Summer Secrets - Barbara Freethy [127]
"Meet us at Kate's house," Caroline told her as the three of them walked toward the door. "Bring some of your cookies, Ashley. Make some tea. We'll probably need it when we get back."
That's what she had been reduced to -- tea and cookies. She'd once been as good a sailor as both of them. But they didn't trust her now. She'd lost their respect along with everything else. Wasn't it about time she tried to get it back?
The three people she loved most in the world were on their way out the door when she finally found the courage to speak. "Wait, I'm coming with you."
Kate couldn't believe Ashley would actually get on Sean's boat, but she didn't want to waste time arguing. When Ashley balked, they'd simply leave her behind and deal with that problem when they came back. Right now she had to concentrate on finding her father and Tyler as quickly as possible.
"We won't be able to stop and bring you back," Kate told Ashley as they ran down the dock. "Maybe you should just wait here."
"She's right, Ash. You don't have anything to prove," Caroline said.
"I'm part of the family. I have to go. One for all, all for one, remember?"
Ashley's words of bravado were accented by sheer terror as she grabbed Kate's arm to steady herself on the dock, which was moving up and down with the water. "Just help me get on the boat. I'll be fine from there."
"It's okay, Ashley," Kate replied. "You don't have to do this. We love you. Dad loves you. He'll understand why you didn't come."
"He won't understand. He never understood. It was my fear that caused our problems before. Dad told me to grow up, to stop crying, or someone would get hurt." Ashley looked at Kate with anguish in her eyes. "I just didn't know it would be Jeremy."
Kate caught her breath at the sharp blast from the past. "Stop it. That was a long time ago and a completely different situation." Besides that, Ashley was wrong, completely wrong. If anyone was to blame, it was herself.
"Let's go," Caroline said impatiently from aboard the boat.
"It's now or never," Kate said, glancing at Ashley's white face.
"Now." Ashley reached out her hand to Caroline, who helped her onboard. Kate untied the rope and jumped onto the boat behind her sisters. They huddled on deck as Sean started the engine of his father's thirty-two-foot cabin cruiser and steered them out of the harbor, right into the heart of the storm.
The rain was coining down steadily. Tyler wiped his eyes, wishing he could see better, but the clouds had obliterated all light. "We should try the radio again," he said to Duncan, who continued to bail water out of the boat, which was looking to be a hopeless task.
"It's dead," Duncan said, pausing in his task. He straightened and pulled out his flask once again. "Maybe this was meant to be."
"What was meant to be?"
"That it would end like this."
"Hey, nothing is going to end tonight. That's for damn sure."
Duncan smiled with defeat. "You and Jeremy, so much alike -- strong, energetic, determined, convinced you can overcome. I used to be like that."
"You still are like that, Duncan. You're going to race on Saturday, remember? You're winning back the Moon Dancer. Come on, man, don't give up on me."
"I won't be able to race. Rick won't let me sail without the girls. And they won't come with me."
"I'll help you change their minds." Tyler knew that he had to get Duncan out of this depression so they could fight the storm.
"It's over. I have to accept it. The girls have finally given up on me. It was only a matter of time. And this is the time."
"It's not the time. It's not the time at all. Kate will never give up on you. And Caroline is crazy about you. I don't know as much about Ashley, but I do know this: you're their father. You mean something to them."
"Ashley is a sweet girl, so quiet, so sensitive. I never know what is going on in her head. She's a mystery,