scowling. Both were wearing sunglasses, and they were standing on a boat, cool blue water glittering behind them.
But it wasn’t the location that stopped Rafe. It was the fact her hand covered his on her stomach. And looking closer, he realized she hadn’t been chubby in those pictures, she’d been pregnant.
Pregnant? Lisa?
He glanced across the room to where she was busy sorting papers in the trunk, paying no attention to him. He looked back at the photo. It was definitely her. No question about it. And because these pictures were with Stone’s research, it was pretty obvious the guy with her was none other than the dead archaeologist.
She’d had his baby? He opened his mouth to ask that very question, then closed it quickly.
Maybe she hadn’t. In the photo it looked like she was just starting to show. He flipped the paper over and glanced at the date: May 23. Stone had died sometime in the middle of June. Which meant this picture was taken just before his death.
Rafe bit the inside of his lip. Hailey’s cousin had looked like that when she’d been…what, five months along? Six? Fifteen years ago, how late could a woman legally have an abortion? If the guy had just died, would she have gone ahead with the pregnancy?
His gut said yes, but he couldn’t be sure. Maybe she’d given the kid up for adoption. That was always a possibility. Either way, it was pretty obvious Dr. Maxwell didn’t have any children now, and from all his research, he knew she was the ultra-career-driven female. He’d watched her with the kids downstairs. She was a good aunt, teasing them, playing with them when they begged for her attention, but when all was said and done, she kept her distance.
Lisa let out a long breath and stretched her back. “I think that’s about it.”
Rafe slipped the picture in his back pocket and replaced the others.
She stood. “Let’s get it boxed up, and then we can get out of here.”
He followed her lead and reached for the lid. Getting out of here sounded pretty damn good right about now. “Works for me.”
That hadn’t been nearly as bad as she’d thought it would be. Once Rafe had shut up and stopped making smart-mouthed comments, he’d worked fairly well and pulled his own weight. And, Lisa had to admit, going through Doug’s old papers hadn’t affected her as she’d expected.
She’d tossed all those old pictures—thank God. Not seeing his face helped. But she was still apprehensive about reading his notes in depth. It would invariably bring up memories and emotions she wouldn’t be able to hide. She hoped to do most of that away from the watchful eyes of Rafe Sullivan.
She rounded the curve in the stairs and stopped short when she heard Shane’s voice in the kitchen. Great. Just great. As much as she loved her brother, some small part of her had hoped she’d missed him this trip. He must have heard her footsteps—or read her mind—because he appeared in the doorway to the kitchen just then, dark hair mussed, darker eyes locked on hers.
“There she is.” He took the box from her fingers, dropped it on the floor and caught her in a tight embrace.
Her eyes slid closed. He smelled like wintergreen Tic Tacs® and stale coffee. “God, I missed you,” he said into her ear.
She missed him, too. More than she wanted to admit. He was the only man who could very nearly bring her to tears.
When he dropped her on her feet, she got her first good look at him. His eyes were tired, worn. Blue smudges under his lashes proved he wasn’t sleeping much. And he’d lost weight since she’d seen him six months ago in San Francisco.
“You look like hell, little brother.”
Little brother was her favorite joke. At six-one, he was anything but little. Broad shoulders, a trim waist, abs of steel. He was every woman’s fantasy, even ten pounds lighter than his normal one-ninety. But that didn’t ease her worry.
He flicked her one of his lopsided grins and tapped his fist against her jaw. “Nice of you to notice.”
Footsteps echoed behind her. Shane’s gaze lifted. When his expression hardened, she knew he’d just caught sight of her thief.
Wonderful.
“What the hell?”
She placed a hand on Shane’s chest and watched as he shifted into protective-big-brother mode. “Don’t get all bent out of shape. This is Rafe—”
“Sullivan,” Shane finished on a harsh breath. “Oh yeah, I definitely remember.” His gaze narrowed, flicked to Lisa