Tide Will Tell (Islands of Intrigue: San Juans) Read Free Page A

launching pad of the fireworks. He’d always preferred to ring in the new year with a few close friends and a couple of pizzas.
    “Hey, guys.” Jessica waved an arm to get everyone’s attention. “I have a great idea. Let’s go out on the kayaks. It’s a perfect day for it.”
    “Sounds like fun.” Kim turned to Josh. “Want to go?”
    Josh glanced down at a rack of brightly colored boats next to the dock. The thought of being out on the water in one of those made his palms sweat. Taking some time to himself held far more appeal. “No, I think I’ll go get settled in my room.”
    She nodded. “Maybe a bike ride around the island later?”
    “Maybe. That sounds like fun.”
    Kim smiled, apparently encouraged.
    Josh drew in a long breath. He’d been so conscientious about guarding his heart. Lord, let me navigate this minefield in a way that glorifies You.

    As everyone else prepared to go down to the water, Josh made his own plan. He’d stay out here for a little bit, then take the opportunity to get a closer look at some of the artwork inside the house. After that, he’d see about reconnecting with the group.
    No point in acting like a complete loner this weekend.

Chapter 3
    As the car picked up speed again, Kate twisted around. There was no sign of anyone near the road.
    She whirled back to question the driver. Surely he had seen the man lunge at the car from out of the roadside bramble, and would offer some explanation. But his eyes in the mirror focused on the road ahead. She swallowed her concern. If the driver didn’t seem alarmed, it must have been nothing. Just a kid from the island, maybe. Or another reporter hoping to get her attention. That would explain the hood. But the lack of a face?
    A cold shiver ran up her arms. Ridiculous . Maybe it was a mask she had seen, or the face was too shadowed by the hood to disclose its features. Or, more likely, she had just imagined the whole thing. Exhaustion ruled and reigned, not only from the long trip up from California but from the ordeal she’d been through over the past few months. Could be she was seeing things.
    Shaking off her uneasiness, she looked ahead and her heart raced for a different reason. The driver slowed in approach to an ornate metal gate. He stopped and reached up to the visor to touch a tiny remote. As the gate slid open and the car glided through, Kate wrung her hands. Why was she so nervous?
    Excited-nervous . That was it. Not scared-nervous. Her emotions had always been so scrambled that she had a hard time identifying them. Time to start getting a handle on that.
    She pulled in a deep breath and looked through the windshield at the tree-lined drive ahead. As the car leisurely rounded a curve, the flora thinned like a curtain parting.
    Mamma Mia. Chase had told her all about his house— their house—but nothing could have prepared her for this. She let out a gasp, to the apparent amusement of the driver, who responded with a light chuckle.
    “This is it, Miss Jennings.” He eased the car around the sprawling circular drive, stopping at the foot of a wide walkway. “Welcome home.”
    Slowly, she lifted her gaze.
    Wow . She’d never lived in a place that had actual landscaping, but it had probably taken massive hours and mega bucks to make this yard look so perfectly natural. Even the house itself seemed so harmonious with nature, it could have sprouted out of the ground.
    The walkway made a gradual incline toward a set of huge stone steps which ascended to the stage-like, flowerpot-dotted wraparound porch. Three stories of elegant natural wood, stone, and glass competed for height with the evergreens which formed a protective half-circle around it. Large stone chimneys emerged on either end of the roof. And windows? They were everywhere. This house went on for days.
    A lump suddenly appeared in Kate’s throat. What had she done to deserve this?
    Barely eight weeks ago she’d been holed up in a filthy motel room, afraid to go