Read Eclipse Bay for Free Online Page A

remember? I can be cool.”
    “Do that,” Lillian said dryly. “You know, something tells me that it’s a good thing that Mom and Dad went on that monthlong cruise. If they knew that you were getting ready to go toe-to-toe with Rafe Madison over Dreamscape, they’d descend on Eclipse Bay like avenging angels.”
    “Speaking of family interference, I’m counting on you to keep quiet about my decision to go to Eclipse Bay for a while. I want some time to work things out with Rafe. That won’t be possible if I’m inundated with helpful Hartes.”
    “I’ll keep quiet,” Lillian sighed. “I still can’t imagine what Aunt Isabel was thinking. Ever since Rafe used you as his alibi for the night Kaitlin Sadler died, she was obsessed with the notion that the two of you were the Romeo and Juliet of the Harte-Madison feud.”
    “Rafe didn’t use me as his alibi,” Hannah said. “I was his alibi.”
    “There’s a difference?”
    “Oh, yes,” Hannah said. “There’s a difference.”

chapter 2
    The weird part was that he had never intended to come back for more than an occasional overnight stay, just the obligatory duty visits to check up on Mitchell. Now he was determined to carve out his future here in Eclipse Bay.
    Go figure.
    Rafe propped one sneaker-clad foot on the bottom rail of the second-story veranda that wrapped around the big house. He braced his elbows on the top rail and watched the sporty little lipstick-red Honda turn into the long drive.
    He hadn’t had a lot of ambitions eight years ago. He’d only known that he had to stop screwing up. Something of a challenge, given where he was coming from. He’d achieved his primary objective, he thought, as he watched the rakish red car come closer. He’d managed to stay out of jail.
    He wondered if Hannah would be impressed.
    The crimson vehicle came to a halt next to his silverPorsche. An intense rush of anticipation swept through him. He watched the door on the driver’s side of the Honda open.
    The first thing he noticed when Hannah got out of the car was that her amber-brown hair was shorter. Eight years ago it had fallen well below her shoulders. Today it was cut in a sleek, sophisticated curve that angled along the line of her jaw.
    She didn’t look as if she had gained any weight in the intervening years, but there was something different about her figure. The black trousers and snug-fitting black top she wore revealed a fit, lithe body with a small waist, gently flared hips, and discreetly curved breasts. It took him a few seconds to decide that the difference was the sophisticated confidence with which she carried herself. She had seemed painfully young and naïve that night on the beach. Still a girl in some ways. She was a woman now.
    She paused, holding the car door open, and leaned down slightly to speak to someone in the front seat. From his vantage point on the upper veranda he could not see who had accompanied her. Sharp disappointment gripped him. For some reason he had assumed that she would be alone. What the hell had he expected? He’d heard that her engagement had blown up a year ago, but that was no reason to think she hadn’t gotten serious about someone else in the meantime.
    The passenger door did not open. Instead, Hannah stepped back to allow an elegantly trimmed gray Schnauzer to bound out of the car.
    Relief whipped through Rafe. Not a boyfriend, after all. Just a mutt. He could handle a dog.
    Sensing Rafe’s presence on the veranda, the Schnauzer came to a sudden halt and looked up at him. Rafe waited for the little beast to start yapping wildly intypical froufrou-dog style. But the Schnauzer did not bark. Instead, he gazed up at Rafe with an air of watchful stillness.
    Okay, so maybe this was not a totally froufrou dog.
    Hannah looked up to see what had captured her dog’s attention. The light of the late-afternoon sun glinted on her stylish sunglasses.
    “Hello, Rafe.”
    That cool reserve hadn’t been in her voice