Without thinking, he scanned the headline, something about health care reforms.
Returning the newspaper to the chair, he was about to walk back to the bar when something else caught his eye.
Juliet, Juliet, wherefore art thou, Juliet?
It wasn’t the misquote of Shakespeare that caught his attention, it was the picture beneath it.
The media was still focused on the plane crash that had killed actress Lana Fox and her much older lover. There had been endless speculation about the whereabouts of her little girl.
Ryan grabbed the newspaper and took a closer look at the photograph, and in that single moment he had the answers he’d been looking for.
He no longer needed to speculate as to why Emily had run. He didn’t need to wonder why she’d almost closed the door in his face or even why someone who knew nothing about boats had come to Puffin Island.
He
knew.
And he knew why the child looked familiar.
CHAPTER FOUR
“WE HAVE TO GO BACK.” Lizzy refused to move from the front door. “I left Andrew.”
“It’s late, Lizzy. Almost time for bed. We can’t go back now. I’ll phone the Ocean Club and explain. They’ll keep Andrew safe.”
“Nooo. I can’t sleep without him. Someone might take him.”
Emily didn’t think a battered bear with one eye missing and a slit throat would fit most people’s idea of a dream toy, but she kept that thought to herself. She was too busy beating herself up for making such a basic mistake. How could she have left the bear? And why hadn’t she noticed sooner? It proved what she already knew—that she was the wrong person for this task. “Most people don’t take things that belong to other people.” Hoping her faith in human nature wasn’t misplaced, she fumbled for her phone. “I’m going to call and ask them to keep Andrew. We’ll pick him up tomorrow.” By then the newspaper would have been thrown away, hopefully by someone more interested in tidying it up than reading it.
If she was lucky, no one would make the connection, but the incident had shaken her.
All thoughts of leaving the island faded. She needed to hide away, and there was no better place for that than Castaway Cottage.
Lizzy’s face crumpled. “I want Andrew.”
Emily’s hands shook on the phone. “I’m going to make the call right now. Remember that nice girl, Kirsti? We’re going to ask her to take care of Andrew until tomorrow.”
Lizzy didn’t answer. Instead, she ran into the living room and flopped down on the sofa with her face turned away.
Emily couldn’t help thinking a tantrum would have been easier to handle, but she was learning that Lizzy’s way of handling stress was to lock herself away.
She was looking up the number for the Ocean Club when there was a knock at the door.
What now?
Had someone recognized them?
Was this the moment she’d been dreading?
Braced for defensive action, she opened the door. She’d call the police. She’d sneak away in the night. She’d—
Ryan stood there, the bear in his hands. “I thought you might be missing this. I would have brought it over sooner but we’ve been insanely busy.”
Emily sagged against the door frame. She’d never been so pleased to see anyone in her life. “You’re a lifesaver. She adores that bear.” She took it from him, wondering how to clone the battered bear. “I should have been more careful.” She felt like hugging him but decided hugging Ryan Cooper probably qualified as a dangerous sport.
“Don’t be hard on yourself. When my sister was Lizzy’s age she was always losing toys. And you left in a hurry.”
“We had things to do.” Relief was tempered by caution. “It was kind of you to drive over. I don’t know how to thank you. You’re obviously busy, so—”