Summer Secrets - Barbara Freethy [20]
"Hello?" Mark said, his voice corning over the phone.
"How's it going, little brother?" Tyler deliberately put a cheerful note in his voice, trying to sound casual, as if this was any other conversation they'd had over the years.
"Not so good," Mark replied, making no effort to aid in the pretense of normalcy.
"What's wrong?"
"What isn't wrong? Do you have any news? Shelly said you found the McKenna sisters. Did you talk to any of them?"
"Yes, I spoke to two of them, Kate, the oldest, and Caroline, the youngest. Kate runs a bookstore and appears to run the family, too. She's smart, responsible, wary, doesn't let her thoughts show. Caroline is a firecracker, impulsive, headstrong, wants to be taken seriously and doesn't like big sister calling the shots. I still have to track down Ashley."
"Did they tell you anything?"
"Not yet. They're not particularly interested in a follow-up story. In fact, they're more secretive than I expected. I also met their father, Duncan. He was bombed out of his mind. Kate was called to take care of him, and I got the feeling this was definitely not the first time. I think it's likely he has a drinking problem."
"He's not important. I don't care about him. Its his daughters. One of them..." Mark's voice caught on a sob of emotion. "Amelia is all I have left. I promised Susan. She was dying, Tyler, and she knew it. I can still see the fear in her eyes. She was afraid, not for herself but for me and for Amelia."
"I know," Tyler said tightly. "You won't lose Amelia. Trust me."
"I do trust you. But it's a hell of a big problem even for you, big brother."
And he'd been a hell of a big brother, Tyler thought, as a shaft of pain ran through him. He'd missed a lot of years of his brother's life. "Go to sleep," he said gruffly. "I'll call you as soon as I know anything. And I won't give up. No matter what the McKenna sisters throw in my path.
Chapter Four
Kate stared at the blanket tossed haphazardly on the living room floor. Her father was gone. She'd planned on offering him a cup of coffee, some breakfast, and a stern warning not to speak to Tyler Jamison. But Duncan had already left. He'd always been one to get up with the sun, hangover or not. He was probably on his way to his boat or maybe to the Oyster Bar for a Bloody Mary.
As she picked up the blanket, she caught a whiff of her father's aftershave. The musky scent reminded her of childhood, the scent forever linked to her father, to childish hugs and Daddy's strong arms. He'd once been her hero, her protector, the man who stood taller than all the rest. She remembered sitting on the floor by his feet listening to him tell stories about his adventures. His words would sweep her away. She could smell the sea and feel the splash of the waves, and she would shiver with the imagined wind. She couldn't have stopped listening if she tried, and she never tried, because having her father at home was always special. He was gone a lot in her early childhood, running fishing boats, charters, whatever he could do to make a living. His frequent absences had made his rare presence that much more special, a time to be treasured, as her mother often said.
But those times of treasuring had created a man who took for granted the devotion of his family, Kate thought now. And once her mother had passed on, the responsibility of taking care of Duncan had fallen to her, the eldest child. She'd cooked and cleaned and mothered her sisters and tried to make sure her father's life always