LITMIR.BIZ

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Patty?”

      “That’s right.” The Realtor spoke to Claire. “We had to call Mr. Eisenring at the retirement home to see if he could remember where he’d put the keys when the Holcombs closed up Dolphin Run. Thank goodness he’s still alive and recalled where they were.”

      Hogan took the keys from Lucy’s hand. “Great. I think I’ll drive out there and have a look around.” He gave Claire a pointed stare, a kind of top-to-bottom appraisal. Trying to ignore the flutter his attention brought to the pit of her stomach, she concentrated on the reason for his interest. Did he find her designer capri pants and flowered shirt too unofficial? Her open-toed sandals too casual for a city leader? Too bad if he did. Claire had a complete business wardrobe in mothballs, and she didn’t care if she ever wore a tailored jacket or pantyhose again.

      “You look like you’re dressed for an adventure, Mrs. Betancourt,” he said. “How’d you like to go exploring with me out at Dolphin Run?”

      Patty and Lucy both gasped.

      Claire waved off his offer. “Thanks, but I couldn’t.”

      “Too much town business, I guess,” he said.

      “Right. A full docket.” She stood up and headed toward the door. “In fact, I have to get to my office right away.”

      Hogan slipped the keys into his pocket, picked up his coffee cup and followed her. “I’ll walk you out.” He nodded to Lucy and Patty and fell into step behind her. “It’ll give me the chance to thank you for last night.”

      Snickers trailed after them and Claire imagined the story Patty and Lucy were concocting.

      As if sensing her distress, Hogan added loudly, “What I mean is, thanks for pointing me to that little dollhouse of Mrs. Poole’s.”

      Once out on the sidewalk, Claire said, “You have a nice day now, Mr. Hogan.”

      He put the bag he’d been carrying into the back seat of his vehicle. “I thought you wanted information, Mayor.”

      She slid her sunglasses from the top of her head to the bridge of her nose. “There’s more than one way to get it,” she said.

      “Probably, but what way is easier than going with me to Dolphin Run? Plus, I could use a little information myself.” He glanced over his shoulder in the general direction of the abandoned resort. “Have you ever seen the place?”

      She admitted she hadn’t.

      “Aren’t you the least bit curious about it? Don’t you want to know what’s on the other side of that big iron fence?”

      She shrugged, attempting to minimize her recent desperate desire to know everything about Dolphin Run and the people involved in its purchase. “I can wait till another time.”

      “Suit yourself, Claire,” he said. The use of her first name was no doubt a tactic of his to topple a barrier between them so he could get her cooperation. Oddly, it almost worked. When he added, “But I’d sure appreciate the company,” Claire found herself wanting to say yes.

      Then he opened the driver’s side door of his SUV and said, “Big old spooky places scare me.”

      She watched him slide into the seat and pull his door shut. When he zipped down the passenger window and leaned down to look at her, she was still staring at the car. “What do you say?”

      She released the breath she’d been holding in a long, exasperated sigh. “Oh, all right, I’ll go.” She gave a quick look into the window of Heron Point Realty, saw Patty and Lucy staring at her, and got into the car. “But I have a feeling I’m going to regret this.”

      Hogan jerked his thumb toward the back seat. “Have a doughnut.” He indicated the paper bag. “I went grocery shopping this morning. Got the essentials.”

      Claire stole a peek over the top of the sack. Doughnuts, a jar of coffee, a bag of spicy jalapeño chips and beer. Those were Jack Hogan’s food essentials. Claire’s stomach turned over in a gesture of self-preservation. “Thanks, but I’ll pass.”

      JACK RAN HIS WINDOW DOWN as he drove out of town. As the wind rushed into the car, he looked at Claire. “Do you mind?” Since the passenger window had already been lowered, strands of her thick blond hair had come loose from the clip that had held it together at the nape of her neck. And Claire Betancourt didn’t look like the kind of woman who appreciated having her sleek hairdo whipped around her face like she was on an amusement ride. Jack thought he’d better see if she wanted the windows up and the air-conditioning on.

      She raised her glasses to the top of her head, holding the windblown strands away from her forehead. “No, it feels good actually.”

      He pushed a few errant spikes of hair off his brow and mentally added a trip to a barbershop to his growing list of priorities. Normally he kept his lightly peppered dark hair close-cropped and maintenance-free, but he’d put off his monthly visit to his hair cutter while he was preparing to leave for Heron Point. He hoped he wouldn’t have to drive the thirty miles back to civilization just to find a barber.

      “So, how long have you been mayor?” he said after a moment.

      “Almost a year. I’d only lived in Heron Point a year and a half when I was persuaded to run.”

      “Looks like you impressed the populace pretty quickly.”

      Keeping her gaze focused on the road, she smiled. “Not really. I ran unopposed. I heard after I was elected in a landslide of five hundred and twenty-three votes that the mayor before me was also a newcomer and also ran unopposed. I’m starting to believe the office is a rite of initiation for new residents.”

      “But, hey, you must have got all the votes.”

      “You’d think so, but no, I didn’t. There were six write-ins. Hester Poole got two of them.”

      “My landlady with the phobia about big cars?”

      “Yes, and an obvious affinity for pink.” She gave him a sideways glance. “By the way, how do you like your accommodations?”

      He pretended nonchalance. “What’s not to like? Except that I feel like Ken when he finally got lucky and was invited to Barbie’s house. Only Barbie’s not there.”

      “Maybe you can move to Dolphin Run after it’s cleaned up a bit,” she suggested.

      He turned onto Gulfview Drive, which would take them to the spit of land where the resort was located. “I don’t know. I have a hunch it’s going to take more than a broom and dustpan to make the place livable. And I can’t fault Mrs. Poole for her housekeeping skills.”

      Truthfully, though Jack had been kidding about being afraid of going into Dolphin Run alone, he wasn’t looking forward to what he might find there. According to Archie, the original owners had left the place virtually deserted in the early sixties. Jack figured there had to be a story behind their sudden departure. Maybe someday when he and Archie shared that bottle of scotch, he’d learn what it was.

      The next owners, the Holcombs, had intended to keep the place running. But apparently they’d lost interest rather quickly and had given up any thoughts of managing the establishment. To Jack’s knowledge, no one had stayed in Dolphin Run since the late sixties. Perhaps it had even been that long since anyone had stepped inside the place. Who knew what creatures had taken up residence without humans to shoo them away.

      “There it is,” Claire said, pointing to an overgrown thicket of shrubs and trees gone wild from lack of attention.

      Jack slowed and stared at majestic cedars, live oaks dripping with moss and more varieties of palms than he’d known existed. He couldn’t detect either a building or an iron fence through the blanket of dense limbs and drooping fronds. “Looks like my first order of business is to hire a new gardener for this place,” he said.

      “Hmmm…” Claire leaned forward to get a better perspective.

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