Read Online Deep Waters by Jayne Ann Krentz - Free Book Online

coot.”
    Roy and Bea were both on the far side of sixty. They’d been operating their respective pier enterprises for over twenty years. Their affair had been going on for as long as anyone could recall. No one knew why they had never married or why they bothered to pretend that they were just good friends.
    â€œWonder what he brought to eat.” Ted Jenner absently scratched his stomach, which was barely concealed by an extra-extra-large T-shirt. “I’m starving.”
    The shirt was from his own shop, Ted’s Instant Philosophy T-Shirts. Charity glanced at the slogan on the one he was modeling this afternoon. It read, I
May Be Dysfunctional, But You Are Definitely Crazy.
    â€œThat’s not exactly news.” Radiance scanned Ted’s portly figure with an amused expression. “You’re always starving. I keep telling you that if you switched to vegetarian, you’d lose weight.”
    â€œDropping a few pounds ain’t worth havin’ to eat nothin’ but nuts and berries for the rest of my life,” Ted said cheerfully. “Even if Charity can cook that bunny rabbit food better than anyone I ever met.”
    It was a long-running argument. No one paid muchattention. Everyone was too busy watching Elias, and no one seemed quite certain how to greet him. Last week he had been one of them, albeit a newcomer, Charity thought. This week he was their landlord.
    The new leases had not yet been signed. Elias had nearly two months to change his mind about extending the old contracts, and everyone present knew it.
    Charity decided that, as president of the shopkeepers association, it was her duty to take charge. She smiled very brightly at Elias when he reached the little group.
    â€œYou can put your dish down on that table over there,” she said, deliberately infusing her voice with authority. It was an old trick, one she’d had to learn quickly when she’d faced a roomful of creditors all bent on salvaging what they could from the failing Truitt department store chain. It was her intuition that had gotten her through those early days of overwhelming responsibility. She would use it to deal with Elias. “Have you met everyone?”
    Elias glanced around as he set the covered pan down next to Bea’s potato salad. “No.”
    Charity hastily ran through the introductions. “Roy Yapton. He owns the carousel. Bea Hatfield. She owns the Whispering Waters café. Radiance Barker, owner of Nails by Radiance. Ted Jenner. He operates the T-shirt shop. And you’ve already met Newlin Odell. Newlin works for me.”
    â€œHi.” Newlin peered at Elias through his small, round glasses. “Otis doing okay?”
    â€œHe’s fine.” Elias nodded politely at the small circle of faces. Then he leaned back against the pier railing, crossed one booted foot over the other, and folded his arms.
    Charity lifted her chin and prepared to pin him down. “I’ve explained to the other shopkeepers thatyou’ve committed to renew the leases at the old rates.”
    Elias nodded, as if the subject held little interest. Yappy scowled. “That true, Winters?”
    â€œYes,” Elias said quietly.
    â€œWhew.” Bea fanned herself with a napkin. “I don’t mind telling you, it’s a relief to hear you say it. Charity told us that you know all about the town council’s plans to turn Whispering Waters Cove into a sort of Northwest Carmel.”
    Elias glanced out over the cove, his gaze thoughtful. “Somehow, I don’t see that happening.”
    Ted frowned. “Don’t be too sure about that. Phyllis Dartmoor, our illustrious mayor, says the council’s already come up with a couple of possible new names for Crazy Otis Landing. They want something that sounds more up-market, she says. Indigo Landing or Sunset Landing.”
    Charity groaned. “They sound so generic. No character at