The Reef

shoes.”
    “Shoes?”
    “We’ll want to get some to match your dress.” With a cheery wave, she headed up the steps toward the boutique.
    “She’s off and running,” Tate said under her breath. “Thank God we’re doing this here and now. Can you imagine what she’d be planning if we were getting married back on Hatteras? Showers and bridal shows. Flowers, caterers, cakes.” She shuddered delicately. “Wedding consultants.”
    “Sounds kind of nice.”
    “Lassiter.” Bemused, Tate stared up at him. “You’re not telling me you’d like all that fuss and bother. If she had the chance, she’d stuff you into a tux, maybe tails.” She gave his butt a friendly pat. “Not that you wouldn’t look wonderfully dashing.”
    “I thought women were supposed to want a big, splashy wedding.”
    “Not sane women.” Amused, she paused halfway up the steps. “Matthew, is that what you want, all the pomp and circumstance?”
    “Look, Red, I’ll take you any way I can get you. I just don’t see what’s so wrong with the fancywork. A new dress, a haircut.”
    Tate narrowed her eyes wickedly. “She’s going to make you wear a tie, pal.”
    He couldn’t quite control the wince. “Not such a big deal.”
    “You’re right.” With a little laugh, she pressed a hand to her stomach. “I guess I’d better just come clean and admit it. I’m scared.”
    “Good.” He clasped his hand over hers. “That makes two of us.”
    Together they went into the lobby to track down the concierge.
    Fifteen minutes later, they walked out again, dazzled.
    “It’s going to be awfully easy,” Tate managed. “Proof of citizenship, sign a few papers.” She blew the hair out of her eyes. “We could pull this off in two or three days.”
    “Cold feet?”
    “They’re blocks of ice, but I can handle it. You?”
    “I never welch on a deal.” To prove it, he scooped her off her feet. “Are you going to be Doctor Lassiter or Doctor Beaumont?”
    “I’m going to be Doctor Beaumont and Mrs. Lassiter. Suit you?”
    “Suits me. Ah, I guess we’d better head to the boutique.”
    “I can save you from that.” Understanding, she gave him a hard, smacking kiss. “If we manage to find a dress in there, you aren’t allowed to see it. Mom will have a fit if we don’t follow at least one tradition.”
    Hope bloomed. “I don’t have to go shopping?”
    “You don’t have to go shopping until she snags you. Why don’t you swing by in about a half hour? Wait, I forgot I was dealing with Marla the mad shopper Beaumont. Give us an hour. And since I’m feeling so generous where you’re concerned, if Mom decides to drag me off to Saint Kitts, we’ll detour back to the boat and drop you off.”
    “I owe you big, Red.”
    “I’ll collect. Put me down.”
    He gave her one last kiss, then set her on her feet. “I bet they carry lingerie up there.”
    “I bet they do.” She laughed and gave him a shove. “I’ll surprise you. Get lost, Lassiter.”
    Smiling, she watched him disappear back into the lobby. Suddenly the idea of a new dress, something flowing and romantic, didn’t seem so frivolous. Something that would be flattered by a little gold heart with a single pearl dripping from its point.
    Lassiter, she decided, I’m going to knock your socks off.
    Flushed with pleasure, she started across the patio. Thehand that clamped on her arm made her laugh. “Matthew, really—”
    The words, and her breath, clogged in her throat as she stared into the smoothly handsome face of Silas VanDyke.
    Reality tilted on its edge for a moment. He looked exactly the same, she thought dumbly. The years had laid lightly on him. The thick, glossy pewter hair, the smooth, elegant face and pale eyes.
    His hand was soft as a child’s on her arm, and she could smell the subtle, expensive cologne he’d dabbed on his skin.
    “Ms. Beaumont, what a pleasure to run into you like this. I must say, the years have been overwhelmingly generous with you.”
    It was the sound of his voice, faintly European and coldly pleased, that snapped her back. “Let go of me.”
    “Surely you have a moment or two for an old friend?” Still smiling benignly, he steered her sharply around the garden of brilliant annuals as he spoke.
    There were dozens of people around, she reminded herself as she fought back fear. Guests, staff, the early diners who lounged in the poolside restaurant. She only had to shout.
    The realization that she was afraid, here, in the