Free Dawn in Eclipse Bay by Jayne Ann Krentz Page B

off, myself.”
    Rafe raised a brow. “Good idea. About time you grabbed a few days off. It’s been a while since you got out of your office.”
    â€œSo they tell me,” Gabe said noncommittally.
    Lillian stilled. “You’re going to be here in Eclipse Bay for three or four days? That’s all?”
    Rafe chuckled. “Don’t worry, Lillian, he won’t loiter long in the vicinity, if that’s what’s worrying you. He can stay at Mitchell’s place for a couple of days, at least until Mitchell gets back from Hawaii. But after that he’ll be on borrowed time. I can safely predict that after forty-eight hours the two of them will be at each other’s throat.”
    â€œReally? Just two days?”
    â€œSure. Take it from me. Mitchell will start in with his usual lectures, telling Gabe how he’s become too obsessed with M.C. Gabe will tell him where to get off. Next thing you know, Gabe will be packing his bags.”
    Lillian allowed herself to relax. Rafe had a point. Everyone knew that the three Madison men were notoriously stubborn and hardheaded. The trait no doubt made it next to impossible for any two or more of them to share a house for an extended period of time.
    â€œYou’re right.” Gabe raised one shoulder in easy acquiescence to Rafe’s prediction. “A day or two of sharing a house with Mitchell would be about all I could take.”
    Rafe winked at Lillian. “Told you so.”
    â€œLately he’s been getting worse with the lectures, if you can believe it,” Gabe continued. He shook his head sadly. “In hindsight, giving him a computer was a major mistake.”
    â€œAre you kidding?” Rafe chuckled. “He loves that thing. Took to it like a duck to water.”
    â€œHe’s got an aptitude for it, all right,” Gabe said. “But he’s not using it the way I thought he would.”
    Lillian paused, her fork in midair. “How did you expect him to use it?”
    â€œFor good, wholesome, educational purposes. I figured he’d wile away many happy hours checking out senior porn sites. Instead, he’s gotten into the habit of e-mailing me every day.”
    Rafe grinned. “Bet I can guess the content of those e-mail notes.”
    â€œThey cover a variety of topics but they all come down to his opinion of how I’m running my business and my personal life.”
    Lillian cleared her throat. “I take it he doesn’t approve of how you’re handling either one?”
    The strong emotion in Gabe’s voice startled her. Whatever was going on between Gabe and his grandfather was more than just annoying to Gabe. It was generating some real pain.
    â€œNo,” he said quietly. “He doesn’t approve.”
    â€œI’m sorry if you were planning to stay with us,” Hannah said gently. “As you can see, things are a mess. No one can be in here while the floors are being redone.”
    â€œI know.” Gabe added some of Rafe’s homemade tomato chutney to his curry.
    Rafe watched him expectantly. “So, how long, exactly, do you think you’ll stay with Mitchell?”
    â€œI won’t be staying with him at all.” Gabe waited a beat. “I rented the old Buckley place.”
    â€œFor how long?” Lillian asked warily.
    â€œA month.”
    There was a moment of acute shock.
    â€œYou’re actually going to take off an entire month?” Hannah asked in disbelief.
    â€œI’ll have to make a couple of trips back to town for some events that I couldn’t scrub from my calendar,” Gabe said. “I’m scheduled to deliver the introduction at a banquet to honor one of my former college professors, for instance. But otherwise I don’t see any reason why I can’t handle anything that might come up at Madison Commercial from here. I brought my computer and my fax machine and there’s always the