worry about that right now,” he replied. “Why don’t you put your seat back a bit and close your eyes. You look done in. Try and get a little sleep, huh?”
She did as he suggested, but found her mind was too active to sleep. Instead she listened as he called his younger brother, Cade, and arranged for him to collect the car that Raif had left parked near the church. Guilt sliced deep as she considered everything he had done for her so far today. And now he was going out of his way to drive her all the way to Mannum so she could take time out.
For someone she’d never exactly treated well, he seemed to be prepared to go to great lengths for her. Maybe it was just a measure of the man he was, she thought, as she heard him laughingly warn his sibling not to drive the Maserati too fast through the Adelaide hills on the way to his property. A man who, she had to admit to herself, she didn’t know very well at all. When he ended the call he turned on the radio, tuned to a classical-music station. She was surprised, thinking him more likely to be into popular music or rock than anything resembling culture.
But then again, what did she really know about him aside from the fact that he was her best friend’s cousin? Sure, he’d always been there when Ethan had invited her to attend family functions at The Masters. But Raif was three years younger than her and back when she’d met him, that three-year age gap between him at fifteen and her at eighteen going on nineteen had seemed huge. She’d mentally filed him away as a child, and had barely given him a second thought.
She’d recognized he had a crush on her early on, but had ignored it—and him, too, for the most part. He had been easy enough to ignore at first, especially since their paths didn’t cross all that often. When she thought of him even now, she tended to think of the child he had been. Shanal hadn’t really noticed when he’d left childhood behind for good.
Until now.
Until she’d realized the boy had most definitely grown into a man. A man she could depend upon when it seemed she had no other options available to her.
She opened her eyes and watched him as he drove, his concentration on the road ahead, his hands capable and sure on the wheel. He was a bit more leanly built than Ethan, but aside from that the family resemblance was strong. Just over six feet tall, with dark hair brushed back off his forehead and blue eyes that always seemed to notice far too much, Raif, like the rest of the Masters family had more than his fair share of good-looking DNA. Added to that was the perpetual tan he wore, a byproduct of his work outdoors on the vines that grew in the various vineyards run by The Masters. But even so, the differences were there if you looked hard enough. There was a suppressed energy about Raif, whereas his cousin was calm and measured in everything he did. Raif projected a more physical and active air.
There was no doubt he was a man who thrived on action and on thinking on his feet. His spontaneity was one of the reasons it had been so easy to continue thinking of him as the child he’d once been—impulsive and thoughtless, never considering the consequences. Today had been a perfect example of that. What was it that Ethan often said about Raif? Ah, yes, he was the kind of guy to always leap before he looked. Well, today she was truly thankful for that. Not at any stage had he asked her why she’d run from her wedding. He’d simply taken her away when she’d begged to be taken.
If it weren’t for him, she had no idea where she’d be or what she’d be doing. She was not the impulsive type, and never had been. Every choice was always meticulously planned and carefully considered. Until today. When she’d run out of that cathedral, she’d had no plan in mind, no destination in her sights. She’d just wanted to get away, with no thought for what would come next. Thank goodness Raif had run after her when he did. He might not be someone she thought of as a white knight, but he’d certainly come to her rescue. And the certainty that he had the situation in hand for the time being was enough to let her relax. For now, at least.
A steady rain began to fall and Raif switched on the windshield wipers. The rhythmic clack-swish of the blades across the glass was soothing and Shanal let her eyes close again, barely even aware that she was drifting off into sleep. When she awoke she found she was alone in the car. She struggled upright and rubbed her neck to ease the kinks out. Looking around, Shanal couldn’t identify exactly where they were, but she spotted Raif exiting a small grocery store across the road. As he got back in the car he tossed a plastic bag in her direction.
“I didn’t want to wake you so I guessed your size.”
She opened the sack and spied a six-pack of multicolored cotton panties and some ladies’ toiletries inside. A blush bloomed in her cheeks at the thought of him choosing her underwear, but she pushed it aside. She should be grateful he was being practical about things.
“Thanks, it looks like you guessed right. And thank you again for helping me today. I—I don’t know what I’d have done without you.”
Emotion threatened to swamp her, and she felt his warm strong fingers close over one of her hands. A surprising tingle of response made her pull away. He gave her a sharp look.
“No problem,” he said steadily. “Are you hungry yet?”
She should be enjoying the sumptuous repast that had been booked at the reception center. Her stomach twisted. She couldn’t think of anything less appealing.
“I’m okay for now. How about you?”
“I can wait,” he said calmly as he started up the Jeep and swung back onto the road.
“Are we far from the river?” she asked.
“About ten minutes.”
True to his word, they pulled up at a small marina a short while later. The rain had stopped, but there was a cool wind blowing, and Shanal wrapped her arms around herself as they got out of the vehicle. She should have grabbed that jacket of Cathleen’s back at the house.
“Here, put this on.”
She caught the down-filled jacket Raif tossed toward her from the back of the Jeep, and gratefully slid her arms inside. Instantly, she began to feel the warmth, almost as if he’d closed his arms around her and given her the comfort she so desperately craved today. She followed him in silence to the pier where a man waited for them.
“Mac, this is my friend Shanal.”
Mac nodded a grizzled head in her direction. “Come aboard, I’ll show you around.”
Shanal was surprised by the luxury of the fittings on board. The boat, apparently one of Mac’s smallest, boasted three bedrooms and was more spacious than the compact town house she’d rented back in Adelaide before having to move home to help her parents. In fact, the layout was similar, the only major differences being the helm positioned near the dining area of the boat’s large main entertainment cabin, and the fact they were floating on the river.
“You driven one of these before?” Mac asked.
“No, but I’m sure Raif will show me.”
“Better you get Mac to show you now,” Raif said. “You’ll need to know what to do when you’re out on the water.”
She noticed he didn’t make mention of “we.” Shanal turned troubled eyes to him and fresh panic clawed at her throat. “You’re not coming with me?”
* * *
“Give us a minute,” Raif said to Mac, before drawing Shanal onto the deck at the front of
