Free Bone Island 03 - Ghost Moon by Heather Graham Page A

really liking you. I can’t believe that you’re an adult now.”
    Kelsey seldom flushed, but she did so. David Beckett had an amazing sense of class and kindness.
    Like Liam.
    But her mother had always said that their grandfather, Craig Beckett, was one of the most honorable men she had ever known. He had taught his progeny well, she thought.
    She needed to take a step back; this did feel like old-home week. And she wasn’t staying. She had started life over again, and she was comfortable where she was. She loved her work, her neighborhood, and she wasn’t surewhy she had come, other than guilt and a sense of debt, and she was very afraid of falling back into…she didn’t know what. Maybe the oddity of belonging to the house and being Cutter Merlin’s granddaughter.
    “Thank you, David. And Jonas, it’s really okay—I wasn’t so fond of you back then, either,” she said, and the group laughed.
    “Have a seat—I’ll get you a Guinness,” Liam said.
    “Oh, wait! I’m supposedly working,” Clarinda said.
    “It’s all right—I know the owner,” Liam said laughing. He headed straight back behind the bar to pour the beer himself.
    “We’re right across from you,” Clarinda told Kelsey. “I live with Jonas, and if you need anything at all, we’re really close.”
    “Thank you.”
    “Yes, honest. Now I’ll be glad if you stop by,” Jonas said. He made a face. “And I’ve got rooms if you want out of the old place.”
    “Actually, I loved living there,” she said.
    “Oh, I don’t know,” Katie put in. “Liam said it’s in pretty bad shape. Although I’ll be happy to come over and help you put things in order, if you like.”
    “That would be great,” Kelsey said. Could she really ask someone else to sweep up spiderwebs and dust with her?
    “I would absolutely adore getting into that house!” Jaden said. “That’s what Ted and I do. Well, not exactly. We own a place called Sunken Treasures. Most of what we do is restoration of things that divers bring up. Salvage restoration. But I worked at an auction house fora while before Ted and I opened our own place, so I’m pretty good at assessing the value of old treasures.”
    “That’s great to know,” Kelsey said.
    Liam returned with two pints of Guinness, setting one in front of her. She thanked him, and Ted said, “Well, you do have an army here for help, if you want it. I must admit, I’m fascinated by the prospect of getting into the house, too.”
    “We could have a clean-the-house day,” Liam said.
    “Do you all have a conception of just how bad the house is?” Kelsey asked.
    “Oh, hey, well, it doesn’t take a lot of talent to get entangled in spiderwebs,” Katie told her.
    “There’s still a barbecue out back, isn’t there?” Jonas asked.
    “Oh, Lord, if there is, God knows what’s in it,” Kelsey told him.
    “We have an old portable barbecue somewhere,” Sean said. “Why don’t we dig it out? I mean—if you want an army trampling over on Saturday. I’m thinking Saturday would be the best day?” He looked at Katie and the others. “Katie, you don’t start until nine or ten on Saturday night, Clarinda can come in late, and Ted and Jaden can close early. Liam, you take Saturday off, don’t you?”
    “Unless someone calls in with a real problem,” Liam said.
    The pretty blonde at Sean’s side—Vanessa—cleared her throat. “Excuse me—we’ve all just invited ourselves over, you realize.”
    Kelsey laughed. “It sounds great. Sean, you can bringthe barbecue, but I’ll supply the food. If you’re cleaning the house for me, the least I can do is supply the barbecue.”
    “It’s not that bad. The weather should hold,” Liam said. “We can clean—then wash all the spiderwebs off by taking a dip. The water is a little cool right now, but not that bad.”
    “Hey…I’ve got to get started,” Katie said. “We have a group of coeds looking at the suggestion books, and I’m not sure they’ll like