straightened her impeccably neat suit jacket.
And Sam felt a nasty jab of alarm. ‘Ellen, what is it?’
She smiled gently. ‘According to this letter from the manager of the island resort, the man who wrote the message in the bottle has been identified and his descendants have been traced.’
‘And?’
‘And his name was Thomas Jefferson Kirby—’
‘My grandfather,’ Sam completed in a choked, disbelieving whisper.
‘Yes.’
‘Whew!’ He closed his eyes for a second or two. Slowly, he looked at Ellen again and shook his head. ‘Tom Kirby died during the war. My father never even knew the poor guy.’
Again he stared at the photo and the bottle in the girl’s hand. ‘Who would have thought?’ He held out his hand for the letter. ‘What else does this Australian have to say?’
As he read, his stomach tightened an extra notch. ‘What’s he playing at? He reckons there was a new will in the bottle and he won’t release the details until someone from my family goes over there.’
‘There’s no way your father could undertake that kind of journey.’
‘Of course he can’t, he’s far too frail, but how the heck does this guy expect me to just drop everything and head off to some tropical island down under?’ Groaning, he clapped a hand to his forehead. ‘I don’t have time to deal with this.’
Ellen looked at her young boss over her half glasses. ‘There’s a lot at stake. Kirby & Son has been in your family for four generations.’
‘I know. I know.’ Sam pushed aside thoughts of what such stress might do to his ailing father. ‘There’s something suspicious about this Aussie. I don’t like the way he’s refusing to hand over the letter unless I show up in person.’ With one hand rubbing his jaw, he added, ‘I’ll have to give this some thought.’
Ellen nodded and returned without comment to her desk in the adjoining office.
Tossing the photo and the papers onto his desk, Sam shoved his hands deep in his trouser pockets and strode towards the huge plate-glass window that overlooked the Seattle waterfront and the Bell Street Pier.
This sudden news about his grandfather had caught him way off-base.
It was the last thing he needed. Since his father’s heart attack, Sam had sole responsibility for running the family’s huge multimillion dollar construction company. He’d been working at a killing pace for the past three years and there was no sign of things slowing down.
Now, he’d been pitched a curve ball by an ancestor he’d rarely thought about and had never even mourned. He drew in an huge breath and let it out slowly, trying to diffuse the overwhelming sense of pressure.
Gloomily, he stared through the window at the world outside. From his vantage point, the whole of Seattle seemed stripped of any colour this afternoon. Although it was late spring, grey skies, and grey office blocks overlooked a grey waterfront. Even the offshore islands were dark charcoal smudges floating on dull slate-coloured water.
The idea of escape—especially of escaping to sunshine and warmth—had distinct appeal. He could collect this letter, steal a few days to dive on the coral reefs and smell the frangipani. Check out the colour of Meg Bennet’s eyes…
Pacing the carpet back to his desk, his mind tussled with his dilemma. What he needed to know was whether this new will in Australia was genuine. If any of his competitors got wind of a will that could question the legal ownership of Kirby & Son, it would be like having an ace up their sleeves in a multimillion-dollar card game.
A discreet cough from the doorway interrupted his thoughts. ‘Sam.’ Ellen sounded hesitant, looked sympathetic. ‘I just had a phone call from a reporter at the Seattle Times. He wants to talk to you. It seems the media already know about the bottle.’
Sam cursed under his breath.
‘The press will make a field day out of it,’ Ellen agreed. ‘Especially after that society columnist dubbed you Seattle’s favourite bachelor last week.’
He thrust an irate hand through his thick dark hair. ‘I think I’m fast running out of options. I’ll have to go to Australia and get this bottle business sorted out as quickly as possible.’
Ellen nodded. ‘I can start making bookings.’
‘Yeah, thanks. And I want my lawyers alerted to have someone on call round the clock—just in case this guy tries any tricks about my grandfather’s will.’ Sam paused and looked thoughtfully at the photo of the girl with the bottle.
Ellen followed his gaze and she sighed. ‘Poor Meg Bennet.’
‘Why do you say that?’
‘She looks rather sweet. I can’t help thinking that if you’re planning to zip over to her quiet little island for a few days and zap straight back here again, you should be wearing hazard lights.’
Sam frowned and looked affronted. ‘I’m not a danger to women. I’m just attracted to them.’
‘Of course,’ Ellen replied, but she walked away muttering something about charm having its own perils and wouldn’t it be fitting if the tables were turned one of these days.
His glance flicked to the picture of the intriguing Meg Bennet. There was a spunky intelligence and honesty about her lovely face that suggested she wouldn’t let any man get the better of her unless she wanted him to.
But he quickly dismissed such thoughts. It was the will, his grandfather’s message in the bottle, that he was going to Australia to pick up. Not the beautiful girl who’d happened to find it.
Meg was pleased. The reef was looking its best this morning. As she snorkelled back towards the shallows of Florence Bay, no breath of wind stirred the surface of the pleasantly warm water, and the sun shone from a cloudless sky. The underwater visibility was perfect for her group of tourists to view the spectacular fantasy below.
Beneath them now, copper and gold butterfly-fish with elongated snouts were probing vibrant red coral clumps. Nearby, forests of branching staghorn coral, bright blue with deep pink tips, shimmered, pretty as Christmas trees.
A spotted ray, camouflaged on the sea bed, suddenly exploded in a cloud of white sand, the tips of its flat body rippling as it arched away.
All morning, she’d been guiding the resort’s guests through a treasure trove of natural beauty. She always got a kick out of sharing the excitement of first timers when they discovered the incredible secrets of the tropical sea.
Reaching the shallows, she stood and balanced first on one foot and then the other, as she pulled off her flippers. Then she removed her snorkel and mask and waited for the holiday makers she’d been escorting to join her.
The American, who was closest to her, ripped off his face mask and exclaimed, ‘That was just fantastic. I never expected to see so many varieties of damselfish in the one spot.’
‘So
