Page 186 of Cold Case, Warm Hearts

“She wasn’t prying. We were just talking,” Nick protested.

“Oh, so you brought up the accident?”

His brother’s gaze fell away, and Max knew Nick was just standing up for Becca. She had brought up the accident. What was her purpose? She was way too inquisitive, and he wanted to understand the reasons behind her prying. But looking at her set face, he knew it was a lost cause. At least today.

“I’ll leave you two to your gossip.” He turned and strode back through the brush. Let Nick look into her doe eyes andget sucked into her questions. She had an agenda, and Max was determined to discover what it might be. He had a private investigator friend in Houghton. He’d ask him to look into Becca’s background.

Becca let out a shaky laugh.“I don’t think Max likes me very much.”

“Max doesn’t like much of anyone these days. Himself least of all.”

“Why do you say that? Does he blame himself for his wife’s death? He seemed defensive about that.”

Nick nodded. “Defensive, that’s a good word. He was navigating the boat, and when it exploded, he blamed himself for not having it looked at. Laura had mentioned she smelled gas when she took it out a couple of days before the accident, and Max blew her off.”

“The villagers think it was deliberate?”

“You know how people talk. He could have been killed as well. And Max may be gruff, but he’s harmless.”

“Did they get along? Is that what has fueled the gossip?” Becca felt terrible for prying into the man’s private affairs, but if there was a connection to her parents’ deaths, she had to find out.

“They had their squabbles. I think they’d been talking about divorce, but Max was trying to keep the marriage together for Molly’s sake. He would have been devastated if Molly left the island with her mother.”

Upset enough to make sure that didn’t happen? Becca bit back the words. She didn’t really believe Max could be a murderer. Did she? She examined how she felt about the man and discovered she liked him more than she’d realized. Shedidn’t want him to be guilty. And a blind spot like that could get her killed.

“We’d better go inside,” Nick said, his fingers touching her elbow. “The Windigo might be prowling tonight.”

He said the words lightly, but a shiver still touched Becca’s spine. The old superstitions were still lodged in her psyche. She allowed Nick to lead her through the brush toward the back of the manor.

She’d thought he might want to linger in the moonlight and steal a kiss or two and was relieved she didn’t have to fend off a pass. Nick was an attractive man, but she found her thoughts straying to her boss more than she liked.

Nick left her in the hall. He needed to check in with Gram, he told her. Becca wandered down the hall to the library. Max was perusing a book with his back to her. She stood watching him a moment then he turned and saw her.

“Done lingering in the moonlight with my brother?” His lip curled as he said the words, and Becca scowled at him.

“At least he’s a gentleman, which is more than I can say about you.”

“He’s much too polite to be anything but gentlemanly. Whereas I on the other hand—,” he broke off and in two strides was at her side. His fingers gripped her shoulders and he pulled her to him. His lips claimed hers, and Becca went rigid at first then softened as the harshness in the kiss changed to tenderness. Her fingers dug into his tweed sweater, and feeling caught in a storm of emotion, she clung to him.

Her eyes were still closed when he released her.

“Sorry,” he muttered.

She felt a shiver run through him, and his gaze was soft. He ran his fingers through his hair, leaving it sticking straight up.

“Maybe you’d better go find Nick again,” he said. Still clutching his book, he turned and strode out of the room before Becca could muster enough coherent thought to answer him.

She touched her warm lips. What had brought that on? Could Max have been jealous of his brother? Until that kiss, she would have sworn Max didn’t like her. She’d tried to tell herself she didn’t find him attractive, but the kiss had shown that to be a lie. The sooner she discovered who had murdered her parents, the better. She needed to get out of here before her feelings for him went beyond mere liking and attraction.

She’d have to be on her guard. She didn’t want to get involved with a man who wasn’t a Christian.

She heard a sound and turned to see her grandmother sitting in the dark by the window. Her face burned at what she knew Gram had seen.

“Come here, Becca.” Gram patted her lap.

“I’m too big to sit on your lap now,” Becca said, going to her grandmother’s side.

“You’ll never be too big.” Gram pulled her down onto her ample lap.

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