Page 1 of Dauntless

Chapter 1

RED JOE

Ifirst saw the guy on Wednesday afternoon.I was making my way from my cottage into the village—a slow, meandering walk that I took every day with Hiccup the dog—and the guy was walking up the hill as I was walking down.He was in his mid-twenties, maybe, with a green beanie pulled down over his dark hair, a red jacket, black pants, and a bright orange backpack.He clashed like a Liquorice Allsort, but it wasn’t just his clothes that made him stand out—it was the fact that he was a stranger.

Dauntless Island didn’t get many tourists—it was a four-hour boat ride from the mainland—and the few we got didn’t come in winter.I hoped for the guy’s sake that he’d packed some decent weather-resistant gear.

I’d been prepared to pass by with just a nod of acknowledgement when Hiccup, delighted to see a stranger, bounded up to the guy barking and bounced around him in excited circles.

“Hic!”I called to the black Lab.“Hiccup!”

Like Amy couldn’t have called the dog something that didn’t sound quite as stupid when I yelled it?My little sister was the worst.

“Hey,” the guy said to Hiccup, and reached out to pet her.

Hiccup hit the ground like one of those fainting goats, writhing in delight as the guy crouched to rub her belly.

I crossed over to them, an apology on my lips, and then the guy looked up.

He was cute.Cute as hell.He had wide brown eyes framed by black-rimmed glasses, a snub nose, and a generous mouth twitching into a grin.He straightened again, a flush rising on his cheeks, and I wished that I’d picked today to shave instead of putting it off long enough that I looked like I’d been marooned for six months.I also wished I’d actually showered and changed out of my work clothes before heading into the village.

“You’re camping?”I blurted, because apparently I’d lost the ability to start with an introduction like a normal person around the same time I’d lost my razor.Not that I’d ever been much of a talker anyway.I’d always preferred listening to talking, and the back and forth rhythms of a conversation had never come naturally to me.I used to work hard at overcoming that, but that had slipped by the wayside lately.Who did I even have to practice with these days except the dog?

“Yeah.”The guy flashed me a sunny smile that belied the grey clouds rolling in from the ocean.“Up near the lighthouse.”

I raised my eyebrows.He was going to freeze to death when the temperature dropped with the storm tonight.The views from the lighthouse were magnificent, but that side of the island wasn’t sheltered at all.

The guy looked at me expectantly, as though waiting for my response, but my warning about the cold was stuck somewhere in my throat, the words tangled like knotted fishing line.It didn’t help that the guy was so pretty I was having difficulty not staring at his mouth.

Hiccup was already bounding on again, eager to get to the village.

“Okay,” the guy said, his smile fading into an awkward grimace.“It was nice meeting you.”

I nodded.

The guy curled his fingers around the straps of his backpack.“Okay…”

“Joe,” I managed at last, holding my hand out.“Joe Nesmith.”

The guy’s smile returned as he shook my hand.“Eddie,” he said.“Eddie Hawthorne.”

My stomach sank.

I should have known the guy would be trouble.

* * *

“Did you hear the news?”Mavis Coldwell asked when I reached the village shop.She learned over the counter, her large bosom resting on a stack of last month’sAustralian Women’s Weekly, and didn’t wait for my reply.“Young Harry Barnes said the fella he brought over from the mainland today is a Hawthorne.Can you imagine such a thing, Red Joe?A Hawthorne, on Dauntless, after all this time!”

She clicked her tongue.

“Probably just a tourist,” I said.

Young Harry Barnes, who was sixty-three this year, was the biggest gossip on Dauntless.He even eclipsed Mavis, whose small shop in the main street, which also doubled as the post office, was the heartbeat of the island.

“Oh, it’s trouble alright.”Mavis’s voice held a note of warning, but her eyes shone with delight.“Nothing good can come of it.You mark my words, Red Joe!Mark my words!”

I hummed and nodded as I waited for Mavis to pack up my order.

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