for some reason. But his earlier concern hadn't quite left his gaze. "I'm Mr. Van Horn's driver," he said. "And you are . . ." And there it was—the suspicion in his voice. She needed to be careful.
"I'm . . ." She lifted Nutmeg a couple of inches as if Nutmeg's presence was necessary for her explanation. "I'm the dog-sitter. I'm taking care of Nutmeg—Victoria Van Horn's dog—while she's in Europe for a couple of weeks."
Recognition flashed on his face. "Yeah. Lena. Right. Delphine told me you were arriving today."
"Um, so who's Dek? Is he the kids' dad?"
Tempered anger flashed in his eyes. "No.
He's their uncle. Their family owns the landscaping business that tends this whole estate.
I've only been here a few days. I met them for the first time a couple of days ago.
The grandmother actually owns the business.
She and the parents are usually here working and keeping a close eye on the kids.
Nice people. But Dek . . ." He shook his head in disgust.
"Not a responsible fellow?"
Nash shrugged. "Like I said, I've only been here a few days, but he didn't make a good first impression on me." He picked up his shoes from where he'd tossed them in the sand. "I'll make sure the family knows what happened today."
"So, you're new here too?"
"I was hired a few days ago." He stuck his shoes under one arm and used his two free hands to pick up the discarded fire extinguishers.
"Sorry I wasn't able to pick you up at the airport.
I was driving Mr. Van Horn to the marina this afternoon.
But Delphine said she was sending a taxi to pick you up. I guess that worked out."
Lena froze at the mention of Mr. Van Horn's name. Emil. She hadn't had time to come up with Plan B, but she needed to stick around long enough to confront Emil. It might not go well, but at least she could see his face when she asked where Cassidy was.
She tried to sound casual. "Mr. Van Horn is at the marina? Will he be coming back to the house this evening?"
The suspicion returned.
She must not have sounded casual enough.
He cocked his head. "Probably not. He has a large yacht at the marina. He stays there sometimes. But you're working for his aunt, Victoria, correct?"
"Yes, Nutmeg belongs to his aunt."
His eyes narrowed. "Did you need to speak to Mr. Van Horn for any reason?"
"Not necessarily," she answered quickly. "I just assumed I would meet him since he's the only Van Horn living at the house while I'm here."
Nash seemed to find her explanation at least somewhat reasonable. "Well, I'm sure you'll meet him, eventually. Like I said, he stays at his yacht often, but he'll return to the house soon."
She wanted to ask how soon was "soon." But that was probably pushing it. She could wait until tomorrow. But if Emil wasn't back in twenty-four hours, she would confront him on his yacht, or wherever he was. Assuming the handsome, firefighting, child-rescuing chauffeur would drive her to him.
Concern returned to the driver's gaze. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm . . . I'm just exhausted. Traveling today, then .
. ." She waved a hand toward the charred remains of the pier.
"I should get Nutmeg back to the house." Nutmeg licked her chin in response.
She was glad he didn't seem as traumatized as she felt at the moment.
She stroked his furry head, then forced the most innocent smile she could manage and waved goodbye to Nash. "It was nice to meet you, Nash."
"Nice to meet you, Lena." He returned a polite smile, but his wariness was palpable.
Time to go.
She plodded through the sand toward the house and finally set Nutmeg down in the grassy area near the garden.
Thankfully, he didn't appear interested in running off.
He wagged his tail and sniffed around the manicured lawn like those blades of grass were the most interesting things in the world.
She envied how oblivious he was to the chaos all around him.
"Lena!" Delphine's voice carried from the house.
"Yes, I'm right here." Lena waved to Delphine and tried to get Nutmeg to hurry along.
He wasn't interested in hurrying.
"Okay, buddy, we'll come back out soon. We need to see what Delphine wants." She scooped him up and headed toward the waiting house manager, who looked a little more frazzled than she did when Lena arrived. Was that less than an hour ago?
Delphine motioned her inside. "Miss Van Horn is on the phone. You can use the phone in the kitchen. She's on line two."
"Oh, thank you."
Lena hurried inside, carefully deposited Nutmeg next to a water bowl she saw in the kitchen, and picked up the phone. Time to meet my new boss—if only for the next twenty-four hours.