The Pregnancy Plot. Carol Ericson

switch to maternity clothes yet, it didn’t mean people couldn’t tell. That woman in the elevator at the doctor’s office knew. She was pretty sure Carl and Dora Kleinschmidt knew.

      She cleared her throat. “You never did tell me why you chose Break Island for your writer’s retreat.”

      “Do I have to explain?” He spread his arms. “It’s isolated, beautiful, but has just enough tourists for some serious people-watching for inspiration.”

      “I thought you were writing a fictional account of your experiences in Afghanistan—not many soldiers here to study.” Unless Simon was lurking around the corner.

      “They don’t have to be soldiers. Human nature is human nature.”

      A bush rustled beside them and a gust of wind showered them with grains of sand.

      Then a figure stepped onto the path in front of them and a voice came out of the night. “Home at last.”

       Chapter Five

      Nina stiffened beside him, and Jase’s own muscles coiled as he sprang in front of her, blocking her from the stranger on the path.

      A low laugh gurgled from the woman’s throat. “That’s our Nina, always has a man to protect her.”

      Nina placed a hand on his arm and stepped beside him. “Are you stalking me, Lou?”

      Instead of diffusing his concern, the fact that it was Nina’s stepsister standing in front of them blocking their path heightened it. Lou had put a hole in Nina’s boat, and even if Nina had been convinced the act wouldn’t have resulted in her drowning, he didn’t trust this woman anywhere near Nina.

      “Stalking?” She took in the bay with a sweeping gesture. “I’m just enjoying the night like everyone else.”

      “Have you been working on Dad’s boat by any chance?” Nina squared her shoulders and locked eyes with her stepsister, whom she topped by a good five inches. In hand-to-hand battle, he’d put his money on Nina any day—except she was pregnant.

      “Moi?” Lou crossed her hands over her heart. “I haven’t touched my dad’s boat, and don’t go calling him Dad like he’s your dad or something. Your dad took off a few months after you were born, having the good sense to dump you and Lori while he could.”

      “Hey.” Jase curled his hands into fists and took a step forward. “Don’t talk to Nina like that. I don’t care who you are.”

      “And I don’t care who you are.” Lou put a hand on her hip, her gaze raking him from head to toe. “Who are you?”

      “This is my...my handyman, Jase. He’s going to help me fix up Moonstones.”

      What had Nina been about to call him? Handyman sounded so impersonal.

      Lou leveled a finger at Nina. “That B and B should be mine and you know it. That’s why you left it so long after my dad died. You felt guilty about inheriting it.”

      “We both know what would’ve happened to Moonstones if Dad had left it to you. Dad knew it, too. You would’ve sold this place so fast and used the money for God-knows-what. I can get it up and running again, and I have no problem sharing the profits with you if there are any.”

      “None of that matters. I don’t want the piddly profits from some mom-and-pop business.” Lou sliced her hand through the air a little too close to Nina’s face for his comfort. “I could’ve used the money. You didn’t need it with your stuck-up interior designing job in LA. Why did you give up all that to come back here anyway?”

      Jase studied Nina’s face as she formed an answer. So, her stepsister didn’t know about the pregnancy, either, but he didn’t blame Nina for not telling her. Lou had nut job written all over her.

      In the end, Nina shrugged. “Moonstones needs some TLC. Dad and Mom loved the place.”

      “My dad had this dream before he met Lori, before he left my mom for her.”

      Nina sighed and ran her hands through her hair. “We’ve been over and over this, Lou. I’m sorry that happened, but it has nothing to do with us.”

      “It does now because Dad disinherited me for you. I always hoped Lori would die before Dad because I thought Dad would cut you out. Lori did die first, but Dad cut me out anyway.” Her laugh sounded just this side of hysterical. “So, you gypped me out of my inheritance and my father.”

      “I’m sorry about that, too, Lou. They were the loves of each other’s lives. You and I both know they loved each other more than they loved their daughters.” Nina crossed her arms over her stomach. “Sometimes life just works out that way.”

      “Oh, you can be generous because you got the goods after Dad kicked off.”

      “Lou, baby? Lou, you out here?”

      The slurred words came out of the darkness, along with a shuffling gait.

      What now? As if all this family drama wasn’t enough.

      “Over here, Kip.”

      A lean man with tousled sandy hair came up from the beach, listing to the side as he scrambled up to the path. The stink of stale beer came off him in waves.

      He staggered to Lou’s side and draped a heavy arm across her shoulders.

      “This is my stepsister, Nina, the golden child. Nina, this is Kip, my partner in crime.”

      Keeping her feet rooted to the ground, Nina leaned in with an outstretched hand. “Good to meet you, Kip, but Lou doesn’t need a partner in crime.”

      Ignoring the proffered handshake, Kip hacked and spit into the sand dunes. “Just a figure of speech.”

      Nina nodded in Jase’s direction. “And this is Jase.”

      Jase held up one hand. He had no intention of shaking with Kip. The guy might topple over on him in a drunken free fall.

      Nina continued to pretend this was some normal social gathering.

      “Where did you and Lou meet?”

      “In a bar.” Kip pulled Lou in for a sloppy kiss on the side of the head.

      “I meant—” Nina rolled her eyes “—what city?”

      “Portland.” Lou brushed a sandy lock of hair from Kip’s eyes. “I’ve been living in Portland.”

      “Are you staying here now?”

      “Just in town at one of the dumpy fishermen’s motels.” She clicked her tongue. “Don’t worry, little sis. It’s not going to be permanent. I have some business to settle.”

      Jase studied Lou and Kip side by side through narrowed eyes. The only business he could imagine these two settling is a drug deal. That, or harassing Nina.

      He took Nina’s arm. “We were just on our way back to Moonstones.”

      “And we were on our way back to the bar.” Kip tugged on Lou’s hand. “Come on, baby. Let’s finish gettin’ our drink on.”

      The other couple squeezed past them on the path to make their way back to the town. Once again, Jase caught a strong whiff of booze. Had Kip bathed in it?

      When Kip and Lou disappeared into the night, Nina let out a long breath. “I can’t believe she’d hook up with someone like that.”

      “Seems to me old Kip is just her type.”

      She pulled her jacket around her body. “Lou needs help, professional help. I don’t understand people who refuse to seek therapy and medication when it’s glaringly obvious to everyone around them that they need them.”

      “I’m