The Last Word (A Books by the Bay Mystery)

orphan. Her father found a literal port in a storm, gained employment, and had even remarried and sired a son. She’d drifted around the globe, unable to form a genuine relationship with a single human being.
    For the past thirty years, Olivia’s father had been a ghost, haunting her sleep with unwanted memories until the day a woman from Okracoke mailed her an anonymous letter. The letter declared that the man she’d known as Willie Wade was alive. Alive and unwell and only fifty nautical miles away from his abandoned daughter.
    Olivia was still coming to grips with having rediscovered her father only to reach him hours before he passed away. To say she had mixed feelings about her half brother, Hudson, was a gross understatement. The siblings had grown up in different worlds. Olivia had been exposed to the finer things in life while Hudson had worked hard since boyhood to please his father and, later, to support his family. He was taciturn and guarded, but Olivia also believed he was loyal, determined, and a hell of a cook.
    Now Hudson, his pregnant wife, and their six-year-old daughter were all Olivia had by way of family. In hopes of becoming closer to these strangers, Olivia had invited Hudson to move his family to Oyster Bay and take over the management of her newest restaurant, The Bayside Crab House.
    The siblings had barely spoken since Olivia had left Okracoke. Hudson preferred to let his wife, Kim, handle all communication, and Olivia wondered if she’d ever develop even a tenuous bond with her gruff half brother.
    After her father’s death, Olivia had spent the winter moody and withdrawn. She’d attended all the Bayside Book Writers meetings and worked hard to provide thoughtful critiques, but had avoided any other social engagements.
    “I didn’t expect to return to my hermitlike ways,” she now confessed to Rawlings. “But after Okracoke, my defenses were raised and now I can’t seem to take off the armor. It’s too familiar. Too comforting.”
    Rawlings studied her, his hazel eyes dark beneath the shadow of the building’s awning. “You moved back to Oyster Bay to reconnect with the people of this town, to claim the sense of belonging you felt as a kid. You’re one of us, Olivia, and that means you can’t hole up in your oceanfront home and shut us out. It’s too late for that.”
    Olivia smiled. The chief’s words were a balm to her injured heart. “I’m back to patronizing Grumpy’s. That’s a step in the right direction.”
    “And what of Through the Wardrobe?” Rawlings asked nonchalantly, but a twinge at the corner of his mouth betrayed his mistrust. “Bought any books lately?”
    “Flynn McNulty and I are just friends. Actually, that term isn’t quite accurate. I’m merely another customer.” Olivia disliked having to defend herself. “Flynn is dating Haviland’s veterinarian, and I’m indebted to her. Without Diane entering the picture, I couldn’t have disentangled myself with such ease.”
    Rawlings didn’t look convinced. “When you and Flynn parted ways, I thought it was because of me. I know I wanted you, but you slammed the door on us.” He took a step closer, his face coming out from beneath the shelter of the awning. The sun lit his eyes a feline gold. “I’d kick that damned door right off its hinges if you’d give me the slightest sign—”
    “Chief!” A police cruiser paused in the middle of the road and a young officer waved out the open passenger window. “We’re all done with that funeral detail. Want a ride back to the station?”
    Without answering, Rawlings turned his gaze back to Olivia.
    “Go on,” she whispered. Part of her wanted to escape the heat of the chief’s stare while the rest wanted to be engulfed in the intensity of his desire. Over the winter, she’d denied her hunger for this man, burying it beneath to-do lists and memories of her father’s betrayal.
    Resigned, Rawlings gave her a polite nod, scratched Haviland’s neck, and got into the sedan.
    “Crap,” Olivia muttered. Haviland whined, sniffing the air where Rawlings had stood. “I know you like him, but it’s not a good time for me to get involved. My life has become too complicated as of late. Case in point, Hudson and company will be showing up at The Boot Top any moment. Let’s not keep them waiting.”

    As always, Haviland was thrilled to enter the restaurant’s kitchen, his nose raised high in the air in search of the source of a dozen