Canyons of Night by Jayne Castle Page A

letting her feel the heat.
    He raised his head. “There will be a second date.”
    She blinked several times. “What?”
    He touched her full lips with his forefinger. “No talking, remember?”
    She looked at him with a dazed expression. “Huh?”
    “Forget it. There’s really no point in trying to make you stop talking, is there?”
    “Probably not.”
    “Just remember.” He brushed his mouth against hers once more. “There’s a second date coming up.”
    He walked out of the bedroom before she could think of anything else to say.
    He went out onto the porch and into the night. The green waves of the aurora still flooded across the sky. He realized his senses were still a little heightened. He walked down the driveway to the road and started back toward his cabin.
    Rex materialized out of the woods, chortling a greeting.
    “Sounds like your night went a lot better than mine,” Slade said. “But there will be a second date. She owes me that much.”

Chapter 6
     

     
    THE PHONE RANG JUST AS CHARLOTTE REACHED INTO her voluminous shoulder bag to find the key to the back door of Looking Glass. She took out the phone instead and glanced at the screen.
    “Hi, Mom,” she said. “Before you ask, yes, I’m fine. Things are going swell.”
    “What did you have for dinner last night?” Marilyn Enright demanded.
    “Grilled salmon, a lovely salad of vegetables fresh from my neighbor’s garden, and some homemade zucchini bread.”
    “You’ve never cooked anything on a grill in your life.”
    “That’s because whenever a grill was involved Dad and Cort always took over. Something about it being the manly way to cook, remember?”
    “It’s the fire thing,” Marilyn said absently. “Men can’t resist an open flame. So, if you didn’t cook the salmon, yourself, what did you do? Eat out?”
    “No, it was a home-cooked meal.”
    “Someone cooked it for you?”
    “The salmon was grilled by my host. But I made the salad. Doesn’t that count?”
    “Yes, of course it counts.” Marilyn’s voice softened. “Sounds like you’re making friends there on the island.”
    “Getting to know people, yes, indeed.”
    Marilyn pounced. “What’s his name, dear?”
    “Mom, we’ve talked about this. You promised me that you would respect my privacy, remember? We both agreed that at my age a woman no longer has to give her mother an account of her personal life.”
    “I know, dear, but I’m a mother. I can’t help but worry. Let’s face it, your personal life tends to be somewhat volatile where men are involved. That situation with Jeremy Gaines a few months ago became quite worrisome. Your father was starting to think that Gaines might be stalking you.”
    “Jeremy wasn’t a stalker. He was just very tenacious.”
    “Regardless, we’re all very glad that he’s out of the picture. But your father and I don’t like the idea of you being so far away.”
    “I didn’t move to a desert island, Mom. I’m only a couple of hours from Frequency by ferry, for crying out loud. Forty-five minutes by float plane.”
    “Technically, maybe. But an island is an island. It feels like you’re a long way from us.”
    “Mom, I’ve got to go. I’m at the shop and it’s after eight.”
    “I thought you didn’t open the shop until nine,” Marilyn said.
    “True, but I’m trying to conduct an inventory this week. It’s easier to do that before I open up. Once the morning ferry arrives I’ll be dealing with customers.”
    “All right, I’ll let you go. But first tell me how your date went last night.”
    “How do you think it went? It was a disaster, as usual. Got to go. Bye.”
    “Wait, who is he?” Marilyn demanded.
    “The chief of police here in Shadow Bay.”
    “Is he registered?”
    “With Arcanematch? No, not any longer. Evidently things didn’t work out when he went the matchmaking route. I thought it gave us something in common but I think I was wrong about that.”
    “What’s his