Summer Secrets - Barbara Freethy [83]
"Ashley taking our pictures every other minute. Caroline sneaking into the food rations. Card games that went late into the night, flying fish that landed on our deck when we least expected it, dolphins that were so friendly we could swim right along with them." She let out a sigh. "We were a tight group. We got used to having only one another. We didn't need anyone else."
And apparently they'd kept everyone else away, Tyler thought, especially while one of them was pregnant. Otherwise, someone somewhere would have said something about it.
"Sometimes it's hard to let go -- even now," Kate continued. "But we have our own lives to live. Caroline reminds me of it often enough. And Ashley has been pulling away lately. With my father wanting to race again, I think I'm the only one trying to keep us together."
"Everyone grows up and sometimes apart. That's the way of families."
"You're right. I've actually been thinking about making some changes in my own life."
"What kind of changes?" he asked with interest.
"Well, when I turned twenty-eight three weeks ago, I looked at all those candles on my cake and thought about the years that had passed. Maybe it wasn't a midlife crisis, but it was a wake-up call to break out of my little cocoon, take a look around, figure out what I want to do, where I want to be, that kind of thing."
Three weeks ago? She'd had this revelation three weeks ago? The same time that Mark had received the first contact from Steve Watson? Tyler's pulse sped up. It had to be a coincidence. It had to be.
"What kind of things, exactly?" he asked carefully, trying not to sound too eager.
She hesitated, then said lightly, "I signed up for an exercise class for one."
"That's it?"
"What did you expect?"
"How about a trip or a move, maybe looking up an old friend, someone you hadn't seen in a while?"
She looked at him through narrowed, thoughtful eyes, and he realized that he sounded much too intense for what she probably thought was a casual conversation.
"Sorry," he said quickly. "It's not for me to say how you should change your life. But I thought you meant something on a grander scale than an exercise class."
"I think I'm ready for the potato salad now."
He handed her the container and a fork.
"What about you?" she asked. "Ever had one of those life-changing moments?"
"Not while blowing out the candles on my birthday cake," he replied. "But, yes, I did have one. Fairly recently, in fact."
"What happened?"
He shouldn't tell her. He absolutely should not tell her. He tapped his fingers against his thigh. "My brother was hurt in a car accident," he said shortly. "He could have been killed. And I realized how little time we'd spent together lately. I'd spent years of my life wanting to be with him, and then wasted the opportunity when I had it. I won't let that happen again."
"Is he all right now?"
"He's getting better."
She tilted her head, giving him a thoughtful look. "Why are you here, Tyler? Why aren't you home with your brother?"
Damn. He'd known confiding in her was a mistake. He tried to think of a plausible excuse. "My brother is very interested in sailing and sailboat races. He's the one who first told me about you and your big victory."
"So I have your brother to thank for your intrusion into my life?" she said with a dry smile. "I hope I meet him someday."
He offered a weak smile in return. "It's possible. Hey, aren't you going to share some of that potato salad with me?"
She handed him the container. "Help yourself."
He looked down at the potato salad, then set it back in the basket.
"What's wrong? Why aren't you eating?" Kate asked.
He cupped her face with his hands. "I just realized it wasn't potato salad I wanted."
"What do you--"
He cut off her question with a long, deep, wet kiss that turned into another and another. He liked the way she kissed him back, the way her tongue played with his. She smelled like vanilla, and she tasted even better.