The Ivy House - By Drea Stein Page 0,27

hand up and they saw blood flowing freely.

Lynn went into doctor mode, and Phoebe was left on the sidelines.

After a brief examination, during which Lynn told the other girl to get the first aid kit, Lynn pronounced Chase fine.

“Just keep it clean and a bandage on it for a day.”

“I don’t need a tetanus shot?” Chase asked. He was sitting in the cockpit, looking like he was used to women hovering about him. Phoebe had stayed on the dock, arms crossed, kicking at it harmlessly with her toe.

“I don’t know,” Lynn said, cleaning up the supplies from the medical kit and handing it back to the girl. “When was the last time you had one?”

“Not a clue.”

Lynn snorted. “How rusty a nail?”

The other girl rolled her head. “It was a paper cut. Chase was pushing papers and I was trying to calibrate his radar system.”

“I think it was a splinter.” Chase said, his eyes turning puppy-dog round, but Lynn was unmoved.

“A paper cut is more likely.”

Phoebe looked up and caught Chase gazing at her, his blue eyes filled with interest. She turned and paced another length of the boat.

“Look, I gotta get back to the office, Chase. I have a call with the West Coast over online promotions.”

“Great, Tory, thanks for trying to fix the radar system.”

“Trying?” the girl, Tory, Phoebe supposed it was, tossed her caramel-color hair as she easily landed on the dock. “It’s fixed. You can bring me a mocchachino later. See you, Lynn.”

The girl shot a smile at Chase and Lynn, gave a nod and a wave to Phoebe, and walked back towards land without another look.

Lynn glanced uneasily between Chase and Phoebe. “I think the clinic just buzzed me. I’ll catch you later.”

She too jumped lightly on the dock and made a discreet “call me” gesture before leaving.

Phoebe drew up near the little step stool that Chase had set up to make it easier to get on board the boat.

“Glad you came by. Tory’s a genius with computers, but I think the sight of blood makes her faint.” Chase smiled at her, as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening.

Phoebe said nothing, trying to fight the trembling that had come over her.

“You know you’re supposed to ask permission to come aboard?” Chase said, the know-it-all grin back.

“I don’t think I need to ask anything of you,” Phoebe said. Her tone almost wiped the smirk off Chase’s face.

“How dare you?” she began and found that she was trembling.

“Whoa, what did I do?” He stood up and the boat moved with him. Phoebe thought better about climbing aboard as he crossed the space of the cockpit and was now standing at the railing looking over her. She didn’t need to be in a confined space with him.

“It’s more like what you didn’t do.”

“What are you talking about?” He sounded genuinely surprised.

“How could you have not told me?” Phoebe found that she had gone from angry to upset and her voice showed it. If Savannah had been here, she would have known how to play to the scene. But she wasn’t. Instead, Phoebe was facing Chase Sanders, Leland Harper’s grandson.

“Told you…You mean you didn’t know?”

“Of course I didn’t know. You’re Leland Harper’s grandson.”

“So?” Chase said, and he jumped lightly onto the dock. It moved gently underneath them, and a seagull that had been posed on a piling took flight into the warm blue sky.

He was there, right in front of her, standing too close to her. She took a step back and found that her way was blocked, that there was something, a large pole, behind her. To step around would make it obvious that she was trying to get away from him, and she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of knowing that.

“Don’t you think you might have mentioned it?”

Chase shrugged. He didn’t have his sunglasses on, and she could see just how blue his eyes were, the sapphire of them surrounded by little lines that fanned out from the corners.

“I guess I was waiting for the right time. Besides, it’s a bit of an awkward way to open a conversation, don’t you think?”

Phoebe didn’t say anything, so he continued. “Anyway, what does it matter?”

“Matter?” Phoebe knew her voice sounded shrill even to her own ears. “Matter. Why do you want the house? Some sort of evil vendetta?”

“Vendetta?” Chase looked puzzled. “What are you talking about? It’s a house…”

He didn’t get any further than that.

“I know what you Harpers are capable of. And if you