Summer in Eclipse Bay

one hand on the doorknob. "Is there a problem here?"
    "Aren't you forgetting something?" she asked evenly.
    "Such as?"
    "The Talk."
    A terrible stillness came over him.
    "You know about The Talk?" he asked carefully.
    She was beginning to wish that she had kept her mouth shut. Maybe she would have had the sense to do just that if she hadn't been jolted out of her very pleasant dreams to find him already dressed and headed for the door.
    "Everyone knows about The Talk," she said crossly.
    "Is that so?" He sounded irritated. "You shouldn't believe every bit of gossip you hear about me."
    "You mean it's not true about The Talk?"
    He opened the door, letting in another gust of wet air. "I've got no intention of discussing the details of my private life at this particular moment."
    "Why not?" Her chin came up. "None of my business?"
    "No," he said grimly. "It isn't. But just so we're clear on this subject, I'd like to point out that we've already had The Talk."
    "Is that so?" she asked in icy accents. "I don't recall it."
    "Then you've got a short-term memory problem, lady."
    "Don't you dare try to wriggle out of this." She strode forward, clutching the chenille throw to her throat, and came to a halt directly in front of him. She jabbed a forefinger against his chest. "You did
not
give me The Talk. I wouldn't have forgotten something like that."
    "No," he agreed coolly. "I didn't deliver it. You did."
    That stopped her cold.
    She stared at him. "I beg your pardon?"
    "Don't you remember?" He moved out onto the shadowy porch. "You made it clear that you're a free spirit and that you'll be leaving at the end of the summer. Sounded to me like you weren't looking for anything other than a short-term affair."
    "Hang on here, I never said anything of the kind. You're putting words in my mouth."
    "Trust me." He flicked on a little penlight and started down the front steps. "I know The Talk when I hear it."
    She was too dumbfounded to speak for a moment. By the time she had recovered, he was in the car, driving away into the night.
    She abruptly realized that her bare feet were very cold.

Chapter 9
    "What do you think is going on?" Lillian asked on the other end of the line.
    "I think they've started an affair." Hannah glanced out into the hall to make sure no one was eavesdropping on her conversation with her sister.
    Satisfied that she and Winston had the office to themselves, she closed the door and went back to the chair behind the desk. Winston, stretched out on his belly on the rug, watched her alertly.
    It was obvious that he sensed her tension.
    "You're sure they're involved?" Lillian asked.
    "Yes. You should have seen him last night when he came back here to pick up Carson. Whatever is going on between those two, it's serious."
    "Did he give her The Talk?"
    "I don't think so. I asked him point-blank and instead of making a joke out of it, the way he usually does, he acted pissed off."
    "He was mad?"
    "Yes. More or less told me to mind my own business. Believe me, he was not in a good mood last night."
    "Hmm."
    "I know," Hannah said. "I had the same reaction."
    They both fell silent for a while, thinking. Hannah looked out the window. The air was crisp and clear in the wake of the big storm. The bay was unnaturally smooth. From where she sat she could see Rafe and the two gardeners working to clear some branches that had been downed by the high winds.
    "He hasn't let any woman get to him since Amelia died," Lillian said eventually.
    "I know. Give me your professional opinion."
    "I'm out of the matchmaking business, remember? I'm an artist now."
    "You must still have some instincts. Your intuition when it came to figuring out couples was always amazing."
    "My instincts aren't any good when it comes to those two," Lillian said honestly. "I tried to read the situation that night when I saw them together at my show there in Eclipse Bay. I got nothing. A complete blank."
    "Does that mean it's a bad match?"
    "No, it means I just couldn't tell one way or the other. It's hard to explain, but it was as if there was some sort of invisible glass shield between them and my intuition. I couldn't get past it. Whatever is going on with those two is as much a mystery to me as it is to you."
    "Personally, I'm hoping she's the one for Nick. I really like Octavia, and Carson adores her."
    That caught Lillian's attention. "Carson likes her?"
    "Yes. I've never seen him like this with any of the other women Nick has dated. You'd think he was