Eclipse Bay

announce any day. Is that true?”
    “ No! ” Hannah’s voice rose. “There will be no announcements.”
    Rafe kept his mouth shut.
    Everyone looked expectant.
    “Are you sure?” Mrs. Seaton asked.
    “I am absolutely positive,” Hannah ground out between set teeth. “Rafe and I have never discussed marriage.”
    From out of nowhere a lightning bolt of anger sizzled through Rafe. He stirred against the side of the car. “Strictly speaking, that’s not true.”
    Hannah swiveled to pin him with a dangerous look. “What are you talking about?”
    “I’m just saying that subject has come up between us.”
    “The hell it has,” she shouted.
    “I’ll agree that we haven’t come to any definitive conclusions yet, but you can’t say that we haven’t talked about it.”
    “Don’t you dare get cute on me here, Rafe Madison.” She took a step toward him. “You have never once asked me to marry you.”
    “You know what Mitchell said about my phobia.”
    “Don’t give me that stupid excuse about having a phobia. You’re the one who said the best way to deal with a phobia was to confront it head-on. I haven’t noticed you trying that approach.”
    “Okay.” He felt his stomach clench. “I’m asking.”
    For a second or two he didn’t think he would get an answer. He heard Mrs. Seaton catch her breath. The others gazed with rapt attention. Even Perry Decatur was staring, transfixed by the scene.
    Hannah pulled herself together with a visible effort. She glanced hurriedly around, as though finally coming to her senses. Rafe saw the gathering dismay and anger in her eyes.
    “That was not a real proposal.” There was a strange edge to her voice now. “That was a joke. At my expense. I don’t appreciate it, Rafe.”
    “No joke,” he said softly. “The proposal was real to me.” He held her complete attention. “Do I get an answer?”
    She stared at him, her face frozen. And then, to his horror, he saw the glint of moisture in her eyes. Her lips parted, trembled ever so slightly.
    “Oh, shit.” He knew instinctively that if she burst into tears in front of all these people she would never forgive him.
    He pushed away from the car door and wrapped one arm around her waist. “Sorry, folks. We’ve got an appointment.”
    He got her around the hood of the car and into the passenger seat before anyone had quite realized what was happening.
    “Winston,” he said firmly.
    Winston scrambled nimbly into the car. Rafe closed the door behind him, circled back around the front of the Porsche, and got behind the wheel. He twisted the key in the ignition, wrapped one hand around the gearshift, and pulled out of the station onto Bay Street before the crowd could react.
    When he checked the rearview mirror, he saw a row of excited faces. He knew only too well that the news about his gas station proposal would be all over town by five o’clock that evening.
    He glanced uneasily at Hannah. She was blinking rapidly and dabbing at her eyes with a hankie, but she appeared to have the potential flood of tears under control. Winston rested his muzzle on her shoulder.
    “Sorry about that,” Rafe said eventually.
    “Oh, shut up.”
    He tried to look on the positive side. At least she hadn’t said no.

chapter 22
    The letdown was far worse than the anger or the tears. It bordered on outright depression, Hannah thought. She retreated to the upstairs veranda as soon as she was inside the house. Rafe did not try to stop her.
    Half an hour later, stretched out in a wicker lounger, with Winston hovering loyally beside her, she tried to sort out her mangled emotions and jumbled thoughts. She gazed at the restless surface of the bay and told herself that she had overreacted. She had, in fact, come unglued in a way that was most unusual for her.
    Obviously she had been under more stress lately than she had realized.
    She had every right to be furious with Rafe for that scene at the Eclipse Bay Gas and Go, she decided. But why had she let events get to her like that? She had been screaming at Pete Levare. She had nearly burst into tears in front of all those people.
    What was the matter with her?
    The answer was out there, but she knew she did not want to deal with it. She almost welcomed the sound of Rafe’s footsteps behind her. Anything was better than looking at the hard facts of her situation.
    “You okay?” he asked.
    She took some satisfaction from the fact that he sounded worried.
    “I’m pissed,” she