Summer Secrets - Barbara Freethy [126]
He put his hands on his hips. "What the hell are you ready for, then?"
She glared at him. "Sean, you are being a jerk. You've been back in town less than a week. Don't rush me."
"Maybe I'm afraid you'll change your mind, that this is some bout of temporary insanity, and you'll suddenly wake up and shut me out the way you have the last eight years. Perhaps that's why I'm rushing you a little."
She saw the insecurity in his eyes and could understand where it came from. "You have a right to feel that way, but we can't go from nothing to everything in five minutes. That won't work, either. We need to get to know each other again. Why don't we go down to the marina and get a soda? Then you can meet your parents for dinner, and we'll set up something for tomorrow."
He seemed to relax at the promise of tomorrow. "Okay, I guess I can do that." He grabbed his jacket off a hook and opened the front door. A blast of wind hit them right in the face.
"Oh, my God," Ashley murmured, her already tense body stiffening. "The sky is black." Her heart sped up. A shiver ran down her spine, and her breath came faster as thunder rocked the night, taking her right back to the very place she didn't want to go. She shook her head, trying to get the memories out of her head, but all she could see were the clouds, swirling, swooping, then the waves doing the same, all mixing together, bearing down on her. "I can't do this," she murmured. "Close the door."
Sean shut the door. "It's just a storm, Ashley. It won't hurt you. We'll be fine."
His voice sounded just like Jeremy's voice. She closed her eyes and saw Jeremy in her mind, his brave face lined with worry, but his eyes alight with the magnificence of it all. He hadn't been scared.
He'd been positive they would come out of the storm all right.
She opened her eyes, seeing Sean, seeing Jeremy, their similar features blurring in her mind, just as the past was blurring with the present.
"That's what Jeremy said, but he was wrong," she murmured.
"What? What are you talking about?" Sean grabbed her by the shoulders, gazing deep into her eyes, into her soul. "Did you talk to Jeremy the night of the storm? Did you hear his voice on the radio?"
The truth pressed against her lips. She couldn't let it come out. She couldn't.
Chapter Twenty-Two
"Answer me," Sean said, giving her a little shake. "If you heard Jeremy's voice on the radio, those might have been the last words he ever spoke. I can't believe you never told me this before."
Ashley winced as his grip tightened on her arms, but she deserved the pain. A flash of light illuminated the room, spotlighting the torment in Sean's eyes. The loud clap of thunder that followed seemed like a sign from the heavens that it was time to come clean, time to tell the truth.
Before she could speak, the door to the building burst open, and Caroline and Kate ran in.
"Thank God, you're both here," Kate said, her eyes lit up with worry and fear.
"What's wrong?" Ashley asked, her uneasiness escalating.
"It's Dad," Kate said shortly. "He took Tyler out on his boat today. They haven't come back yet, and the radio is dead."
"What are you saying?" Ashley asked.
"He's missing, Ashley. He's caught in the storm, and we need to find him." Kate looked at Sean. "I need a boat. I've asked everyone else, Sean, but there are three other boats missing and everyone willing to search is already out on the water. Do you think you could take me out on your dad's boat? If you don't want to do it, will you let me take the boat myself?"
Ashley couldn't believe what her sister was asking of Sean. Nor could she believe what Kate was contemplating. "Kate, you can't be serious."
"I am serious," Kate said, determination in her eyes. "It's not just Dad. Tyler is with him. They're in trouble. I know it. I'm desperate, Sean. I know I shouldn't ask, but I don't have another choice."
"Ill take you out," Sean