“Carrie Anne, that was a terrible thing to say to your aunt,” Madison chided.

Her daughter looked at her with wide blue eyes. “Why? Being old is great. You can drive and eat all the candy you want and stay up late and everything.”

“Yes, but—” Madison began.

“Maybe we should make our exit now,” Kyle said, rising. “Jass, you coming?”

Jassy hesitated, looking at the jeans and shirt she was wearing. “I don’t have my suit on—”

“There’s plenty of stuff on the boat,” Madison said. She wanted her older sister around. “Come with us.”

“Yeah, why not?” Jassy gave her father a kiss on the cheek. “Bye, Dad.”

Carrie Anne gave Jordan a fierce hug, and Madison brushed the top of his head with a kiss. He told them all to enjoy their day and watched as they started down the dock.

Kyle’s gear was on board, already; Madison threw her bag on board, then handed Carrie Anne off to her sister.

For a moment Madison paused on the deck, startled by the sudden sensation of unease that spilled through her. Despite the penetrating heat of the rising sun, she shivered.

It’s Kyle. After all these years, it’s Kyle. I should be staying away from him.

She gave herself a shake, and the feeling was gone, as if it had never been.

Kyle released the dock ties and revved the motor, and they eased out onto the open water.

4

Once past the buoys, Kyle released the throttle, and they motored at a high speed east-northeast. Jassy changed, which Madison checked out the contents of the galley; then she and her sister and daughter took juice in plastic bottles out onto the front deck and stretched out in the sun. They lay in quiet for a while as the boat slashed through the water. The motor drummed, and the sound of the waves against the hull was lulling.

Jassy rolled halfway over. “It’s good to have him home, huh?”

“Sure,” Madison murmured, flopping over to tan her back. She heard Kyle cut the motor.

“I like him,” Carrie Anne volunteered. She sat up restlessly. There was only so much simple sunbathing a five-year-old was going to enjoy. “Mommy, can we do something?”

“We are doing something,” Madison teased. “We’re out on the boat.”

“No, can we do something on the boat?”

Madison didn’t have to answer. She’d brought a bagful of things to do for Carrie Anne; she just needed to gather the energy to roll over and find a few of them.

“Want to help me fish?” Kyle asked. He’d dropped the anchor and leaped from the small wheel-house to the deck. Madison was glad of her own dark glasses then. She couldn’t resist an assessment. Kyle looked good. Fit in every way. Broad-shouldered, deeply tanned, sleek, well muscled. She reminded herself that she lived in the Sunshine State—it was filled with hard bodies, scantily clad and spread out on a multitude of beaches. She modeled for part of her living, sharing her time with some of the best male bodies known to man.

His was better.

Real.

Mature.

Stop, Madison, she warned herself.

Despite herself, she imagined him completely naked. She blushed, and was glad of sun and her glasses once again. Carrie Anne, all innocence, was able to look up at Kyle with pure childish pleasure.

“I can help you fish? Really?”

“Really. If you’d like.”

“Sure!” Carrie Anne said excitedly, her eyes alight. “Can I, Mommy?”

“Maybe Mommy will fish, too,” Kyle suggested.

“Mommy is going to dive over the side in a bit. You two fish,” Madison said.

“Jassy?” Kyle asked invitingly.

Jassy stretched and yawned. “Maybe. In a few minutes.”

Kyle took Carrie Anne aft. Madison could vaguely hear the deep drone of his voice and her daughter’s happy laughter in return.

“Five. It’s a great age,” Madison murmured.

“Umm. It’s before a woman finds out about men,” Jassy replied dryly.

Surprised, Madison leaned up and looked at her sister. She smiled. “So what is up with you?”

Jassy shrugged. “Nothing new.”

“You seeing someone?”

“Yeah. Maybe.”

“Tell me!”

“Umm…give me a little time, huh? I want to make sure it’s not like a…”

“One-night stand?”

“Well, ‘three-date deal’ would be more like it.”

“Are you sleeping with him?”

“Madison!”

“Fair question.”

“None of your business.”

“If you can’t tell a sister, who can you tell?”

“It’s private.”

“Have you or haven’t you?”

“Okay. Once. Just once.”

“Whoa! So it’s serious.”

“I still need to be careful. I have…reasons. God, he’s charming, though!”

“But who is he?”

“Not yet! And don’t you dare say a word to anyone, promise?”

“What can I say? You haven’t told me anything.”

“Please, I don’t want anyone even knowing there’s a man in my life.”

“All right, all right! But now I’m going to be eaten alive with curiosity.”

“Eaten alive with curiosity! Now that will lead to an interesting autopsy!” Jassy said.

“Ugh.”

“It’s a fascinating science,” Jassy said seriously.

“There’s so very much you can learn from the dead when they can’t speak for themselves anymore.”

“I’ll grant you that.” Madison leaped to her feet. “But look around you. The sun, the sea—it’s a great day. Take a break from the dead, huh? I’m going in. You coming?”

“Yeah,” Jassy agreed. “I’ll be along in a few minutes.”

Madison dived in.

Kyle had brought them to anchor just off a sandbar. They were near a few of the smaller reefs, but even having been away for a while, Kyle would have been careful to anchor far from a coral shelf—anchors damaged the precious living coral. They had remained far to the southwest, avoiding John Pennecamp State Park, an underwater park that protected the reefs and the sea creatures living there. There was no fishing out of Pennecamp, though it was a beautiful place to dive.

Madison swam down, estimating that they were in about twenty-five to thirty feet of water. The water was perfect, warm near the surface, cool and pleasant beneath. She shot down deep, touched and stirred up the sand, then kicked to the surface again. She looked to the boat, ready to shout to Jassy to come join her.

But Jassy had moved aft. Madison heard her laughter, Kyle’s deep voice, Carrie Anne’s shrill giggle of delight over something.

Her invitation to her sister died on her lips.

“How’s it going, guys?” she called instead, keeping her distance. The fishing lines would run with the current, and she definitely wasn’t in the mood to catch a hook.

“Mommy!” Carrie Anne cried happily, running to the portside rail to stare down at her. “I just caught a red snapping!”

“Snapper,” Madison corrected automatically. “Great!”

Kyle joined Carrie Anne at the hull, bronze chest glazed in a sheen of sweat, eyes shaded by his glasses. “I was just thinking, Madison, you might want to come up. Jassy was telling me they had a shark attack out here last week.”

She frowned, looking at him. “Kyle, you know that a shark attack is about as common as being struck by lightning. That diver was spearfishing and holding on to the fish he caught by sticking them in his swimsuit. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not carrying any dead fish.”

“But we’re fishing, and Carrie Anne’s snapper is a pretty big guy. He did some heavy-duty wiggling. Lots of distress signals going out in the water.”

“I just want to swim over the reefs for a minute. You can see me. I’ll come back in just a few minutes.”

Kyle shrugged, but didn’t look happy. He wanted her out of the water, but he knew that his argument wasn’t all that strong. Any offsping—or pseudo-offspring—of Jordan Adair had grown up in the water.

As Madison swam from the boat she could feel his eyes on her. She dived beneath the surface, heading toward the reef.