you enjoy yourself?”
She pressed her palms against the car as that visit came to life in her memory. “It wasn’t a happy time for me. My mother was in the hospital, and my father sent me to Enid while she had surgery.”
“That’s hard on a kid. You must have been scared.” His voice warmed with sympathy.
“Scared, mad, you name it. You know what it’s like when you sense that something’s terribly wrong and no one will tell you the truth?”
He seemed to understand what she didn’t say. “Your mother?”
“It was cancer. She didn’t make it.”
She wouldn’t tell him the rest of it—that her father, always dependent on her mother’s strength, hadn’t known what to do with her after her mother’s death. That she’d spent most of her time after that at boarding school or farmed out to friends, her home life gone.
She moved her hand to her stomach. That’s not going to happen to you, little Sarah.
“I’m so sorry.” His shoulder pressed warmly against hers. “That was rough.”
Her throat tightened, and again she felt that irrational longing to lean against him. But she couldn’t. It was time to lighten this conversation.
“Be sorry for everyone around me that summer. I made their lives miserable, too.”
“They could probably take it.”
She glanced at him. He had a cleft in his chin that seemed to mitigate his face’s stern planes. “Actually, I remember a certain lifeguard telling me to stop being a brat.”
“Me?” He raised those level brows. “I’d never have said that to a kid. You must be thinking of someone else.”
“No, it was you, all right. Nathan Sloane, the most popular guy on the beach. All the teenage girls vied for your attention. It’s a wonder one of them didn’t try drowning herself to get it.”
He grinned, his face relaxing. “Actually, I did hear a few phony calls for help in my time.”
His smile did amazing things to his usually serious face. No wonder the girls had been crazy about him.
“I also remember seeing you hanging around the baby-sitter Enid had for Trevor and me. In fact, I caught you kissing her one night right down there on the dock.”
She gestured toward the spot, then turned back toward him. Her heart jolted. The smile had been wiped from his face, leaving it stripped and hard.
Then she remembered. Linda. The baby-sitter had been Linda Everett. The woman he married. The woman he’d lost.
Chapter Four
Sitting on the front porch of the cottage the next afternoon, Susannah watched as the police cruiser pulled out of the lodge’s parking lot and disappeared toward town in a swirl of autumn leaves. Nathan had gone. It was safe to go to the lodge.
Safe? She thought about the word. Who was she trying to protect—Nathan or herself?
Those moments at the ruined house were permanently engraved upon her mind. She’d been careless, and her unthinking words had hurt him.
She pressed her hand against the spot where the baby seemed to be doing gymnastics. She certainly hadn’t intended to cause him pain with her mention of that long-ago summer. She’d actually been relieved because they’d seemed able to converse like any two casual acquaintances.
Well, clearly they couldn’t. Her very presence was a constant irritation to him, and she had to accept that. The best thing she could do for herself and for Nathan was to avoid him entirely.
She shoved herself out of the rocking chair, holding the porch post for a moment for balance. Their visit to the old summerhouse hadn’t accomplished anything except to put another barrier between her and Nathan.
She’d have to find out some other way what had taken Trevor there. She descended the steps and started toward the lodge. She’d talk with Daniel again. Maybe he’d remember something else Trevor had said.
A small voice whispered in her mind that she was avoiding the obvious. Enid might know why Trevor would want to see the ruins of their vacation home.
But Enid was out of bounds at the moment, because Enid didn’t know what she was up to. Questioning her would only raise suspicions, in addition to a flood of tears. No, it was better this way.
She entered the lodge, blinking as her eyes adjusted to the dimness after the brilliant display of color outside. Daniel was behind the registration desk, as she’d hoped. But he wasn’t alone.
“I’d think you’d want me to work on this stupid homecoming float.” Jen leaned toward Daniel, every line of her slight figure tense in her black jeans and sweater. “You’re always telling me to get involved in stuff.”
“Of course I want you to participate.” Daniel’s usually serene face looked ruffled. “But you know I don’t understand this computer. If I try to do these entries, goodness knows where they’ll end up.”
That sounded remarkably like an invitation to Susannah. “May I help you with that?”
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