Where in hell was security?”

Sam made a lunge for the phone, but Jesse hit the off button. “That was the marina,” he said. “They said that when they went to move the RoseWind to its summer mooring just now, they were told a lone woman had taken her out.”

All three brothers turned in unison to glare at Ronald.

Ronald took a step back, his hands raised in supplication. “She’s a world-class sailor. She told me she grew up on a schooner.”

“She can’t get off an elevator without tripping over her own feet,” Sam snapped. “She’s probably hanging from the rigging by now, if she hasn’t fallen overboard!”

“I went down to the dock and helped her get under way,” Ronald said. “She was as nimble as a cat from the moment her feet hit the deck. And she sure as hell knows her way around a sailboat.” He

actually stepped closer. “She told me she needed to spend a few days at sea, alone, to think. I think it was cruel, what Abram did to her. The woman was nothing but nice to him, and he blindsided her on that video tape. I really feel sorry for her.”

Sam’s anger instantly evaporated. “Yeah. Bram may have thought he was helping Willa, but he really screwed up her life. And that’s why I’m going to fix this.” He looked at Jesse. “Call our helicopter pilot, and have him pick me up on the front lawn in an hour.”

“You’re flying toMaine ?” Jesse asked. “But it’ll take Willa several days to get home.”

Sam headed to the back staircase leading to the family wing. “I’m not flying toMaine , I’m sailing.”

“How? Willa took the boat,” Ben said.

Sam stopped with his foot on the bottom step. “She’ll only be a few hours out by the time I find her. I’ll board the RoseWind and sail up with her.”

“And just how are you going to board from a helicopter?” Ben asked in alarm.

“I’ll have our pilot get as close and as low as he can, and I’ll jump into the water.”

Jesse snorted. “You’re assuming Willa will stop and fish you out. She’ll more likely throw you the anchor.”

“She won’t let me drown,” Sam assured the five incredulous people gaping at him. “She’s too softhearted.”

Chapter Ten

Willa was so involvedplotting her course on the nautical chart that it took her a while to realize the comforting drone of the radio she’d tuned to the NOAA weather station was being drowned out by a familiar noise she couldn’t immediately identify. She scanned the horizon behind her from west to east, noticed some boats scattered several miles away, and finally decided the source of the sound was the helicopter in the distance. It seemed to be on a zigzag course, flying from one boat to the other, then moving on to the next one as if searching for something. Only it wasn’t orange, nor was it large enough to be a Coast Guard helicopter.

The sleek black aircraft reminded her of the fancy one she’d seen on Donald Trump’s Apprentice show. But then, probably half the corporations inManhattan had helicopters. But this one was working its way out to sea, and Willa didn’t think such helicopters had a very far range. It would either have to rendezvous with a large ship or head for land soon, she decided, as she glanced at her sails to make sure they were catching the maximum breeze. She checked her compass heading, then stood and adjusted the wheel to a more northeasterly course. She sighed, wishing she had gotten a ride in Tidewater International’s helicopter before she’d left.

But wait—she owned a good portion of Tidewater now. For the next three months, she probably had the authority to call the office and ask them to send the helicopter up to Keelstone Cove!

She could take Shelby and Jennifer and Cody for a ride in it, and they’d buzz all around town, and the kids could wave to all their friends. Ten-year-old Cody would think she was the coolest aunt in the world.

Even better, instead of having Ronald drive Jennifer and her date to the homecoming dance in the Bearcat, as she and Ronald had discussed on the way to the marina, she could let her niece use the helicopter. How extra-cool would that be?

Whew! This being rich was heady stuff.

But the way she figured it, how many people got to be stinking rich for three whole months? Abram had cursed her with this outrageous bequest, so why not take advantage of it while she tried to find a way out of it? Thus the brilliant idea of sailing the RoseWind toMaine instead of driving home. That’s also why she’d agreed to let Peg come keep house for her. With any luck, Peg’s cooking would put another ten or fifteen pounds on her, and then she’d see if Sam Sinclair still wanted to marry her. A cook, a chauffeur, a helicopter, a sailboat, a mansion, mountains of money—what more could a girl ask for?

“Don’t get caught up in your daydreams, Willamina, or you’ll forget the price of keeping everything is a husband,” she reminded herself, only to have her words get lost in the thump-thump-thump of the fast-approaching helicopter.

Holy smokes, it was coming right at her!

Willa scrambled to catch her chart before it blew away, then lunged for the wheel, turning the RoseWind to keep the sails from slapping in the turbulence. The helicopter swung in a wide arch and flew over her again, and she frantically waved it away with one hand while adjusting the wheel with the other.

“Get away!” she shouted, despite knowing that the pilot couldn’t hear her. “If you get any closer, you’re going to shred my sails!”

The helicopter returned and settled into a hover just off her starboard side. “Break sail and pull about,”

came a booming voice over its loudspeaker. “I want to come aboard.”

Willa went stone still and gaped at the helicopter. That’s when she noticed “Tidewater International” in broad gold letters on the fuselage. They had chased her down?

“Turn your radio to six-three,” the voice boomed over the thump of the spinning blades. Willa checked the set of her sails, then went to the radio, turned the dial to six-three, and keyed the mike. “Don’t get any closer than you are. You’ll shred my sails.”

“Come about, Willa. I want to come aboard.”

“Sam?” she squeaked in surprise, only to forget to key the mike. She pushed the button. “Sam?”

“Stop the boat, Willa.”

She shaded her eyes with her hand, scowling at the helicopter keeping pace beside her. “Sam, you can’t land here. The mast is in the way.”

“Just stop, and I’ll jump in and swim to you.”

“Are you nuts? No—go away.”

“I’m coming aboard, Willa.”

“You jump, and it’s a long swim home. I am not letting you onboard this boat.”

“The RoseWind isn’t set up for solo sailing.”

“She is now. Go away, Sam. I don’t want to talk to you, your brothers, or anyone else for the next five days. When I get home, I’ll call to let you know I made it okay.”

“And if you don’t make it okay?”

“Then you and your brothers become very wealthy men. I can’t do anything about the Tidewater shares, though. Sorry, but you’ll have to blame Abram for that one.”

“Stop the boat, Willa.”

“No can do, Sinclair. And you’re going to run out of fuel before I run out of wind. So go away.”

Willa set down the mike, grabbed hold of the wheel with both hands, and stared straight ahead, pointedly ignoring the lunatic. Or she tried to, until the chopper got close enough to make her sails flutter again. She scrambled to the winches and tightened the mainsail down even further, then did the same to the jib.

Just as she turned, she heard a loud splash. Willa looked over to see Sam break the surface of the water with a shout and grab hold of a dry sack he’d obviously thrown down first.

“You idiot!” she screamed, rushing to the rail. “You’re going to drown!”

The helicopter pulled away, going several hundred yards east before hovering again. Willa quickly ran to the wheel and turned the RoseWind into a stall, then broke both sails to let them flutter in the breeze.