Chapter 6

six

DANIEL

As soon as Ben left, I called my brother. Even though my secretary had made the booking, Owen would've had something to do with the lack of Internet access. He would have known it was unlikely I'd spend each day on the lake fishing or hiking on the mountain trails. My laptop was an extension of my brain. It went everywhere I went and, like most things in my life, required little to no maintenance.

"Hi, big brother. I got the photo."

I picked up my suitcase and carried it toward the front door. "The cottage Charlotte booked has no Internet connection."

"You're supposed to be on vacation, not working."

"The only reason I'm here is because of work," I reminded him. "Have your contacts uncovered any new information about B.J. Davis?"

"Nothing you haven't seen before. Most artists leave a trail of social media posts about previous exhibitions and what they've been doing. Not B.J. It's almost as if he suddenly appeared on the art scene this year."

I understood the frustration in Owen's voice. If it weren't for the award's application form, we wouldn't even know he lived in Sunrise Bay. "Keep hunting. Any scrap of information might help me convince him to come to New York City." leaving my suitcase on the wooden veranda, I unlocked the door.

"I'll let you know if we find anything." Owen paused. "Are you staying in Acorn Cottage or heading into town?"

"I'm staying at the cottage. I'll use my cell phone as a hot spot."

Owen sighed. "I should have taken your phone off you before you left. Try to enjoy yourself. If you don't find B.J., it's not the end of the world."

Enjoying myself hadn't been a top priority in a long time. Being the chief executive of a multimillion-dollar online shopping company took hard work, perseverance, and a thick skin. My clients expected to purchase the best products in the world. It was my job to make sure that happened.

I stepped into the open-plan kitchen and living room, and was pleasantly surprised. It was light and spacious, and had uninterrupted views of Willow Lake. "Have you heard from Granddad?"

"He's still in Switzerland speaking with our suppliers. Why don't you give him a call?"

"He'll be too busy to talk to me. I'll see him when he gets home." When most people were sitting back, enjoying their retirement, my grandfather was still keeping tabs on our company. At eighty-one years of age, Patrick Devlin was a force to be reckoned with. And for the last five years, that force had been aimed straight at me.

"Hang on a minute, Daniel. I need to order my dinner."

Owen was allergic to kitchens. The only food he ate was from restaurants and cafés around the apartment building where he lived. Luckily for him, there were enough healthy options to satisfy most people.

While Owen ordered his dinner, I carried my suitcase through to the master bedroom. Although the cottage wasn't the luxurious retreat I'd expected Charlotte to book, it was warm, welcoming, and comfortable. And for two weeks, all mine.

"Okay. I'm back," Owen said into the phone.

"Chinese, Vietnamese, or Thai?"

"Thai, but that's only because there weren't as many people waiting in the line."

"Has anything happened at work?"

Owen groaned. "You've only been gone for one day. The world doesn't come to an end just because you aren't here."

I wasn't interested in what the rest of the world was doing. All I cared about was Wilson Enterprises. "You haven't answered my question."

"That's because you're on vacation. But to save Charlotte from getting a phone call, no, nothing out of the ordinary has happened. Apart from not having the Internet, what's the cottage like?"

"It's clean, tidy, and has great views of the lake." I walked back into the living room. White-washed pine walls and pale gray sofas were a neutral background to the brightly colored cushions and rugs. The wooden floor anchored the room to its surroundings and gave the house character. "It reminds me of Mom and Dad's cottage."

"It's a long time since we've been there."

I heard the wistfulness in my brother's voice. Before our mom and dad died, we'd spent long, hot summers in their cottage on Shelter Island. We'd swum in the river and fished in the creeks. When we weren't pestering our dad to take us on his motorcycle, we'd hung out at the local ice cream parlor.

After our parents died, everything changed. We moved to Manhattan to live with our grandparents, went to a different school, and tried to fit into a different world. We'd gone back to the island a couple of times with our grandparents, but it was never the same.

I leaned against the window frame. "Have you ever thought of going back to Shelter Island?"

"Sometimes. I can't believe Mom and Dad have been gone for twenty-five years."

Neither could I. "Do you want to spend Christmas at their cottage?"

"Are you joking? Since when have you ever taken time off at Christmas."

"I'm not that bad," I muttered.

"Yes, you are. Last year you were in Los Angeles signing a contract with a new supplier. The year before you were somewhere in Europe, and the year before that?—"

"Okay. I get the idea." Maybe Owen was right. I had spent a lot of time away from home, but what did he expect would happen? Working when most people were spending time with their families came with the job. "Do you want to go to the cottage for Christmas or not?"

"I'll go, but I'm not that great with a hammer."

"We shouldn't need to do anything," I told him. "We've been paying someone to look after the property."

"The cottage was built fifty years ago and none of the interior has been touched, but don't worry about that now. You're on vacation. Just promise me you won't do any work while you're in Sunrise Bay."

Hell would freeze over before I cut myself off from my job. "I can't do that, but I will call you as soon as I find the mysterious B.J. Davis."

Owen sighed. "One day, you'll realize what you've been missing. But until then, enjoy your time in Sunrise Bay."

After I ended the call, I stayed where I was, looking across the lake. I'd always been quieter than Owen, less able to show anyone my true feelings. I shook my head. Some days I wondered if I had any feelings left to share.

The one relationship I thought would last forever had dive-bombed into a major disaster. Since then, I'd been too busy working to worry about personal relationships. As far as I was concerned, they were messy, complicated, and took me away from what I was born to do.

My life revolved around Wilson Enterprises. And right now, my goal was to find B.J. Davis and bring him back to Manhattan for the award ceremony.