"No."

Rose sighed and headed for the living room. When she returned, she was carrying a sc.r.a.pbook. "Here. This will give you a clearer picture of who my son really is. You make yourself breakfast and take your time looking through this. That is, if you're interested." She patted the book. "There are things in here that might shock you, but there is more good in here than bad. Anytime the percents are up, a parent should count their blessings. It's a tough world out there, and only the strong make it. I'm proud to say I have two strong children. My husband, Carl, used to say, 'Rose, don't you worry none about those two kids of ours. We grew 'um tough.'"

Kristen was bent over, offering Manard Nelson-a local customer with a round belly and thick gla.s.ses-her advice on spices, when she heard the doorbell ring. She glanced up to greet her next customer and her heart stopped. Blu was coming through the front door. There was no way she could disappear before he saw her, no way to avoid him at all since Rose had slipped upstairs with Amanda for a fifteen-minute break.

She glanced at the clock on the wall. It was three o'clock. The store would close by five, and she'd planned it so she would have just enough time to make it to the bus station by seven.

Manard was saying something. Kristen didn't hear, nor could she move-Blu had spied her and their eyes locked. For a moment she couldn't look away, then she had to. She realized she knew too much about this man, too much and not enough.

"Miss? I said, I'll take the jambalaya seasonin'. The five ounce, please. I'm gonna be usin' it on shrimp and my homemade smoked sausage."

"Good choice, Manard." Blu stepped forward, plucked the spice off the shelf and limped to the cash register. Manard's wrapped fish sat on the counter, and Kristen watched as Blu got busy ringing up the two purchases. She watched his hands, a mix of emotions flooding her thoughts.

"That'll be nine dollars and sixteen cents, Manard."

The older man had waddled to the register. Squintingatthe cash register's highlighted numbers, he said, "Don't that seem high?"

"You don't want the spice." Blu reached for thespice and hauled it back, then shoved the fish toward Manard. "Six dollars and forty-ninecents."

"Now wait a minute, Blu."

"Either you want the fish or the spice, Manard. Me,I'd take the fish. That is, unless you enjoy spicy toast."

"Toast. h.e.l.l, I gotta have more than toast for supper. But Pearl said I should pick up seasonin' for her shrimp."

Kristen watched Blu shove the spice forward to join thewrapped fish. "That'll benine dollars andsixteen cents, Manard."

The older manscrewed uphis face, looked at the register's highlighted numbers once more, then mumbled somethingabout the high cost of living. Secondslater he dug deep in his pocket and pulled out the correct amount. Blu tossed the money in the till, then came around the counter. He stuck the spice in Manard's shirt pocket, then tossed him the wrapped fish. Manard was still juggling his.p.a.ckage as Blu gripped his arm and propelled him out the door and into the street. "Thanks, Manard."

Before the mancould reply, Blu shutthe door in his face, flipped the Open sign around, then locked the door.

"You can't close," Kristen insisted. "The sign says Open Until Five."

"When you're in business for yourself you can do any d.a.m.n thing you want. Look at me, Ihaven'tworked for over a week."

His confession reminded Kristen as to why that was, and she raised her chin. "Go back to work, Blu Devil. There's no reason not to anymore."

He studied her a minute. Finally he said, "You didn't have to leave."

"Yes, I did." Kristen wasn't going to get into it. She'd lied to him and he'd walked out because of it. They both had their reasons for doing what they'd done. And that's how she intended to view Blu's "other job," too. He must have had a reason for becoming theBlu Devil.She didn't understand it, but one thing she was sure of was that deep in this man's soul he was a good person.

"I want you back on the boat."

Kristen blinked out of hermusing. "How did you know I was here? Did your mother call you?"

"No. I've been going door todoor. Arnie Lennon down at the liquor store told me he saw you in here yesterday afternoon. Go tell Ma I'm taking you for aboat ride, then out to supper."

"No, I can't. Blu? Blu!"

Kristen raced after him as he headed for the stairs. He took them three at a time and was inside the apartmentbefore she could stop him.

"Ma!"

"Blu, is that you?"

"Da..."

Kristen had reached the door. Blu was already in the kitchen. Rose was holding Amanda in the rocking chair in the living room. With all eyes on Amanda, they watched as she wiggled off Rose's lap, and with a wide grin, trotted eagerly to Blu. More amazing was watching him hunker down and wrap his big hands around her as she began to climb up onto his knee.

"Hey, Mandy, how's my girl?"

Giggling, her little hands squeezed Blu's cheeks, which made his lips pucker, then she kissed him. He made as if he was going to bite her neck after that, and she giggled louder.

For amoment Rose and Kristen watched withoutsaying a word, thenfinally Kristen found her voice. "I'm sorry, Mrs. duFray, but Blu put the Closed sign out and locked the door. I tried to tell him-"

"Blu, how am I suppose to pay my bills if I close early without any warning?"

He looked up as if he'd forgotten that anyone else was in the room-his entire attention had been fixed

on Amanda. "You never close early, Ma. Once in a while won't hurt. And as far as your bills go, you pay them as regular as you visit the toilet."

"Blu! The baby's ears."

Kristen watched as Blu bent down and scooped a stuffed rabbit up off the floor. "You kept this old thing?"

"I kept all your stuffed animals." She glanced at Kristen. "He loved stuffed animals so much that he slept with them all piled up on hisbed.He was still doing that at ageeleven."

"Thanks for sharing that, Ma, but I don't think anyone cares."

Kristen watched as his cheeks deepened incolor.The Blu Devil was blushing? Who would have thought that was possible?

After a minute pa.s.sed he said, "I'm taking Kristen for a boat ride, Ma. You mind keeping an eye on

Mandy while we're gone?"

"Not at all." Rose stepped forward and for a moment it didn't look as if Amanda was going to willingly let go of Blu's neck.

Kristen knew the feeling. She had felt that very same way the night he had made love to her. And even now, knowing certain things, her feelings for Blu hadn't changed. She still loved him.

"Are you ready?"

Kristen shook her head. "I told you I can't go. It's late and I have to-"

"Leave in timeto catch your bus by seven, right?" That he knew her plansstunnedKristen into silence. Rose turned and looked at her. "Bus? You'releaving, child?"

"I-I... Yes. I'm going ... home."

"She's not leaving, Ma. She'sgoing to miss the busbecause I'm taking her on a boat ride and then out to supper. We'll be back late."

Kristen faced Blu, furious that he was taking charge as if he had the right. "I'm not going anywhere with you. And I certainly canleave town anytimeI wish."

"Running's a mistake."

"And staying here is getting me nowhere." Kristen moved past Blu, took Amanda from Roseand headed into the bedroom. She heard footsteps behind her and when she turned to shut the door in Blu's face,it was Rose standing there. "I'm sorry, Mrs. duFray. You must think I'm terrible, taking advantage of your generosity and lying to your face. Blu's right, I was going to slip off in the night without even a thank-you."

"If that's true, I'd say it was the act of someone who is desperate," Rose said. "Are you desperate, child?"

"Yes. Yes, I am."

Rose reached out and touched Kristen's arm. "Then let my son help, child. I can't imagine trusting Amanda's lifeor yourswith anyone else. In your heart, I think you know that's true."

Kristen lowered hervoice. "You don't understand,he and I... We-"

"I think I understand more than you think. My advice, child, is to go on the boat ride, and if you still want to leave tomorrow, buy another bus ticket. Whatcould it hurt to stay over one more day? Unless your feelings for my son have changed since you read those newspaper articles in my sc.r.a.pbook? In which case, I think you might be wise to catch that bus tonight."

Chapter 13.

As Blu steered theNightwing toward Paradise Point,he again wondered what his mother had said to get Angel to change her mind and to agree to have supper with him. He hadn't expected her to willingly walk out of the fish market with him, but he was certainly glad it had worked out that way.

He checked his watch, thenglanced over towhere she sat a few feet away. She hadn't said a word to him, hadn't even looked his way, but he'd beenstudying herin small doses. He could see now that she had her grandpa's eyes, couldeven see a little bit ofCurt in her-they had the same haircolor.

The evening was warm and the friendly music coming from the waterfront was meant to lure boats ash.o.r.e. Blu backed off the accelerator as they rounded the point and the little fishing community of Crawford'sCorner came into sight. Turning theNightwing toward the pier, he said, "We'll eat here," then gesturedtothe old barbecue shack known for its mouth-watering ribs and the best sweet-potato steak fries on the point.

He watched as Angel a.s.sessed the shack with its sagging screen door and agingfront porch. He won dered ifthe place seemed familiar, but she didn't sayanything, just stared.

It dawned on him that she just might be viewing hischoice of restaurants with disappointment. Angel had spent three years being waited on by maids and cooks, and though she hadn't beenbrought upthat way, he reminded himself that she couldn't remember those simpler times.

He said, "Theplace doesn't looklike much from the outside but Smokey sure can barbecue ribs."

His comment took her attention away from the shack and brought it to him. "This place reminds me of a small eatery on the island. Like this,it never lookedlike much from the outside, but the islanders always said it had the most wonderful food. Salva..." She looked back at the ribshack, "Salva never let me go there. I tried to tell him that good food wasn't about how shiny thewindows were, but who was in the kitchen cooking. Only he never agreed to takemethere." She slid off the leather seat and came to her feet. "Do you knowif they have crab cakes on themenu?"

The question surprised him, and Blu found himself smiling. He never smiled in public. It was Margo's pet peeve-his sister had call it his inhumanside. But showing emotion in public hadn't fit his old line of work. And even now, though he hadn't worked for Patch for a year,he found it difficult to let himself relax.

Reining in his smile, hesaid, "I know for a fact that crab cakes are on Paul Fallow's menu. He hasn't changed it in ten years."

She didn't appear to recognizeher old boss's name,just like she hadn't second-glanced any of the landmarks where she'd grown up. That hadn't been the reason Blu had brought her here-to force her memory-but he had been prepared for it if it should happen. Actually, he had mixed emotions about it. Oh, he wanted her to remember, just not yet-not until he had Maland bagged.

"They're not mushy, are they?"

"What?"

"The cakes? Mushy?"

Blu shook his head. "No."

"Then I'm sure I'll like them."

She wa.s.suddenly ahead of him, out of the boat andon her way to the front door. Blu followedwith one sure-footed leap tothe dock that put him a half stridebehind her. His eyes locked on her jeans-clad backside and he took a moment to appreciate the small perfect shape, then his mind was moving on, remembering afew nightsago when she was straddling himand ... driving him, his hands all over her satin-smooth curves.

In an instant hewas stone-hard, the memory kick-starting his heart rate andsending his bloodon another race throughout his body.

The reality was that he wanted her again. Badly.Now. In an hour.After midnight. Tomorrow. The next day, and the next. It didn't matter when or where, or how often, Blu decided, he would never be able to get enough of her. She was flowing through his veins now. He was definitely struggling with thephysical end ofloving her, but.i.t went a whole lot deeper. While oneside of his brain wanted to keep Angel in his bed twenty-four hours a day, the other side wanted to keephis promiseto her to send Maland to h.e.l.l and set her free-free as a bird.

And as birds so often do, they fly away. Blu admitted he wasn't ready for that, but he would have to be, because the one thing he was going to do was put Angel's needs first.

He caughtup to her on the slat-board steps and theyscaled themtogether. He opened the screen door andas heushered her inside, he took a quick glance around the plain dining room. Most of the tables were taken, but a few remained. There was loud music with a Cajunflavor coming from theback room, and Blu bent his head to Angel's ear. "You pick," he instructed, thenfollowed her as she chosean out-of-the-way spot neara window that overlooked Paradise Point.

They settledinto their chairs. A waitress appeared aminute later, delivering water and menus. When she returned, Angel orderedcrab cakes, and Blu chose the barbecue ribs and sweet-potato fries. Alone again, shesaid,"So why am Ihere, Blu Devil? Forwhat reasonhave you decided to take a married woman with a childand no memory out to supper?"

She was back to using his nickname and it irritated Blu more than he would have liked. "We need to talk," he drawled. "To settle this."

"'This'? Which 'this'are we talking about?"

She wastoo cold suddenly. Blu reached out and stoleher hand. "Dammit, stop going formythroat, and listen."

She pulled her hand away and tucked it in her lapbeneath the table. "You left,d.a.m.n you. You said you wouldn't, and then you turned and left. Well, I'm going to leave, too."

Her face revealed her disappointment, how much his leaving had hurt her. As youth often does, she had vented quickly and openly.

It made Blu feel worse than he already did. "Yesterday I went out for some air and when I got back you were gone. I know it looked like I was walking, but I never-"

"Liar."

Blu swore softly. "I needed air. It was a h.e.l.luva shock, dammit."