Summer Secrets - Barbara Freethy [25]
"Tyler Jamison," he said as he stood up and handed Ashley her purse back. "You must be Ashley."
"The reporter?" Ashley looked from Tyler to Kate in confusion. "You're talking to the reporter, but you said --"
Kate cut Ashley off with a warning glance. "I said that he was very persistent, and he is."
"Right. I'm sorry I interrupted you."
"Oh, this must have come out of your purse, too," Tyler said, handing Ashley a small bottle of pills.
"Thank you," Ashley said hastily, sticking the pills in her purse. "I should go."
"You don't have to go. Mr. Jamison was just leaving." Kate sent Tyler a pointed look, willing him to just leave. She needed to deal with Ashley in private.
"All right. I'll go," Tyler said. "It was nice to meet you, Ashley. I'll talk to you later, Kate."
"Sure, whatever." Kate shut the door behind him and turned to her sister. "Now then, tell me again why you're so upset."
"One of the boat crews is insisting that I photograph them from the deck of the boat. I've made up two excuses already, and I'm going to lose the assignment if I don't take their picture the way they want it." She shook her head in frustration. "It gets harder every day, Kate. I lived on a boat for three years, and now I can't get on one for twenty seconds. It's stupid. I thought the fear would have gone away by now, but it's worse than it was eight years ago. It's as if every day the fear pushes me back another step. I used to be able to go out on the Sound, remember? When we first got back, I went on some day trips. I was nervous, but I made it. But each time I went out got shorter and shorter. Now I can't even get on a damn boat."
Kate saw the frustration and pain in Ashley's eyes and wanted so badly to make it all right again, but Ashley's fears ran deep, probably deeper than Kate even realized. She'd told herself in recent months that Ashley was doing better, that she was fine. It was easier to believe they were all okay now, to pretend that the past no longer had the power to hurt. But it was clear that Ashley wasn't better, and pretending otherwise would only make it worse. "Do you want me to go with you?" Kate asked. "Maybe it would help."
"I can't ask you to do that," Ashley said, but there was a plea in her eyes that told Kate not to give up too easily.
"I want to do it. I want to help you. It will be fine, you'll see. We'll go together and you'll snap their pictures, and it will be over before you know it. Not nearly as bad as a root canal, I promise."
"I'm such an idiot."
"No, you're not."
Ashley drew in a deep breath and let it out. "You know, just telling you about it actually makes me feel like I can do it."
"You can do it. Remember, the boat isn't going anywhere."
"I know. My fear is ridiculous. Even if the boat got loose, I could swim back."
"You could sail back."
Ashley gave her a reluctant smile. "Yeah, I could do that, too." She paused. "What did you say to the reporter?"
"As little as possible. I don't trust him, Ash. He's got a hidden agenda, but I don't know what it is."
"It's been so long. I didn't think anyone ... What are we going to do?"
"Check him out at the same time he's checking us out. I already did a brief search on the Internet. He's been all over the world, covering major stories."
"That doesn't sound good."
"No, it doesn't. I'd like to find out why he has developed a sudden interest in ocean racing."
"If he's been all over the world, maybe we ran into him before and just don't remember?"
Kate thought about the rugged, dark-haired man who had just left her house and knew deep in her soul that if she'd ever met him before, she would have remembered. "If our paths crossed, I don't think we knew it. But it might be interesting to find out what Mr. Jamison was doing eight years ago."
"Do you think you can?"
"I'm sure going to try."
*
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