Stay: Changing Tides, Book 1 (25 page)

“Seventy-five.”

Brack glared at the back of the crowd for the unseen bidder.

“Eighty.”

Damn, he was going to have to make a fool of himself. Then he spotted Gran Martin. Perfect. He skirted the crowd as the other men continued to outbid one another. He whispered his request to elderly woman, “I need you to bid on Abby for me, Gran. No amount is too high.” She patted his shoulder, and he returned to the side of the stage and waited.

He should feel awful for taking advantage of Gran’s softness for him, but when it came to Abby, there was just no telling what he would do.

Linwood’s smile revealed his pleasure. “Do I hear eighty-five?”

“Eighty-five,” Rand interjected.

“Oh” and “ah” erupted through the gathering. Abby’s cheeks were on fire, and she fisted her hands to keep from hiding her face. What the hell was going on? Brack shouldn’t be bidding, neither should Rand. It looked too much like a pissing contest. But the bidder in the back really grabbed her attention when he called out again. “Ninety dollars.”

This time, the crowd parted a fraction and Garrett winked up at her. She shook her head. Men!

Linwood whistled. “Ninety it is from the good doctor. Do I hear another bid?”

Silence filled the clearing.

“Going once.”

“One hundred dollars.”

Abby sucked in a deep breath. Good Lord. She glanced at the elderly woman near the edge of the stage, her kind blue eyes lit with mischief. “Can’t let this poor girl go to the wolves, can I?”

With a huge smile, Abby looked at Linwood. “You’d better close the bidding now, or I’ll make your life a living hell for the next ten fire drills.”

Linwood’s gavel hit the wood with authority. “Sold, to Gran Martin for one hundred dollars.”

Abby jumped down off the stage and hugged the older woman. “I have no idea why you saved me, but I’m sure glad you did.”

Gran chuckled. “You’re most welcome, my dear. Now go have fun. I’m sure Brack will tell you what needs to be done.”

She walked away before Abby could ask for clarification. Not that it mattered. She’d do whatever the woman needed and gladly after saving her from the three men. Brack’s laughter drew her gaze. He stood across the clearing, his words muffled by the music that began. He smiled so openly tonight, more in the last few days than she’d ever seen from him.

“Hey, big shot.” Rand tossed one of his crutches aside and pulled her toward the crude wooden dance floor. “You know, that’s the most anyone’s ever raised off a single auction.”

He tugged her closer before awkwardly spinning her away to the tempo of the music.

“Guess I’m just good luck,” she murmured. “How’s your ankle?”

“I’ll live but the crutches are a bitch.” The heavy press of his hand landed against her back, dragging her against his chest. “Abby, I’ve got to ask. Are you and Brack seeing each other?”

Shit
. “That’s none of your business, Rand.”

He shrugged and kept her close even when she tried for a semblance of space. “Maybe not, but I like you. Wanted to know if I stood a chance. Seems like every time Brack is in the mix, I get the short end.”

She’d never recognized the extent of his dislike for his brother before. “I’m not entirely sure what you mean by that.”

Gigi’s shrill laughter interrupted his dark scowl. He glanced at the woman, twirling nearby in Brack’s arm. “What’s so funny?”

Brack sidled them closer, catching and holding Abby’s gaze. Concern creased his brow, and she forced a smile. Rand’s hold tightened so she returned her attention to her partner, but his lingering scowl disappeared on a heavy sigh. “Oh, hell. This is too much like work.”

In the next instant he swung her in Brack’s direction and spun Gigi from his grasp. They shifted away before Abby caught her breath. She was left standing in Brack’s arms, his heat, his powerful presence. His incredible temptation. She struggled for words, but he placed a finger against her lips. “Let’s just enjoy this.”

The music slowed. His finger left her lips, but the heat of his touch remained. They moved through the others dancing, his heartbeat strong beneath her fingers. He shared passing comments with others, the deep rumble of his voice more soothing than the relaxed, easy atmosphere of the party.

Sadness gripped at her chest with viselike talons. She had to tell him, even if he rejected her.

Brack and Jonathon were strong. They’d survived a huge loss. They welcomed her, wanted her…

Brack’s hand tightened against her back. “What’s going on inside that head of yours?”

Unshed tears burned thick at her throat. “Just wishing things were different.”

“Care to elaborate?”

His soft smile shifted the bricks in her walls of defense. “Not right now. But I want you to know I’ve enjoyed the time I’ve spent with you and Jonathon, no matter what happens.”

He stopped, arms tightening around her. “Don’t, Abby. Don‘t you dare say goodbye.”

Tears filled her eyes. So much for being strong. They spilled over to her cheeks, blinding her to everything but the sadness in his gaze.

A low, frustrated growl brushed her cheek, his arms shaking. “I’m not letting it end like this. Come on.”

He pulled her through the crowd, ignoring numerous greetings. She kept her head down, hiding the tears stalled by their sudden departure. They skirted the auction tent and walked quickly across the unused portion of the fairgrounds to a small stream bordered by huge pines. The music faded, the lights from the party twinkling merrily in cadence to the beat.

Brack let go of her hand and paced away. He needed to focus. He needed to make her understand. He didn’t look at her. For now, he needed the distance from her emotion. “Abby, why are you leaving?”

“It’s hard to explain.”

He turned back, uncertainty and fear closing in. “And if I was to ask you to stay?”

Her fingers trembled as she covered her soft gasp. Moonlight sparkled through the fresh tears on her soft skin. “It’s not that simple. Please, you have to understand, there’s more to me than what you know.”

“Wait. First tell me this—” he closed the distance between them, cupping her face to meet his gaze, “—if you felt you had a choice, would you stay?”

The question hung thick in the air between them. Her lips trembled, her soft gaze sad as she reached up to brush her fingers over his lips. “If I thought I could stay here without bringing you and Jonathon pain, I would.”

That was a start. “But you won’t tell me why?”

She took a deep breath. “We all have secrets. Some worse than others.”

“None so bad that they can’t be shared.”

“I know that now.” A soft bark of laughter shook her. “But it does sound strange coming from the man who thinks to control life. You’ve never once shared your reasons for who you are. For what makes you so controlling. So cautious when it comes to life.”

And he’d never planned to. Until now. If letting her see his pain might make her stay, he was willing to take that chance. He stepped back, forcing himself to focus on anything but the concern in her gaze.

The image of that day hadn’t lessened in detail. It filled his mind. “We were out for a trip to Seal Cove. Not the best day by any means, but Ellen and I had promised the boys we would take them before school started again. I’ve always hated the rush of the tourist season, especially out on the water.”

She said nothing, her fingers curling into his chest. Her presence alone kept him solidly in the moment they shared. He didn’t want to drift off into the memory of that day completely as he’d done so many times before.

“The storm farther south made the swells a bit higher than what we normally liked, but it wasn’t dangerous, even the Coast Guard reports hadn’t reached a small-craft warning yet. There were more boats out than we expected, so we took an alternate route around Angler’s Island. The detour added a few minutes to our time, but it was worth it to avoid the traffic.

“We spent the day on the beach. The waves crashing on the shore as the boys ran in and out of the surf. Jonathon used to ride the waves in. He’d lie on his stomach in the sand, not a bit of weight to him, and the strength of the waves would float him forward as if he were a surfboard. Happy times. I remember Jeremy tossing his sandwich crusts to the seagulls and being terrified when they swarmed him.” He laughed despite the despair the coming memories sifted to the surface.

“That’s a beautiful picture.”

“It was.” He sighed, holding his emotions in check. He wanted to share this. Never before had the need to recount this story meant as much as it did now. Before, with authorities then family, he’d just stated the facts, lost in his grief and unable to share the beauty of the day before the tragedy.

“We packed up and had barely made the first pass out of the island’s protective cove when I realized the weather had changed. The Coast Guard warnings had gone up, and were calling for an increase in winds. We decided not to take the longer route back and opted for the straight return. Jonathon did well out on the boat, but when the weather was too rough, Jeremy suffered from seasickness.

“Everything was fine, we were making good time and the weather was holding. We’d just turned in the direction of the harbor when I noticed a boat near the shoreline. It drifted on the water, closer to shore than a boat of that size should have with the rocky ledges nearby. After watching it carefully, we weren’t able to see anyone aboard. I steered us closer, still unable to see anyone and it didn’t look like the anchor had been dropped.”

Tension built along his shoulders. He took Abby’s hand and pulled her to one of the boulders near the stream. He sat down and waited until she sat with him. Her encouraging nod pushed him on.

“I anchored our boat and after hollering for several minutes to get someone’s attention, I decided to swim over. Ellen asked me to wait. She told me to let the Coast Guard help. But I told her I couldn’t stand by if someone needed help. She smiled, you know. She always understood. She radioed in to the Coast Guard when I jumped in the water. She told me to be careful. Told me she loved me. And that’s when everything became a blur. I reached the other boat quickly and boarded. No one was there, the engine was still running, but the throttle was set to idle. It listed slightly, and when I checked the forward hatch I could see water below. Nothing major. Something a bilge pump could have handled.”

Sweat broke on his clammy skin even in the chill of the evening air. Abby’s hand tightened on his arm, and he laced his fingers into hers.

“I yelled the information back to Ellen so she could update the Coast Guard station, then checked the compartments for identification records, registrations, anything I could find. My back was turned, but I heard the heavy whine of a nearing boat. I honestly thought one of the Coast Guard skimmers had arrived. But then there was a crash. Even from a distance it sounded like a cannon had gone off.

“There were four of them in the speedboat. Kids from Connecticut, up for a vacation from college. They’d been drinking, heavily, and the one that survived said they never saw us when they came around the shore. They hit the Pipe Dream at full speed from behind. I remember little but the sound of the impact and the fire that erupted almost instantly. Fuel spreads quickly, and the crash had punctured the fuel tank on our boat.

“I think I jumped in before Ellen or the boys hit the water. I’m not even sure if they jumped or were thrown. But they didn’t even have time to get their lifejackets on. I remember the sound of Ellen’s scream, Jeremy yelling for me, my fear that Jonathon, not being able to hear, would float away without me. I tried to get to them, but something heavy hit me. Between the fire, the swells and the dizziness, I could barely see.

“All I remember is being hauled into another boat. Jonathon was there—alive. Ellen was unconscious, and Jeremy’s face was blue. I tried, Christ I tried to bring him back. They both died, Abby. Both of them. And all because I made a stupid decision. It’s my fault they’re gone. That’s why I try so hard to keep everything in control. That’s why I expect everyone to follow the rules to the letter. If I’d stayed on my own boat, I could have moved, maybe seen the other boat in time. Done something. Anything.”

There was no holding back her tears now. Abby wrapped her arms around him and cried for what he’d gone through. She couldn’t fault him for thinking that way. But she couldn’t agree with his guilt. She sat back, brushing her palm over his jaw. “Brack, you couldn’t have done anything. If you’d been there with them, you might have died as well.”

He sighed. “Better than living without them. With this guilt.”

“No.” She pressed a kiss to his lips, tasting the salt of her tears. “No. Then where would Jonathon be? You are here for a reason, and it’s not to live with this guilt crushing your soul. You did what anyone would have done. I didn’t know Ellen or Jeremy, but I know anyone who knows and loves you would be proud of what you’d done. What you tried to do to help. It was an accident.”

This time, his lips met hers and he pulled her into his lap, his fingers laced in her hair. “It still hurts.”

And it probably always would. “You’ll always hurt from losing them. But they wouldn’t want you to be like this. They’d want you to live.”