Summer Secrets

by Barbara Freethy

  "He still shouldn't have died," Sean repeated with a hitch in his voice. He rubbed a hand across his eyes. "He was so young. He had his whole life ahead of him. And he lost it for what? A stupid sailboat race."

  "He didn't think it was stupid. He thought it was the most exciting thing he'd ever done in his life and the most exciting thing he might ever do. We spent a lot of time together at the various ports along the way. Jeremy loved what he was doing. If you don't believe anything else, I hope you'll believe that. He also loved you very much. He talked about you all the time to me. He knew I was missing you." She stumbled over the words as emotions swamped her. "I loved you so much, Sean. The only reason I broke up with you was because I couldn't stand to lie to you. I knew eventually we would come to this point, when you would look at me and know the truth, and you would hate me. It was inevitable."

  She paused, wishing he'd say something, but he was staring at his bottle of beer. "Anyway, I just wanted to say I was sorry. I still love you, Sean, but I'm going to leave the island. I'm going away, so you don't have to look at me every day or, worse yet, try to avoid me. I want you to be happy. I really want that." She got to her feet, but he reached out and caught her hand in his. She looked into his eyes and saw what looked like forgiveness and so much more.

  "Don't go," he said, pulling her back down on the couch. "Don't ever go." And his mouth covered hers before she could tell him that the last thing she wanted to do was leave ...

  * * *

  Kate rolled onto her side and ran her hand down the center of Tyler's chest. His eyes were closed, but she knew he wasn't sleeping. He'd already tensed with the slightest brush of her fingers against his skin. They'd made love twice already, but it wasn't enough. She wanted to feel him inside her again, filling all the empty spaces in her heart and her soul.

  "You're living dangerously, Kate," he murmured.

  "You may not know this about me, but there was a time when I liked to live dangerously, and I'm beginning to want to do it again." She lifted her head and smiled as he opened first one eye then the other.

  "How dangerous are we talking?"

  "Really dangerous." She hesitated, not sure he was as ready as she was to talk about the future. "But we can discuss that later."

  "Why wait?" he asked. "I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."

  "Maybe not today," she said slowly, "but I suspect soon." She put her head on his chest and closed her eyes, listening to his heart beat steadily beneath her ear. She wished she hadn't said anything. She could feel the tension in his body now, tension she'd created by wanting to talk about the future.

  He gently stroked her hair. "Kate?"

  "What?"

  "I don't know the best way to work things out between us. But I do know that I want to make it work, more than anything."

  She lifted her head and turned over on her stomach so she could look him straight in the eye. "I want that, too. I love you."

  "I love you back," he said with a gaze so tender, so full of promise, she felt tears in her eyes.

  "Wherever you want to live," she said, "I'll go with you. I want you to know that."

  "You'd give up this island, your garden, your little house in the hills? You'd give that up for me?"

  She didn't answer right away, because she wanted him to know that she was taking this question seriously, that her answer mattered and meant something. She saw his eyes darken with uncertainty. "Yes, I would," she said finally. "I'd give up everything for you. I would have jumped in the water for you tonight, if I'd needed to. I don't want to lose you. If my grip gets too tight, you'll have to let me know."

  "I'll be holding on to you just as tightly, Kate." He put his hand behind her head and pulled her close for a kiss. "You're the best thing that ever happened to me. I'm not going to ask you to give up anything for me. We'll find a way to work it out." He kissed her again, then set her aside.

  "Hey, that wasn't enough," she complained.

  He smiled as he reached for his cell phone on the bedside table. "There's one call I need to make."

  "To your brother?"

  "Yes, I need to let him know that Caroline is no threat to Amelia. He'll be very relieved."

  Kate frowned. "How do you think he'll feel about you being involved with the sister of Amelia's birth mother? That could be complicated."

  "He'll deal with it, just as Caroline will. I think Amelia is a lucky little girl to have so many people love her. And hopefully one day she can know the true circumstances of her birth. I think it's important, and I hope Mark will realize it, too. Amelia should know her biological family."

  "Even my father?"

  Tyler groaned. "Well ... maybe not my first choice, but he is your father. However, I will never sail with that man again. In fact, I may never sail again."

  "Fine by me." Kate sat up in bed, wrapping the sheet around her bare body. "Before you make that call, there's something else I wanted to talk to you about."

  "What's that?"

  "I've been thinking, and this will sound crazy, but I want to race in the Castleton on Saturday and try to win back the Moon Dancer." Her words came out in a rush, and she waited for him to say she was a fool, it was a ridiculous idea. But he didn't say anything, he just smiled at her.

  "I think that sounds like a terrific idea."

  "Really?"

  "It's the last bit of unfinished business, isn't it?"

  "As long as K.C. has our boat, he'll always be in our lives. I want him out. I want all of the past to be over with." She sighed. "Now I just have to convince Caroline and Ashley to sail with me."

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  "All for one, one for all." Caroline held out her hands to Kate and Ashley as they stood on the dock in front of the Summer Seas, the boat they would race against the Moon Dancer in just a few minutes. Rick Beardsley had agreed to let them participate in the race around the island with a few of his crew, who would then take the boat on to San Francisco and eventually to Hawaii.

  Kate had persuaded her father to sit the race out. Yesterday she'd notified the race officials from the Winston Around-the-World Challenge of the true events of eight years ago. There would be an investigation and probably some type of recompense to be made in terms of the prize money they'd already spent. Kate had no idea where they'd get the money to pay it back or whether her father would suffer any further penalties, but it didn't matter. It was a relief to have it all out in the open.

  They'd also faced the Amberson family and had come clean on every detail of the last few days of Jeremy's life. The Ambersons had been understandably furious and hurt, the pain once again as fresh as it had been eight years ago. But hopefully in time they would understand that Jeremy had still died a hero.

  He'd come aboard the Moon Dancer to help and support the McKenna girls, and he'd done exactly that right up until the last minute.

  It didn't take long for the news to race around the island, and gossip and speculation were running rampant. The McKennas had been the talk at every bar and on every boat on the island. But today was a new day. A new race. And, like all good sailors, they weren't looking behind them. Their eyes were fixed on the horizon.

  "I can't believe I'm doing this again," Ashley murmured.

  "Me, either," Caroline said with a dimpled smile. "But it feels good. I feel good."

  "So do I," Kate said.

  "That's because you're in love," Caroline teased.

  Kate was in love -- lust, infatuation, she had it all. She still didn't know what the future would hold. Loving a man like Tyler would no doubt offer its own set of challenges. He was a roamer at heart, and, even though he claimed he wanted roots, she wasn't sure how the reality of island living would fit him. Something else she'd deal with as she went along. She could live anywhere. She knew that now. She no longer needed a place to hide, but a place to live.

  "Hello, girls," a familiar voice said.

  They turned to see K.C. and David bearing down on them.

  "Hell
o," they said in unison.

  "It's been quite a week, hasn't it?" K.C. said, looking at Kate.

  "Yes, it has."

  "I didn't remember, you know. I almost wish I had. I almost wish my plan had been as devious as you no doubt thought it was," K.C. said. "I realize now that Duncan thought I came back here to torture him with the possibility of revealing the truth. But I just came back to rub his face in the sight of me sailing his boat."

  "Not for long," Kate said. "We're going to win it back. The bet still stands, right? Whether my father races or not?"

  "Why would you want the Moon Dancer? You girls don't want to race or even sail."

  "Because it's ours. It's our home, our legacy. My mother would want us to have it."

  K.C. met her gaze with a long, serious look of his own. "I wish you luck, then," he said, tipping his head.

  "We won't need luck. We're McKennas," Kate called after him, repeating her father's favorite phrase.

  "I'm not so sure we don't need luck," Ashley said somewhat darkly. "We haven't raced in eight years. We're a little out of practice."

  "That's true, but we're still strong and fit, and, frankly, I think it's ingrained in us, don't you? There was a time when we could do this in our sleep. I'm hoping it comes back. But, if it doesn't, at least we will have tried our best." Kate paused, giving her sister a curious look. "By the way, how is Sean?" Ashley blushed and Kate had her answer. "That good, huh?"

  "We're working things out."

  "I'm so glad."

  "I left him a message that we were racing today, but I'm not sure he wants to be a part of it." Ashley looked around. "I thought Dad might come down to see us off. Although he's probably angry with us for finally speaking the truth."

  "He is, but he brought a lot of it on himself. He told Tyler quite a bit of it when they were on the boat together. I think in a way he was almost as relieved as we were to speak the truth... At any rate, I told him I didn't want him here today unless he was sober. We have to make some changes in our lives, starting now," Kate added, but since her father was nowhere in sight, she had a feeling he hadn't been able to do as she requested.

  "That's a lot to ask."

  "It's past time to be asking," Kate said. "It's bad enough, all the risks he took with us by his side, but I can't forgive him for endangering Tyler's life the way he did. We're not going to lie to one another anymore. We're not going to pretend things are right when they're wrong."

  "He may not be capable of changing," Ashley said.

  "I know. But I am capable of changing how I deal with him."

  "Let's go, girls," Caroline said, waiting for them on deck with two other crew members whom Kate had met the day before. "It's time to get this show on the road."

  Kate and Ashley climbed onto the boat, and within minutes they were in the familiar groove of race day preparations.

  The starting line was crowded with boats. Kate felt a rush of excitement as the boats jockeyed for position. Then they were off. It was a tight race to the first buoy marker. The boats were neck and neck. There were barely inches between them at times.

  The next two hours were exhilarating, exhausting, and renewing. Turn after turn, tack after tack, into the wind with speed and grace. Their lives had come full circle. As they turned and headed for home, the Moon Dancer falling behind them, Kate knew that the victory was theirs.

  "Look, Ashley," she said with a wave of her hand. Standing on the bluff were the two most important men in their lives, Tyler and Sean. "They're waiting for us."

  "I can't believe it," Ashley said, tears coming to her eyes.

  "Me, either." Kate wished there was someone waiting for Caroline, too. But her sister wasn't looking at the bluff; she was concentrating on the finish line. For Caroline, it wasn't about love -- it was about the future. She also felt a bittersweet sadness that Duncan wasn't there, but perhaps he couldn't bear to see them race without him. Maybe it was better this way.

  They'd finally cut the ties between father and daughters. They were on their own, for better or for worse.

  "Stay focused," Caroline said. "We haven't crossed the finish line yet," she added as the Summer Seas and the Moon Dancer battled back and forth for position.

  Kate adjusted the sails and ran the boat boldly and bravely into the wind, remembering who they'd once been and who they would be again.

  Epilogue

  Ship's log, Moon Dancer, July 14

  Wind: 840 knots

  Sea Conditions: calm, peaceful

  Weather Forecast: clear skies

  Kate McKenna picked up her pen with a smile. It had been eight years since she'd written in this log -- this weather-beaten, storm-battered log that had been stored in her attic until today. She was supposed to write down only the facts, but she couldn't help herself, not this time. She turned to the last empty page in the book.

  I never thought I would write in this book again, but today the Moon Dancer will sail around Castleton Island, a proud victory sail for my sisters, my father, and myself. We have taken back our boat. We have taken back our lives. That terrible storm of eight years ago destroyed much, but it did not destroy us. We are stronger now. We have learned to let go, to forget and to forgive, but, most importantly, we have learned how to love again.

  Kate set down the pen and closed the book. She took it up on the deck where her sisters were waiting, along with her father, Tyler, and Sean.

  "What do you have there?" Tyler asked, a curious glint in his eyes.

  "The ship's log. The history of our trip around the world. And the forecast for today's sail."

  "Did you embellish?" her father asked with a slightly grumpy smile.

  He'd been sober for almost twenty-four hours, so he was bound to be a bit out of sorts. Kate didn't know how long it would last, but they would take it one day at a time.

  "Just a bit." She handed him the book. "This belongs to you, Dad. So does the Moon Dancer. Caroline, Ashley, and I agree that you should live on it here in the harbor. But we'd prefer that you don't take it out unless you invite one of us along for the ride."

  "Would you go?" he asked, sounding slightly astonished by the idea.

  "I would," Caroline said quickly.

  "I would, too," Ashley replied a bit more slowly. Kate simply nodded.

  "Well, then ..." Duncan shook his head in bemusement. "You girls always come through for me, don't you? I'm not sure I deserve it. Actually, I'm sure I don't deserve it. But I'm going to try harder." Duncan looked over at Sean and Tyler. "I guess you two will be hanging around, huh?"

  "I certainly will," Sean said firmly, putting his arm around Ashley.

  "What about you, Mr. Hotshot Reporter? What's your story?" Duncan asked.

  "My story is just beginning," Tyler replied, sending Kate a tender smile. "Or should I say our story?"

  "Our story," Kate agreed.

  "And my brother has promised to think about bringing Amelia for a visit as soon as he's back on his feet," Tyler added, his gaze turning to Caroline.

  "I promise I'll never reveal who I am unless your brother wants Amelia to know."

  "I've told Mark that. It's difficult for him to trust, but he's trying." He paused. "I should thank you for sending that attorney after us. Otherwise, I never would have met Kate." He smiled at her. "Funny how things work."