Eclipse Bay

man who had saved his life in that miserable jungle and whose life he had saved in return.
    This was the same man he had teamed up with to risk everything in a financial gamble that had made them both rich for a while. The same man whose teeth he had tried to knock out in front of Fulton’s Supermarket.
    He met Sullivan’s eyes and knew that they were both aware of the truth. The bonds that joined them would never dissolve.
    Sullivan glanced down the length of the veranda to where Rafe stood with Hannah. “He’ll do. Always said he had potential.”
    “I sure as hell never heard you say that.”
    “We haven’t talked much for a long time, Mitch.”
    “Nope. Sure haven’t.”
    “You did okay by Rafe and Gabe.”
    Startled, Mitchell glanced quickly at him and then turned just as swiftly away. “Can’t take all the credit.”
    “No, but you can take some of it.”
    They stood together for a while, watching the crowd. Mitchell noticed that Sullivan made no effort to walk away.
    “Looks like we’re going to be seeing a lot of each other again,” Mitchell offered finally. “I hear you Hartes are big on family gatherings.”
    “Yes.” Sullivan looked at him. “We’re very big on that kind of thing. How do you feel about your new granddaughter-in-law?”
    Mitchell smiled. “She’ll do.”
    “This better work out, Mitch. I swear to God, if Rafe doesn’t treat her right—”
    “Don’t sweat it.” Mitchell watched Rafe slide a protective arm around Hannah’s waist. “She’s his passion. You know how it is with Madisons and their passions.”
    “Yes.” Sullivan sounded satisfied. “I know how it is with Madisons and their passions. Nothing gets in the way.”

chapter 25
    One month later…
    The phone rang, shattering the moment. Rafe paused in the act of leaning over to kiss Hannah. She looked up at him from the pillow.
    “The phone,” she said.
    “I knew I should have switched off the ringer before we went to bed tonight.”
    The instrument warbled insistently.
    “You’d better answer it. Might be your grandfather.”
    “All the more reason to ignore it.” Reluctantly he picked up the phone. “This better be important,” he said to whoever was on the other end of the line.
    “Am I interrupting anything?” Gabe asked politely.
    “Yes. Our one-month wedding anniversary.”
    “It’s only nine o’clock.”
    “Us old married folks go to bed early.”
    “I’ve heard that,” Gabe said. “Actually that brings me to what I wanted to talk about.”
    Rafe groaned and flopped back on his pillow. “I really do not want to talk about your thwarted love life tonight.”
    “I haven’t got a love life to thwart.”
    “Another date go south?”
    “Big time.”
    Rafe glanced at Hannah, who raised one brow. “Told you this idea of using a businesslike approach to finding a wife wasn’t going to work very well.”
    “No, I know I’m on the right track. I just need to fine-tune the strategy. I realized tonight that what I have to do is approach this the same way I would approach a merger or an acquisition. I need to hire a professional consultant.”
    A premonition of disaster shot through Rafe. “I hope you aren’t going to tell me what I think you’re going to tell me.”
    “I’m going to call Hannah’s sister first thing in the morning and sign up with her matchmaking agency. I understand she’s fully computerized.”
    Rafe shut his eyes. “This is a bad dream. I know it is.”
    “I spoke with Lillian briefly at the wedding. She said she’s got a very high success rate.”
    “Gabe, I don’t think this is a good idea.”
    “Why not?”
    “Well—” Rafe hesitated. “I don’t know. It just feels sort of dicey for some reason.”
    “What have I got to lose?”
    “Uh, well—” Rafe felt a tug on his wrist. “I’m going to hang up now, Gabe. I want to go back to celebrating my one-month anniversary.”
    “Give Hannah my best. If things work out with the Private Arrangements agency, I’ll be celebrating some anniversaries myself one of these days.”
    “Something tells me it won’t be that simple,” Rafe warned. “You’re a Madison, remember? We don’t do simple when it comes to marriage. We always do things the hard way.”
    “Only when we make the mistake of letting emotion take over. I don’t plan to make that mistake.”
    “Good luck.” Rafe disconnected, tossed the phone onto the table, and rolled back toward Hannah.
    That was when he realized that