season, though. My good husband has been futzing around with it for months, and the tourists will be descending before we know it.”
“And life will get even busier.” Kate sighed and selected a cookie from the plate on the table.
After pulling a pitcher of cream from the refrigerator, Edith turned a keen eye toward her Lighthouse Lane neighbor. “Do I detect a hint of discouragement in that comment?”
Forcing her lips into a smile, Kate shrugged. “Maybe.”
“That’s not like you. You’ve always kept a positive attitude despite problems that would have made most people cave long ago.”
“You and Chester can take a lot of credit for that. If you hadn’t agreed to watch Maddie while I work, and if Chester hadn’t stepped in as my first mate, I doubt I’d have made it.”
“Yes, you would. You’re a survivor, Kate MacDonald. But even the best of us can get discouraged on a bad day. And yours sounds like a doozy.” She dropped her volume. “Starting with Maddie’s asthma attack at four in the morning.”
“It wasn’t a great beginning,” Kate conceded, angling her head toward the window-rimmed room Chester had added to the back of the kitchen. Maddie was busy with her blocks and oblivious to the adult conversation, the panic-filled attack in the wee hours of the morning, the tears, the nebulizer treatment already a distant memory.
Kate wished the same was true for her. But after each episode, the agony of watching her daughter struggle for air and the feeling of desperate helplessness that twisted her stomach into knots stayed with her. Sometimes guilt was thrown in for good measure, too. Like now.
Setting aside the uneaten cookie, Kate massaged her forehead with her fingertips. “The thing is, I know the triggers for her attacks. I should have taken her ski mask yesterday when we went grocery shopping. She breathed too much cold air.”
“Don’t beat yourself up, Kate. It was a beautiful day until that front decided to drop in unannounced.”
“Nantucket weather is unpredictable. I should have been prepared.”
Edith filled both mugs from the coffeemaker on the counter and took a seat at a right angle to her guest. “Only one person who walked on this earth was perfect, Kate. And He doesn’t expect anyone to repeat that feat. He just expects us to try our best. And you always do that. This morning’s asthma episode is history. Let’s move on to what happened today.”
On stressful days like this, Kate was grateful for Edith’s practical, no-nonsense approach. It always helped her regain perspective. Taking a fortifying sip of the hot brew, she told her neighbor about the citation.
“That’s a technicality.” Edith waved a hand in dismissal. “You replace the flares every year. Besides, they last longer than that.”
“That’s what I told the by-the-book lieutenant, who instituted the beefed-up inspection program. I paid him a visit to express my…displeasure.”
Edith quirked an eyebrow. “How did that go?”
As the scene replayed in Kate’s mind, she frowned and ran a finger around the rim of her mug. Warmth seeped into the tip—and up the back of her neck. “Not very well. I suppose I might have been a bit…vocal…in my opinions.”
Grinning, Edith took a sip of coffee. “I wish I’d been a fly on the wall.”
The heat on Kate’s neck rose to her cheek. The bane of redheads, she lamented. “Anyway, in the end I agreed to replace them right away if he erased the citation from my record. He said he’d think about it.”
“Hmm. That’s interesting.” Edith stirred her coffee, her expression speculative. “What do you think convinced your by-the-book commander to consider overlooking the violation?”
It wasn’t anything she’d said, that was for sure, Kate acknowledged. Whatever diplomacy skills she possessed had deserted her during their meeting. By the time she’d faced off with him across the desk and delivered her ultimatum, she’d expected him to refuse based on her attitude alone.
But then, out of the blue, his cobalt eyes had softened a fraction—telling her he’d seen far more than she’d wanted to reveal. Thrown by his ability to so easily breach the defenses around her heart, she’d backed off and escaped as fast as she could.
Still, if whatever he’d detected convinced him to cut her some slack, maybe it had been worth that brief exposure. Their paths weren’t likely to cross very often once this was resolved. In fact, she’d do her best to ensure they didn’t. No way did she want to risk experiencing that unsettling feeling of vulnerability again.
Realizing that Edith was waiting for a response, Kate cleared her throat. “I don’t know why he eased off. I guess he had some second thoughts.”
“Hmm.” Edith tipped her head, and Kate shifted under her scrutiny, uncertain how to interpret the gleam in the woman’s eye. “So what does the invisible man look like?”
Although she’d been too angry to pay much attention to his appearance, Kate had no problem summoning up an image of him. And handsome was the word that popped into her mind. Lean and toned, with broad shoulders and a powerful chest, he had a take-charge manner and a commanding bearing that radiated strength and competence.
“I didn’t focus on his looks, Edith.”
“Oh, come now. You must have noticed the basics. Height, hair color, age.”
“Six one or two, I’d guess. Dark blond hair. Fortyish.”
“Attractive?”
She shrugged and tried for nonchalance. “I suppose some women might think so.”
“Are you one of them?”
Kate didn’t like the twinkle in her neighbor’s eye. Much to her dismay, for the past few months Edith had been introducing the subject of romance with increasing frequency. As usual, Kate discouraged her.
“He’s not my type, Edith. And I’m not in the market anyway.” She swallowed and looked down into the black depths of her coffee. “There was only one man for me.”
The older woman reached out and covered Kate’s hand with her own, all traces of humor vanishing from her voice. “Mac was one of a kind, Kate. No question about that. But he wouldn’t want you to live the rest of your life alone if another man came along who was worthy of your love.”
“No one could ever take his place, Edith. Besides, my life is crazy enough without adding romance to the mix.” Gesturing toward the sunroom, she rose. “Let’s go check on Maddie’s castle, okay?” Without waiting for a response, she picked up her mug and moved away from the table.
But a few minutes later, as she and Edith listened to the youngster’s imaginative story about the castle she’d constructed from her blocks, the most annoying thing happened.
Every time Maddie mentioned Prince Charming, an image of Lieutenant Craig Cole came to mind.
Chapter Two
By Sunday afternoon, Nantucket was living up
