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Oz watched her walk away, the sway of her hips and her long braid calling to him like a siren’s song.
He raked a hand over his face and growled out his frustration. Unrequited love bit the big one.
Rayna startled when a seagull squawked close by. She lifted her lashes and gasped, shoving herself upright and drawing Connor’s attention from where he sat. “I fell asleep.”
He lowered the newspaper and folded it neatly, setting it aside before joining her. “You’re exhausted. And confession is good for the soul. You fell asleep the moment you finished telling me your story.”
Memories came flooding back, that of Connor admitting he’d seen several news segments about her disappearance and how he’d recognized her on the beach. “What you must think of me.”
“I think you’re overwhelmed and for good reason. Anyone in your position would be hard-pressed not to be.”
Yes, well, reason or not, she had to face the consequences of her actions. “I have to call my family. I have to go back a-and sort this mess out.”
He settled himself in a chair to her right, and she found his presence comforting despite having known him a matter of hours. How was that possible?
“You do have to contact your family and let them know you’re okay. Whether you go back is up to you. You’re welcome to stay a few days. Rest.”
Her breath froze in her lungs for a long second before she exhaled. “You don’t even know me.”
A low chuckle rumbled out of his chest, and she found herself drawn to the sound.
“Yes, well, I know enough. And even though my kids would probably think I’m crazy, I know what it’s like to want to disappear.”
“You do?”
“After my wife died,” he said, nodding, “I struggled. I didn’t understand how evil walks the earth but my never-hurt-a-soul wife was taken. Still don’t, truth be told. I imagine facing what you face isn’t much different.”
Rayna hugged her arms around her front. “It’s hard to accept that I’ll lose everything because of him.”
“Then don’t. At least not yet. Cases like this are often settled or thrown out. Give it time.”
His words washed over her. “I’m… embarrassed. Mortified. A bit heartbroken—but not in the way I should be. I’m also angry with myself. That I put up with his behavior for so many years, and now I wonder why. Why did I do it?”
“Love’s a complicated thing,” Connor said.
She nodded. “I did love him. You can’t spend that many years with someone and not love. But while my daughters are mourning their father, I’m beyond angry that he’s left me in the position I find myself in. I’m angry that he doesn’t have to deal with this but I do. Does that make me a bad person?”
Connor sat forward in the chair, his elbows on his knees, hands clasped together in front of him.
“Not at all. And he’ll deal with it, one way or another,” Connor said. “Now, this is none of my business, but the newspaper article I just read said you’d had some sort of memory issue recently?”
Rayna released a soft groan. “I have no secrets left, do I?” she said, grimacing. “The stress and circumstances of Richard’s death were difficult for me to accept. I was confused for a day or two and thought he was away on business. But I’m okay now.”
“Hon, you might remember it now, but kayaking from Carolina Cove to Bald Head Island while wearing your mourning dress… I don’t think that’d qualify as being okay.”
A laugh burst out of her at the absurdity. “I suppose not. But like I said, I had to get away from all of those looks I was getting. I couldn’t pretend to be the mournful wife a moment longer when I boiled with anger inside.”
“I imagine not.”
“Getting served the lawsuit papers at the cemetery was the icing on the cake,” she said, smoothing her hand over the pattern on the sundress. “I’d like to bring Richard back from the dead just so I can strangle him and kill him again. I suppose I have more pride and vanity than I thought.”
Connor chuckled and nodded.
“I’d say any wife would feel the same in your shoes.”
She closed her burning eyes and opened them again to stare out at the beautiful day. Life moved on, no matter what someone might be going through. “What am I going to do? What if I lose everything because of him?” she asked. “My home, my business?”
“Now, don’t let what-ifs get you. You know, I don’t believe in coincidences. Do you?”
