Torchlight (24 page)

Tara struggled to free her arm that was caught in the lines of the capsized boat. When the
Sea Maiden
had gone over, the lines that had given Julia such trouble had created a tangled web that now held Tara immobile, cutting off all circulation to her fingers. She had dropped the knife in her fall, and the taut ropes kept her from simply untying a knot and freeing herself.
Please, God, keep my friend safe
, she prayed frantically.
I can’t help her.

Tara was only five feet from the emergency beacon, but, although she stretched out with all her might, the ropes and water kept her from reaching it.

Julia swam as hard as she could toward the boat, but she was tiring quickly. The swells were growing, causing the
Sea Maiden
’s seven-foot keel to disappear for seconds at a time. Julia’s arms begged her to stop. Her legs begged her to quit kicking. She wanted to lie on her back and simply catch her breath, but she knew that doing so might be her death sentence. It would take hours, days, to find her if she didn’t stay near the boat.
Kick, Julia
, a voice inside her urged.
Kick.

She began to kick again.

“Sea Maiden.
Come in,
Sea Maiden. Sea Maiden
, this is
Atlantic Queen; Sea Maiden
, this is
Atlantic Queen.
Do you read me?” Mike repeated his message over and over again, trying different frequencies.

Please, God
, he prayed.
Let her be all right. Don’t let her drown like Mom. Please, God.

“See anything?” Ben yelled to Trevor through the window.

Trevor turned around, his face grave, and shook his head.

Ben focused back on his radar scanner. “Come on, Tara. I know you’re out here.” His face was white. This scene was all too familiar. His prayer joined his son’s.

Julia was close, but she was exhausted.
Father, please. Help me. I’m so close. I know you’re with me. Give me the strength to get there. So close …
And where was Tara? She could see the keel of the boat, bobbing twenty yards ahead, but no sign of her friend. Was she lost? Adrift?

Under the boat, Tara grabbed a floating oar and punched at the control panel, hoping to hit the right button.
Come on, God, give us this chance. Help me.
She jabbed again at the console.

“We have a signal!” Ben yelled, his throat tight and his voice garbled. “We have a signal! It’s gotta be them!” He turned the boat five degrees west. “We’ll be there in minutes!” he yelled out to Trevor. “They’re not moving! They must be in trouble!”

Trevor wiped away the water flowing freely down his face, then wiped Ben’s field glasses as well. The rain was coming down in torrents. The trawler chugged through giant waves that rolled and pitched, and the wind plastered Trevor’s slicker against his body. Leaning heavily against the helm cabin’s wall, he scanned the horizon in the new direction they had taken.

His glasses caught the
Sea Maiden
’s keel and, at the same time, his heart leapt.
No. Please, God, no.

Mike saw the boat from inside the cabin. “No!” he screamed.
“No!”

Ben caught his arm. “Wait and see, Mike,” he said sternly. “Wait and see!” Inside, his heart cried out its own fear.

Julia’s hand brushed against a nylon rope and then lost it. She searched frantically. At last, she caught it again and held on. The rope, attached to the boat, caught and held after giving out several feet.
Thank you, God!
she prayed silently, desperately trying to catch her breath.

The trawler was nearly beside her before she heard Trevor’s voice cry out over the roar of the wind. He was over the edge of the boat and into the water before her mind could process what was happening. Mike appeared on deck.

“Dad! Julia seems okay, but I don’t see Tara!”

Ben appeared then too, his face grim.

“Hold us alongside her, Mike. I’ll find Tara.” He left the cabin without waiting for a reply. After throwing Trevor a rope to secure the sailboat to the trawler’s side, Ben dove over the edge himself, into the side of a huge swell. He came alongside Trevor and Julia.

“Tara!” Julia cried weakly.

Ben grabbed her arm. “Where is she, Julia?”

“I don’t know!” she shouted miserably.

“Have you seen her since you capsized?”

“No!”

“I think she might be underneath!” Ben said to Trevor, who was treading water beside them. “Here, take my jacket. I’m gonna check.”

Ben fought for a breath against his tension-filled chest and dove.
Please God, not again. Let her be alive!
His hand caught the mast and he followed it upward, emerging in the air space beneath.

“Ben!” Tara cried.

“Oh, thank you! Thank you, God! Tara, baby, are you okay?” He swam to her and before she could answer, gave her a long, deep kiss.

She smiled broadly at him, her eyes full of wonder.

“Tara, I was so scared! I couldn’t stand the thought of losing you. I love you so much!” He kissed her again quickly.

“Well, it’s certainly taken a lot to get you to admit that,” she said, smiling, despite another swell that bathed her face in seawater.

“I know, baby. I’m sorry. I should’ve told you months ago. I guess God had to knock me upside the head before I could see it. The thought of losing you … Well, here, let’s get you out first. They’ll think we both drowned. We’ll talk later.”

He swam to the far side of the ship and dove down to release an emergency kit still strapped in its place. He surfaced, pulled a knife out, and quickly cut Tara loose.

She swam to him and kissed him with all the passion she had buried inside her for years.

It was his turn to smile at her. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”

“Where is Ben?” Julia asked through chattering teeth. Trevor had pulled her aboard the trawler and wrapped her in a blanket. She leaned over the side, searching for her friends.

Trevor was about to dive in again when they emerged.

“There they are!” Julia yelled. She smiled at Mike. “They’re coming ’round back now!” Julia knew it would be important to him to see Tara alive for himself. Mike grinned from ear to ear and raced to the back, reaching for Tara as soon as he saw her.

Sadly, they had to abandon the
Sea Maiden
where she lay. Given the storm, it was impossible to right the boat with her mast straight down, and only the small amount of air trapped underneath had kept her afloat at all. Their only hope was to recover her with a professional crew after the storm subsided—if they could find her again and if she survived.

But to Tara it was a small loss. She was alive! And Ben loved her! Mike stood at the helm while Ben sat by the heater, holding her in his lap. Trevor sat across from Julia, fuming.

Julia dried out her hair and looked up at him wearily. “Why don’t you say it?”

“What?”

“You’re obviously ticked. What?”

“You two should have known better!”

“Look, we made a mistake—”

“A mistake! This is the second ‘mistake’ to almost cost you your life, Julia! What if we hadn’t been out here looking for you? How long could you have held on to that rope? How long did Tara have?”

“We didn’t set out to get into an accident.”

Trevor stood and paced. “Of course not! But you were careless! You can’t expect me to be around every time you risk your life!”

Julia looked up at him, angry now. The others watched in silence. “No, Trevor, I don’t expect you to be around every time I get into trouble. How could I? You’re such a vagabond that nobody will ever tie you down to one place! How could I expect you to be around? How could I count on you?”

“How did this subject turn to me? It’s you who makes the bad decisions.”

“So you’ve never made any bad decisions in life?”

“A few,” he admitted without lowering his gaze. “But I never risked other people’s lives too!”

“I didn’t mean to!”

“Of course not! But you don’t think through all your decisions, do you?”

Julia paused. “Are you trying to get at something?”

He paced the short floor several times.

“If you’re trying to get at something, just say it, Trevor. I’m tired of the word games. You obviously are too. Out with it.”

He stopped and stared at her. “Oh, why mess with it? I’ll be out of your hair in a few weeks and then we’ll both be better off, right?” He walked out the cabin door and into the storm without waiting for an answer.

“Right,” she said softly.

T
wo weeks before the wedding, Julia tried on her great-grandmother’s wedding gown for the final time. The dress had been unearthed from an attic chest and remade to fit Julia’s taller and shapelier form. Sara, Anna’s daughter, had had fine taste. The dress was an exquisite mixture of silk organza, handmade lace, and tiny covered buttons. It had taken half an hour to get her into it. Remade, it fit Julia perfectly.

Trevor came in and found her standing at the top of the stairs in front of a huge antique mirror.

“What do you think?” she asked him. She continued to look in the glass, watching the reflection of his image, pretending his presence did not affect her. She reached for the veil and fit it over her head, arranging the netting over her face.
So this is what it feels like to be a bride.

Trevor, deliberately and unhurried, walked over to Julia’s side. He gently took her right hand with his left and pulled her around to face him. Julia simply stared up into his eyes. Ever so slowly, he traced a gentle course, from her fingers to her wrists, along her elbows and shoulders. His actions sent shivers down her spine.

“What are you doing, Trevor?”

“What I should have done months ago,” he said, his voice low and earnest. Julia did not breathe as he continued to draw his fingers along the graceful curve of her neck. Silently, he pulled the delicate
veil away from her face and settled it carefully over her head. Then he bent and met her lips with his own, kissing her first softly, then urgently, then softly again. His lips felt soft and sweet, not like Miles’s hard, pressing kiss.

She stood, her eyes closed, smelling the scent of Trevor’s skin, lost in the moment.

“Julia? Julia! What is going on?”

Julia spun around, not believing that it could be Miles’s voice she was hearing. “Miles! Miles, what are you doing here? You’re not due for another week.”

“So, if I had waited, I wouldn’t have seen you two kissing, is that it?”

“Miles—,” Trevor began.

“You shut up and get away from her.” Miles’s face was red with fury; the veins on his temples bulged.

“Look, man, I’m the one who kissed her. She did not come looking for me.”

“I should hope not! She’s wearing the gown she’ll be wearing in two weeks when we marry. I’d think it would be highly inappropriate for her to traipse around kissing any man who enters her path.”

“Miles!” Julia was, in fact, feeling guilty, torn over the fact that she had enjoyed Trevor’s kiss more than any other kiss she had ever experienced.

Miles ignored her. “Get away from her, Kenbridge! I knew you were after her from the start!”

Trevor stepped away from Julia and toward Miles. “Not a very smart man, are you, Miles? If you knew I had an eye for Julia, why’d you leave her alone for weeks on end? I wouldn’t leave a woman like
her alone. Nothing could keep me away. Not a job, not anything. She would be first.”

“I didn’t want to get in the way of her dreams!” Miles paused and composed himself. “I don’t need to explain myself to you. The fact that I took unpaid leave to be here should say a lot.”

“Yeah. One last week to really sell her down the river, huh? You’re not interested in Torchlight for the same reasons Julia is. You just see investment potential. Maybe a condo here, maybe there—”

“Why you—” Miles lunged at Trevor in his best Ivy League football tackle position.

Not anticipating his attack, Trevor fell heavily under his opponent’s weight, but caught Miles’s fist as it sailed down toward his face.

“Stop it!” Julia yelled. “Knock it off!” She pulled at Miles’s shoulders, allowing Trevor to land a punch on his jaw. Miles fell, moaning.

“What have you done, Trevor? Miles, are you all right?”

Miles rose to attack Trevor again, stepping on Julia’s train in the process. She ignored the sickening rip of fabric and ran to stand between the men, pushing them away from each other. “Knock it off!”

“Julia, tell him to get out of here,” Miles said.

“No, Julia, tell
him
to take a hike,” Trevor said. “Tell him the truth. You’re really in love with me.”

She laughed at his arrogance. “Is that your declaration of love? I would’ve expected something much more poetic than a threat toward my fiancé. You’d better go. I think you’ve caused enough trouble.”

“You can’t tell me you’re still going through with it! Come on! You’ve known I was in love with you since I first saw you. I love the
way you love this old house, the hard work you put into it. I love your determination and grit. I love how you’re loyal to the end and how you are the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever laid eyes on. Why else would I risk my life
twice
to save you?”