“I’m down here,” he called to her.
“Do you want—?” She stopped short. “What are you doing?”
His head snapped in her direction at the sharp tone, and he found her staring at him with an odd look. Almost… scared.
“I’m getting some wood to start a fire. I thought it would be nice to sit down here for a bit. Is there a problem?”
Maura shook her head. “Oh, no. I... um... I didn’t notice there were logs under there.” She paused, then added, “You might want to be careful,though. I saw a snake near there the other day.”
“Really?” His brow furrowed as he stood. “That’s odd. You rarely see them this close to the beach.”
“Well, maybe he got lost.”
“Maybe.” He caught a flicker of relief in her expression, and it bothered him. For a moment, he considered pushing—asking her what that had been about—but something held him back. She already looked wound tight. Pressing her now wouldn’t get him anywhere. Not yet. “What did you want?”
“Huh?”
“When you came out, you started to ask me a question.”
She gave a small wave. “Oh... um... yeah. I just wanted to know how you take your coffee. Cream or sugar?”
“Black is fine.”
Maura hesitated, still watching him by the corner of the house, then turned and went back inside without another word.
“What was that all about?” KC muttered. He bent down, checking the pile of wood and the surrounding area, but nothing looked out of place. Maybe she had seen a snake earlier. Rare, but not impossible.
His mind flew back to the filed-off serial number on her gun, and a dozen possibilities ran through his head—none of them good.
What has Uncle Dan gotten me involved in?
By the time Maura returned with two large mugs of coffee, she no longer seemed troubled, and a steady fire burned in the pit. KC added another log before taking a seat on one of the curved couches surrounding the blaze. She handed him a mug and settled to his left, tucking her legs beneath her.
The fire cast a soft, steady warmth across the patio. Stars filled the sky, and a slender crescent moon hung high in the east. Waves rolled in beyond the dunes, their distant rhythm blending with the crackle of the fire and the occasional cry of a seagull.
It didn’t get much more peaceful than this.
He took a sip of his coffee. “So, we’ve talked about me—let’s talk about you.”
“What about me?” she asked, her expression wary.
“I don’t know. Tell me what you did before you ended up in North Carolina.”
She shrugged, gaze drifting to the stars. For a moment, he thought she wouldn’t answer. Then she sighed. “I had a part-time job at a local pharmacy. It wasn’t much, but it was all I could do while going toschool to get my teaching degree. I’m one semester shy of finishing, but now... It’s sort of been put on hold. Maybe someday I’ll be able to finish it.”
“What do you want to teach?”
She smiled. However, he noticed it didn’t reach her eyes.
“I adore children, especially the younger, more impressionable ones. I would love to teach third- or fourth-grade. At that level, they’re really excited about learning new things. Their brains are like sponges. They absorb everything and haven’t really started to notice the opposite sex yet.”
He laughed. “What difference does that make?”
She blushed and lowered her gaze to the fire. “Well, it’s one less thing on their minds, and they can still concentrate on school. Tell me... did you care much about school after you started noticing girls?”
Grinning, he toasted her with his mug of coffee, his eyes dancing in amusement. “Good point.” He took another sip of the dark brew. “It sounds as if you’re very passionate about teaching. You should return to school if you’re so close to finishing your degree. There are a few local colleges within driving distance from here. Have your transcripts transferred to one of them.”
“Maybe.”
