Tempted by Adam

by Williams, May

  “What? See if I’d made anything of myself?” He leaned in close to his father. “I’d change the past if I could, Dad, or I’d take his place so you’d end up with the good son, not the scrap lumber.”

  “I’ve never thought of you that way,” his father insisted.

  “The hell you didn’t.”

  “Adam, please, you can’t talk to your father like this,” Shelby pleaded with him.

  “Stay out of this. It’s not your problem,” he barked at her. She stepped back like he’d slapped her. With a glare, she walked away toward the front of the exhibit hall. “Son of a bitch,” he muttered under his breath. He’d deal with Shelby later. Now he had to finish this with his father. “You think I don’t miss him, too? He was the only thing that kept us together, and I killed him.”

  “No,” his father shouted.

  “I might as well have pulled the trigger. That’s what you and Mom think. I believe it myself half the time.” His father tried to interrupt him, but he went on. “If I hadn’t taken the physical for him, he’d have stayed home and run the family business. You’d have your perfect son.”

  “I want one of my sons, dammit. I lost them both the day Jack died.” Tears brimmed in his father’s eyes.

  “I can’t be Jack.”

  “No one’s asking you to be him. Your mother and I just want back in your life. I have to hear about what you’re doing through my brother-in-law. You’ve built this boat and started your own company and I don’t even know it.”

  “Didn’t think you’d care. You were always more concerned about Jack.”

  His father’s jaw clenched. “That’s fair. Jack was easier to love. I understood him. I never did you, and neither did your mother.”

  “Jack did.”

  “I know that now. He was the reason you stayed around after high school and worked for me. Now there’s nothing to hold you, and you’ve made your choice to go out on your own.”

  “You built your own business. I can do the same.”

  “I’m sure you can, and I respect that.” His father’s voice dropped to a normal tone. “But I’d like to know something about you. Have some part in your life. Who’s the pretty blonde? Seems like she’s important to you. I didn’t even know you had a girl.”

  “Shelby,” he said shortly.

  “And is it serious between you two?”

  “Yeah, or it was.” He looked in the direction she’d taken, but couldn’t see her anywhere. “I think she’s pretty pissed right now.”

  “I’m sorry about that.”

  “Not your fault.” He’d just played his usual role of arrogant jerk, driving her away. How far, he didn’t know. He was in one hell of a spot here. Part of him wanted to chase after Shelby and the other wanted to finish this conversation with his father.

  “Hey, buddy,” a security guard interrupted them, “these boats got to be removed by seven. We’re setting up for the next show tonight.” The guard went on down the lane, spreading the message.

  “Son of a bitch. Shelby’s got the car keys, and I don’t know where she is.”

  “Can I help? My truck’s parked out back.” His father pulled a key ring from his pocket. “I’ll tow the boat out of here while you find her.”

  Adam hesitated.

  Taking help from his father was about the last thing he wanted to do, but he needed to find Shelby. “Okay. Thanks,” he said before sprinting off after Shelby.

  ****

  At midnight, when he pulled up to his boathouse in his father’s truck, his suitcase sat outside his door. He’d gotten to the street in front of the exhibit hall in time to see the taillights of the Packard disappear around a corner. On the drive home, he’d looked in the lot of every restaurant and motel, but she’d driven straight home by herself.

  He wanted to go to her house right now and have it out with her, but he couldn’t. He didn’t want to hear what she’d say, even though he deserved to hear it. He could imagine it all in his head. Instead, he settled his father on his bed, pulled a blanket over himself, and tried to sleep on his short sofa. In the long hours of the night, he reviewed the chaotic events of the day.

  He should feel a modicum of happiness, or at least satisfaction. He’d sold enough boats to get his business started. After working out his two-weeks’ notice on the ferry, he’d be building boats full time. His dream. What he’d worked for in the past year was within his grasp, but he couldn’t find any joy in it without Shelby. Dammit, when had he become dependent on someone else for his happiness?

  A better relationship with his parents brought him some peace, but it was tainted by the way he’d treated Shelby. The conversation with his father on the drive home had been the closest to a father-son moment they’d experienced since he was twelve, but none of it meant anything without her. After a sleepless night he could have clawed out Ned’s eyes when he came beating on the boathouse door.

  “Hey, how’d the show go? Did you buy a truck?” Ned shouted through the door before Adam could get down the stairs and open it. “Where’s Shelby? She in there with you?” Ned greeted him with more questions.

  “No, she dumped me.” Saying the words made them too real.

  “Broke up with you?”

  “No, dumbass, literally dumped me in Atlantic City. Drove home without me.”

  “What’d you do? Hey, tell me about it later. You gotta work. The shifts changed and you’ve got a double today and tomorrow. You’re on the nine-o’clock ferry. Better hustle.”

  Adam cursed everything he could think of on his way up the stairs to get dressed and tell his father he had to work. Doubles meant no chance to see Shelby for the next two days, which might not be so terrible. It would give her the chance to cool off and him time to figure out what to say to her. The nagging thought that she’d leave town without seeing him hovered in the back of his mind. He hoped like hell she wasn’t that stubborn.

  Chapter Nine

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” Natalie sat on Shelby’s living room floor, sorting a box of old family photographs. Other half-packed boxes were scattered around the room. “Spring would be a better time to start fresh. I hate to see you head for Chicago in the winter.”

  “It’s the better job offer, and I’ve always wanted to see the Windy City.” Doing anything right now took a supreme effort on her part. The rainy, windy weather wasn’t helping. She wanted to curl up in a little ball, pull a blanket over her head, and cry like she had so many times after Leo’s death. But Adam wasn’t dead, he was just impossible.

  “Look at this one. I’d completely forgotten about it.” Natalie held up a picture of their family taken one Easter long ago. Natalie had on a frilly dress and bonnet, her brother clutched a chocolate bunny in his hands, and Shelby was a baby in her mother’s arms. “Mom looks so young. I can hardly remember her that way.” Natalie smoothed the crumpled edges of the photograph. “I wish my kids had known her. She would have loved being a grandmother.”

  “Yes.” Shelby managed to answer, and then she put her head in her sister’s lap and cried the tears she’d been holding in for two days. “I think that’s why I’m so mad at him,” she said when she could talk without sobbing. “He’s lost his brother, and he can’t help that. But his parents...” She shook her head. “His father made the effort to drive to Atlantic City, and the things Adam said to him… It was horrible. I know their relationship isn’t good, but he could change that—and he won’t.”

  “Is his dad still here?”

  “No, Maggie said he left this morning. She doesn’t know anything other than that.” She wiped at her face with her handkerchief. “I thought Adam might come and see me, but apparently he’s going to shut me out, as well.”

  “Didn’t you say he was working extra shifts?” Natalie tried to reason with her, but she didn’t want to be logical.

  “Yes, but they don’t work twenty-four hours a day.” A gust of wind blew rain against her front windows. “He could have come, and he didn’t.�
�

  “You know where he lives. Go to him.”

  “No, I can’t.” If he treated her again like he had in the exhibition hall, she wouldn’t be able to muster any anger, only hurt.

  “What if he’s saying the same thing about you?”

  “Then, I guess, that’s it.” She swallowed down the hysterical sob in her throat. “I’ll go to Chicago and start over. It’s what I planned to do before I got involved with him, so that’s what I’ll do.”

  “Honey, you’re not being rational. You’ve got to give him another chance. Let him explain about his parents.”

  “I don’t think I can talk to him.”

  “You just said you wanted him to come see you. Which is it?”

  “I don’t know.” She twisted the handkerchief in her hands until it was a tight ball.

  “So you’re in love with him,” her sister declared. “Only that could drive you to act this crazy.”

  “What am I going to do?”

  “Does he know you love him?”

  “Yes, and he told me he loved me, but now...”

  “You, young lady, are not going to Chicago until you talk to him. I don’t care if I have to drive you over there myself and shove you out of the car.” Natalie stood, hauling her sister up with her. “When does he get off work tonight? Maggie must have told you.”

  “Eleven. Why?”

  “It’s ten now, so you have an hour to get rid of the tear-stained look. Lipstick and lots of powder,” Natalie directed. “Meet him at the dock. Kiss him, fight with him, I don’t care, but make him understand that you do care. If he doesn’t want you, I’ll help you pack the rest of your belongings.”

  “You hate packing.”

  “That’s why I’m banking on a different outcome.” Natalie gave her a little shove toward the bedroom to get ready. “One that will keep you here.”

  ****

  At a quarter to eleven, she pulled into the parking lot at the dock. More cars than usual were here, considering the lateness of the hour and the terrible weather. She ran the short distance to the passenger waiting room in the driving rain and strong wind. Several people waited on benches for the last ferry headed south tonight. Thankful she didn’t have to get on a boat in this weather, she took a seat and rehearsed in her head what she would say to Adam.

  By eleven-thirty, she’d played the possible scenarios between them so many times she had them memorized, but everything depended on his reaction to her. If he tried to walk away from her, she planned to fight with him, make him understand her anger. If he welcomed her with open arms, she’d demand an explanation of his behavior before kissing him.

  Ned came out from an office and walked toward her. “Shelby, did Mags call you?”

  “No, why would she?” She slid over to make room for him on the bench. “I came to wait for Adam. He’s working this ferry, right?”

  “Yeah, he’s on it.” Ned’s face was glum when he sat next to her. “They’re having a hard time of it tonight. The ferry lost an engine thirty minutes out of Virginia Beach.”

  “So it’s delayed?” she asked, with a sinking feeling.

  “Yeah, a ferry with one engine in this kind of weather doesn’t do so well. The waves are twenty feet or more on the bay. They’re getting tossed around like a leaf in a hurricane.”

  “Did they turn back?” Maybe they were safe already on the other side of the bay.

  “Last we heard, they were coming on, but that was almost an hour ago. No communication since.” Ned glanced at the huge clock on the waiting room wall. “I put off calling my mom, but it can’t wait much longer.”

  “Your dad’s on board, too?”

  He nodded. “Pilot tonight.”

  “Oh, Ned. I’m sorry.” So focused on her own problems, she hadn’t noticed the tension in the room. Other people were waiting for loved ones the same as she was. “What could happen?”

  “Could capsize, or get pushed onto the peninsula and grounded.”

  “Can anything be done to help them?”

  “A tug just left, headed to their last known location. We just gotta wait, for now.” He stood up. “I’ll let you know if there’s any radio traffic from them.”

  Left by herself, she let her head sink back against the wall and closed her eyes. The wind shook the little building, making the windows rattle. She couldn’t imagine how much worse the wind would be for a boat caught in the middle of the bay. All the words she’d planned to say to Adam tonight disappeared when she thought of him on the deck of the foundering boat. He probably wasn’t even scared, knowing him.

  But she was terrified. Terrified that he wouldn’t come back so she could tell him how much she loved him. Terrified of losing another man she loved. With Leo, she’d received a telegram days after his death. She’d always felt guilty at having lived those days not knowing. But this was worse. Having to witness the scene, see the other people around her as anxious and worried as she…

  One o’clock passed without any communication from the ferry, but word of its situation spread throughout town, and more people arrived at the docks. Maggie came with her mother-in-law and sat with Shelby, but none of them said much. At two, the tug captain reported the location of the ferry. It was upright but drifting toward land and in danger of washing ashore.

  As the wait lengthened through the early morning hours, Maggie dozed against her shoulder and Ned’s mother knitted without expression, just stopping to count stitches and peek at the clock. Shelby thought she’d go mad with waiting. Then the toot of a tugboat sounded. Ned flung open the waiting room door from the docks.

  “They’re coming in,” he called.

  The crowd rushed to the door, pushing each other in their excitement. In the cool air of early morning, the tug’s horn was louder, and Shelby could make out its lights, but nothing else. The mass of people leaned out to see. Finally, the hulking shape of the ferry appeared behind the tug. It listed to the port side and had no lights or power, but it was there.

  Most of the ferry’s passengers appeared to be on the open deck of the tug. She scanned the people for Adam but couldn’t find him. Behind the tug, the ferry grated against the dock, screeching as metal scraped metal. Running across the sloping deck of the ferry was Adam. He vaulted over the side wall to tie up the boat with his usual easy movement, giving a thumbs up to his uncle in the wheelhouse when the line was secure.

  While most of the crowd swarmed to welcome the passengers, she strode toward Adam at the dock’s end. She couldn’t remember any of the things she’d planned to say to him. When she was a few feet from him, she stopped, but his back was still toward her.

  “Adam?”

  He spun around, his face serious when he saw her. “I didn’t expect you to be here.”

  “I wanted to know you were safe.”

  “I am. Thanks.” His eyes searched her face. “I guess word spread all over town about the ferry.”

  “It did, but I was already here to meet you last night.” She tried to read his reaction, but couldn’t. When he made no comment to her words, she decided coming here had been a terrible mistake. He didn’t want her and was trying to brush her off without being openly rude. “Anyway, I’m glad you’re all right.” She nodded to him and backed away, hoping to get to the parking lot before she thought too much about what this meant.

  “Shells,” he called to her, but she kept walking. “You’re going to make me shout it right on the docks, aren’t you?” She stopped, but didn’t turn back to him. “Okay, here goes. I love you,” he yelled in a voice so loud all other sound on the docks stopped. “I love you, Shelby Stanton.” He dropped his voice so only she could hear. “Come here and kiss me.”

  “Why don’t you come to me?” She whirled to face him, smiling for the first time in days.

  “Are you really going to be stubborn now?” He stalked toward her. “I’ve spent the night battling killer waves, and all I could think about was you. For the first time in my life, I was scared of the water. N
ot because I might die, but because I’d never see you again.” They were inches apart now. “And right now I’m hoping like hell you didn’t come here to say goodbye.”

  She closed the slight distance between them. “I’ve decided there’s more than one way to find a fresh start.” Wrapping her arms around his neck, she tilted her face up. “Besides, you need me to help you get the boat factory off the ground. We’re going to be too busy to go anywhere.”

  The smile hovering around the corners of his mouth disappeared. “I do need you. But I have to make one trip, and I want you to go with me.”

  “Your parents?”

  He nodded. “It won’t be easy.”

  “But it’s the right thing to do, and I love you for it.”

  “I’m glad you said that…” He grinned, clasping her tight against him. “Because I have a question for you. I know I’m only a slightly reformed arrogant jerk and I don’t deserve you, but will you marry me anyway?”

  “Yes,” she whispered, stretching up to kiss him. Behind them the crowd cheered and the ferry’s horn blasted in approval.

  A word about the author...

  May Williams loves to travel to find inspiration for her books. Cape Charles, Virginia, is one of her favorite destinations. Something about the sandy beach, the Victorian setting, and the friendly locals draws her back time and again.

  May’s previously published works:

  Landed by a Flyboy

  Enchanted by a Lily

  Cape May Serenade

  Ellen Takes Troy

  Thank you for purchasing

  this publication of The Wild Rose Press, Inc.

  For other wonderful stories of romance,

  please visit our on-line bookstore at

  www.thewildrosepress.com.

  For questions or more information

  contact us at

  info@thewildrosepress.com.

  The Wild Rose Press, Inc.

  www.thewildrosepress.com

  To visit with authors of

  The Wild Rose Press, Inc.

  join our yahoo loop at

  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thewildrosepress/