Page 12 of Love Over Easy

David

The look on Sadie’s face when I walk in with Shyanne is priceless. Before we left home, Shyanne changed into a pair of black jeans, a black tank, and that damned black hoodie. She would be right at home on the late-night streets of New York, not on the island. My temper rises thinking about the reason she has to cover herself. The bruises.

If I hadn’t given her bags to her this morning, she would have had to wear something else of Jenny’s. I really liked the t-shirt and pants she wore at breakfast. My cock jerks when I remember her shirt pulled tight over her breasts and then her nipples hardening.

“Morning, Sadie.”

“Morning, boss,” Sadie mumbles, but her eyes are on Shyanne before shifting to me, filled with questions. Then she notices. “What the hell happened to your face?”

Shyanne winces and picks at her thumbnail.

I wave off her concerns and downplay the bruising. “Nothing. I lost my footing going up the stairs at home. You know how the sea spray makes the wood slippery.”

Sadie stares at the purple bruise that’s now covering my chin and beneath my eye. By the set of her lips, I know she doesn’t buy that at all. I’ll explain later, when I don’t have Shyanne with me.

I take pity on her. “Shyanne, this is the real person who runs things around here. Sadie, this is Shyanne.”

Sadie smiles and holds out her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Shyanne. Are you one of the brides?”

Shyanne’s head jerks to mine, her eyes pulled together in confusion. I jump in quickly and make that correction. “No. She isn’t a bride.”

“That’s a shame.” Sadie’s excitement fades and she refocuses on me. “You have a call from the marina. Thompson’s is waiting to unload.”

“I’ll go over there now. Come on, Shyanne. You can ride along.” From the looks I’m getting, I’ll be questioned as soon as we get in the truck. And I’m right.

“What did she mean by brides?” Shyanne asks before I even back out.

“That’s a rather long story. You said you read an article about Faire Island, so you probably know how our population has declined over the years and how our economy is suffering because of that.”

“Yeah. That’s been all over social media and the news.”

I hit the high spots explaining how the town came up with the ridiculous idea of attracting women to the island to become unsuspecting brides. “At least that’s the way it started. Now we’re going about things differently. We’re offering tax cuts and sign-on benefits to businesses.”

“And that’s how the Inn was won? By one of these brides?” she asks.

I nod as I pull into the marina parking lot. “Yes. Kimberly Westmoreland won the Inn and fell in love with my best friend, Bode Murphy.”

She chuckles. “So maybe it does work after all.”

“Please don’t let anyone in town hear you say that.”

As we get out of the truck, I see Hannah and Blake Murphy—Bode’s parents, owners of the marina, and my second set of parents—go into the office.

Shyanne fidgets with her thumbnails; I wish I could say something to make her less nervous. “There’s nothing to worry about. Why don’t you take a seat under the covered deck? Every person here, I trust. You’ll be safe. It will just take me a minute to sign off on the load.”

“Sure,” she agrees, but I’m not certain I’ve calmed her fears. She veers off to the right as I continue down to the docks.

“Morning, David. Have you had breakfast?” Hannah Murphy asks as I walk past the marina office. She and Blake step out the door and each give me a hug and Hannah has to add a kiss on the cheek. The exact same thing she does to all her children. Which she considers me one.

“Hey, Blake, Mama H. Yes, we’ve had breakfast, but thanks.”

Blake steps outside behind his wife. He chuckles and asks, “Who ran into your face? That’s quite a shiner you have going on there.”

There’s no way I’m admitting that small woman laid me out. That will go to my grave as far as I’m concerned. “Yeah, I slipped on the deck last night. You know how slippery wood can get when it’s wet.”

Blake’s brow shoots upward and his lips curl into an I’m-not-buying-it smirk.

Hannah looks up the dock. “Who is your friend there, David?” she asks, her eyes trained on Shyanne.

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