Summer in Eclipse Bay

and Sullivan I'll wait until tomorrow."
    "Thanks. They'll be grateful."
    "I owe them that much," she said. "For Aunt Claudia's sake, if nothing else." She peeked around his shoulder. "I'd better go. This crowd is getting bigger and it looks like the cookies have disappeared."
    She made to slide around the broad shield of his shoulders.
    "One more thing I wanted to tell you before you run off," he said quietly.
    She looked back at him, her mind on the cookie supply issue. "Yes?"
    "Something I should have said that first night at Lillian's show. Something I knew at the time. Something I've known all along. Just didn't quite recognize it until recently. Probably because I'm a little out of practice."
    "What's that?"
    "I love you."
    She stared at him, open-mouthed. Bereft of speech.
    He gave her a sexy, knowing smile. "Better go check on the cookies."
    He pushed himself away from the wall and strolled off into the crowd.
    "When are you gonna get your dog?" Anne asked.
    "Right after my birthday," Carson said. "That's when the puppies will be old enough to be'dopted. Dad says we'll drive to Portland so I can pick out one. It's the same place where Winston was born."
    "What are you going to name him?"
    "I don't know yet. I'm still thinking."
    "When you bring him back here to Eclipse Bay can I see him?"
    "Sure," Carson said, feeling magnanimous. "You can come to my birthday party, too."
    "Okay. Do you want to come to mine?"
    "Yeah," Carson said. "When is it?"
    "August fourteenth."
    "I'll bring my dog with me," Carson promised. He looked across the room to where Jeremy stood talking to Hannah and Anne's grandparents. "Is he gonna be your new dad?"
    "Maybe." Anne took a bite of her cookie. "Mom likes him a lot, I think. Grandma and Grandpa like him, too. Mom says they have good taste in men and this time she's going to listen to 'em."
    "I like him, too. Do you?"
    "Uh-huh." Anne nodded enthusiastically. "He came to our house for dinner last night and everybody laughed and we played games and stuff. He liked my pictures. It was fun." She looked at Octavia, who was moving across the room toward the cookie table. "Is Miss Brightwell gonna be your new mommy?"
    "I think so," Carson said. Then he frowned, still a little troubled about some aspects of the situation. "Unless Dad screws up again."
    Octavia spied the Willis brothers shortly before the end of the event.
    She was about to bid them a pleasant good evening and thank them for attending the show when she suddenly remembered the mysterious key she had found in the back room closet.
    "Torrance? Walter? Have you got time for a quick question?"
    "Thinking of doing a little remodeling in here?" Walter surveyed the gallery with a speculative expression. "A new paint job wouldn't hurt. We can give you a good price on a few cans of taupe."
    "I'm not planning on doing any painting for a while. This is more of a hardware issue. I found a key in the closet. It doesn't fit either of the doors. You two did the security and locks here and I thought I'd see if you recognized it. If not, I'll toss it."
    They followed her into the back room and looked around with interest while she took the key off the closet hook.
    "Sure is cluttered in here," Torrance said. "We could build you some shelving or maybe some racks for stacking all these paintings."
    "That's not a bad idea," she said. "I'll think about it." She held out the key.
    Walter took it from her and gave it a quick, cursory glance. "No problem. Reckon we know what this goes to, don't we, Torrance?"
    "Sure do," Torrance said. "Leastways, it's the same brand we used for that job. I remember we ordered it in special after the problems with that little rash of break-ins we had a couple years back." He looked at Octavia. "Turned out to be some kids fooling around. Summer people, you know. Sean Valentine took care of the situation, but a few folks around here got nervous and asked us to upgrade their locks and such."
    "Won't be hard to check and see if this key fits where we think it does," Walter said.

Chapter 23
    Octavia parked in the drive in front of the old, two-story house, turned off the ignition, and got out of the car. It was six-thirty in the morning, but fog veiled the early light and cast a damp pall on the entire town.
    Or maybe it was just her mood, she thought as she went up the steps and crossed the front porch. She had not slept much last night.
    She banged the brass knocker on the front door. When there was no response, she