The Navy Seal's Rescue. Jo Leigh

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СКАЧАТЬ more often. He missed her. A lot. He’d promised to make her favorite breakfast, chocolate chip pancakes, and swore his groupies, the surfers that swarmed in the summer and made his shack their headquarters, were banished for the day.

      She hadn’t the heart to tell him she hadn’t liked chocolate chip pancakes since high school. It didn’t matter. She’d eat whatever he had. Guess she missed him just as much.

      The front door was open, but she stopped on the second step up to the porch. The board had been replaced recently. Unfortunately, the other two hadn’t, and it was evident that they’d already started rotting.

      But that was her dad. Fix what’s broke. If it’s not, why bother? There were waves to catch. Fish to fry. Books to read. He’d always been like that. It had driven her mother nuts, and as Cricket had grown up, it had bothered her, too.

      The whole house was in need of repairs. Shingles missing on the roof, one window broken, fixed with duct tape, the paint was peeling, and she was pretty sure the whole place was leaning a little to the left.

      “Well, are you coming in or what?”

      She grinned and trotted past the porch, straight into his arms.

      “Oh, Baby Girl, it’s been too long. And you’re too skinny.”

      She leaned back, studying his face. Wow, she’d never thought it would happen, but he was looking his age. “Look who’s talking. Hasn’t anyone been feeding you?”

      “I’m not an invalid. I take care of myself just fine.” He pulled her tight again. “Besides, being lean is good for longevity. I’m thinking of going macrobiotic. I read a really interesting book about it.”

      “You’d blow away in the wind if you lost more weight,” she said. “I’m actually surprised that you and this old shack didn’t get flown to Oz during that last big northern.”

      “That’s the beauty of the Bay, my girl. We’re protected here, just like the pirates.”

      “Oh, for... You know the cab driver from the airport was talking about that stupid treasure on my way here. I can’t believe it hasn’t been completely debunked by now, and what’s that smell?”

      “Goddammit.” Ronny abandoned her to the kitchen, where at least one chocolate chip pancake had become a lava cake.

      “It’s all right,” he said. “I mixed up plenty.”

      He always had. Burning meals was another Ronny specialty. Which was troubling. Although she wasn’t going to say anything yet. Not until she found out more about the Jeep accident and the fall on the dock.

      “How’s the coffee?” she asked.

      “Like always. Tastes like motor oil, keeps you up as long as you need to be.”

      “Tell you what, just for a change of pace, I’ll fix you some a little milder.” Anticipating his protest, before he opened his mouth she said, “I’m not throwing away your tar. You can heat it up later. But I need coffee that’s not ninety-four octane.”

      “Be my guest, Baby Girl. There’s OJ in the fridge, too.”

      Butter sizzled on his old cast-iron grill while she busied herself with the beverages, pouring them both a glass of juice as the new coffee brewed.

      “What do you hear from your mother?”

      “She’s good. Still living in Paris with the judge.”

      “That’s number four, right?”

      “Yep. But she likes him. He’s got hobbies.”

      “Hobbies. So she can shop all she wants without him tagging along?”

      “That’s right.” Cricket grinned. “And they like taking river cruises. I think the last one was from Budapest to Amsterdam.”

      “Huh. I’m glad she’s happy.”

      “She asks about you, too, you know.”

      “What do you tell her?”

      “That you’re forever Ronny. That you don’t have a new woman in your life. Or has that changed?”

      “Nope. I’m forever me. How about you? Got yourself some hot prospect?”

      “I’m too busy working to have any kind of prospect.”

      “That’s a shame, Baby Girl. I’d like you to fall madly in love with a good man.”

      Cricket smiled. That didn’t surprise her. Ronny had always had a romantic soul. “Well, that’s not exactly off my wish list. Just not in the immediate forecast.”

      “Put a couple forks on the table, huh? The food’ll be ready in a sec.”

      She did, along with the juice. His old coffeepot took forever, but that was okay. “How’s the charter business going?”

      “Good. You know summer’s always busy for me. Lot of tourists wanting to catch their trophies. I had one guy wanting to know where he could get a baby marlin stuffed. Got all upset when I told him we had to throw it back, that it was below the limit.”

      “What about your regulars?”

      “Yeah, yeah, I get enough repeat business to pay the bills, but the extras help out for the winters. With the crazy weather patterns now, you never know what to expect.” He brought two plates over, each one pretty much covered in a giant pancake. “There you go, Baby Girl. Your favorite.”

      “I see you didn’t forget the butter and the syrup.”

      “Nope. Never will.” He sat down across from her, at the table he’d had as long as she could remember, made from driftwood by a local craftsman. It was really ugly and wobbled, but it went with the rest of the decor.

      Almost everything in the shack was roughshod and the style could only be labeled as beach bum. There were still a couple of lamps that her mother had added, both classic and traditional. Also, the painting above the long couch that had to be worth a lot by now, although she doubted her dad had done much to preserve it. She couldn’t remember the artist’s name, but he’d been renowned back in the day.

      “About those charters,” she said, “you are insured, right?”

      Ronny stopped eating to stare at her. “Insured? Why would I need that? You’re an attorney. Anything happens and I get sued, you’ll take care of it.”

      She dropped her fork. “Are you crazy? The only thing I’d be able to do is visit you in prison.”

      A smile with lots more lines crinkling his tanned face made her roll her eyes. “I’m insured,” he said. “Very well, in fact. Both the business and the house.”

      “Speaking of, what happened with that fall on the dock? And also, how come you didn’t tell me about crashing the Jeep?”

      “Lousy gossips in this town. The Jeep was nothing. A fender bender. I needed three whole СКАЧАТЬ