Last night? Hell, he’d
been in Shane’s bed just a few hours ago. They were going sailing, and then they’d have
lunch, and then they’d come back to Shane’s cottage. Or Norton’s cottage. Where didn’t
matter. It was the what happened next that mattered. And the what happened next was
always pleasurable.
Shane said, foolishly, “But he’s coming back, right?”
The woman shrugged. “Couldn’t say. He had his luggage with him.”
From the bell tower overlooking Sugarloaf Point, silvery chimes began to toll the
hour.
Chapter One
I t was pouring rain when Shane got off the Catalina Express.
Good news for the island and bad news for him. He hadn’t brought rain gear. They
were in the middle of a drought, after all, and the decision to spend Christmas on Catalina
had been an impulse.
An impulse he was never going to hear the end of, judging by the way his phone had
been ringing ever since his plane landed at LAX. As he rolled his luggage down the slick
walkway, past the tennis courts and the bronze statue of the sea lion known as Old Ben, it
began to ring again.
Shane swore, yanked his suitcase to a halt, fumbled for his phone. He scowled at the
image of his older brother Shiloh on the wallet-sized screen, and answered with a
forbidding, “Agent Donovan.”
“Don’t try to pull that G-Man act with me,” Shiloh said. “Where the hell are you?”
“Avalon.”
“I thought we all agreed that was a bad idea. I thought we all agreed you would
spend Christmas recuperating at Mom’s.”
“ You all agreed. I said I was spending Christmas on Catalina. I’m sticking to that
plan.”
“That plan is a no-go,” Shiloh said. “You should be home with your family during
the holidays, not holed up on your own. Does that cabin even have electricity?”
“It’s a beach cottage, and of course it has electricity.”
“The last thing you need is to sit around brooding.”
“I’m not brooding!”
“Well, you should be. This is no way to treat your mother.” Shiloh was sort of joking
and sort of not joking. “Not kidding, Shay. The first Christmas the three of us have all
been home at the same time in how many years, and you decide this is the year you have
to celebrate solo?”
Shane watched the breakers roll in and crash against the brown and gray rocks along
the wharf. The spray flew up, glittering like ice crystals against the bleak sky. “I
just…need a little time to myself right now.”
“You live alone,” his brother said without sympathy. “How the hell much me time do
you need? This is crazy. You’re just out of the hospital. You should be here letting Mom
and Sydney wait on you hand and foot, which is what they’re dying to do.”
“Syd is about as eager to wait on me hand and foot as you are. Besides, I don’t need
anyone waiting on me. I’m perfectly fine. I just need a couple of days to think things
through.”
“Negatory,” Shiloh said. “Thinking things through is the last thing you want to do
right now, little brother.”
“See, using your brain is not that dangerous when you practice regularly.”
“The comedian of the family. Do they even have a medical facility on that island?”
Shiloh was a Navy SEAL. For him, the entire world was one big rescue operation waiting
to happen.
“Of course. It’s a vacation resort, not a frontier outpost. And even if they didn’t, it’s
only about forty minutes from Los Angeles if I did need a medical facility. Which I don’t.
And won’t.”
“You’ve got fifty-two staples in your gut.”
“No, I don’t. The staples were removed last night. And they weren’t— anyway , I
didn’t steal another patient’s clothes and sneak out, you know. The hospital released me.”
“Believing that you were going to be staying with your family, recuperating at
home.”
Annoying because it was probably true. “I’ll be able to rest and relax better here. I
brought a couple of books I’ve been
been in Shane’s bed just a few hours ago. They were going sailing, and then they’d have
lunch, and then they’d come back to Shane’s cottage. Or Norton’s cottage. Where didn’t
matter. It was the what happened next that mattered. And the what happened next was
always pleasurable.
Shane said, foolishly, “But he’s coming back, right?”
The woman shrugged. “Couldn’t say. He had his luggage with him.”
From the bell tower overlooking Sugarloaf Point, silvery chimes began to toll the
hour.
Chapter One
I t was pouring rain when Shane got off the Catalina Express.
Good news for the island and bad news for him. He hadn’t brought rain gear. They
were in the middle of a drought, after all, and the decision to spend Christmas on Catalina
had been an impulse.
An impulse he was never going to hear the end of, judging by the way his phone had
been ringing ever since his plane landed at LAX. As he rolled his luggage down the slick
walkway, past the tennis courts and the bronze statue of the sea lion known as Old Ben, it
began to ring again.
Shane swore, yanked his suitcase to a halt, fumbled for his phone. He scowled at the
image of his older brother Shiloh on the wallet-sized screen, and answered with a
forbidding, “Agent Donovan.”
“Don’t try to pull that G-Man act with me,” Shiloh said. “Where the hell are you?”
“Avalon.”
“I thought we all agreed that was a bad idea. I thought we all agreed you would
spend Christmas recuperating at Mom’s.”
“ You all agreed. I said I was spending Christmas on Catalina. I’m sticking to that
plan.”
“That plan is a no-go,” Shiloh said. “You should be home with your family during
the holidays, not holed up on your own. Does that cabin even have electricity?”
“It’s a beach cottage, and of course it has electricity.”
“The last thing you need is to sit around brooding.”
“I’m not brooding!”
“Well, you should be. This is no way to treat your mother.” Shiloh was sort of joking
and sort of not joking. “Not kidding, Shay. The first Christmas the three of us have all
been home at the same time in how many years, and you decide this is the year you have
to celebrate solo?”
Shane watched the breakers roll in and crash against the brown and gray rocks along
the wharf. The spray flew up, glittering like ice crystals against the bleak sky. “I
just…need a little time to myself right now.”
“You live alone,” his brother said without sympathy. “How the hell much me time do
you need? This is crazy. You’re just out of the hospital. You should be here letting Mom
and Sydney wait on you hand and foot, which is what they’re dying to do.”
“Syd is about as eager to wait on me hand and foot as you are. Besides, I don’t need
anyone waiting on me. I’m perfectly fine. I just need a couple of days to think things
through.”
“Negatory,” Shiloh said. “Thinking things through is the last thing you want to do
right now, little brother.”
“See, using your brain is not that dangerous when you practice regularly.”
“The comedian of the family. Do they even have a medical facility on that island?”
Shiloh was a Navy SEAL. For him, the entire world was one big rescue operation waiting
to happen.
“Of course. It’s a vacation resort, not a frontier outpost. And even if they didn’t, it’s
only about forty minutes from Los Angeles if I did need a medical facility. Which I don’t.
And won’t.”
“You’ve got fifty-two staples in your gut.”
“No, I don’t. The staples were removed last night. And they weren’t— anyway , I
didn’t steal another patient’s clothes and sneak out, you know. The hospital released me.”
“Believing that you were going to be staying with your family, recuperating at
home.”
Annoying because it was probably true. “I’ll be able to rest and relax better here. I
brought a couple of books I’ve been
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