Free Broken Wings by Sandra Edwards Page B

no one was there, and that was somehow
disheartening. Surveying her surroundings, she saw Billy heading
her way from the end of the trail.
    She scrambled to cover herself and felt
the heat burning her cheeks when she remembered that she was fully
clothed. Unable to rid herself of the flush that had fallen over
her at the mere thought of— hey, what was that
anyway ?
    Billy stopped at the side of the rock
she was sitting on. “Uh oh.” The corner of his lip twisted. “There
it is again.”
    “ What?” She glanced down,
making sure she wasn’t actually as naked as she felt. This
thing—whatever it was that she’d seen—seemed so real. She could
still recall Tajan’s hair tickling her breasts.
    “ You know…” Billy folded his
arms across his chest and leaned against the rock. “That same look
you got when you thought you saw yourself getting your picture
taken with Maggie’s sisters.”
    Rio looked away, defeat swelling inside
her.
    “ What?” Billy laughed
nervously. “What happened while I was gone?”
    “ I don’t know.” She
shrugged, trying to blow it off. “I fell asleep. I was having a
dream, I guess.”
    “ A dream?” He looked at her.
“About what?”
    “ I—” She shook her head
“—can’t remember.”
    “ Well, personally, I think
you can. But I’m not going to push you. If you don’t want to talk
about it,” he said with a slight nod. “That’s up to
you.”
    How could she? How could she tell this
virtual stranger—a man she also happened to be conning—that she was
fantasizing about his third-great grandfather?
     
     
    ~~~~
     
     

CHAPTER 19
     
     
    Rio and Billy sat across from each
other in a booth at Grandma Hattie’s, a restaurant that was popular
with the locals. And with good reason; they served up excellent
food and Rio was growing fond of their blintzes.
    Considering Billy’s opinion of Maggie,
one would think he’d shy as far away from Rio as he could get.
Billy hated Maggie. He hated her for destroying Tajan’s life.
That’s the way he saw the story, and no amount of talking could
convince him otherwise.
    In light of that, being around Rio
should be the last thing he’d want. It stood to reason that her
being there would seem like his worst nightmare had come to life to
haunt him.
    But that wasn’t the case, at all. The
more time he spent with her, the more he felt drawn and connected
to her. And the bond was pure. As far as Billy knew, Rio Laraquette
was indeed his cousin. He never thought for a second that that
could possibly be a lie.
    The waitress sat a hot tea plate down
in front of Rio and poured a cup of coffee for Billy. Rio dropped
the teabag into the pot and reached for the sugar. Grabbing several
packets she ripped them apart and dumped the contents into her
empty cup.
    Pouring the tea, she cast a stealthful
glance across the room. At this point, she hadn’t made eye contact
with the two men watching her and Billy from a booth near the
entrance. She planned to let them flitter in the wind a little
longer. It wasn’t time to let Turner’s goons know that she was on
to them.
    But she was going to have to tell
Billy, sooner or later. Yep, the time was drawing close.
    She looked at Billy. “What do you think
we should do now?” The thought of finding a bonafide treasure was
becoming more and more intriguing.
    “ We’ve got to figure out how
to read that map,” he said. “We’re certainly not going to find
anything out until we can do that.”
    Rio checked on their tails. They were
still there. Without missing a beat, she looked back at Billy.
“Yeah, but…” She dipped a spoon into her hot tea and stirred it.
“That map makes absolutely no sense at all.” She pointed her spoon
at Billy and then laid it on the saucer alongside the cup. “Even
your dad says so.”
    “ Maybe we need to talk to
him again.”
    “ Okay.” She tilted her head
to one side. “We’ll go see you’re dad again…if you think it’ll
help.”
    If somebody