Dawn in Eclipse Bay

tell about, Gabe reminded himself.
    “No,” he said. “We just happened to come out here to the coast at the same time. Found ourselves at loose ends today. We both wanted some company for breakfast. No big deal.”
    Marilyn winked. “Don’t worry, I won’t cramp your style. I just wanted to say hello to an old friend.”
    She swept through the door of the cottage.
    He glanced once more back along the drive. There was no sign of Lillian’s car. Reluctantly he followed Marilyn into the small house.
    “Good lord, couldn’t you find a better rental?” Marilyn surveyed the dilapidated interior with a grimace. “Not exactly your style, is it?”
    “Until Rafe and Hannah get Dreamscape open there isn’t a lot of high-end rental housing available around Eclipse Bay. You know that as well as I do. It was either here or my grandfather’s house.” He allowed the door to close slowly behind him. “Knew that wouldn’t work so I picked this place. It’s got everything I need.”
    “Like what?”
    “Privacy.”
    “Okay, I get the point. You’ve got a hot date with Lillian Harte and I’m in the way.” She settled on the arm of the shabby sofa with a regal grace. “I won’t stay long, I promise. I need to talk to you, Gabe.”
    He did not sit down. He didn’t want to encourage her. Instead, he propped one shoulder against the wall and folded his arms. “What’s this all about, Marilyn?”
    “Do I have to have a special reason? You and I go back a long way. We have a history.”
    “History was never my best subject. I was a business major in college, remember?”
    “I hear you signed up with Lillian’s matchmaking agency.”
    “Who told you that?”
    “Carole Rhoades. I got to know her when she did a little fund-raising for Trevor at her law firm last year.”
    He identified the name immediately. Carole Rhoades was one of the five women Lillian had matched with him.
    “Portland sure is a small town in some ways, isn’t it?” he said. “Almost as small as Eclipse Bay.”
    “It’s not the size of the town, it’s the size of the universe in which you move.” She swung one long leg. “People who run companies like Madison Commercial tend to circulate in certain limited spheres.”
    “I can see I need to get out more. Broaden my horizons.”
    She chuckled. “I hear the date with Carole was a bust.”
    “And here I thought we’d had a very pleasant evening.”
    “She said she was home by ten o’clock and you didn’t even try to invite yourself in for a nightcap. She said it was obvious that you would much rather have been at your desk.”
    “Damn. Women talk about stuff like that?”
    “Of course they do.”
    “I’ll have to keep that in mind.” He turned his wrist slightly to check his watch. “You want to tell me why you’re here?”
    Her smile stayed in place but he thought he saw it tighten a notch or two.
    “You make it sound as though the only thing that might bring me here is business.”
    “Whenever we’ve run into each other during the past few years, you’ve usually hit me up for a campaign donation for Trevor.”
    “Which you have always declined to give.”
    “Madisons aren’t real big on political campaign contributions.”
    “I realize that you never supported Trevor but things have changed—”
    A brisk knock on the back door interrupted her before she could finish the sentence.
    Gabe straightened away from the wall. “Looks like my guest decided to walk instead of drive this evening.”
    He went through the ancient kitchen and opened the back door.
    Lillian stood inside the glass-enclosed rear porch, a large, well-stuffed grocery bag in her arms. She wore the hooded iridescent rain cloak he’d seen in Portland, although it had not yet begun to rain. The cloak was unfastened, revealing the black turtleneck and black trousers she had on underneath. The tunic-length top was slashed with a lightning bolt of intense turquoise.
    “I thought you were going to drive over,” he said.
    “Walking seemed faster.”
    “It’s almost dark.”
    “So what? This is Eclipse Bay, not the big bad city.”
    “Listen, tough lady, you ought to know better than to run around an unlit, sparsely inhabited stretch of coastline after dark.”
    “You want to help me with this grocery sack or would you rather stand there and lecture me for a while?”
    “Give me the damn sack.”
    “My, you’re in a swell mood tonight.”
    “Uninvited company.” He took the sack from her