The Storm Sister (The Seven Sisters #2) by Lucinda Riley Read Free Book Online Page B

squeezed my shoulder.
    I looked at each one of my sisters, thinking how rare it was these days that we were all gathered together. And as I thought of the reason, my heart jumped into my throat. Although I must
eventually hear what had happened to Pa, I knew I had to tell them first where I’d been, what I’d seen there and why it had taken me so long to come home.
    ‘Right.’ I took a deep breath as I began. ‘I’m going to tell you what happened, because to be honest, I’m still confused about it.’ As we all sat down around
the table, I noticed Ma standing to the side and gestured her to a chair. ‘Ma, you should hear this too. Maybe you can help explain.’
    As Ma sat down, I tried to gather my thoughts in order to explain the appearance of the
Titan
through my binoculars.
    ‘So, there I was, down in the Aegean Sea, training for the Cyclades Regatta next week, when a sailing friend of mine asked me if I wanted to join him on his motor yacht for a long weekend.
The weather was fantastic and it was great to actually relax on the water for a change.’
    ‘Whose boat was it?’ Electra asked, as I knew she would.
    ‘I told you, just a friend,’ I said evasively. As much as I wanted to share Theo with my sisters at some point, this was definitely not the moment for it. ‘Anyway,’ I
continued, ‘there we were a couple of afternoons ago, when my friend told me that another sailing mate of his had radioed him to say he’d spotted the
Titan
. . .’
    Casting myself back to that moment, I took a sip of my coffee and then did my best to describe how our radio messages had gone unanswered and my sense of confusion as Pa Salt’s boat had
kept moving away from us. Everyone listened to my story with rapt attention and I saw a look of sadness pass between Ma and Maia. I then took a deep breath and told them that because of the
dreadful mobile phone signal in the region, I hadn’t received any of their messages until yesterday. I hated myself for lying but I couldn’t bear to tell them I had simply switched it
off. I also made no mention of the
Olympus
– the other yacht Theo and I had seen in the bay.
    ‘So please,’ I finally entreated them, ‘can somebody tell me what on earth was going on? And why Pa Salt’s boat was down in Greece when he was already . . .
dead?’
    We all turned to Maia. I knew she was weighing her words before she spoke. ‘Ally, Pa Salt had a heart attack three days ago. There was nothing anyone could do.’
    Hearing how he’d died from my eldest sister made it so much more final. As I tried to stop the rising tears, she continued. ‘His body was flown to the
Titan
and then sailed
out to sea. He wanted to be laid to rest in the ocean; he didn’t want to distress us.’
    I stared at her as the dreadful realisation hit. ‘Oh my God,’ I whispered eventually. ‘So the chances are that I happened upon his private funeral. No wonder the boat sped off
as fast as it could away from me. I . . .’
    Unable to pretend to be strong or calm any longer, I put my head in my hands and took deep breaths to control the panic I felt, as my sisters gathered around me to try and give me comfort. Not
used to showing emotion in front of them, I heard myself apologising as I tried to regain my composure.
    ‘It must be an awful shock for you to realise what was actually happening. We’re all so sorry for you, Ally,’ Tiggy said gently.
    ‘Thank you,’ I managed, and then muttered some platitudes about hearing Pa tell me once that he wanted to be buried at sea. It was such a ridiculous coincidence that I had come
across the
Titan
on Pa Salt’s final voyage; the thought made my head spin and I needed some air urgently. ‘Listen,’ I said as steadily as I could, ‘would you all
mind terribly if I had a little time alone?’
    They all agreed I should and I left the kitchen with their warm words of support following after me.
    Standing in the hallway, I looked around desperately, trying to