Some Kind of Wonderful (Puffin Island 2)

Feeling tired and low, she clambered to the top of the bluff and sat down on the rocks. It was early, but already there were yachts cutting through the waves and she recognized the familiar lines of the Alice Rose, the schooner that had once belonged to Ryan’s father and was now run as part of his business at the Ocean Club.

She was admiring the elegant lines of the boat and stewing in her own guilt, when she caught movement out of the corner of her eye and saw Alec running up the path towards her. His T-shirt was damp and glued to his skin, his dark hair ruffled by the wind.

Pirate, she thought and managed a smile. “Good morning, Shipwreck Hunter. You’re up early.”

“I was going to say the same thing to you.” He came to a halt in front of her and she shrugged.

“I’m an early riser. What’s your excuse? Running away from your fans? Emily told me a carload of women arrived last week with the express intention of tracking you down.”

He took a slug of bottled water, a gleam in his eyes. “Should I move?”

“No. You know the islanders. John told them he’d heard a rumor you’d moved somewhere else. How do the women know where you live?”

“Some damn journalist decided it was romantic that I live on what he described as a ‘deserted island’ and chose to publicize the fact. I suppose I should be grateful he left off my zip code.”

“Deserted?” Brittany lifted her eyebrows. “Makes you sound like Robinson Crusoe. Clearly he’s never visited the island in the summer.”

“And let’s hope none of them do. I need to buy John a drink next time I bump into him. Are you all right?” He lowered his water, his eyes on her face. “You look pale. Wrist bothering you?”

“No. It’s—” She felt an overwhelming need to talk to someone but she couldn’t do it without revealing Zach’s secrets and she wasn’t prepared to do that. “It’s nothing.”

Alec sat down next to her. “Tell me.” His voice was kind and her eyes filled.

“Don’t give me sympathy.”

“I promise not to give you sympathy. Now tell me what’s wrong.”

“Have you ever totally messed something up because you thought you knew everything and then discovered you knew nothing?”

“Hasn’t everyone?”

“Maybe.” She shook her head, blinking rapidly, and felt his arm come around her shoulder.

“I’m not sure whether we’re talking personal or professional,” he said slowly, “but whichever it is, the theory is the same. We make the best judgments we can at the time, Brit. We take the information we have and we use it. That’s all anyone can do.”

“But what happens when you realize that you were missing the essential facts when you made your judgment? What happens when you realize you didn’t know anything at all and everything you thought and believed was totally wrong?”

He stroked her arm with the tips of his fingers. “It happens. New information comes to light all the time, both in history and in science. You know that. The same thing happens in life. You use the new information. You keep moving forward. That’s how we make progress.”

Progress.

Keep moving forward.

But was there a future for her and Zach? Now that she knew a little about his past, she wanted to know more. She wanted him to share, not because she had a grisly interest in the grim details but because she understood that sharing required trust and more than anything she wanted him to trust her.

She wanted him to know that she was a friend as well as a lover. Someone who would never let him down. Someone who wouldn’t walk away no matter what life threw in their path. Even if their relationship was never anything more than a mix of friendship and sex, she wanted him to know it was something he could rely on.

But she was terrified he was going to wake up and decide that telling her had been a mistake.

Terrified he’d withdraw from her.

Aware that Alec was still by her side, she managed a smile. “I don’t want to hold you up. You need to nurture that fit body for your adoring fans.”

He didn’t budge.

Instead, he stared out to sea.

“Can you imagine navigating these waters without GPS and radar? No wonder so many ships hit the rocks. Those poor sailors wouldn’t have had a clue what was hidden beneath the surface.” He kept his arm around her. “You stayed at Zach’s last night.”