He pulled her to him, then realized that he must have been unconscious for a while, because there was all kinds of activity on the boat now. Policemen and medical personnel were everywhere, and he overheard someone, apparently from the bomb squad, saying that they’d disabled the device Marni had rigged up.
Zach slipped his arms around Caer’s neck and pulled her close, then kissed her lips very tenderly. “I don’t believe in banshees,” he whispered.
“Really?” She smiled teasingly. “Then maybe it was just a dream.”
“Life is a gift,” he said, smiling back. “And love is what we make of it.”
Epilogue
“‘The clue is left, the clue is right, follow the North Star tonight,’” Caer said, quoting Eddie, her eyes twinkling.
Christmas Day. So much had happened since she arrived, but still, Christmas had dawned, bringing the peace of the season with it. And for Zach, life had never held so much promise.
They were out on the Sea Maiden. They’d all nearly met their deaths there, but, as Caer had said, a boat couldn’t be bad, only people could be evil. When the day had dawned so beautifully, after the church bells had pealed and the carols had been sung, going out on the boat had seemed like the right thing to do.
They were all there together, celebrating the fact that they had survived. Sean was a widower again, but he didn’t seem to mind too much. In the end, his ego had suffered more than his heart had from finding out that the woman who had pretended to love him had only done so as part of a conspiracy to kill him.
And Kat had wisely refrained from saying, “I told you so” for having distrusted Amanda all along. Cal was along, too, still suffering from the aftereffects of concussion but relieved to have been forgiven for the actions of the wife who had deceived him as much as everybody else.
Tom and Clara were there, even though Clara had once said she would never set foot on a boat again. With everyone else determined to go, she had changed her mind, claiming she wasn’t about to spend Christmas away from the people she considered her family.
Jeremy and Rowenna were there, and Kendall, Aidan’s wife, had flown up so they could be together with the rest of the family for Christmas. They even had a baby on board, the next generation of Flynns, Aidan’s and Kendall’s son, Ian.
The others were all in the cabin at the moment, leaving Caer and Zach huddled together at the helm. It was crisp and cool, a stunning Christmas Day. The sea stretched out endlessly, smooth and calm. There was just enough breeze to fill the billowing sails. And it felt fine to be there, she thought, sharing the warmth of their bodies.
“Do you really think there are clues in Eddie’s poems?” Zach asked her.
“I do,” she said gravely.
“Do you know where the treasure is?” he asked her.
“No, but I know where the last clue is. At least, I think I do.”
“Where?”
“Right there.”
She was pointing at the wheel. There was a compass set into it. “The clue is left, the clue is right, follow the North Star tonight. Look at that compass. The N has a star above it.”
Zach stared at her. The compass could be removed, in case it needed to be repaired. He looked at her curiously, then unscrewed it.
And revealed a piece of paper.
“Another clue,” she said.
He nodded.
“‘Tick-tock, Banshee Rock, it’s twelve o’clock,’” he read.
“Eddie really wasn’t much of a poet,” she said ruefully, “but I wish I had known him anyway.”
“He was a great guy. And not such a bad poet.”
“Oh?”
He remembered the day on Cow Cay when, as Aidan had suggested, he had imprinted the layout of the island on his mind.
“He said everything he needed to say, and isn’t that what counts?”
He pulled out his cell phone, called Morrissey and told him to get people out to Cow Cay again. “Eddie never took the treasure off the island, he just shifted it. Whatever Nigel Bridgewater left, you’ll find it due north of Banshee Rock, probably in that copse of dead trees. Take metal detectors and start there.”
Zach hung up and smiled at Caer.
Her eyes widened. “You don’t want to go after the treasure yourself? You don’t think Sean wants to dig it up?”
He shook his head. “For one thing, it’s on state land, so it’s not up for grabs. For another, Sean will be happy if the world has the historical documents and the coins go to museums. We’ve both learned what real treasure is.”
“Oh?”
“Family,” he said. “And love.”
He took her into his arms and kissed her. “And you.”
From the cabin, they could hear Kat singing Christmas songs, and then the others joining in.
As the Sea Maiden sailed smoothly across the water, Zach and Caer were content simply to hold one another and know that life stretched before them.
The most amazing gift.