A Woman With Secrets. Inglath Cooper

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      “Ah, excuse me,” the man said. “Have we found the Ginny?”

      In Captain Hunter’s absence, Kate shaded her eyes with one hand and said, “Yes, you have.”

      “I’m Professor Lawrence Sheldon. And this is my daughter Margo.”

      “I’m Kate Winthrop,” she said, beginning to feel as if she had landed on the Minnow. She wondered if she would get to be Ginger or Mary Ann.

      “Is Captain Hunter here?” the professor asked.

      “He went for some Aspirin,” she said, trying not to smile. “I think he’s developed a headache.”

      WITH THE ARRIVAL OF Kate Winthrop this morning, Cole had somehow known nothing about this trip was going to go as planned. Just to further illustrate his point, no sooner had he shown the Sheldons to their separate rooms than the younger brother of his one and only crew member, Jim, appeared on the dock, waving frantically.

      The boy came bounding toward him, his running shoes squeaking against the wood. He skidded to a stop beside the Ginny, his chest working for air. “Hey, Mr. Hunter!”

      “What’s up, Jess?”

      “Jim can’t make the trip,” the boy said, squinting against the sun in his eyes. “He’s got appendicitis.”

      “Is he all right?” Cole asked, recalling how Jim had said he didn’t feel great just before they got into Miami yesterday.

      “He’s gotta have surgery. He said to tell you he feels bad for standing you up.”

      Cole shook his head. “Tell him not to worry. Thanks for letting me know, Jess.”

      “Sure.” The boy turned and took off again, waving as he went.

      With a sigh, Cole wondered if he should just ditch the trip altogether. If things were getting off to this kind of start, what would the next ten days bring?

      The group was a recipe for disaster.

      He threw a glance back at the Ginny, where the passengers mingled on deck, echoes of laughter drifting his way. His gaze went around the circle, landing first on Kate Winthrop, who didn’t look as though she’d done a cumulative day’s worth of work in her life.

      Lyle and Lily Granger were both dressed in requisite orange life jackets, the nylon black belts cinched tight around their ample waists—he was guessing now neither of them could swim—and can’t-wait-to-get-started smiles.

      Last, but not least, Dr. Sheldon and his daughter, Margo, both of whom had already quoted Tennyson three times at last count since their arrival. An admirable talent, granted, although he had no idea how that would help them pull their weight on his boat.

      He glanced at his watch. This late in the day, his options were few. He could stay in port overnight while he found someone else to crew, or he could ask Harry to go along.

      This particular option came with its own set of drawbacks. But if Sam called with news of Ginny, he needed to be able to leave the boat with someone he trusted. Despite his numerous idiosyncrasies, Harry knew his way around anything that sailed the ocean.

      It looked like it was Harry or nothing.

      “I DON’T NEED flowers or anything, but a pretty please wouldn’t hurt.” Harry sat in a chair on the deck of his boat, enjoying himself immensely.

      “Do you want to come along or not?” Cole asked.

      “Hold on, now,” Harry said. “Don’t get your panties in a bunch. Anything wrong with a guy needing to feel like he’s wanted?”

      “Harry, I’m not kidding—”

      “You’re doing the pressed lip thing again. You should watch that, you know. It could result in a permanent wrinkle—”

      Cole started backing up. “You know what—”

      Harry smiled. “You just take yourself way too seriously, man.”

      “I’ve got a boat full of people waiting for me to take them on a ten-day vacation. I can’t do it without your help. That seems fairly serious to me.”

      Harry tipped his head, conceding the point. “Okay, okay,” he said, raising a hand. “I’ll go. So what’s the plan?”

      “We’ll leave around five o’clock this afternoon. Can you make that?”

      “Shouldn’t be a problem.”

      “Great. Thanks, man. I appreciate it.”

      Harry grinned. “Hey, I kind of like the idea of you owing me one.”

      “Just don’t get too fancy with the payback list.”

      “I’ll keep it simple. Few bottles of Dom Pérignon. A blonde or two.”

      “At least you’re predictable,” Cole said, heading down the pier.

      “Do I get to bring along a girl?” he called out.

      “No!”

      “How ’bout the blow-up kind?”

      “As long as she doesn’t bother the other passengers.”

      “She’s the quiet type.”

      “I’ll bet.”

      “You can borrow her one night if you’d like,” he added, laughing outright when Cole ignored him. Harry watched for a moment until he disappeared around the end of the pier, still surprised that Cole had asked him to take Jim’s place.

      In another world, he was fully aware that he and Cole would never have become friends. They were opposite ends of the spectrum when it came to life philosophy. Harry believed in wringing out every last drop of pleasure, happiness or satisfaction there was to be found in a given day. Cole was too busy letting life wring him to reverse the process.

      The way he saw it, Cole Hunter needed to get back to the business of living. Granted, he got dealt a crappy hand with the ex-wife, but there was nothing like bitterness to turn a man into someone he didn’t recognize when he looked in the mirror.

      He ought to know. He’d nearly taken that road himself. Being left at the altar by a woman who admitted she’d only agreed to marry you for your money could do that.

      A fresh-faced blonde with legs that ought to be illegal appeared at the end of the pier, waving. “Hey, Harry!”

      “Stella,” he said, recognizing her from a club in South Beach where they’d met two nights ago. She was just his type. Pretty as a peach. And young enough not to be anxious about plotting a future for the two of them. “Come aboard.”

      “I was hoping I could find you,” she said, walking along the dock to his boat with the willowy sway of a Ford model. “Was that your friend Cole I just passed?”

      “Yeah. СКАЧАТЬ