Dauntless by Lisa Henry

Author:Lisa Henry [Henry, Lisa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-09-15T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 6

Joe woke early. He’d been doing it for so many years now that he didn’t need to set an alarm. He carefully disentangled himself from Eddie, dressed, and then went into the kitchen and pulled his boots and his jacket on before letting Hiccup outside for her morning pee. He left the kitchen door propped open for her while he did his check of the lighthouse.

It was a bright, cold day. The sea was smooth, its rolling surface only broken into choppy waves close to the island and to the jagged rocks that ringed it. On days like these Joe usually liked to stand on the catwalk for a while, leaning on the rail and taking in the view, but usually he didn’t have someone sleeping in his bed back at the cottage.

The sea didn’t have anything on Eddie Hawthorne.

Joe headed back down the winding stairs.

Hiccup met him in the yard between the lighthouse and the cottage, her tail swinging lazily. Joe scratched her head, and she leaned against him heavily.

“Is Eddie awake?” he asked her.

Her ears twitched and she beamed up at him.

“You like him, huh?” Joe asked her. “Me too, Hic. Me too.”

Joe had never been one for summer—or winter—flings with tourists, but then most tourists who came to the island were retirees. Dauntless Island wasn’t exactly a draw for the young backpacker crowd. It probably never would be, however much Short Clarry dreamed of those tourism dollars.

Last night Eddie had said he liked him, and Joe had said he liked him back. He wondered now if that was something Eddie would remember this morning, and if he still meant it. Joe thought they had something more than attraction and convenience, and he didn’t know if that was worth acknowledging, or if it was something they’d both be better off ignoring since Eddie would be going back to the mainland soon.

Too bad he only had Hiccup to talk it through with.

Eddie was poking around in the kitchen when Joe and Hiccup got back to the cottage. He was yawning and blinking, his hair sticking up in odd ways.

“Feeling okay?” Joe asked.

“Hmm.” Eddie considered that for a moment. “Not great, but considering how drunk I was last night I should probably been feeling a lot worse than I do.”

“Sarah Hooper’s rum has a hell of a kick,” Joe said, moving around Eddie to get to the kettle. He filled it in the sink, and set it on the stovetop.

Eddie hugged his chest. “It’s cold this morning.”

Joe remembered that he’d left the door propped open when he’d done his rounds, letting all the cold air in. “Go sit in the living room,” he said. “I’ll bring you your coffee when it’s done.”

Eddie flashed him a grateful smile and shuffled out of the kitchen. Hiccup followed him.

Joe expected to find him snoring on the couch by the time the coffee was done, but instead Eddie was inspecting Joe’s bookshelves blearily, and the framed photographs standing in front of the books.

“Is this you?” he asked, sliding his fingers over the glass of a frame.

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