Sanctuary

than sitting here being afraid.” Very carefully she slipped photo after photo back into the envelope. “I’m sorry, Kate.”
    “For what?”
    “For not telling you. For not trusting you enough to tell you about what happened.”
    “And you should be.” She reached out a hand to help Jo to her feet. “But that’s done now, and behind us. From now on you and everyone else in this house are going to remember we’re a family.”
    “I don’t know why you put up with us.”
    “Sweetie pie,” Kate smiled and patted Jo’s cheek, “there are times when I wonder the selfsame thing.”

NINETEEN
    “ H EY, where y’all going?” Lexy spotted Kate and Jo as they stepped out the side door. Her eyes were bright, her smile brilliant. She was nearly dancing.
    “Jo and I have to run over to the mainland on some business,” Kate began. “We’ll be back by—”
    “I’m going with you.” Lexy raced through the door, zipping by before Kate could grab her arm.
    “Lexy, this isn’t a pleasure trip.”
    “Five minutes,” Lexy called back. “It’s only going to take me five minutes to get ready.”
    “That girl.” Kate heaved a sigh. “She’s always wanting to be someplace she’s not. I’ll go tell her she has to stay behind.”
    “No.” Jo tightened her grip on the pair of envelopes she held. “Under the circumstances it might be better if she knows what’s going on. I think, until we find out something more, she needs to be careful.”
    Kate’s heart skipped a beat, but she nodded. “I suppose you’re right. I’ll tell Brian we’re going. Don’t you worry, sweetie.” Kate flicked a hand over Jo’s hair. “We’re going to take care of this.”

    BECAUSE she was afraid of being left behind, Lexy was true to her word. She knew Kate would have balked at the little shorts she’d had on, so she changed in record time to thin cotton pants. She brushed her hair out, tied it back in a mint-green scarf in anticipation of the boat trip. On the drive to Sanctuary’s private dock north of the ferry, she freshened her makeup and chattered.
    Jo’s ears were ringing by the time they boarded the reliable old cabin cruiser.
    Once there had been a glossy white boat with bright red trim. The Island Belle had been her father’s pride and joy, Jo remembered. How many times had the family piled into it, to sail around the island, to streak out over the waves, to take an impromptu run to the mainland for ice cream or a movie?
    She remembered steering it, standing on her father’s feet to give her a little more height, with his hands laid lightly over hers on the wheel.
    A little to starboard, Jo Ellen. That’s the way. You’re a natural.
    But Sam had sold it the year after Annabelle went away. All the replacements since had gone unnamed. The family no longer took dizzying rides together.
    Still, Jo knew the routine. She checked the fuel while Lexy and Kate released the lines. Automatically she adjusted her stance to accommodate the slight sway at the dock. Her hands took the wheel easily, and she smiled when the engine caught with a kick and a purr.
    “Daddy still keeps her running smooth, I see.”
    “He overhauled the engine over the winter.” Kate took a seat, and her agitated fingers twisted the gold chain that draped over her crisp cotton blouse.
    She would let Jo pilot, she thought. It would help her stay calm. “I’ve been thinking the inn should invest in a new one. Something spiffier to look at. We could offer tours around the island, stop off at Wild Horse Cove, Egret Inlet, that sort of thing. ’Course that means we’d have to hire on a pilot.”
    “Daddy knows the island and the water around it better than anyone,” Jo pointed out.
    “I know.” Kate shrugged her shoulders. “But whenever I bring that up, he mutters under his breath and finds something else he has to do. Sam Set-in-His-Ways Hathaway is not an easy man to move.”
    “You could tell him how he’d be able to keep an eye on things better if he was in charge.” Jo glanced at the compass, set her heading, and started across the sound. “He could make sure people didn’t trample the vegetation or upset the ecosystem. Put someone else on it, they’re not going to care as much, be as vigilant.”
    “It’s a good angle.”
    “You buy a new boat, he’ll have a hard time resisting it.” Lexy readjusted the knot in her scarf. “Then you mention how you need to find the right pilot—not only one who’s experienced