Chapter Eight
KC settled back into his chair as Maura cleared the table.
After she carried the plates inside, he stared out over the ocean, thinking about how unexpectedly pleasant the meal had been.
It had been a long time since he’d simply enjoyed talking to a woman.
Aside from the attraction, there was an ease between them he hadn’t expected—something that would make the next four weeks a lot more enjoyable… as long as he kept things in check.
She was coming off an abusive relationship and didn’t strike him as the type to jump into something casual. Which meant she was off-limits.
Or was she?
They had four weeks. Time to get to know each other. Maybe this didn’t have to be a temporary arrangement. Maybe something more could come out of it.
Or maybe he was getting ahead of himself.
The temperature dropped as the sun dipped lower, a cool breeze rolling in off the water, but he wasn’t ready for the evening to end.
He pushed to his feet and headed down to the patio, where a seating area surrounded a black metal fire pit.
A fire, a cup of coffee, and a little more conversation sounded like the perfect way to finish the night.
Crouching, he reached for a few logs stacked beneath the house, kept dry and ready. Above, the door opened, and footsteps landed softly on the deck.
“I’m down here,” he called to her.
“Do you want—?” She stopped short. “What are you doing?”
His head snapped in her direction at the sharp tone, and he found her staring at him with an odd look. Almost… scared.
“I’m getting some wood to start a fire. I thought it would be nice to sit down here for a bit. Is there a problem?”
Maura shook her head. “Oh, no. I... um... I didn’t notice there were logs under there.” She paused, then added, “You might want to be careful, though. I saw a snake near there the other day.”
“Really?” His brow furrowed as he stood. “That’s odd. You rarely see them this close to the beach.”
“Well, maybe he got lost.”
“Maybe.” He caught a flicker of relief in her expression, and it bothered him. For a moment, he considered pushing—asking her what that had been about—but something held him back. She already looked wound tight. Pressing her now wouldn’t get him anywhere. Not yet. “What did you want?”
“Huh?”
“When you came out, you started to ask me a question.”
She gave a small wave. “Oh... um... yeah. I just wanted to know how you take your coffee. Cream or sugar?”
“Black is fine.”
Maura hesitated, still watching him by the corner of the house, then turned and went back inside without another word.
“What was that all about?” KC muttered. He bent down, checking the pile of wood and the surrounding area, but nothing looked out of place. Maybe she had seen a snake earlier. Rare, but not impossible.
His mind flew back to the filed-off serial number on her gun, and a dozen possibilities ran through his head—none of them good.
What has Uncle Dan gotten me involved in?
By the time Maura returned with two large mugs of coffee, she no longer seemed troubled, and a steady fire burned in the pit. KC added another log before taking a seat on one of the curved couches surrounding the blaze. She handed him a mug and settled to his left, tucking her legs beneath her.
The fire cast a soft, steady warmth across the patio. Stars filled the sky, and a slender crescent moon hung high in the east. Waves rolled in beyond the dunes, their distant rhythm blending with the crackle of the fire and the occasional cry of a seagull.
It didn’t get much more peaceful than this.
He took a sip of his coffee. “So, we’ve talked about me—let’s talk about you.”
“What about me?” she asked, her expression wary.
“I don’t know. Tell me what you did before you ended up in North Carolina.”
She shrugged, gaze drifting to the stars.
For a moment, he thought she wouldn’t answer.
Then she sighed. “I had a part-time job at a local pharmacy. It wasn’t much, but it was all I could do while going to school to get my teaching degree.
I’m one semester shy of finishing, but now.
.. It’s sort of been put on hold. Maybe someday I’ll be able to finish it. ”
“What do you want to teach?”
She smiled. However, he noticed it didn’t reach her eyes.
“I adore children, especially the younger, more impressionable ones. I would love to teach third- or fourth-grade. At that level, they’re really excited about learning new things. Their brains are like sponges. They absorb everything and haven’t really started to notice the opposite sex yet.”
He laughed. “What difference does that make?”
She blushed and lowered her gaze to the fire. “Well, it’s one less thing on their minds, and they can still concentrate on school. Tell me... did you care much about school after you started noticing girls?”
Grinning, he toasted her with his mug of coffee, his eyes dancing in amusement.
“Good point.” He took another sip of the dark brew.
“It sounds as if you’re very passionate about teaching.
You should return to school if you’re so close to finishing your degree.
There are a few local colleges within driving distance from here.
Have your transcripts transferred to one of them. ”
“Maybe.”
He thought she wasn’t too enthused about the idea and wondered why, but decided not to press the issue for now. “How about your family? Parents? Siblings?”
His gut clenched when sadness fell over her face.
Moriah knew she was wading into dangerous territory with all his questions and should head back to her room, but for some reason, she couldn’t force herself to stand.
Even worse, she found herself answering him.
“I never really knew my dad. He was in and out of our lives a lot until he finally left for good when I was fourteen. As for my mom, sister, and nephew, they died in an accident a few months ago.”
If you called being murdered an accident.
She shook the morbid thought from her mind.
“I’m sorry, Maura. That must have been awful for you.”
The sympathy in his voice ripped through her, and she fought the tears welling up in her eyes. “If you don’t mind, I'd rather not talk about it.”
“I understand.” He waited a few moments before continuing. “Both my folks were killed in a plane crash when I was seventeen. They were taking a vacation, without us kids, for their twentieth wedding anniversary. A hundred and forty-two others were on board. There were no survivors.”
Horrified, she gasped and brought her hand to her lips. “Oh, how awful. I’m so sorry.”
His mouth flattened as he shrugged and stared at the fire.
“Anyway, I know how it feels to lose people close to you.
Uncle Dan took legal custody of my brothers and me until we finished high school.
Sean was the youngest, at fourteen, and Brian was sixteen.
After graduating from high school, we each enlisted in different branches of the military—Sean in the Army and Brian in the Air Force.
“Thank God for my uncle. It took a lot of courage for a bachelor to take in three recently orphaned teenagers. Dan is my father’s brother, and at the time, he was the best thing that could happen to us.
He became our rock at the worst time of our lives and made sure we lived up to our parents’ expectations.
We rarely gave him any trouble, but when we did, he straightened us out really quick.
“Dan served in the military, as did my father, and neither of them took any crap from us as we were growing up. But they also made sure we always knew we were loved. All in all, I think we turned out pretty darn good.”
They sat in silence for a few minutes, alone in their own thoughts.
Moriah’s heart rate and anxiety were still elevated after seeing KC squatting down near the woodpile.
She’d panicked, thinking he would find the duffel bag, and blurted out the first thing she could think of.
While he’d seemed skeptical at first, she’d been relieved when he changed the subject to something safe.
Huh... safe... will I ever feel safe again?
She doubted it.
KC shifted in his seat, drawing her attention back to him. After he had taken a sip of his coffee, he brought up the one subject she wished he hadn’t. “So, tell me about this ex-boyfriend. What’s the jerk's name?”
Caught off guard by the question, she gave the first “jerk's” name that popped into her head. “Leo Simmons.”
Oh, my God!
She couldn’t believe she’d given him the name of her sister’s drug-dealing boyfriend. How could she be so stupid? She had to end this conversation before she said something that would get her in trouble. “I’m sorry, KC, but I’m getting tired. I think I’ll head up to bed and read for a while.”
When she stood, ready to run upstairs, he also got to his feet. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
Moriah held up her hand to keep him from saying anything more. “It’s okay. However, I’d rather not talk about the past. Thanks again for dinner. I’ll see you in the morning.”
He watched as she turned and headed for the stairs. “Hey, Maura?”
Pausing, she glanced over her shoulder at him but remained silent.
Sympathy filled his eyes. “I want you to know that I think you’re doing fine. You’re a strong woman. I’m sure everything will work out for you.”
She couldn’t tell him how wrong he was, so instead, she nodded. “Thanks. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”