Summer in Eclipse Bay

"Not my dog. Your son. He mentioned several times this evening that he was afraid you might make her mad."

Rafe sighed. "Apparently even little Carson is aware of your lack of finesse with the ladies."

"My son is first and foremost a Harte," Nick said dryly. "His chief concern is making sure that nothing gets in the way of his current objective."

"And that objective would be?"

"Getting his picture of Winston exhibited in the Children's Art Show."

"A worthy ambition," Ha

Nick grimaced. "Carson is afraid that if I a

"A reasonable cause for anxiety under the circumstances," Rafe said cheerfully.

Ha

"So," Rafe said a little too easily, "what, exactly, are you doing to a

"You know," Nick said, taking another look at his watch, "it really is getting late, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is," Ha

Nick and Rafe followed her. They all came to a halt at the entrance to a comfortable, book-lined room. The dark expanse of the bay filled the space behind the windows. The library lights had been turned down low. Music played softly. A number of the comfortable, overstuffed chairs were occupied by guests who were sipping after-di

In the corner two small figures sprawled across a mound of pillows. Several children's books were scattered on the rug beside them. Most of the stories featured dogs.

Nick crossed the room and looked down at Carson, who was dressed in jeans, ru

"Thanks for looking after him, Winston. I'll take over now."

Nick scratched Winston behind the ears and then scooped up his son.

Relieved of his na

Carson stirred a little and settled comfortably against Nick. He did not open his eyes. "Dad?"

"Time to go home."

"You didn't make her mad, did you?"

"I worked very hard not to make her mad."

"Good." Carson went back to sleep.

They all trooped down the hall to the front door and out onto the wide veranda. Winston vanished discreetly into the bushes. Ha

"We've got some news," she said softly.

"What's that?" Nick asked.

"We're pregnant."

"Hey, that's great." He gri

"Thanks."

Rafe put his arm around Ha

Nick smiled. "Nothing else like it, you know."

"Yeah, sorta figured that," Rafe said.

Nick looked down at Carson lying securely in his arms. "You just wish it was this easy to protect them forever."

They stood there for a moment. No one spoke.

After a while Nick hugged his son a little more tightly to him and went down the steps. At the bottom he paused briefly and looked back. "Almost forgot. I've got a little news of my own."

Ha

"Octavia Brightwell is related to our own local legend, Claudia Ba

Ha

"Nope."

"What the hell is she doing here in Eclipse Bay?" Rafe asked.

"I don't think she knows the answer to that one, herself. She said something about coming here to see if there was anything that could be done to mend the damage her great-aunt did. But I've got a feeling it's more complicated."

"What do you mean?" Ha

"From what I can tell, she's been drifting since Claudia died a year and a half ago. No close family. No real roots anywhere. Coming here to repair the damage her aunt did gave her a goal. But she tells me that she plans to leave at the end of the summer because it's clear to her that the Hartes and the Madisons have ended the feud all by themselves."

"Yeah, the good times never last, do they?" Rafe said laconically. His expression turned serious. "Does my grandfather know who she is?"

"She said Sullivan and Mitchell have known since the night of Lillian's show. Obviously they chose to keep the information to themselves."

"Figures," Rafe said.

They waited together on the veranda while Winston finished his business in the damp shrubbery. Ha

"What do you think is going on here?" she said after a while.

"Damned if I know." Rafe wrapped his hands around the railing. "Maybe it's like Nick said. Maybe Octavia came to Eclipse Bay to carry out her aunt's dying wish and then discovered there was nothing to fix."

"Nick is getting serious about her. I can tell. Octavia is different from the other women he's been seeing in the past few years. He's acting odd, too. I wonder if he's given her The Talk yet?"

"Don't know about that, but one thing we can say for sure. The curse has not yet been lifted. Nick didn't stay the night at her place."

"That business about the curse is absolute nonsense. The reason Nick never spends the night with any of his lady friends is because of Carson. He doesn't like to leave him alone with a sitter all night."

"That excuse doesn't fly," Rafe said flatly. "It's true that Nick doesn't leave Carson with sitters all night, but you know as well as I do that the kid stays overnight with family at times. Trust me, Nick wouldn't have a serious problem arranging to remain in some woman's bed until breakfast if that's what he wanted to do. If you ask me, he's avoiding it."

"I suppose you're right. Waking up with someone in the morning is a little different. More intimate, somehow. He's probably afraid that if he spends the night, the lady in question might get the wrong idea in spite of The Talk. He's done his best to avoid getting entangled in a real relationship since Amelia died."

"It's one thing to have hot sex and leave while it's still dark," Rafe agreed. "It's another thing to face the lady across the breakfast table. Takes the relationship to a whole new level."

Ha

Winston trotted up the steps and kept going toward the front door. Rafe turned his head to watch the dog disappear inside the hall.

"Uh-oh," he said.

"Something wrong?"

"Just realized that we left the door open."

"So?"

"So Eddie is still at the front desk. He must have over-heard everything we said when we talked to Nick a few minutes ago. Got a feeling he now knows just who Octavia Brightwell really is. Probably can't wait to tell everyone down at the post office first thing tomorrow morning."

Ha

"What the heck. It was all bound to come out sooner or later. Not like there's any way to keep a secret in Eclipse Bay, after all."

"True." Ha