Aquamarine by Catherine Mulvany Read Free Book Online Page A

it?”
    “Under the circumstances, I think it would be best,” she said dryly.
    Best for whom? Teague wondered. Not him. It was a subject he tried not to dwell on, though right after Kirsten’s disappearance, he hadn’t been able to think of anything else. For a while his only refuge from the pain of those memories had been at the bottom of a beer bottle.He hadn’t gotten his life back on track for almost a year. And without Jack Rainey’s help, he might never have made it at all. He owed Jack. And if baring his soul to Shea would help pay that debt, then so be it.
    “Kirsten’s mother died when she was a baby. And until she was eleven—that’s when Jack married Cynthia—she had her father to herself. He adored her and pretty much gave her whatever she wanted. Don’t get me wrong. Kirsten adored her father too, but she wasn’t above using his love for her to get her own way.”
    “Spoiled and headstrong,” Shea translated.
    Teague nodded. “But also charming and lovable. I think when her father refused to sanction her marriage to me, it must have been the first time he’d ever told her no.”
    “But she didn’t take no for an answer?”
    He shook his head. “She
never
took no for an answer. Kirsten knew her father’s pride was his greatest weakness, and she used it against him. She knew if she eloped, he would agree to the big wedding she wanted as a face-saving measure.”
    “And you went along with the plan to manipulate her father?”
    “I didn’t realize what she was planning. All I knew was that I wanted to marry Kirsten, and eloping seemed to be the only option.”
    Shea looked puzzled. “But if her father was that opposed to the match, then why did he give in? So you eloped. Big deal. Why not arrange an annulment or a quiet divorce?”
    Teague stared back at the green hump of Massacre Island. “His pride wouldn’t allow that, not once she told him she was pregnant.”
    “Pregnant?” She choked on the word. “Is that what Jack wanted to talk to me about?”
    “Probably.” He clenched his hand on the rudder. “That baby was Kirsten’s ace in the hole. In the end, it’s what forced him to cave in to her demand for a big wedding. She knew her father so well, knew that from Jack’s perspective a bastard grandchild was a thousand times worse than a fortune-hunting son-in-law.”
    “You weren’t really a fortune hunter, though.”
    “No, I was crazy in love with her.” He laughed sourly. “Or maybe just crazy. I’d never met anyone like Kirsten before. She was intelligent, wealthy, and beautiful. Most women like that are so impressed with their own perfection, they set themselves apart from lesser mortals. Kirsten was different. She loved life, loved people. She’d run errands for housebound senior citizens, tutor kids with reading disabilities, volunteer to baby-sit a colicky baby, or sit with an AIDS patient. And anyone who was special to her earned a pet nickname.”
    “Like Skeeter,” she said.
    He nodded. “Despite the age difference, Kevin and Kirsten were very close. Closer than many blood siblings.”
    “I wouldn’t know about that. I’m an only child.”
    “Me too,” he said as he maneuvered the boat into its berth in the boathouse at Strawberry Point.
    “The Raineys own this boathouse too?”
    Teague nodded. “The Griffins live in the apartment above the one on the island. I live here. Want to take a look around before I drive you back to the lodge?” The real Kirsten would have made herself at home, conned him into fixing her dinner, then seduced him over dessert.
    Shea’s gaze locked with his. Her color rose as if she’d read his mind. Then she shook her head, breaking off eye contact. “Give me a raincheck.”
    “Sure.” Her blush proved she wasn’t completely indifferent to him. Good news, since he was far from indifferent to her.
    And it wasn’t, he told himself, as they drove back along the lake to Liberty, just because she looked like Kirsten. After