Summer Secrets - Barbara Freethy [140]
"It must have been some conversation," Tyler commented, looking over at Kate.
"It was pretty scary," she replied. "Caroline was so young, and I wasn't that much older. I had no idea what we were going to do."
"Kate bought me a pregnancy test at the next stop, and we found out for sure," Caroline continued. "Kate thought we should drop out of the race."
"Of course you should have dropped out of the race," Tyler said sharply. "What did your father say when you told him?"
"He said no," Kate replied, answering for Caroline. "Caroline wasn't due to deliver until after we got back, and at the moment we were in second place. We were very close to everything he'd dreamed about. Later, I discovered that there was some money involved in the race, some creative financing that my father had done."
"With your mutual funds and your mother's jewelry," Tyler said with a nod. "He told me about that."
"You had quite a chat out there, didn't you?"
"It's amazing what a man will say when he thinks he won't see tomorrow. But, let's get back to a pregnant teenage girl on a world-class racing boat with only her father and sisters to take care of her. You were miles from land at times, days from help. What if something had gone wrong? What would you have done?"
"I don't know," Kate answered. "It's easy to look back now and say we were crazy, but you don't realize how powerless we all felt. My father was in charge. Caroline was underage. I couldn't take her and run away, even if I wanted to. I didn't have any money. We'd been living on a boat for more than two and a half years. I had to listen to Dad. I didn't have another choice. None of us did."
"Why keep it a secret? Would it have disqualified you?"
"No, but Dad didn't want Caroline to be the focus of a lot of unwanted attention. He was protecting her."
"Bullshit!" Tyler leaned forward. "He didn't tell anyone because he didn't want to lose the spotlight. He didn't want the press to be sidetracked by a pregnant teenage girl hard-luck story. Isn't that the truth?"
"Yes, that's the truth," Ashley said, speaking for the first time. "Dad was obsessed with that race. He was a different person during those eleven months. He wouldn't let anything get in the way of winning. I don't remember having one conversation with him that didn't include some worry about the course, the sails, the boat speed, or the weather. He was on one track and one track only. When we told him about Caroline, he barely blinked. His response was 'All right, we'll deal with that later, when we get home. Right now we have a race to win.' "
"Dad didn't want to deal with the fact that Caroline was pregnant," Kate added. "He knew he was responsible for what happened, for not keeping a better eye on her, and I think he felt guilty about that, even though he didn't say so. I believe that deep in his heart he felt he'd let Caroline down."
"Really? Do you think so?" Caroline asked. "Do you think he felt bad? Because he always seemed angry. Then he got distant and pulled away from me until we barely spoke. I figured he was just so disappointed he could barely stand to look at me."
Tyler couldn't believe what he was hearing. Actually, he could believe it. Having spent the day with Duncan, he now had a better understanding of just how difficult and complicated a man he could be. He was extremely likable at times, and a real bastard at others. "So, your father wouldn't let you tell anyone. He made Caroline hide away on the boat and swore you all to secrecy."
"He did buy me a stack of baby magazines and baby books," Caroline said.
"Bully for him." Tyler shook his head in disgust. "He didn't treat you right, Caroline. He should have made sure you had proper medical care. He should have tracked down the boy who got you pregnant. There were a hundred things he should have done that he didn't do, and you all know it. But you're still protecting him, even now."
"You don't know him as