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“It is. Very much so.”
Cari sighed. “A group of friends went to the mainland. We were planning to have a good time. Have some dinner, go to a concert, and then head back to the island. Kent was one of the people in our group.”
“Was he your date?”
“No. Just a friend. We were all just friends.” She drew in an uneven breath. Her words came a bit slower, and there was some distance as though her sister’s thoughts were drawn back to that time. “Dinner was fine. In fact, we were having a really good time. And then we went to the concert.”
Sara had no idea where her sister was going with this story, and so she quietly waited. She hoped Kent hadn’t done anything wrong. She really hoped that. The degree with which she longed for Kent to be a good guy in this story shocked her. Since when had she grown from being upset with him for hurting her sister to caring about him?
“I had to use the ladies’ room. When I was coming out, I forgot my way back to our seats. After I ran into an attendant and got pointed in the right direction, I started back along the outer corridor. Someone grabbed me and pulled me into the shadows.” There was a distinct pause as though she had gotten lost in her thoughts.
The breath caught in Sara’s throat. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Her sister had been attacked?
“The guy… He, uh, hit me a few times and ripped my clothes.” The pain in her voice was evident.
She should say something, but her throat muscles refused to work. This was so much worse than she’d imagined. How had this happened and she didn’t know about it? Why hadn’t her sister leaned on her?
“Kent had been on his way to the men’s room when he heard me scream. He stopped the guy from…from attacking me.”
Thank goodness. “I’m so sorry that happened to you. I had no idea.”
“I didn’t want you to know.”
Her admission arrowed into Sara’s heart. She had absolutely no idea her sister had been assaulted.
“Why didn’t you tell me? We’re sisters. I thought we shared everything.”
“After losing Mom, I…I didn’t feel like we could share everything. You had your own stuff you were going through. And I didn’t want you to think you couldn’t come to me with your problems.”
As much as she wanted to be angry with her sister, she also knew that Cari had stepped into the parent role in her life after their mother died. With no mother and a father who barely functioned in his unending grief, Cari was all she’d had to make sure she had food to eat, clean clothes to wear, and to make sure she didn’t go off and do something stupid.
A new sense of gratitude and a deepening love for her sister swept over Sara. “I wish I could have been there for you. You were always there for me.”
“It’s okay. When they didn’t catch the guy, I freaked out. The only people who knew were Kent and the police. And that’s the way I wanted it. But then I got afraid to go out and do things.”
Sara searched her memory. It took some thinking, but then she recalled a period Cari wouldn’t go out of the house. She’d made up excuse after excuse. Sara had thought it was strange at the time, but she’d been home from college on summer break and working part-time at the inn.
She felt sick in the stomach upon realizing what her sister had been going through. “I’m so sorry.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for.”
“But I am.” She loved her sister and would do anything for her. “I was so caught up in my own life that I didn’t even realize what was going on with you.”
“You were young. That’s the way it was supposed to be. And I was all right.”
“Really?” She didn’t believe her. “I wouldn’t have been. That must have been so horrendous.”
There was a pause. “It was. But I got through it.”
She hated that her sister was half a globe away, and she couldn’t put her arms around her. This moment required something more than words because her words felt so inadequate. Sara sucked down her rising emotions. Her sister didn’t need to deal with that right now.
She swallowed hard. “And that’s how you started dating Kent?”
“You see, about that, um… We never really dated.”
Sara’s mouth opened, but no words came out. She had too many thoughts rising in her mind and crashing into each other. It was hard to capture just one concrete thought. “I don’t understand.”
“Kent was worried about me. And looking back on it now, he had every reason to worry. I think in the beginning I was in shock.”
