August Unknown (13 page)

Her heart swelled with something that couldn’t entirely be
called gratitude, and the sensations in her stomach turned warm and ticklish. Whatever
it was, admiration wasn’t a strong enough word to describe what she was
feeling, deep down in the centermost part of her.

Or was the intensity of her emotions playing tricks on her
mind? Was the natural progression of their friendship being mistaken for
something more than it truly was?

She didn’t think so. Geoffrey was a special man with a
one-in-a-million heart. Love wouldn’t be a long leap at all.

The idea both thrilled August, and terrified her. Until she
knew about her past and the people in it, she had nothing to offer him.

He handed her the binoculars. “Tell me what you see.”

August peered through. The marina bustled with people this
Saturday morning, crowded with boat owners enjoying the unusually mild
September day.

“Boats, people. Water.”

“What kind of boats?”

“Well, there’s a catamaran,” she said, looking at a gigantic
behemoth called
Issaquah
. “But everyone knows what a catamaran is.”

Her nerves jumped. He was testing her. Why was she so afraid
to confess her suspicions to Geoffrey? Because he would set his brother-in-law
to investigating her more deeply, and they might actually find her past.

Before I’m ready to find it myself
.

And that led to another question: why?
Because I’m not
ready to go further with Geoffrey, or because I’m not ready to face a would-be
killer?

Both were terrifying prospects.

August set down the binoculars. She could trust him—he
wouldn’t do anything she didn’t want him to do. But the sooner they found her
past, the sooner her time with him would end.

The sooner the dangerous thing following her would catch up
with her.

“Thank you for doing this. You’re so good to me. I don’t think
I’ve ever been treated so nicely by anyone.”

He stared back with those fathomless brown eyes she wanted to
fall into. “It’s my pleasure. You’ve helped me take my mind off...”

When he didn’t continue, she asked, “Christina?”

He merely nodded and gazed out at the sea.

“Do I look like her?”

Geoffrey chuckled. “Not at all. She had Italian features. Dark
brown eyes, olive skin, jet-black hair.”

August realized she’d seen her portrait. “She’s in the photo
on the piano, with Jocelyn. She was beautiful.”

He nodded. “She died last October, in a car accident.”

Not even a year past. August reached across the igloo bag and
placed her hand over the back of his. “I’m sorry.”

She wanted to ask how it involved Derek, but knew she
shouldn’t expect him to reveal any more than he was comfortable telling her.
The sadness in his eyes was now a thousand times brighter, and she regretted
bringing it up.

She picked up the binoculars and scanned the marina again. Nothing
jogged her memory. If she had been on a boat that night, it didn’t mean she was
a sailor. She could have been a passenger. She might have even been taken out
by her attacker as a captive, her first time ever stepping aboard a boat.

“Does anything look familiar to you?” Geoffrey’s voice was
heavy, as though he’d swallowed down the sadness she’d seen rising in him
moments ago. “The names of any of the boats? That ketch there?”

Her long-distance gaze flew to the twenty-five-foot
double-masted vessel named
Ketch-ekan
. Did she know it was a ketch
because of its play-on-words name, or because of its lines and rigging?

“You tell me. Which one is the ketch?”

“That’s not fair,” he said in a lighter voice. “I’m a sailor.
One of those boats is mine.”

She put the binoculars down. “I should have known that about
you. You’ve got that ‘Polo by Ralph Lauren’ look about you.”

He groaned. “Don’t say that. Derek is the family model, not
me.”

“Derek looks more like the drummer of a grunge rock band.
You’re much more attractive.”

“Me? Nah.” He actually blushed. August found it charming.

“Yeah, you. Definitely.” She peered through the binoculars.
“Which one is yours?”

“Guess.”

“My arm is getting tired.”

“It’s good exercise.”

“You’re merciless.”

There were a few bigger vessels that would require several
hands to sail, but August wagered his family would own one of the smaller,
beautifully restored sloops that one or two people could take on a casual afternoon
outing.

“
Justin’s Pride?
Isn’t your older brother’s name
Justin?”

“Yep, but wrong. Purely coincidence.”

“
Honeysuckle Rose?
”

“Nope.”

“Right. You don’t seem like a
Honeysuckle Rose
kind of
guy. But I’ll bet you like the Beatles?”

“Love ’em.”

“
Penny Lane
.” She glanced at him and found him smiling
back.

“What made you think so?”

She peered down again. “Its gleaming wooden deck. You seem
like the type of person who would invest the care and time in something so
beautiful.”

Geoffrey said something, but she didn’t hear. A black Labrador
had trotted through her line of vision, making her breath catch. She scanned in
front, and then behind the dog to find its owner. Before she could get a good
look at the woman trailing behind the dog, she’d moved so that August could
only see the back of her head and a mass of curly red hair.

She gripped the binoculars harder, following the woman. There
was nothing out of the ordinary about her. She was of average build, wearing
blue jeans and a t-shirt with a sweatshirt tied around her waist. She glanced
sideways, giving August a fleeting glimpse of her profile, half hidden by dark
sunglasses.

“August, what’s wrong?”

Remembrance danced at the edge of her subconscious.
Roger
...
Rodney
...
Rocky
.
She knew a red-haired woman with a black Labrador named Rocky. Dread sank into
the pit of her stomach. A sickening feeling accompanied the memory, but the
reason, and the woman’s face, remained a mystery.

She watched the woman stroll down the dock until the muscles
in her arm burned from holding the heavy binoculars.

“Jesus, August, you’re white as a sheet. What did you see down
there?” He moved closer and reached for the binoculars. “Let me help you hold
these.”

“Never mind, she’s gone.” August dropped them in her lap.

“Who’s gone?”

“The woman. I saw a woman with a dog.”

“Someone you remember?”

“I don’t know. I think so.” Her stomach churned. Whoever the
woman with Rocky was, a bad association accompanied her. But why? She could be
someone August had a terrible falling-out with, but that didn’t mean murder.

“Do you have a key to the marina?”

“I have a code. The gates to the ramps are electronic.”

August took a deep breath. “I want to go down there. I need to
see that woman.”

Or, more precisely, I need her to see me
.

Chapter Ten

Geoffrey punched his code into the electronic keypad to the
section of the marina where the dog and its owner were last seen, and the
gate’s lock released with a shrill buzzing sound. After guiding August through,
he circled her shoulders with his arm. The reassuring gesture relieved her
fear. She pressed close as they walked side-by-side down the narrow ramp to the
main section.

August had hoped she would find some familiarity when they
entered the marina, but no technical names or jargon entered her mind as she
glanced about at the rigging, lines, and sailing gear on the various boats.

“There it is,” Geoffrey said, pointing. She caught a glimpse
of the black dog loping down one of the long center piers, playfully chasing gulls
into the sky.

The dog bolted from a slip and turned in the opposite
direction. Would the woman at the end of the dock be the final key in unlocking
her past? August realized that in a matter of minutes, she might be on the road
back to her old life, no longer in need of Geoffrey’s sanctuary.

No, that wasn’t entirely true. He’d become important to her,
even before her attraction had budded and blossomed. Even if she found an
entire town full of family and friends somewhere else, Geoffrey would always
remain fixed in her heart.

The red-haired woman stepped out from a slipway, lifting her
arms toward the black Lab. “What ’ya got there, Poncho?” she said in doggie
sweet-talk. The dog dropped a twisted piece of driftwood at her feet.

All at once August’s fear and morbid hope disappeared. She had
never seen this woman before.

As they’d approached the dock, she had been waiting for the
sight of the woman’s face to fill in the gaps between the whispers of
familiarity brushing at her memory like the tendrils of a peacock feather.
She’d been certain that if this was the red-haired woman from her past, all it
would take was a first glimpse of her face.

But now that August saw this stranger, it seemed even those
fog-like vapors were gone. Had she imagined the whole thing?

The woman straightened up and smiled when she saw them. “Hi,
Geoffrey. Haven’t seen you out here in a while.
Penny
’s looking nice.”

“Rachel, hi.” He glanced questioningly at August.

She shook her head.

“Er, Rachel, this is August.”

“Hey there, August. What happened to your arm?”

“I fell,” she answered simply. “I broke it in two places.”

“Ouch. That must have been some fall.” Rachel grabbed the dog
by the collar when he lunged forward to introduce himself a little too
enthusiastically. “Poncho, no! Sorry, he thinks people like to be trampled with
muddy paws.”

When the dog calmed, Rachel let him loose. Geoffrey knelt down
and rubbed Poncho’s head. “I don’t remember you having a dog.”

“I adopted him in March from the Humane Society. He’s a
handful, but the most loyal man in my life.” She laughed at her own joke. “How
have you been? I don’t think I’ve seen you since the New Year’s Eve yacht club
celebration.”

“We’ve been good. I’m staying at the summer house to help out
with Jocelyn.” He stood, and Poncho trotted back to Rachel. “I was going to
give August a tour of
Penny Lane
when she saw you and mentioned you
looked familiar.”

“But I had only seen your hair, and your dog. I have a friend
with a black Lab, but she doesn’t live around here. I don’t know why I would
have thought you were her.”

She was rambling. Did her story sound as hokey to Rachel as it
did to her?

“Oh, where are you from?”

“Um.” August swallowed. “Up north. Near Seattle.”

The girl smiled warmly. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, August.
Are you two going to enter the Thanksgiving Regatta?”

Geoffrey stood up and took August under his arm. “That depends
on whether or not we can get
Penny Lane
fitted out in time.”

“I heard Derek is back in town. Tell him don’t be a stranger.”

As they started away, August felt a strange mixture of relief
and disappointment.

“She dated Derek for a while,” Geoffrey explained. “She’s a
little wild and crazy, but still a better influence than any of the other girls
he’d dated.”

“The bits and pieces were stronger before I saw her face. Once
I realized she wasn’t the person I thought I’d remembered, all traces were
wiped away.”

“But you do know a red-haired woman with a black Labrador?”

She nodded as he held open the gate. “I think so.”

Penny Lane
was two docks over in one of the first slips.
The gleaming deck August spied through the binoculars was even more impressive
up close. A narrow wire running through stainless steel bars served as her
railing. Geoffrey unhooked the section at the portable steps and held August’s
good hand as she carefully stepped onto the deck.

“Does anything look familiar?”

She wished she could say yes. Somehow she felt it all should
be, but the knowledge was just out of her reach.

“Yes and no. I know things are there, and it makes me angry
that I can’t remember them.” Aggravation welled inside her like a building
tornado that wouldn’t blow itself out.

“Don’t try too hard. Here, have a seat and relax.” He guided
her to the rear of the vessel and onto a plush padded seat spanning the breadth
of the deck.

“You take it easy while I polish up the...this um...”

“Compass. Nice try, Geoffrey, but even ten-year-old Girl
Scouts know what a compass is.” She smiled. He was so devilishly charming.
“You’re sweet.”

“Actually, I’m rotten.”

“I’ll never believe that.”

“It’s true.”

She narrowed her gaze. “Explain.”

“Come with me to the banquet. There. Now you know the truth
about me. I’m selfish.”

“You aren’t even close.” She laughed, but Geoffrey’s
expression remained somber.

“This wouldn’t be a date; I know you aren’t my date.” He
sighed and glanced at the channel leading out of the harbor. “Forget I asked.
It’s a bad idea. A public event is probably the last thing you should do.”

“You’re right, it probably is.” Her expression softened. “But
you’ve done so much for me. It’s the least I can do in return.”

“That’s not a good reason to say yes.” He shook his head.
Sunlight glinted on the gold strands in his hair. “I don’t want you to go
because you feel you owe me.”

“I want to go because I want to see my favorite person in
Newport pick up an award I’m sure he deserves. How’s that for a reason?”

“Well, I guess that would be a pretty good one.” He grinned.
“You want to think about it while I lean against this...thing here...”

“The wheel?”

“Is that getting old?”

She nodded and laughed. “It feels good to actually get one.
Try another.”