LITMIR.BIZ

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determination.”

      “Or her stubbornness.”

      Kayla winked. “Takes after you, does she?”

      “Yes.” A smile tugged at the edges of his mouth. Madison already liked Kayla. Maybe she wasn’t so bad, after all. “Madison’s mother claimed she was a DNA copy machine. Only hers got left out.”

      He picked up a pile of clothes and placed them on his bed.

      “Where is Madison’s mother?”

      He shut a drawer and glanced up.

      “You spoke about her in the past tense so I’m assuming she passed—”

      “Last I heard she was in L.A.” Bitterness coated the inside of his mouth like barnacles on the hull of his ship. Too bad it wasn’t as easy to scrape away. “She’s off chasing her dream of stardom.”

      “How often does Madison see her?”

      “She doesn’t.” Ben closed another drawer, taking care not to slam it. He didn’t know why Kayla wanted to know and resented the intrusion into his personal life. Still, he answered, “I have full custody. Her mother didn’t want any visitations.”

      “Daddy,” Madison called out. “Are you done playing with Kayla? I want my turn.”

      Ben smiled. “In a minute, princess.”

      Kayla’s eyes gleamed with interest. “So it’s just you and your daughter?”

      He nodded, ignoring the little voice in his head calling him a failure. He’d failed to make his marriage work. Failed to provide his daughter with a stable family home. Failed to find the Izzy.

      “My mother died when I was two so it was just my dad and me, too.”

      Ben noticed the past tense. “Your father?”

      “He died eleven years ago right before my sixteenth birthday.”

      An orphan. The word seemed old-fashioned, but that’s what Kayla was. He thought about Madison. At least she wouldn’t be alone if something happened to him—his parents would care for her. “That must have been rough.”

      Kayla nodded. “Seeing you and Madison together brings back so many wonderful memories. I don’t remember my mother, but my dad did an amazing job raising me on his own. He was the best.”

      Her love showed both in her voice and in her eyes. Ben hoped Madison grew up feeling the same way about him. Raising a daughter alone would only get harder as she got older. He wondered if Kayla had any regrets. “Did you miss having a female influence in your life?”

      “Sometimes,” she said. “Actually, a lot of times when I was a teenager. But I loved my dad so much. It had always been just the two of us. I assumed he would fall in love and remarry, and maybe if he had…” Kayla got a faraway look in her eyes.

      Her smile, full of honesty and openness, touched Ben in a way he’d never felt before. He wanted to reach out to Kayla, but couldn’t. Something—make that lots of things—held him back. He looked away, shut the closet doors and straightened the photo on his nightstand.

      She continued. “If you do the best you can with Madison, you’ll be fine. And so will she.”

      He hoped so. Every day was a new adventure. Some good, some messy, some he never wanted to repeat. Soon Madison wouldn’t be a little girl… His stomach knotted, and he picked up a shirt from the floor.

      “And who knows—” Kayla winked “—you might find someone to share your life with one day.”

      He tossed the shirt onto his bed with the other clothes. This conversation was getting too personal. “We work a four-hour on, eight-off schedule. Do you want a shift?”

      “I’d love one.” Excitement sparkled in her eyes. “Should I give the coordinates of the Isabella’s location to the captain or you?”

      “We need to finish our current search first.”

      Kayla’s smile fell. “But—”

      “We’ll discuss your coordinates later.” If Ben had his way, later would never come. She would be out of here before then. “Dinner’s at 1800. Your shift starts at 0100.”

      Her eyes widened. “At 1:00 a.m.?”

      “Is that a problem?”

      “No,” she said a little too quickly. “It’s fine. Great. Perfect.”

      Ben smiled at her attempt to sound enthusiastic. He couldn’t wait to hear how she sounded in a couple of days when she said bon voyage. Those words would be music to his ears.

      Kayla could handle this, she really could. The more times she told herself that, the better she felt. And things had gotten better over the past few hours.

      Her tour of the ship, with its high-tech search capabilities and equipment, raised her hopes of finding the Isabella. The Xmarks Explorer’s facilities were first-rate. A STORM portable satellite terminal provided communication channels and data-exchange means and Internet access. She’d be able to keep in constant touch with the investors and the museum.

      The crew was larger than she’d expected. One group dealt with the ship’s operation and the other handled the search. She sighed at the thought of working with the bawdy crew of search-and-salvage “specialists” and eating meals with them.

      As dinnertime rolled around, Kayla wasn’t sure what to think. She sat alone at a small round table in the ship’s dining room. Ben was the only one who didn’t seem to be watching her eat, and that suited Kayla fine. If only she could stop noticing him, too. Despite his less-than-stellar personality, she liked seeing him interact with his daughter. And scowl or not, he was easy on the eyes.

      Just like tonight’s dinner was easy on Kayla’s stomach. She leaned back in her chair and smiled. Stevie, a two-hundred-and-fifty-pound towering giant from Minneapolis, had cooked lasagna. Although, cooked didn’t do justice to the delicious melted-cheese-and-veggie concoction that she might expect to be served at her favorite Italian restaurant back home in Portland, Oregon, rather than on a salvage ship in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

      Stevie carried a tray of sourdough slices. The aroma alone added calories. “More bread, Kayla?”

      “No, thanks. I must have eaten half a loaf already. Did you make the bread from scratch?”

      He nodded. “I use a starter my grammy gave me seven years ago. Sure you don’t want another slice?”

      “Maybe one more.” As she took a piece, Stevie grinned, showing the gap between his front teeth.

      “Yo, Cookie.” A short, stocky man with reddish hair strutted up. “More bread over here.”

      She noticed Madison watching the interaction. This was none of Kayla’s business, but the little girl was only three and very impressionable. She had to say something.

      “Excuse me, but I forgot your name,” Kayla said to the man.

      “I’m Fitz.” His green eyes danced. “Want to get to know me better? Say in the horizontal position?”

      Stevie stared at his tray of bread.

      “Thanks, but I’ll pass.” Kayla pasted on a smile and lowered her voice. “Right now I’m more concerned about Madison, who’s listening to everything you say. Good manners are important, especially in front of a three-year-old.”

      Fitz’s face reddened to match his curly hair. “Damn, I forgot about the kiddo.”

      Staring at the floor, Fitz shuffled back to his table.

      Time would tell if he’d learned his lesson. Kayla finished a bite of bread. She’d died and gone to bread-lover’s paradise. “Do you always cook like this?”

      “Nah, I mean,

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