Summer in Eclipse Bay

complicated."
    "Let's start with the fact that Sullivan, Mitchell, and I all know that Edith Seaton took the picture."
    "She had her reasons."
    "Sullivan and Mitchell figured that out. Phil Seaton was their accountant in the old days. Can one assume that your great-aunt seduced him into covering her tracks for her?"
    "I'm afraid so. And afterward Edith was so horrified at the thought of being caught up in the scandal that she covered up for Phil."
    "But never forgave your aunt, I take it?"
    "She blamed Claudia for everything, not without considerable justification, I might add. When word got out that I was related to her old nemesis, Edith freaked. After all, I was having dinner with Jeremy, encouraging him to paint, and then I started sleeping with you. Clearly history was about to repeat itself. It was just too much for her to handle."
    "So she stole the picture and spread the rumors. Piss-poor sort of revenge, if you ask me."
    "It was the only kind that was left to her," Octavia said simply. "And she could justify it to herself for a time because she truly believed that I was turning out to be a bad influence on Jeremy."
    "Because you encouraged him in his painting?"
    "Yes."
    "Huh." Nick ate the last of the cookie. "She didn't have any qualms about taking the easy way out, did she? Obviously she went along with your scheme to make the Upsall magically materialize in your back room."
    "To be fair, she was reluctant at first. But when I told her that we were doing it for Jeremy's sake and for the sake of the Seaton name, she went for it. I also told her that I was sure that was the way Aunt Claudia would have wanted it."
    Nick raised his brows and reached for his coffee. "Think it's true?"
    "To be honest, I'm not sure Claudia even remembered Phil Seaton, let alone worried much about the damage she did to his family. But even if that was the case, one thing is certain-she definitely owed the Seatons. And now the debt has been paid in some small measure."
    "Thanks to you."
    She put her empty cup down on the coffee table. "It was the least I could do, given that I never got the chance to fulfill my mission of repairing the Harte-Madison feud."
    "I thought you had concluded that the real reason Claudia sent you here was so that you could get wild and crazy."
    "Yes, well, if that's true, all I can say is, mission accomplished."
    "Not quite." His mouth quirked in sexy promise. He reached for her and started to pull her close. "But you know what they say, practice makes perfect."
    She spread her hands against his chest, holding him off for a moment longer. "Before we get to the wild and crazy stuff, there's something I want to tell you."
    "And that would be?"
    "It may have been Aunt Claudia who sent me here to Eclipse Bay but you're the reason I decided to stay on even after it became apparent that the feud was ending."
    "Is that right?"
    "I love you."
    He smiled slowly. The look in his eyes was so dazzling she could hardly catch her breath.
    "I was hoping you'd say that," Nick whispered against her mouth. "Now can we get to the wild and crazy stuff?"
    "Of course," she said demurely. "I'm sure Aunt Claudia would have wanted it this way."
    "Do me a favor." He pushed her gently down onto the sofa. "Don't mention your aunt again for a while, okay?"
    "Okay."
    She put her arms around his neck and kissed him with all the love and passion that she had discovered within herself here in Eclipse Bay.
    Wherever you are, Aunt Claudia
, she thought,
thank you
.

Chapter 24
    On a sunny afternoon in the fall, Mitchell stood with Sullivan at the end of the long veranda that wrapped around Dreamscape. Each of them held a glass of champagne in one hand. Their canes hung, side by side, over the railing. From their vantage point they had a clear view of the newlyweds, who were dutifully working their way through a seemingly endless reception line.
    The entire town, from the current mayor and his likely successor and his wife to Mean Eugene and Dickhead Dwayne, had turned out for Nick and Octavia's wedding.
    "Knew all along Octavia belonged here with us," Mitchell said.
    "You won't get any argument from me." Sullivan smiled to himself at the sight of Nick standing so close to Octavia, one arm wrapped protectively and possessively around her waist, the other outstretched to shake hands with the next well-wisher in line. "She and Nick and Carson are a family already."
    Mitchell glanced at Rafe and the now obviously pregnant Hannah. The pair was