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“Have you heard from Michael?”

Tracey shook her head. “No. But he was never one to call me anyway.”

Cindy collapsed against the counter and exhaled deeply. “When I got home this morning from yoga, I couldn’t find him anywhere. I waited for a while, thinking maybe he just went to the store? Or for a walk? But now, it’s been hours and hours, and I... I just...I fear the worse.”

Her eyes turned toward Elise with sudden curiosity.

After a long pause, Tracey said, “I don’t think your first assumption should be that he ran off again.”

Elise recognized that she had stepped into some family drama that she knew nothing about at all.

Cindy’s eyes continued to hold Elise’s. “Don’t tell me. You’re her, aren’t you?” Her eyes snapped back toward Tracey, who shrugged. “Seriously, Trace?”

“Don’t be so snippy,” Tracey returned.

Cindy laced her fingers through her hair, looking more annoyed by the minute. “I just don’t know why you have to complicate everything, all the damn time. Jesus.” She turned quickly, pressed her hand against the glass door, and then walked out of the boutique.

Tracey shot after her, grumbling to herself. Elise followed, wanting to apologize, to return to the Bloomingfeld, to pack and head for the hills. She paused in the center of the street as a carriage clunked beside her, its horses whining.

Tracey whipped around, even as she chased after Cindy, and called, “Come on, Elise! I don’t want to let you out of my sight. Not now.”

Elise groaned and hustled after them until Cindy came to a crumpling halt near the docks. She placed her hands on her knees as she gasped toward the pavement. Tracey and Elise caught up to her. Tracey placed her hand on her older sister’s back and said, “Just breathe for a minute. Have you tried to call him?”

Cindy gasped for air. “I did try to call him. Just like I’ve tried to call him every few weeks for the past three years.”

Suddenly, Cindy yanked herself back upright, slid a hand under her nose, and gazed at Elise. Her expression wasn’t exactly friendly.

“I don’t know what you think you’re doing,” she said, her voice steady.

Elise’s stomach curdled.

“Come on, Cindy. Calm down. I was just getting to know her.” Tracey stuttered.

“No. I don’t care who you are. I don’t know what you want. The thing is, Wayne has been through enough. His wife was my best friend in the world, and she was taken from us. He’ll never get over her, just like I never will. I just need you to understand that. No tourist like you can come in here and change all that’s come before.”

Elise had no idea what to say.

She turned her eyes toward the water again as her throat constricted. Her eyes filled with tears.

Wayne’s wife had been his greatest love.

She’d left an enormous shadow.

And all of these people? They had lived their lives with Dean Swartz, with his wife, Mandy, with all the cast and characters of this gorgeous island.

Elise was forever an outsider.

But before she could speak, she spotted Wayne’s sailboat—theTara—nearing the docks. Wayne managed the sails, while another guy in his mid-twenties stood near the tip, his chin lifted and the wind rushing through his dark locks.

Elise was captivated.

As the boat grew closer, her heart raced, her hands grew clammy, and her eyes held tears.

She really could have loved him.

“There! He’s on the sailboat with Wayne!” Tracey said to Cindy, grabbing her shoulder and turning her away from Elise. “You should have known he was with Wayne. He was always with Wayne.”

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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