Stranded With Her Ex

“This is your first visit to the Farallones, Daniela?” Brent asked.

“Yes,” she said, glancing up from her plate. “How about you?”

“It’s my first time, too. And Elizabeth’s, I think?”

She nodded.

“That can’t have been the first time you’d seen a shark attack,” Daniela commented. “You were as cool as ice.”

Laughing, he shook his head. “I was scared witless, I assure you. But you’re right, I’ve filmed sharks feeding many times. The trick is to cultivate a courageous facade.” Arching a brow at Sean, he asked, “Or do you become inured to it, eventually?”

Sean shrugged. “It would be a mistake to get too comfortable out there.”

“Says the man whose pulse never climbs above seventy.”

Sean lifted a forkful of rice to his mouth, not bothering to dispute him.

“Well, you couldn’t pay me to watch a shark feeding,” Elizabeth said with a shudder. “If this island wasn’t home to so many species of birds, I wouldn’t have come at all.”

Brent gave her an odd look. “Really? I could have sworn I’d met you before, on a shark expedition. I’ve been wracking my brain, trying to remember where and when.”

Jason perked up at this news. “Liz is secretly a shark groupie?”

“Don’t be absurd,” she said, her tone frosty. “I hate sharks.”

“My mistake,” Brent murmured, but Daniela was left with the impression that he didn’t think it was.

The tension in the room was palpable. Elizabeth seemed uneasy in her surroundings, and reluctant to share personal information. Sean wasn’t thrilled with Daniela’s unexpected arrival. And Taryn picked at her food, looking depressed by the turn of events.

“I heard that the house is haunted,” Daniela said, changing the subject.

Unfortunately, her attempt to lighten the mood failed. No one said a word.

“Is there a local superstition?” she asked, pressing on.

Taryn stopped pretending to eat and set her fork down. Sean shot her a warning glare but she ignored it. “Some people think the house is inhabited by a lady in white. She was a light keeper’s wife, a pioneer woman who lived here a hundred years ago.”

“What’s her story?”

Her lips curved into a humorless smile. “Apparently, she threw herself off the cliffs. One night, she went to the lighthouse tower to check the lamps. Instead of refueling them, she walked to the edge and leaped to her death.”

A chill traveled down Daniela’s spine. “How do they know she jumped?”

“She washed up at Dead Man’s Beach, pockets full of stones.”

“Oh.” Now she knew why Sean hadn’t wanted her to hear the tale. He’d always been protective, and there was a time, not so long ago, that she’d contemplated a similar fate. “Why wasn’t she eaten by sharks, do you think?”

“It wasn’t shark season,” Jason said, matter-of-fact.

Daniela stared down at her plate, silent. She was curious about the skinned seal, but she hesitated to bring up a second unpleasant topic. Instead, she ate a few more bites and took sips of water, pretending to relax.

Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.