Summer Secrets (25 page)

“Oh, my God!” he yelled as a blast of cold water hit his legs. He rolled to the side abruptly, realizing his pants were now soaking wet.

Kate laughed. “That’s what we call a rogue wave.”

“That’s what I call bad timing.”

“Better than a cold shower.”

“You can say that again.” The water had definitely cooled off a very important part of his body.

Kate got to her feet. “We’ll dry off as we walk. The cave is just up ahead.”

He followed her down the beach, now very much aware of how cold and wet he was. But Kate didn’t seem bothered at all -- probably due to all those years of living on a boat. The cold and wet were second nature to her. A moment later they rounded a curve, and he followed her pointed finger to a cave set into the rocks.

“There it is,” she said. “When the tide comes all the way in, it fills completely with water. My mother used to warn me over and over again not to get caught here.”

“Did you listen to her warnings?”

“Absolutely. I’m the cautious one, remember?” She walked over to the rocks. “It’s still here.” She traced the carving of two names.

“Kate and Jeremy,” he murmured. “Hard to compete with that.”

She looked at him in surprise. “What do you mean?”

“Jeremy is still very much a presence in your life. You go to his grave. You can see your names carved into rocks, probably all over this island. How can anyone compete with that?”

“Do you want to?”

He should say no. His life wasn’t going to take place on this island, that was for sure. Once he found Amelia’s mother, he’d be gone. Kate would be just a memory. He’d probably forget her in a week. And she’d forget him, too. It wouldn’t be like their names would be carved into a rock anywhere.

“Never mind,” she said quickly. “I don’t know why I asked you that. Anyway, this is the only place that we carved our names.” She walked farther down the rocks. “There are lots of other names, as you can see.”

“Sean and Ashley, Mark and Connie, Paul and Rita,” he murmured. “I guess this was kind of lover’s lane, huh?”

“It was a good place to get a kiss. And once you’d gotten one, you carved your name into the rock.” She put her hand up as he started to speak. “But we’re not going to do that. That kind of permanence probably terrifies you. Let’s go back to our picnic. I’ve worked up another appetite.”

So had he, but it wasn’t for food. And it wasn’t even for a kiss. He cast a somewhat wistful look at the names and hearts scratched into the rocks next to him. For some damn stupid reason, he wanted to put his name there, too. His name right next to Kate’s. Something that would last forever.

“That was fun,” Kate said as Tyler took her bike and handed it back to the manager of Bill’s Bicycles. “I can’t remember when I’ve spent such a lazy Monday. I feel guilty.”

“It’s good to play hooky once in a while.”

“But now it’s back to reality. Unless …”

“Yes?” he asked with a raise of his eyebrow.

“The world’s best ice cream parlor is just down the street.”

“You can’t possibly still be hungry.”

“You’ve found out my biggest secret. I’m a pig.”

He laughed. “I’d love some ice cream from the world’s best ice cream parlor. Although I think that might be an exaggeration.”

“Wait until you taste it. You’ll see I’m right.” She didn’t resist when he took her hand. In fact, she liked it. She liked it all, the kissing, the touching, the laughing. She hadn’t had such a good time in years. And, with Tyler, she felt free to be herself. It was nice to be with a man who didn’t know everything about her. They didn’t have a history, only a present, and the future wasn’t important. Tyler would eventually leave, and she would stay. But today they were together.

Maybe that was enough. Maybe she could stop planning, worrying, analyzing for five seconds and just let it all be. It had been working pretty well so far, so well she didn’t want it to end. She didn’t really care if she had ice cream or not; she just wanted more time with Tyler. Now that he’d agreed to drop the article, she could relax even more. The fact that he’d made that agreement niggled a bit at her brain. It didn’t seem entirely logical or probable that a man who had such determined purpose a few days earlier could so quickly change his mind, but she was reluctant to bring the subject back up.

They walked down the street, stopping at the corner as the light in front of the ferry terminal turned red.

“Doesn’t it bother you that you can only get off this island at certain times of the day?” Tyler asked.

“Not at all.”

“I live ten minutes from an airport that can get me to any country in the world about as fast as I can buy a ticket and board a plane.”

“And you find that comforting?”

“I guess I do,” he admitted. “I used to feel trapped as a kid. I couldn’t get away from my father, couldn’t get back to my mother. I spent a lot of time looking desperately at exit signs. Old habits die hard.”

“You really had a terrible childhood, didn’t you?” She couldn’t imagine what he’d gone through.

“Not completely. My father didn’t abuse me. He just wanted me with him in the most selfish way possible.” He cleared his throat. “But we don’t need to talk about him. Hey, isn’t that Caroline?”

She followed his gaze to where the ferry was loading. Her sister was with Mike Stanaway. Kate tensed, not liking the way Mike had his hand on Caroline’s arm. “What is she doing with him?” Worry gripped her as she watched them board the ferry. “I don’t like the look of that. We need to stop her.”

“What?”

Kate began walking rapidly down the street, breaking into a run when she realized that the ferry had finished loading and would no doubt pull away any second. Sure enough, it was fifteen feet into the harbor by the time she arrived at the dock. “Damn.”

Tyler caught up with her a second later. “What were you going to do, Kate? Pull yourself off the boat? Isn’t she a grown woman? Aren’t you being a little overprotective?”

She turned to face him. “Caroline has dark purple bruises all over her arm. I saw them earlier today. She said she banged her arm, but I think she was lying. Rumor has it that Mike’s wife left him because of abuse. I’m afraid he might have hurt Caroline.”

“Did you ask her about it?”

“She said he didn’t do it.”

“Maybe you should believe her.”

She ignored that. He didn’t know Caroline as well as she did. He didn’t know how many lies Caroline had told in the past.

She pulled out cell phone and called Caroline, hoping she had her phone with her.

“Hello,” Caroline said a moment later.

“It’s Kate. I just saw you get on the ferry with Mike.”

“Are you spying on me?”

Kate ignored the outrage in her sister’s voice. “Where are you going?”

“None of your business, Kate. I’m hanging up now.”

“When will you be back?”

“When I feel like it.”

“But -- ” Kate’s words were met with a click. “She hung up on me.”

“I can’t say I’m surprised. Are you going to call her back?”

“She’ll probably just hang up again. If I tell Caroline not to jump, the first thing she wants to do is jump. I should know that by now.” Kate stared after the rapidly disappearing ferry. “I just hope she’ll be all right.”

“I saw them together yesterday,” Tyler said. “They were arguing, but he backed off when I approached them.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because Caroline wasn’t upset, Kate. She wasn’t scared. She didn’t act like she was in trouble.”

“Maybe she didn’t want you to know.” She frowned, hating feeling so out of control. Caroline might be an adult but she was still her baby sister. “I wish they hadn’t left the island. I’d feel better if she was within shouting distance.”

“She has her cell phone. She can call you if she needs help.”

Kate let out a sigh. “I guess there’s nothing more to do.”

“Except have some ice cream.”

“Except that. Then I really have to get to work. What are you going to do with the rest of the day?”

“I’ll probably wander down to the marina, talk to some sailors, figure out a new angle for my story. Unless you have another idea, one that might involve your house, your bedroom, maybe some candles?”

“I don’t think so,” she said with a smile, knowing he was only teasing. And she was glad that he wasn’t serious, because if he had asked her seriously … In fact, if he’d kissed her instead of asking, they might be on the way to her house right now. Talk about acting crazy; apparently Caroline wasn’t the only one making foolish decisions right now.

“Well, tomorrow is another day.” Tyler put his arm around her shoulders. “You never know what the future will bring.”

Tuesday was far too quiet, Kate thought as she checked her watch for the sixth time in an hour. It was almost five thirty, and she hadn’t heard from anyone -- not Caroline, not Ashley, not Duncan, and not even Tyler, who had been her constant shadow the last few days. She wondered if he’d gone sailing with her father. Tyler would love being on the water. She knew that, even if he didn’t. The wind rushing, the waves rolling, the boat flying. He’d be hooked. He’d never again be able to say he wasn’t a boat person. She almost regretted that fact. It had been nice to know someone different, someone who didn’t eat, sleep, and breathe sailing.

“I’m leaving,” Theresa said, stopping in front of the counter with purse in hand. “I know it’s early, but everyone is down at the square for the annual clam chowder cook-off.”

“It’s fine.” Kate smiled at her assistant. “You must be eager to see how well you’ll do against your mother-in-law’s clam chowder.”

“I doubt I’ll beat her this year, but, one of these days I will. She still doesn’t think I cook as well as she does.”

“She’s wrong. You’re a terrific cook.”

“But not good enough for her little boy. Just wait till you get married, Kate. Pray for a good mother-in- law, preferably a non-cook, non-homemaker type, who doesn’t criticize or interfere. And make sure you also pick a husband who stands up for you and doesn’t become Mommy’s little boy as soon as she steps in the room.”

“Are we talking about me or you?”

Kate gave her a compassionate smile. Theresa’s battles with her mother-in-law were nothing new.

“By the way,” Theresa continued. “I saw the Moon Dancer when I had lunch at the marina today. She’s a beauty. Everyone in town is talking about the boat and your family, wondering how you all feel about it.”

Kate hated to hear that, but she’d expected as much. It was one of the reasons why she’d brought a turkey sandwich from home and had her lunch in the back room instead of going into town. “It will all be over on Saturday. I just keep telling myself that.”

“Why don’t you put out the closed sign and come have some clam chowder with me? We haven’t had a customer in more than an hour.”

“I’ll be down in a bit.”

The door shut behind Theresa, and the silence was suddenly deafening. Her cozy store of fantasy felt empty and lonely. Kate sat down at the desk in front of her computer. She clicked on her inventory program first, checking on upcoming releases and pre-orders. She supposed she could have gone through all the titles, but she just didn’t feel like it at the moment. In fact, she hadn’t felt like working all day. Switching from inventory to the Internet, she pulled up one of her favorite gardening sites and read through the headlines for the latest articles involving introducing toads into your garden, getting rid of unwanted pests, and growing the best vegetables. The toad idea was a new one on her. She was just getting into the article when the door opened.

Her heart jumped into her throat when she saw Tyler. She’d known he would come. In reality, she’d been waiting all day for him. And here he was. But she wouldn’t tell him that. She forced herself to stand up slowly and casually, as if she had her mind on other things, as if she hadn’t expected him.

“Hi,” Tyler said. His voice was low, intimate, as was the look he gave her.

She cleared her throat. “I thought you were out on the water today,” she said. She was grateful to have the counter between them. It provided a much needed barrier, as she fought the urge to throw herself in his arms and kiss him until she forgot why getting involved with him was not a good idea.

“Your father begged off,” Tyler said. “Apparently he’s busy interviewing potential crew members. He said Thursday would work better.”

“I wouldn’t set my heart on it,” she told him. “My father isn’t known for keeping his promises.”

“So what have you been doing all day?”

“Working. What about you? Have you found a new angle for your article?”

“No. Are you sure you won’t reconsider? Don’t you trust me enough yet to tell me your story? I’m not a bad guy. I won’t crucify you.”

It wouldn’t be up to him, she could have answered. Telling her story would affect far too many lives, and at this point there was nothing to be gained and everything to be lost. She was moving forward with her life. She was making positive changes. Discussing the past with Tyler would not be in any way productive.

“I should introduce you to Mitchell Haley. He competed in the Whitbread ten years ago. I’m sure he has a lot of stories to tell. He actually lives in Seattle, but he usually comes to Castleton for race week. If he’s here, I’m sure my father will know where to find him. They’re old friends.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” He took a step closer, resting his arms on the counter between them. “You look good.”

“I -- Uh, thanks.” She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, feeling distinctly uncomfortable with his intimate perusal. She was suddenly very aware of how empty the store was.

“Kate,” he said in a husky voice.

“What?” She looked into his eyes and saw them darken with desire. “Tyler. We can’t start that all over again.”

“Why not?”

She couldn’t think of an answer. And it didn’t seem like she really needed one. Words were passing back and forth between them and yet not a one was spoken aloud.

“I was sent here to get you,” Tyler said, surprising her.

“By whom?”

“Caroline. She was setting up a clam chowder booth down by the marina.”