Summer in Eclipse Bay

with shattering clarity that Octavia looked perfect sitting here with Carson and himself.
    They played all of the ancient board games that had accumulated in the hall closet over the years until Carson reluctantly fell asleep on the sofa. Nick carried him upstairs to bed. When he returned to the living room, Octavia was in her coat, fishing her keys out of her pocket.
    "It's getting late," she said, smiling a little too brightly. "I'd better be on my way. Thanks for dinner."
    She was the one running away this time, he thought.
    "I'll walk you out to your car."
    He collected his jacket from the closet and put it on without buttoning it. When he opened the front door he smelled the sea and saw the trailing wisps of a light fog.
    "Good thing I'm going now," Octavia said. She stepped out onto the porch and looked around. "This stuff looks like it's going to get heavier."
    "Probably." He followed her outside, leaving the door ajar. "Thanks for what you said to Carson earlier. He's feeling a lot better now that he knows you're not going to judge him solely on his art."
    "No problem."
    "The kid's a Harte, what can I say? He wants you to like him and he'll do whatever he thinks will work."
    "He doesn't have to worry. I like him. A lot. He's a pretty terrific kid."
    He gripped the railing with both hands and looked out into the gathering mist. "What about me?"
    "You?"
    "I'd better warn you that this is a case of like son, like father."
    She went still on the top step and gave him a politely quizzical look. "You want me to like you?"
    "I want you to like me a lot."
    She jangled her keys. "If this is about sleeping with me again-"
    "It
is
about sleeping with you again," he said deliberately. "But it's also about explaining why I left in such a rush the other night."
    "I know why you left in a rush. You panicked."
    He released the railing and swung around abruptly to catch hold of her by the shoulders. "I did not panic."
    "Sure you did. You're obviously dealing with a lot of unresolved issues connected to the loss of your wife, and when you get too close to a woman, you panic."
    "Bullshit."
    She gave him a gentle, sympathetic pat on the arm. "It's all right, I understand. I spent some time going through the grieving process after Aunt Claudia died. I can't even imagine how hard it would be to lose a beloved spouse."
    He tightened his hands on her now. "It was hard, all right. But not for the reasons you think. I'm going to tell you something that no one else, not even anyone in my family, knows."
    She stiffened. "I'm not sure I want to hear it."
    "Too late, I'm going to tell you, whether you want to hear it or not. You probably know that the man at the controls of that small plane that crashed with Amelia on board was a family friend."
    "Yes. Everyone knows that."
    "Yeah, well hardly anyone else except his wife and me knows just what a very good friend he was of Amelia's."
    "Nick, please stop."
    "I found out after the funeral that they had been lovers at one time. They'd quarreled and each of them wound up marrying someone else. A couple of months before that plane crash, they had reconnected. It seems they'd both reached the earthshaking conclusion that they had married the wrong people."
    She touched his cheek and said nothing.
    "They were going off to spend the weekend together at a ski resort that day. His wife thought he was out of town on business. I thought Amelia had gone to visit her sister in Denver."
    Octavia said nothing, just shook her head sadly.
    "After the funeral his widow and I talked. We both decided that, for the sake of her son and mine, we would let the story stand about her husband having given my wife a lift to Colorado. Everyone bought it."
    "I see." She lowered her fingers. "I'm sorry, Nick."
    "I don't want you to feel sorry for me." He took his hands off her shoulders and cupped her face between his palms. "I just want you to understand why I've been a little reluctant to rush back into a serious relationship."
    "You're scared."
    He set his jaw. "I am not scared."
    "Yes, you are. You made the kind of mistake that Hartes aren't supposed to make. You screwed up and married the wrong woman once, and you're absolutely terrified of screwing up again. So it's easier to play it safe."
    "I made a mistake. I'll give you that much. And it's true that Hartes don't usually make those kinds of mistakes. But I'll never regret it."
    She comprehended immediately. "Because of Carson."
    "Amelia gave me my son. I will