Summer Secrets

by Barbara Freethy

  Duncan raised his glass to his lips once again. K.C. had come just as he'd expected. It hadn't taken a rocket scientist to figure out that K.C. would buy the Moon Dancer. Maybe the girls would be surprised, but Duncan knew better. He'd known K.C. would come back eventually, and returning in the Moon Dancer would fit K.C.'s sense of drama.

  It didn't matter. The boat's return added to the challenge, and Duncan felt exhilarated by the thought of it all. He was living again. He was calling the shots. He'd had plenty of time over the past few years to think. And he knew what he wanted now. A twinge of conscience stabbed him as he recalled the horror in Kate's eyes when he'd told her he was racing again, but he ignored it. He'd suffered enough.

  "Mr. McKenna?"

  Duncan looked up to see a young man approaching him. "Do I know you?"

  "Not yet. I'm Tyler Jamison. I'm a reporter, and I'd like to do a follow-up story on your family's impressive racing victory in the Winston Challenge."

  He smiled. A reporter? Perfect. This day was getting better and better. "You've come to the right place."

  "Can I buy you a drink?"

  "Of course." As Tyler sat down, Duncan saw Kate and Ashley walk into the bar. He frowned in disgust. "Don't tell me that fool bartender called you already. I've only had two drinks."

  "What are you doing here?" Kate asked Tyler.

  Apparently, his daughter had already met the reporter. Probably tried to steer him away from the family. Well, not this time. A reporter suited his purposes just fine.

  "You're interrupting," Duncan said. "Mr. -- What was your name?"

  "Jamison."

  "Mr. Jamison and I are going to have a drink."

  "Dad, he's a reporter," Kate protested.

  "I know who he is," he said with a grin. "I just don't know what he's drinking."

  "I'll have a beer," Tyler said to the nearby waiter. He turned to Kate. "What about you, Kate? Are you staying?"

  Kate looked undecided, Ashley even more so.

  "Sit or go," Duncan said impatiently. He would have preferred that they go, but he suspected that no matter how uncomfortable Kate felt, she would not leave him alone with the reporter.

  "I'll stay," Kate said firmly. "Ashley will stay, too."

  Ashley looked like she'd rather do anything else. But then that's the way Ashley looked most of the time, Duncan thought. His middle daughter had always been more of a mystery than the other two, and always so damn sensitive.

  "Now, then, what can I tell you?" Duncan asked Tyler as his daughter joined them at the table.

  "I'd like to hear about your experience racing around the world."

  "That could take awhile, son," he said with a laugh.

  "I'll bet." Tyler leaned forward. "I've read a great deal about the race, but what I'd really like to know is how it felt to sail through one of the most terrible storms in ocean-racing history."

  "Ever had someone hold your head underwater?" Duncan asked. "I thought God had his hands on our heads that night. The waves got so bad we couldn't tell if we were sailing or if the boat was just filling up with water."

  "It must have been terrifying," Tyler commented.

  "It was the worst we'd ever been through." Duncan knew there had to be limits to this conversation, but, dammit, some day he wanted to tell the world just how hard it had been to sail through that monster. "But we survived."

  "Were you close to the boat that didn't make it?" Tyler asked.

  "Who could tell?" Kate said quickly. "We couldn't see past our noses out there."

  "But they kept shouting Mayday over the radio," Ashley said. "I can still hear their voices filled with panic, begging for help. I don't think I'll ever forget those voices." Her own voice drifted away as if she were sorry she'd joined in the conversation.

  Duncan shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He didn't want to talk about those voices; he wanted to talk about the roller-coaster waves and the strength it had taken to keep the boat from going under.

  "When did you know that one of the boats had gone down?" Tyler asked Duncan.

  "The next day, when it was over."

  "I understand one man survived."

  "Yes," Duncan answered. It was all a matter of public record, at least that part. He looked up as the door to the bar opened and his onetime friend and nemesis walked into the room. "Well, if that isn't right on cue. There he is now."

  Duncan got to his feet, watching the man he had once loved as a brother, then hated as an enemy, walk into the room. K.C. looked good, too good. There was a glint in his eye, a spring in his step. He wanted the challenge as much as Duncan did. Two old gunfighters looking for a last shootout.

  "Duncan," K.C. said.

  The room grew quiet, as if everyone knew something was coming, but they weren't sure what.

  "It's been too long," K.C. said.

  "Has it? I haven't noticed."

  "You haven't missed me?"

  "Not at all," Duncan replied.

  "I hope it's not difficult for you to see your boat being sailed by your old friend."

  "I hope it won't be difficult for you to lose to your old friend yet again." Duncan felt his temper rise despite his best attempts to stay calm. God, he hated K.C.'s smug, smirking face and that slimy voice of his, pretending to be sophisticated and rich, when they both knew he'd come from nothing, same as Duncan. He didn't understand how Nora could have ever been taken in by this man.

  "That's right. I just heard you were racing," K.C. continued. "I'm glad. It's only fitting. After all, the last time we raced in the Castleton, it was against each other. I remember Nora --"

  "Leave her out of this." He couldn't stand the sound of Nora's name on this man's lips.

  "That would be impossible. Nora was always between us. Just like the Moon Dancer was always between us. She feels good under my hands, Duncan, almost as good as --"

  "You son of a bitch." Duncan lunged for K.C. but missed, landing on his knees. He heard K.C.'s mocking laughter and felt a terrible rage. He would make this man pay, if it was the last thing he did.

  Kate ran to her father. He pushed her away, his pride stinging more than his body. "I'm fine."

  "You were always so predictable," K.C. said, "so easy. I thought things might have changed, but they haven't. I'll see you on the water, old friend." And with a wave he was gone.

  "Are you all right?" Kate asked as he got to his feet.

  "I just tripped, that's all. What are you looking at?" he asked the other customers, who finally turned away.

  "What was he talking about, Dad?" Ashley asked when he returned to the table.

  "Nothing. He just likes to shoot off his mouth. Forget about it."

  "That won't be easy to do," Kate said slowly. "Is there something you need to tell us about Mom and K.C.?"

  "There's something I need to tell you about the boat," Duncan replied. He paused for a moment, sure they wouldn't like what he had to say, but he would say it anyway. "I'm going to win it back."

  Kate looked at him in surprise. "What are you talking about?"

  "K.C. is going to make a bet, and he'll lose."

  "What's the wager?" Tyler asked.

  "If I win the Castleton, he gives me back the Moon Dancer."

  "Oh, my God," Kate said. "You can't be serious, Dad. What if K.C. doesn't agree?"

  "Are you kidding? A chance to beat me? He'll agree."

  "What happens if you lose? What does he get?" she asked.

  "I won't lose."

  "You can't guarantee that."

  "I can. Rick Beardsley gave me carte blanche to pick my own racing crew." He looked his daughter straight in the eye. "I want you, Katie girl. You and Ashley and Caroline. I want us to take back what was ours. Say yes."

  Chapter Eleven

  "You're out of your mind," Kate said, shocked to the core. "I'm not going to race. And neither is Ashley." She glanced at her sister, who looked sick at the thought of it.

  "Not even to get back our boat?" Duncan challenged. "I
t's mine, Katie. I won't have K.C. living my life, sailing my boat. I'm getting it back. I want you girls to help me. We're a family. We stand together."

  Kate saw her father turn to Ashley, whose eyes had filled with unimaginable terror. Even Duncan could see it. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it. He put out a tentative hand to Ashley, but she pushed back her chair.

  "I -- I can't," Ashley stuttered. She ran out of the bar as if the fires of hell were chasing after her.

  Kate could understand the feeling. She wanted to flee, too, but she didn't have the luxury. She couldn't walk out on Duncan -- not with Tyler so close, waiting, watching, listening.

  Duncan motioned for the waitress to bring him another drink. "You think about it," he said to Kate. "You were always my best sailor. I know I could do this with you at my side. And talk to Caroline. She'll come along. She'll want to help. She always does."

  "Because she wants your approval."

  "She'll definitely have it, if she comes onboard."

  "You knew he was coming back, didn't you?" It suddenly became clear to Kate that Duncan had not been surprised to see K.C.

  "Yes." Duncan paused as the waitress set down his drink. "I knew that as soon as he saw the Moon Dancer was for sale, he'd find a way to buy it."

  "Because?" Kate was almost afraid to ask, but she couldn't stop the question from breaking through her lips.

  "He always wanted it. He couldn't stand that Nora and I built it together."

  "So this does have something to do with Mom," she said slowly. "Just like he said. Something happened between the three of you. I remember when he was your best friend. He spent all the holidays with us, then he was gone. Instead of being our favorite uncle, he was someone you didn't even speak to. What happened?" Kate couldn't bring herself to ask if there had been an affair. It sounded so disloyal. Her mother wouldn't have had an affair. She had too much character and integrity, and she had loved Duncan. Kate would have bet her life on it.

  "That's between K.C. and me. What you need to be concerned about is someone else sailing our boat."

  "Someone else has been sailing our boat for eight years."

  "Not this someone."

  "You'll have to give me a better reason." She turned to Tyler. "Would you mind giving us some privacy?"

  Tyler simply smiled in return. "I don't think so."

  "K.C. bought the Moon Dancer to show me up," Duncan said, obviously not caring that a reporter was listening in. "He wants me to think he's the winner and I'm the loser, but he's wrong. And I'm going to prove it."

  "Hasn't the time for proving things passed? Haven't you both lost enough?"

  "I want my boat back. Our boat. Our home. Think about it. It's the last place we were together, and I mean your beautiful mother, too. We designed and built that boat, decorated it in our own way, spilled sweat, blood, and tears on that deck. I won't have K.C. in it. I won't have him living my life. Help me, Katie."

  Kate didn't like the idea of K.C. sailing the Moon Dancer, either. But to race again? To compete for a boat that held so many memories, both bad and good? She couldn't do it. It would be too painful. "I can't."

  "Katie, please."

  "You'll have to do this one on your own. I really wish you'd forget it. Let K.C. take the Moon Dancer and sail to Hawaii. He'll be gone in a few days, and we can get back to normal."

  "Normal? You call this normal -- this life we're leading? Hell, Katie, I haven't felt normal in eight years."

  Kate watched as he drained his drink. "Maybe it's all the booze. Maybe that's why you don't feel normal."

  "Fine. Whatever. Go on, get out of here. You know, Katie, your mother was never so judgmental. So hard. Everything with you is black and white. People are good or they're bad; there's no in between." His eyes bored into hers with anger and frustration. "You can't stand to be wrong, and you can't stand it when people don't measure up to your lofty standards. Some of us are human. Some of us have weaknesses."

  Kate felt incredibly hurt by his harsh words. She wasn't judgmental or hard. And she was human. She cared. She cared too much, if he only knew the truth. "This isn't about right or wrong --"

  "I thought you were leaving," Duncan said, cutting her off. "I've got business to discuss with my new friend here." He tipped his head in Tyler's direction.

  Kate saw concern in Tyler's eyes, or was it guilt? No, he didn't feel guilty. He'd already told her he didn't waste time on that emotion. This was the opportunity Tyler had been looking for, a chance to get the inside scoop from Duncan. And there was not a damn thing she could do about it. If she protested, it would only make Tyler more suspicious, and Duncan was hell-bent on living out his glory days one more time. Sometimes she wondered why she bothered to protect him. But it wasn't just him, she told herself firmly. That's what she had to remember.

  "I'll call you later," Tyler said quietly.

  She got to her feet. "Don't bother. I've said all I need to say -- to both of you."

  * * *

  Ashley dragged an old duffel bag off the top shelf of her closet. It came down with a layer of dust and a couple shoe boxes. She coughed, sneezed, then nearly burst into tears when an old and terribly familiar smell wafted through the room. It was the smell of the sea, the smell of the boat, the smell of fear. She stared at the duffel bag in dismay. It had been eight years since she'd used it. Too long for the smells to still be there. Was it just her imagination?

  Oh, what did it matter? Her life was falling apart.

  She couldn't believe her father wanted them to race again. She couldn't believe that K.C. had somehow been involved with her mother. What was that all about? Was it a lie? Or something more? And did she really want to know?

  She had to get away. The walls were closing in. Just like before, during that terrible storm, when she'd seen the water slipping in under the door. She'd had the terrible feeling they were already underwater. She wouldn't be able to get out. She wouldn't be able to breathe. She'd die slowly, suffocating, the way she was suffocating now.

  "Ashley -- open up." She heard a male voice and a pounding on the door. The voice brought her back to reality, and she ran out of her bedroom before the memories could come back.

  Sean was at the door. Her jaw dropped in shock. "What are you doing here?"

  "I want to know what happened," he said, his eyes determined.

  "About what? Are you talking about K.C.? He just showed up with the Moon Dancer. My father wants to race him, and he wants me onboard. It's crazy. I don't know what's happening. Everything is changing."

  "What the hell are you talking about?"

  Ashley stared at him. "K.C."

  "I didn't come here to talk about K.C., but about Jeremy. I'm talking about my brother, and that little bombshell you dropped last night."