Page 30 of Austen

When she’d told him about Margo’s accident, he couldn’t help but pull her into his arms, and of course that had just ignited all of his desires to protect her and hold her and keep her safe.It hadn’t helped that only hours earlier, he’d pulled her from the ocean.

Maybe he’d imagined her going strangely cold during his phone call.Because then Austen had smiled at him and said, “I will take you up on your offer to stick around.”And suggested that she’d like to get to know him better.And when she’d looked up at him with those big green eyes, yes, he’d been a goner.

So he would have kissed her and kissed her well, and maybe ignited the start of something beautiful if Stein hadn’t shown up, obviously simmering.Declan didn’t have a clue what he’d done to make Stein so angry, but clearly they had an overdue conversation in front of them.

He’d found Stein later, after Austen retired, standing at the stern of the boat, watching his friend Hawkeye tie his forty-foot fishing trawler to Declan’s yacht.Declan had stood in the quiet, the night wind blowing against his linen shirt.

Declan had wanted to ask “Did I somehow wrong you?”But before he could get the words out, Stein turned to him.

“Declan, I can’t thank you enough for what you did to find Austen.I’m truly grateful.Is it possible for me to bunk here on the yacht tonight?To be clear, I’ll be talking Austen into coming back with me to the Keys tomorrow, but it’s getting late.”

Declan had understood that.And maybe a little sleep would do them all good.“Sure,” he’d said.“I have an extra stateroom.”

Of course, Jermaine had appeared out of nowhere and directed Stein to the right stateroom.

Now as Declan lay in his bed, staring outside through the port window, he was still trying to sort out the mix of emotions and the fact that he’d actually found Austen in the middle of the vast sea.

Thank You, God.

And he didn’t know where that thought came from, because frankly, God hadn’t shown up for him in, well, years.

So maybe it was a dormant habit.

Very dormant.

And if he was honest, he knew he didn’t deserve God showing up, not really.

“Grace, son.And mercy.We don’t realize it, but they surround us every day.”His mother’s voice, of course.

Yes, well, she believed because it was all she had.

Still, Declan could admit gratefulness the next morning when he got up and the sun shone bright and warm.As he sat in the sky lounge with a bowl of fruit and a mug of coffee, the dawn cresting upon the waters, his mother’s verses from Lamentations came into his head:“His mercies are new every morning; great is his faithfulness.”He didn’t really deserve any of it, but he wasn’t going to shrug away the morning mercies.

Movement on the steps, and he looked up to see Elise and Hunter joining him on the deck.Elise wore a yellow sundress, and Hunter, attired in shorts and a T-shirt, pulled out a chair for her.

“I see there’s another boat attached to us,” Hunter said as he sat down.Belle, one of the new stewards, came over and poured him coffee.

“Yes,” Declan said.“Austen’s brother Steinbeck showed up last night with his friend Hawkeye from the Keys.”

“I remember Stein from the island,” Elise said.“How is he?Wasn’t he shot?”

“I never did get to the bottom of that.”Declan had had his hands full trying to deal with the landslide and three missing kids.When Stein had shown up, shot, Declan had simply arranged for a med flight out.So yeah, he had questions, and he hoped that Stein had answers.But maybe it took a back burner to convincing Stein that Austen was safe.Here.With him.

“How soon do you think it will be until we’re underway?”Elise asked as Belle returned with cups of coffee for her and Hunter.

“Thank you,” Elise said.She pointed to Declan’s fruit.“Could I get a bowl of fruit too?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Belle said.She turned to Hunter.“Anything for you, sir?”

“Just some eggs and bacon.”

Belle nodded and walked away.

“My captain said that we should be ready to leave this morning,” Declan said.

“Is Austen going with us?”Elise asked.

“No, actually, she’s not.”This voice came from Stein, who had come up the stairs and walked over to the table.

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