Summer Secrets - Barbara Freethy [71]
"I'm looking for a good mystery for my father. He doesn't like the mystery to be too easy or the love scenes to be too graphic or for there to be too many female characters. He's a little on the picky side."
"At least he knows what he wants."
"Unfortunately I don't, and his birthday is today. I'm running out of time."
Kate selected a book from the rack. "This is by Stuart Lawson. He writes about contemporary pirates on the high seas."
"Oh, he would love that," the young woman exclaimed. "He's an avid sailor. In fact, we're here because of the Castleton Invitational."
"I figured," Kate said with a smile. "Most everyone is." She walked behind the counter and rang up the sale, including a complimentary bookmark and store flyer. "We're having a local author book signing all day Sunday, if you're still in town. We have quite a few excellent writers who spend their winters or summers here on the island penning their latest bestsellers. There's a list on the flyer."
"Thanks, that sounds great. Thanks."
As the customer left, Kate glanced around the store, checking to see if anyone else needed assistance, but there were only a few people browsing the shelves. Most people were probably down by the water. Race week had officially begun an hour ago. Today's races were for twelve-foot Beetle Cats. Each day's races would feature a different class of boats. In between the races, the larger sailboats would also make practice runs before the big race around the island on Saturday. And every evening there would be parties and celebrations for the winners.
Race week brought in a tremendous number of tourists. The hotels, inns, and private cottages were booked solid. All the local businesses, including her bookstore, benefitted from the influx of summer money, as they called it.
Kate walked over to the door and stepped onto the sidewalk in front of the store. It was a bright, sunny day, and from her vantage point she could see dozens of colorful sails out on the water. She felt a slight pang at the sight of all those sails, and she didn't understand why. She didn't want to be out there. So why did she feel strangely wistful? Why did the light breeze brushing against her face make her yearn for something when she'd thought she was content with her life? Her father had always said it was impossible to get the sea out of your soul. Maybe he was right.
The door to her bookstore opened behind her, and her assistant, Theresa, stepped out. "What are you looking at?"
"The boats, Kate said, giving her sweater a quick zip as the breeze picked up.
"Do you miss sailing?"
"I never thought I did. But I must admit I have a silly urge to wander down to the water to see who wins."
"So go. Maybe you'll run into that cute reporter again."
Lord, she hoped not. She still couldn't believe she'd confided in Tyler. She should have her head examined. Anyone else would have been a better choice. Although she didn't want either Caroline or Ashley to hear about David's theory until she had a chance to figure it out for herself.
'Kate," Theresa said. "Did you hear me?"
"Something about a cute reporter. But, cute or not, I'm not getting involved with a guy who's only in town for a few days, another week at the most."
"You could just have some fun. Not every relationship has to be serious."
"I'm not in a relationship with anyone, especially him."
"Whatever you say. Why don't you go down to the water, take a break. It's slow right now. I can handle things on my own."
Kate hesitated, knowing it would be better to stay in the store, to concentrate on work, but something was drawing her to the sea, the call of the wind, her father would have said. And she couldn't resist. She walked around to the back of her store and pulled out her bicycle.
It was mid morning, but Ashley was probably still asleep, Sean thought when he woke up stiff and disoriented from a night spent on her hard couch. Stretching, he swung his feet to the ground and stood up. He only wanted to check