Summer Secrets - Barbara Freethy [100]
Was she wrong? Was this what he needed? Was this what they all needed?
"Katie," Duncan called out with a cheerful wave when he spotted her. "Come on up. Say hello to Rick."
She climbed aboard. "Good morning."
"Nice to see you again, Kate. I can't wait to show you my boat this afternoon," Rick said.
"The practice run, you remember," Duncan said quickly, a plea in his eye.
Kate was torn once again between family loyalty and honesty. As usual, the two didn't seem to go together.
"Right," she said, hoping it was a neutral enough word to satisfy both of them.
"I'll see you then," Rick said. ""Remember what we discussed," he added to Duncan. "I'd like to see Caroline and Ashley onboard as well."
Duncan nodded. Kate stood motionless and silent until Rick stepped off the boat and was halfway down the dock.
"He thinks I'm racing with you. He thinks we're all racing with you," Kate said slowly, realizing that her father had misled Rick.
"It's a possibility."
"It is not a possibility."
"Katie, I want you with me. You're my daughter. This is a family matter. We're not just racing to race, but to take back what's ours. You must help me."
Her stomach knotted with guilt. He always did know how to push her buttons. "What did you tell Rick?" she asked, trying not to weaken. Someone had to make the tough decisions. Someone had to be logical, practical, and unemotional. And that someone had always been her. She was tired of trying to keep things from sinking or drifting away, but, if she didn't do it, who would?
"I told him I'm building a solid crew, one that will win, and that my daughters always support me."
"You don't always deserve that support."
"We all make mistakes. But we don't turn our backs on one another. And there's a lot at stake."
"I know exactly what's at stake. I ran into K.C. a few minutes ago. He told me you bet our portrait on the race. I said that couldn't possibly be true. You know how much that portrait means to us."
Duncan shrugged. "Don't get all bent out of shape. I'm not going to lose."
"You always say that."
"And I haven't lost yet, not to K.C."
That was true. But they both knew there were things they weren't saying. "What if this is the first time? How could you live with the idea of K.C. putting that portrait up as if we were his family?"
"It's what he wanted to wager against the Moon Dancer. I had no other choice."
"You had a lot of choices, including not making a bet at all."
"He won't beat me, Katie. You're worrying for nothing."
"I won't give up that portrait. It's mine." The portrait had hung on her wall for the last eight years, and before that it had hung in the main cabin of the Moon Dancer. It had gone around the world with them, and it was one of the few things they'd taken off the boat before they'd sold it.
"Then sail with me, Katie. You were always the best of the girls. If you sail with me, we won't lose." His voice grew more energized with each word, the passion of his quest clearly visible in his eyes. "Don't you want to feel the wind in your hair, at your back, driving you toward the finish line? Don't you want to hear your heart pounding? Don't you want to feel alive again?"
It was the talk of an addict, an adrenaline junkie. Hearing the need in his voice awakened memories from long ago. Kate could almost hear the wind, feel the spray in her face, see the other competitors in front of her, behind her, and beside her as they raced for the finish line, willing to win, no matter the cost. She was shocked at how easily it came back to her, that thirst for victory, as if it had been biding its time, hiding beneath the surface, until she couldn't hold it back anymore.
"I can see it in your eyes, Katie. You want it as much as I do."
"I don't."
"Say yes," Duncan urged. "Help me right this