Chapter 7 #2
She laughed, but it was unsteady. He liked the way she looked in scrubs, or he was drawn to medical professionals? “I’m not a big fan of blood and will never be a nurse. Even the scrubs make me a bit squeamish. I’ll let my sis, Cassie, have the nursing privileges.”
“I’m with you.” He smiled. “I can write about blood, but I don’t like seeing it in real life. Especially yours.”
“That makes your heroic rescue even more meaningful.”
“Not too heroic. I didn’t find your attacker.”
That sobered her. His phone beeped. He pulled it back out and clicked on the texting icon, then lifted it so she couldn’t see who had texted him. Rude.
Davin was never rude, but he was definitely ignoring her and reading something on his phone. She shouldn’t have wanted to read his texts, but she was confused and concerned. His entire bearing looked tense, his jaw clamped so tight she feared he’d break a tooth.
Her stomach twisted. Was he reading love texts from Robinette or something regarding what Jaxon wanted to talk to him about? If it was a love text, the relationship wasn’t going so well.
They were both quiet as they ate. He put his phone away but didn’t say much, studying the bright May sky and the small waves rolling on the bluish-gray ocean.
The ferry ride was short, only twenty minutes with good weather. Her heart warmed as she saw the island. Emotions bubbled inside her and a tension she hadn’t known she was holding released in her chest.
Home. Green and welcoming, with mountains, beaches, the quaint downtown, and the people she adored. She stinking loved this place. Shadow Cove Island wasn’t huge, about a hundred and twenty miles around, according to Jaxon who would know such things.
They loaded back into Davin’s Audi and drove off the ferry.
The ferry exited onto the main dock with the boardwalk, or Malecon as the locals called it, stretching to the north and south along the waterfront.
There was a beach north of the ferry, but it was cold enough year-round that not many people ventured into the ocean without wet suits and a surfboard.
When the sun was out, which was most of the summer, there were often people walking, running, or biking the boardwalk or playing catch, building sandcastles, or having picnics on the beach.
To the south of the ferry were stately old homes.
The most prominent, right on the water, was her friend Dylan Knight’s ancestral home.
His family were the original settlers of the island, and the Knight mansion was a gorgeous, three-story Victorian.
This bay was even called Knight’s Bay. Shadow Cove was a smaller cove around the northwest side where the famed La Fortuna shipwreck had occurred years ago.
Dylan’s family’s pale yellow, all-wood-construction, two-hundred-year-old beauty used to be pristine, every eave, gable, and porch’s intricate white gingerbread trim freshly painted, the stained-glass windows sparkling, the yard and gardens immaculate and lush.
Since his parents left the island to travel around the world, the house had gradually become a little more rundown each year.
Dylan tried, bless him, but he refused to hire outside help and it was impossible for one person to keep up with a house that large.
He was also the town’s accountant, so his career demanded as much of him as his house.
No wonder he seemed stressed and worn down every time she saw him.
Davin and Chloe drove up the slight incline through the picturesque downtown, decorated with lamp posts and hanging floral baskets, riotous with bright purples, reds, and yellows. The shops and restaurants were set back just enough to give plenty of room for wide sidewalks.
They passed the town square and then her bookstore. Ah. Tome Raider. It was her second home and the business she’d poured her heart and soul into and somehow kept afloat, even with e-readers seeming to overtake her world.
They kept climbing a slight incline to the far side of Main where the sheriff’s office and two-room jail was located.
Davin parked next to the sidewalk and hurried around to help her out of the SUV. His touch sent a pulse of warmth through her, but he released her too quick. Couldn’t he use the excuse that she was an invalid to keep his arm around her or at least his hand on her lower back?
She blinked at the bright sun and walked with him up the sidewalk and a couple stairs. He held the door and they walked inside.
“Well, there she is.” Officer Adam Campbell greeted them with a huge smile.
He was her sister Cassie’s age, a couple years younger than Chloe, and always teased both of the sisters.
Cassie had dated him when they were teenagers.
Of course Robinette had swooped in, and the year older than him ‘hottie’ had stolen his attention.
That had cured any longings Cassie might have had for the good-looking tease Adam.
“Sheriff filled me in,” Adam said, losing his smile momentarily. “Glad to hear you’re still in the land of the living, beautiful.”
“Me too.”
“I wouldn’t want to live in a world without a Chloe Vance in it.” He winked.
Davin was stiff next to her, his gaze chilly. “Officer Campbell.”
“Good to see you, Author Ambrose. Sheriff’s waiting for you both.” His gaze focused on Chloe. “I’ll be coming by for some book recommendations as soon as you open back up.”
“You never buy anything I suggest,” she teased him. “Unless it’s sci-fi.”
“Maybe I just like to see your pretty face.” He grinned, his dark eyes sparkling at her.
“Come now,” Davin gritted out, the muscles in his arms tightening as his fists clenched. “Isn’t there a level of professionalism required of an officer of the law?”
Adam’s eyebrows shot up, and he folded well-built arms across his chest. “I was only being friendly, Mr. Ambrose. It’s the way we act on Shadow Cove Island.”
“Adam.” Chloe rolled her eyes. She didn’t appreciate Adam treating Davin like an out-of-towner, though in truth he was.
“Friendly is one thing,” Davin shot back. “You are over the top flirtatious.”
“Davin.” Chloe put her hand on his arm. It seemed out of character for him to be confrontational.
She could see how Adam’s comments and winks would seem flirtatious, but their relationship was like brother and sister.
He flirted relentlessly with Cassie whenever she came for a visit, and Chloe often wondered if the two of them would ever admit they liked each other and put the past behind them.
Davin both relaxed and seemed to tense at the same time. Odd.
“Adam is a friend, and he’s younger than me,” she explained. “He’s only teasing, not flirting.”
A door down the hall opened and Jaxon strode out into the waiting area. “Oh, good. You’re here.” He gestured with his head, looking far too serious. “Chloe, you’ll want to hear this, as it concerns you too.”
Chloe looked to Davin. He studied Adam and gestured for Chloe to go first.
Adam shrugged like he didn’t know what was going on. “I’ll see you soon, beautiful.”
Davin growled low in his throat. Chloe’s pulse elevated and her stomach gave a happy lurch. She loved the possessiveness of that growl. Yet what right did he have to not want her flirting? He was the latest course in Robinette’s never-ending buffet of men.
Chloe walked in front of Davin, and Jaxon stepped back to let her enter the office first. Everything felt off, and the various concerns made her wish she hadn’t eaten the delicious acai bowl.
Had Jaxon found out who hurt her, or was he about to give them more bad news?