Jack Beale 00 - Dangerous Shoals by K.D. Mason Read Free Book Online

that they were going to the beach. She remembered her mother’s surprise both at her father’s early return in the middle of the week and his pronouncement that they were going to the beach. After her father had calmed her mother down and convinced her that nothing was wrong, there was a great flurry of activity and excitement. Max and Grandma Ruth watched while her parents packed the car with food and blankets. Now, staring out over the water, she could still hear her grandmother’s voice answering her questions about the beach. “It’s a wondrous place where the land meets the sea.”
    It was, and ever since, that’s where she would go when she needed to be alone, to think. She lay back and closed her eyes. The sun, warm on her face, triggered other memories. Belize. Daniel. Jack. She smiled. Jack was always there for her. He was one of the first people she had met when she moved to the seacoast. Too often he had helped her pick up the pieces when things went wrong. He had saved her life, and for a brief time they were together. Then she drifted away from him and ran off with Daniel to Belize. Why? She had asked herself this question many times. She knew the answer, but just didn’t want to face it. It was fear. Fear that she could lose the best thing in her life.
    Jack had followed her to Belize, not like a pathetic puppy, but out of genuine concern, expecting nothing in return. When Daniel disappeared, Jack appeared. Once again he had been there for her, no questions asked, and she finally admitted the truth to herself. They belonged together. It was so simple.
    He accepted her. He didn’t judge. He gave without any expectation of anything in return. They had had no secrets. And that was the problem. That was why she was sitting alone among the dunes. Courtney and Jack had kept things from her, things that she should have been told, things that might have made a difference. Why? Why did he keep those things from her? Why? “I didn’t want to worry you,” he had said. “Bullshit,” she said to herself. She didn’t need protecting. They had never kept secrets from each other before. Then, when she told them that she had seen Daniel, he questioned it.
    While her anger with Courtney and Jack hadn’t diminished, her emotions were more in check as she drove back to Ben’s for her shift. She couldn’t avoid Courtney because of work. She’d go to work and do her job. The friendship part would have to wait ―for a while at least. Jack was another story. It really hurt that he hadn’t told her. He needed to understand that, before she could forgive him.
    She knew that after work she’d go home, to her home, and that she’d ask Patti to stay with her, at least for this night. She was sure that Patti would say yes because she was that kind of a friend. Patti would listen, wouldn’t judge, and in the end she’d feel better. How long she would avoid Jack wasn’t clear, but she knew she needed some time.
    By the time she got to work, she was feeling more stable. The night proved to be uneventful, especially since neither Jack nor Courtney were around.

CHAPTER 11
    SHE SPENT THAT night at home and Patti stayed with her. That one night turned into a week, during which she had time to think, vent, and heal. There had been no more Daniel sightings, and she was beginning to question whether she had really seen him. It all began to feel so far in the past and besides, she missed Jack.
    * * *
    Jack knew that she was upset with him. Wisely, he gave her some space and didn’t chase after her. He expected that her anger would only last a few days, so he focused his energies on getting the boat ready for launching. After a week of long hours working on Irrepressible , she was ready and he was too. Max hadn’t called, and he hadn’t chased. Now, it was time. He missed her. All those hours working alone on the boat had given him plenty of time to think.
    “Could Max be wrong about seeing Daniel? If he is here, why? And