Summer Secrets - Barbara Freethy [68]
"Because he's tied to your family in some way. I also find it interesting that he was the sole survivor of the ship that capsized during your race."
"Why is that interesting?"
"Oh, I don't know. A sole survivor might have a different story than everyone else."
"He doesn't remember what happened. He had a severe head injury and amnesia after the tragedy. The last thing he remembered was the start of the race almost eleven months earlier. Everything else was gone."
Tyler straightened, sensing that this was the piece of information he'd been waiting for. "He had amnesia? I thought that only happened in books."
She shrugged. "I'm not a doctor. He was unconscious for several days, and when he woke up he couldn't walk or talk. The doctors said it wasn't surprising that he didn't remember a big chunk of his life, especially the recent memory. What else did you find out about him?"
"Probably nothing you don't already know. What are you looking for?"
She hesitated for a long moment. "I want to find out about K.C. and my mother."
"I don't think that answer will be on the Internet."
"I don't, either." She turned and walked back to him, digging her hands into her pockets. "But you could talk to him. You're a reporter. You'd know how to get that story, wouldn't you?"
"Maybe. What would I get in return?"
She sent him a pleading smile. "My deepest gratitude."
"Try again."
"Forget it. I knew you wouldn't help me. I don't know why I bothered to ask. In fact, I don't even know why I came here."
"If you want to know if K.C. and your mother had a personal relationship, you should ask your father. There's something between those two men, something deep and very intense."
Her eyes lit up with his words. "You saw it, too. It wasn't just me?"
"It wasn't just you."
"I went down to the docks a little while ago to look at our old boat. I ran into K.C.'s son, David. He acted like he hated me. He was clearly jealous of the time I'd spent with his father when I was a kid."
"David didn't live with K.C.?"
Kate shook her head and sat down on the edge of the bed. Tyler took a seat in the desk chair.
"David lived with his mother in San Diego. K.C. and his wife divorced when David was just a little kid, maybe two or three. I never met his mother. But David would come and spend summers here on the island with his father."
"So K.C. used to live here?"
"Part of the year, when he wasn't sailing somewhere. He and my father ran charters for a while or worked for other people. "
"Did K.C. come back here to recuperate after the race?"
"No. He was originally airlifted to the hospital in Oahu. After that he went to San Diego to be with David, I guess. I don't know. We didn't keep in touch."
"Why not?" Tyler asked sharply. "Your families were best friends, then that's it? It's over?" There was something she wasn't telling him.
She stared back at him. "My father and K.C. had a falling out long before that race. In fact, I think one of the reasons we entered was so we could beat K.C. and his crew. I can't help wondering now if that falling out had something to do with my mother, which I never considered before. But the last time K.C. was friendly to me or my sisters was just before Mom died." She paused. "I remember he spent a good hour or two with her the day before she passed away, but he didn't stay for the funeral. He said he couldn't handle it or something. I don't remember exactly."
Kate got up and paced restlessly around the room. "I should be talking to Caroline or Ashley, not you."
"Why aren't you talking to them?" he asked curiously.
"Because ..." She waved her hand in the air as if the answer would magically appear.
"Because why?"
"David said something to me that is ridiculous. I don't believe him, and it would really upset everyone if I even mentioned it."
"Are you going to tell me? Or make me