A Woman with Secrets

by Inglath Cooper

  “Like what?”

  “That I’ve had my compass pointed everywhere except true north. That I’m only just now realizing I didn’t have any idea where that was.”

  “And now you do?” he asked.

  She lifted her gaze, looking at him for a long moment, before saying, “I’m beginning to.”

  And with those three words, he felt something shift inside him. The blooming of something he’d never expected to feel. But it was real. He couldn’t deny it. More amazing still, he didn’t want to.

  He reached out and took her hand in his. And it was nice, this connection. It felt as if someone had taken a sledgehammer to the walls he’d built around himself these last two years. They tumbled to the ground, piece by piece, until he was left standing without an ounce of protection against what was happening between them. In place of all his previous suspicion, doubt and contempt loomed a single feeling.

  Trust.

  * * *

  LOUIS CALLED OUT to Cole, waving him over to the rocks where the iguanas hadn’t bothered to leave their sunning spot. Cole let go of Kate’s hand, leaving her with a look that caused something in the middle of her chest to flip right over.

  She watched him walk away, something like terror settling in behind her euphoria. It scared her, what was happening between Cole and her. On several different levels.

  But the main one being that she hadn’t come clean with him. She thought about the suitcase full of money hidden in her cabin and wished she’d never found it. Wished she’d closed the door on the mistakes she’d made with Karl and just left it at that.

  Instead, she’d created a situation that could only end in confrontation. Karl was not a man to give up on anything that involved money. She should know this better than anyone.

  She watched Cole squat down beside Louis, one hand on the boy’s shoulder. And suddenly, everything between Karl and her felt icky and repulsive. She wanted no part of it. Wished she had simply taken the money to the police and left it up to someone else to bring Karl to his knees. She decided now that this was what she must do. Go home and tie up her loose ends. She couldn’t let herself begin something with Cole until she did.

  Cole and Louis headed her way, Louis talking non-stop. Cole took her hand again, and they headed back the way they came. Despite the resolution she’d just made, she loved this simple connection between them, her hand in his, her happiness mingled with guilt though it was.

  They were halfway back to the spot where they’d come ashore when Cole’s phone rang. He let go of her hand and pulled it from his pocket with a quick jerk. “Hello.”

  He said nothing for a minute or more, and then asked, “Are you sure?” The thread of urgency in his voice was unmistakable. Kate’s heart began to pound, and she said a silent prayer that this would be the news he had been waiting for.

  A few more seconds passed before he said, “I’ll be there as soon as I can.” He flipped the phone shut, then turned to her with a smile. “He found her.”

  “Oh, Cole. How wonderful.”

  “We should go,” he said. “I’ll need to arrange a flight.”

  He walked over and put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her against him so that her face was pressed to his chest. She breathed in the warm, comforting scent of him, and there was no place in the world she would rather have been.

  * * *

  THEY ARRIVED BACK at their picnic spot to find the rest of the group already there. They all wore worried expressions, and their gazes settled heavily on Kate.

  She felt a flicker of unease, looking at Harry who said, “The boat is gone. This note was pinned under one of the cooler lids.”

  He handed it to Cole who read it, then looked at her. She saw it clearly, the curtain drawing shut over his eyes. A sick feeling swept through her. She took the note.

  Guess you won’t have the last laugh after all, huh, Kate? Enjoy the island scenery.

  Karl

  She glanced out at the spot where the boat had been. “Oh, no,” she said, one hand to her mouth.

  “What is this, Kate?” Cole asked, his voice even.

  She couldn’t answer for a few moments, and when she did, the words had no more weight to them than a cold, limp dishrag. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

  Cole pinned her gaze with his. “Maybe it’s time you explained what for.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  A truth spoken before its time is dangerous.

  —Greek Proverb

  THIS COULDN’T BE happening. Cole’s pulse jumped in his throat, and he forced himself not to say anything until they were out of earshot of everyone, including Louis who was with Lyle and Lily.

  He waited until they rounded a bend in the beach, before turning to Kate. “This has something to do with the two break-ins on the boat, doesn’t it?”

  Kate bit at her lower lip, folding her arms across her chest. “I don’t know for sure.”

  “But you suspect it does?”

  “Before this, I really didn’t think either incident had anything to do with me. Now, I—”

  “Now you what, Kate?” The words came out fast and harsh. Anger had pulled a red haze over his vision. “I thought you were being straight with me. I thought you were someone I could—”

  “Cole, don’t.”

  “I was right, after all, wasn’t I? You were hiding something on my boat.”

  “I should have told you,” she said, regret etched in her voice.

  “Told me what?” He heard the iciness in the question and wondered what craziness had ever made him think he knew her well enough to trust her. This was a lesson he had learned two years ago from his own wife, a woman he thought he knew completely. Who as it turned out, he hadn’t known very well at all. “Told me what?” he repeated.

  “It’s complicated,” she said.

  “I don’t exactly have anywhere to go.”

  The barb hit its intended target. She winced. “Karl. My ex-husband. I kind of took back some money that he—”

  “This is about money?” The words came out as a small explosion.

  “It’s not the way it sounds,” she said.

  “Let me see if I’ve got this right. That bag you brought with you on the boat. That’s where the money was, right?”

  “Cole—”

  “And Karl or someone representing Karl came looking for it and took my boat as an added bonus?”

  “Please, Cole. Listen—”

  He started backing up. “I don’t need to listen. I think I know just about everything I need to know.” He turned then and headed back down the beach, not sure which emotion would win out. Anger, disgust or disappointment.

  * * *

  THE THOUGHT OF following Cole back to where the others waited sent a wave of nausea over Kate. These people had come to mean something to her, and she’d let them down. There was no other way to see it. How could she expect them to feel anything but contempt for her?

  She felt contempt for herself.

  Strangely enough, she wasn’t even angry with Karl. She’d known what he was capable of. And she’d let this happen.

  She grappled for some piece of rationalization, but her umbrella of excuses was now full of holes. Useless, really. And so she started down the beach under a downpour of regret.

  Cole was on the phone when she reached the group. His back was turned to her, but everyone else looked straight at her. She hung for a moment between the desire to turn and run and an overwhelming need to beg their forgiveness. She started to say something, and it was then that Margo held out her hand. Kate reached for it with tears in her eyes, gratitude a lump in her throat. But Louis tied a simple knot in her heart when he came over and took her other hand. She could see that he had no idea what any of this was about, his only desire to offer comfort. And she promised herself she would take a lesson from this.

  From some distant memory came a picture of herself sitting in church with her father, listening as the pastor explained the definition of grace
. For some reason, she had never quite grasped the true meaning of the word. It was only now with forgiveness flowing from the touch of these new friends that it became clear to her what it felt like to be forgiven for something, even when forgiveness was completely undeserved.

  She glanced at Cole who had flipped his phone closed, but still stood staring out at the ocean, as if he might find some measure of calm there. At his feet were the remnants of their sand castle, the tide having washed the biggest part of it away. He turned after a moment, addressing the seven of them without letting his gaze intersect with hers.

  “I spoke with a patrol boat from Tango Island. They’re sending someone out to pick us up. They also have a helicopter searching for the Ginny. Someone should be here in an hour or so.”

  Relief cascaded over her, a waterfall of gratitude that they would not be forced to spend the night here without food or water because of her. Everyone spoke at once, the same relief apparent in the chorus of voices. “That’s great! No big deal then.”

  As soon as it was quiet again, she felt compelled to offer an explanation, even though she dreaded seeing in their eyes what she had seen in Cole’s. “This is my fault,” she said, glancing down at her hands. “Dirty laundry from my divorce, I’m afraid. Something I should never have risked affecting any of you. I’m so sorry that it has. I’m so sorry—”

  They gathered around her without letting her finish, a mini cheering squad, when a firing squad might have been more appropriate. Harry gave her a big hug, Margo next, Lyle and Lily patting her cheeks with reassuring clucks of “Don’t worry, dear. Everything will be fine.”

  Even Dr. Sheldon gave her an awkward pat on the back and said, “We all make mistakes.”

  Louis wedged himself into the circle and said, “I wouldn’t mind being stuck here for a while. I could almost pretend I didn’t have to go back.”

  Tears burned in her throat. She couldn’t help it. She reached for Louis’s hand and gave it a squeeze. From the corner of her eye, she saw Cole watching them. But for the life of her, she couldn’t bring herself to look at him. She had—without question—derailed any feelings that might have been developing between them. In his face, she knew she would see proof of this. She would pass on that just now.

  * * *

  SINCE THEY’D BEEN assured of rescue, everyone began to enjoy the island again. Louis and Margo built a new sand castle.

  Kate sat a few yards away, and Harry came over to sit down next to her. “He’ll get over it, you know.”

  She made a sound that fell somewhere between a laugh and a sob. “I’m not sure this is the kind of thing a person can get over.”

  “Sure, it is.”

  “He’s waited all this time to find his daughter, and now, because of me, he’s stuck here.”

  “A minor waylay,” Harry said. “A ripple in the big picture.”

  “You don’t know that. What if he doesn’t get there in time? What if his ex-wife finds out he knows where she is and takes off again?”

  “Those are some awfully big what-ifs.”

  “Not that unlikely, though. I should have known something like this would happen.”

  “Crystal ball got a little cloudy, huh?” Harry said, a notch of amusement in his voice.

  “How can you find anything funny in this?” she asked, resting her chin on her knees and staring out at the sea.

  “It’s kind of a rule I live by. Look for the lighter side. Kate, no one here thinks you meant for this to happen.”

  She glanced at Cole, now helping Louis. The worry lines in his face had lightened, and she realized Louis had that effect on him.

  “Not even Cole,” Harry said. “He might have been a little mad at first, but see, even now the fog’s started to lift.”

  “I lied to him,” she said. “I don’t think he’ll get over that.”

  Harry was quiet for a few moments, and then said, “Sometimes we make the wrong choices for the right reasons, Kate. You’re not a bad person. Although I suspect that’s not what you think. Don’t let this be your convicting piece of evidence. It won’t hold up in court. I’ve seen enough proof to the contrary.”

  “Thank you, Harry.”

  “You’re welcome,” he said. “And besides, I should be thanking you.”

  “For what?”

  “For giving me a more complete picture of Margo. She’s an extraordinary woman.”

  “Yes, she is,” she said, pleased by the sincerity in his voice. “Just be careful with her.”

  “I intend to,” he said. “And you be careful with you.”

  Just then a boat appeared on the horizon, a loud horn sounding in the distance. “The cavalry,” she said, grateful for Harry’s faith in her, unsubstantiated though it might be.

  “Forward, ho,” Harry said, standing and offering her a hand. “Hope they’ve got some food on that boat. I’m starving.”

  Margo walked over, slipped her arm through his. “Understandably. You’ve gone what, four hours without eating?”

  “Possibility stress. Very taxing on the body to think about missing a meal.”

  “Ah,” Margo said. “There’s one for the talk show hosts.”

  Kate listened to their easy banter and felt an undeniable spike of wistfulness for what had developed between them. Earned though Cole’s rejection most certainly was, it still stung.

  Actually, it hurt.

  A lot.

  * * *

  COLE WASN’T SURE how he was supposed to act.

  He looked at Kate and wondered if she were anything like the person he’d imagined her to be. As it turned out, he was missing several major pieces of the puzzle, and the hard to accept part was that she’d left them out intentionally. When he fit them into the picture, she didn’t look anything like the Kate he’d shared a bed with last night.

  That Kate was vulnerable-Kate. Starting-all-over-Kate. This Kate…he didn’t know who she was.

  The patrol boat sped across the stretch of ocean toward them. They’d put the word out about his missing boat, although it hadn’t been found yet.

  “Hey.”

  He turned to find her looking at him with uncertainty clouding her eyes. For a moment, something inside him gave, and he wished he could turn the dial back to that morning when pretty much anything had seemed possible for them. “Hey,” he said.

  “Cole.” She stopped, taking a deep breath as if reaching for some way to explain. “I never meant for this to happen.”

  “What did you think would happen?”

  “I thought I would give Karl time to cool off. And then I would go home and force him to own up to what he’d taken from me.”

  “Which was?”

  “Just about everything my father left me.”

  “And you were willing to put everyone on this trip at risk?”

  “I didn’t think of it that way.”

  “But isn’t that how it turned out?”

  She glanced away, then looked back at him. “I’m sorry.”

  “What’s done is done.” He was being a jerk. He knew it, and yet he couldn’t seem to help himself.

  Her eyes widened, and then she blinked away her surprise, as if she’d expected it. “I can take Louis back to the orphanage,” she offered.

  “Thanks. I appreciate it,” he said, keeping his voice neutral. “Tell Scott I’ll give him a call.”

  “I will.” She nodded once, then turned and headed for the other side of the boat where Margo and the Granger sisters had been doing a less than convincing job of ignoring them. He started to call her back, the words nearly automatic, but then he stopped himself. What good would it do?

  If he’d learned anything from these past two years of searching for Ginny, it was that wanting something to be different didn’t make it so. Reality was a painful pill to swallow. And the reality of Kate and him was this: a beginning that started with deceit could only end one way.

  * * *

  ONCE THEY REACHED Tango Island, Cole explained that Har
ry would be taking over the rest of the trip for him. They would wait there overnight to see if the boat was found. If not, they could finish out their vacation on the island or return home with a full refund.

  It was a motley crew that boarded the open-sided island taxi waiting at the end of the pier. They had no luggage, no belongings. Cole had arranged with the hotel to extend credit until the situation had been further resolved.

  They were all about to get on the truck when Kate realized Cole wasn’t going with them. He hugged Lyle, Lily and Margo, then shook hands with Dr. Sheldon. He said something to Harry, then stepped back to where she stood next to Louis. He put a hand on the boy’s shoulder and told him he would see him soon. Louis nodded, his lower lip trembling.

  Cole leaned in and gave him a hug. “No more running away, okay?”

  “Okay,” Louis agreed, eyes downcast.

  Cole looked at her then, and several long seconds passed before either of them spoke. And then it was at the same time.

  “I’m sorry,” she said.

  “Be careful,” he said.

  She hadn’t expected this. She couldn’t imagine that he would care at this point what happened to her.

  She nodded once, hard, tears stinging the back of her throat. “Good luck. I hope you find her.”

  Once they were all seated the taxi pulled away. Everyone waved and called out goodbye to him. She sat with her hands on her lap, not trusting her voice. And even when he turned his back and began to walk away, she didn’t take her eyes off him until the taxi rounded a corner, and he disappeared from her sight.

  * * *

  THEY CHECKED INTO the hotel, and she actually got her old room again. She called Scott first thing. He said he would come down and get Louis, but she asked if the boy could stay with her for the night. She would bring him back in the morning. Scott agreed, and she was surprised when he didn’t ask if Cole would be coming. She wondered if he’d already called and explained what had happened.

  She promised Louis a trip to the pool as soon as she made one last phone call. This one to Tyler, who took her call with an air of resignation, as if he had known something like this would happen.