Page 5 of Race to the Beach

Owen turned a pleading look to his mother.Surely she wasn’t going to go along with their blatant matchmaking.His mother glanced away, avoiding his pointed stare.

Left to his own defenses, Owen said, “I see Grant over at the bar.Excuse me, ladies.I need to have a word with him.”

As he strode away, Birdie called out.“Owen, we’ll catch up with you later.”

He kept his strides steady and his head facing forward, acting as though he hadn’t heard her.His mission now was to find the mystery woman, return her pin, and escape as quickly as possible.He wanted no part of being fixed up—no matter how pretty or engaging the young woman might be.And this was one of the reasons he was considering moving away from the island to a place where he could have a private life without well-meaning matchmakers pestering him.

He stepped up to the bar area where his brother Grant and his wife, Paige, were standing.All the while Owen scanned the crowd for a sign of the mystery woman in the blue dress.

“Hey, Owen.”Grant waved a hand in front of Owen’s face to get his attention.“Who are you looking for?”

When Owen glanced at his older brother, he saw a smug smile on his face.“What?”

“Who are you looking for?”

“No one.”The answer came out a little too fast and a little too strongly.

Grant’s brow arched as Paige sent him a smile.“You know,” his brother started, “I heard a rumor that you were seeing someone, but I told them they were wrong.Now, I’m thinking they were right.”

Owen frowned at his brother.“Why is everyone so worried about my dating life?”

“Don’t you mean the lack of a dating life?”

“Just butt out.”It wasn’t until the words crossed his lips that he realized he’d made a big mistake.The bigger deal he made of this, the more his brothers would hammer him about it.

“Grant,” Paige said, “don’t.”

Grant’s gaze moved from Owen to Paige and back again.“I was just having some fun.”

“Well, I’m not.”Owen grumped.As he continued to look around the ballroom, he noticed Birdie and Agnes speaking to a young woman.Surely, they weren’t following through with their threat of fixing him up right here and now.

Then Birdie turned.She scanned the crowd of guests.When she noticed him, her face lit up.Oh no.

He turned to his brother.“I’ve got to go.”

“But the reception has barely started.Aren’t you at least going to stick around for some food.”

Owen’s gaze sought out Birdie.She and the other ladies were slowly working their way toward him.It was definitely time to go.

He shook his head.“I just lost my appetite.Catch ya later.”

Refusing the urge to glance over his shoulder, Owen took long quick strides toward the back of the ballroom.It wasn’t a straight shot, because there were so many people gathered to celebrate the nuptials.

With Bluestar being a small island, all of the locals knew each other.So, as he made his way toward the back exit, he was stopped numerous times by friends and acquaintances who wanted to greet him.He said a quick hello before continuing on his way.

It seemed like forever until he reached the doorway used by the wait staff.He entered the busy kitchen, where they were preparing to serve a sit-down dinner to the guests.As he inhaled the delicious aroma of rosemary chicken and stuffed pork chops, his stomach protested skipping dinner.He kept going until he reached another doorway that led to a quiet hallway.

Once he was outside in the cool evening air, he breathed his first full breath.But he didn’t linger.He wanted as far away from this place as he could get.

He headed for the beach, figuring there wouldn’t be many people around since it was dinner time.As he made his way, he felt the heart pin in his pants pocket bounce against his thigh.What was he going to do with it?

What if it was valuable?Could those stones be genuine rubies?He didn’t have a clue.The last time he’d bought jewelry had been a diamond ring.He pushed that unwanted memory to the back of his mind.

On Monday morning, he’d take the pin to the jewelry store.They should be able to tell him if it was worth anything or not.If it was, he’d take it to the police department and let them deal with it.

If it was just costume jewelry, he’d…um… He wasn’t sure what he’d do with it.What were the chances of them ever seeing each other again?

A couple of hours later, Maxi heard the front door at her aunt’s house open and close.She straightened from where she’d been wiping off the doors of the lower kitchen cabinets.When she turned, she saw her aunt’s mouth open, as though to say something, but before she could utter the words, her eyes widened in surprise.

---