The Truth About Tara Read online

  “It’s wild to see ponies living on the coastline,” Jack said, hiding his disappointment when Tara broke away from him and sat back down. “How did they get here?”

  “Nobody’s real sure,” the boat captain said. “We like to think they swam ashore in the 1700s from a shipwrecked Spanish galleon.”

  “What’s a galleon?” Danny asked.

  Jack hadn’t realized Danny was paying attention to their conversation, as intent as he was on the ponies. He sat down beside the boy and ruffled his hair. “Just a boat, buddy.”

  “Can the ponies swim?” Danny asked.

  “Absolutely,” the captain said. “Every July we round ’em up and drive ’em across the channel. We’ve got vets on hand to give them their annual checkups. After that, the town holds an auction.”

  “What’s an auction?” Susie asked.

  “It means people can buy some of the ponies,” Aggie explained. The camp’s second in command had been much quieter than usual, confessing earlier that the boat ride was making her feel queasy.

  “Can we buy a pony?” Danny asked Tara.

  Tara laughed. “A pony wouldn’t be too happy in my mother’s backyard. There’s not enough room.”

  “Then can we watch them swim?”

  Jack started to tell Danny he’d bring him back to Assateague for the event in July, then stopped himself. If things went according to Jack’s plans, he would be picked up by a minor league team by then. The prospect usually cheered him. Not today, though. Today he realized success in his career would take him away from Tara and her family.

  Once the children had their fill of looking at the ponies, the captain headed back through the salt marshes to the open water of the bay. They passed under the Chincoteague bridge and in no time were once again at the floating dock.

  Jack disembarked first, helping the children step off the boat onto the dock and making sure Aggie was okay until she got her land legs back. Tara was last. He extended a hand to her, reluctant to let go of her when she was safely on shore.

  “Jack’s your boyfriend now,” Danny said, grinning at them. “Boyfriends and girlfriends hold hands.”

  “He’s got you there, Tara,” Jack said, holding tight. “That’s the truth.”

  Tara made a face at him and slipped her hand from his, but she was laughing. Yes, things were definitely looking up.

  “Looks like the other boat isn’t back yet,” Jack said.

  “Let’s hope things went smoothly, for my mother’s sake,” Tara said. “Considering how she feels about the water, I’m shocked she agreed to get on the boat.”

  “Your mother’s stronger than you give her credit for,” Jack said, a thought he’d had more than once. “Maybe she’s finally ready to let go of the past.”

  “I hope so,” Tara said.

  Aggie nodded toward the swings and monkey bars on the other end of the park. Her color was already coming back. “Let’s wait for the rest of our group at the playground. How does that sound, kids?”

  “I want to go to the playground!” Susie yelled. “Let’s race!”

  Four of the children took off, some with stumbling gaits, all of them laughing.

  “Wait up,” Brandy called, dashing after them and looking more like a kid than a counselor. Aggie followed at a slower pace. Danny walked a few steps, then sat down, right in the middle of the sidewalk.

  “Oh, no,” Tara said as an aside to Jack. “Not again. He seemed like he was doing so much better today.”

  “I’ve been thinking about Danny’s situation,” Jack said so only Tara could hear. “You know, with his mom giving him up but keeping his brother.”

  Tara nodded. “It had to affect him, but I can’t begin to figure out what’s going on in his head. My mother can’t, either. She’s making him an appointment with a psychologist.”

  Except Danny must be leaving them clues. Jack thought back to Wednesday night, when Danny had refused to bowl on the wii or try to catch the fireflies. Was there a pattern to the things he refused to do? The boy usually cooperated at camp, discounting the times he wouldn’t take part in the physical activities.

  Eureka! Jack thought.

  “That’s great about the psychologist, but right now would you let me handle Danny, Tara?” he asked, his eyes on Danny’s sad slouch.

  “Sure,” she said, touching him briefly on the arm. “Give it your best shot. I’ll be at the playground.”

  Jack waited until Tara was gone before he sauntered up to Danny and stopped. “Hey, buddy. What are you doing down there?”

  Danny thrust out his lower lip and crossed his arms over his chest. If you can’t beat ’em, Jack figured. He plopped down on the sidewalk next to the boy.

  Danny’s chin came up. “You’re not ’sposed to sit on the sidewalk.”

  “You’re doing it,” Jack pointed out.

  “You’re ’sposed to tell me not to,” Danny said.

  “Nah,” Jack said. “I don’t feel like it. Kind of like you didn’t feel like racing the other kids.”

  Danny said nothing. The wind whipped through the park, creating a whistling noise. In the distance, Jack could hear the other campers laughing and shouting on the playground. A group of people waiting to board another tour boat talked among themselves, their voices carrying on the breeze.

  “My little brother would never race me when we were growing up,” Jack said. “I was older than Mike and he hated to lose.”

  “My little brother always wins,” Danny said.

  “That’s how it happens sometimes,” Jack said. “But just because you come in second doesn’t mean you should stop trying.”

  Danny shook his head. “No. Trying doesn’t work. I c-can’t do it.”

  Jack sensed the boy was trying to tell him something important, but he was having a hard time following his train of thought. “What can’t you do?”

  Danny was silent for a long time before he muttered, “Anything right.”

  “What?” Jack said. “Who said that?”

  Danny’s lower lip trembled. Whoever had implanted that idea in his head had dug deep.

  “Well, whoever it was, they were wrong,” Jack said. “You can do lots of things.”

  Danny blinked back tears. “No, I c-can’t.”

  “Hey, you’re the one who spotted the pony today. And remember all those fish you caught?”

  Danny shook his head as though Jack hadn’t spoken. “Something wrong with me.”

  “No way, bud,” Jack said with feeling.

  “Something wrong with me,” Danny repeated. “That’s why she didn’t want me.”

  Jack digested the information and swallowed a groan. Now they were getting to the crux of the matter. “Are you talking about your mother?’

  He nodded, tears running down his face.

  Ah, hell. Had Danny’s mother really made a habit of asking Danny what was wrong with him when he couldn’t perform up to his brother’s standards? Didn’t she know how special children with Down syndrome were?

  “I want you to listen to me, Danny.” Jack waited until the boy looked at him. “Nothing is wrong with you. You’re good and kind and fun to be around. I wouldn’t change a single thing about you. And neither would Tara or Carrie.”

  Danny caught his breath on a sob. Jack reached over and hugged him. Danny held tight.

  “I don’t want to hear any more about what you can’t do,” Jack said. “I want you to start showing what you can do.”

  After a long moment, Danny’s hold on Jack lessened. He ruffled Danny’s hair, then stood up and extended a hand to the boy. He pulled him to a standing position. They walked side by side to the playground, with Jack unable to think of anything else to say.

  Once they arrived, Danny sat down on a swing a distance away from the other children. He scuffed his foot in the sand but didn’t swing.

  Tara got up from the park bench where she’d been watching the children and came to stand beside Jack. “What was all that about?”

&n
bsp; Jack told her as succinctly as possible, unable to keep the disgust out of his voice. “Can you believe a mother would do that to her own flesh and blood?”

  Tara shook her head, her expression troubled. “There’s lots of ignorance surrounding mental disabilities. Danny’s mother might just be uneducated.”

  “You’re being too kind.” Jack bit off the words. “I wish I could give her a piece of my mind.”

  “It’s better you give Danny your support,” she said.

  “Yeah, but I don’t think I got through to him.” Jack gestured to where Danny still sat motionless on the swing. His sadness arrowed straight to his heart.

  Tara braced a hand on Jack’s shoulder. Without warning, she brought her head close to his and kissed him on the lips. The contact was short but unutterably sweet.

  “What was that for?” he asked in surprise.

  “For trying,” she said. “And for caring.”

  The wind was playing havoc with her hair again, blowing the errant strands into her face. He brushed them back, wishing she wasn’t wearing sunglasses so he could see her eyes. It was time, he thought, to lighten the mood and make a move.

  “Would you see through me if I capitalized on this warm feeling you seem to have for me right now by inviting you to my place for dinner tonight?” he asked.

  Her lips curved into a gorgeous smile. “Only if you tried to get me into bed when I got there.”

  He grimaced. “You got me. That’s exactly what I planned to do. Forgive me?”

  “After how you just handled things with Danny,” she said, reaching up to touch his cheek, “I’d forgive you anything.”

  * * *

  CARRIE LET THE SURF WASH over her bare feet early on Friday evening, barely able to believe that she was enjoying the warm, wet feel of the salt water. If someone had told her even three weeks ago that she’d go on a boat tour and a walk along the beach the same day, she wouldn’t have believed it.

  But then three weeks ago, she hadn’t met Gustavo.

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said from where he walked alongside her. “I once ran across the University of Maryland campus wearing nothing but sneakers and a smile.”

  “You’re pulling my leg,” she said, laughing.

  It seemed as if she’d been laughing all day. Maybe all week. And why not? She’d been ridiculously lucky the night they played bingo, winning two jackpots that gave her enough money to pay for Danny’s second week of camp. Then earlier today, when they’d chaperoned the field trip to Chincoteague together, they’d had such a good time that Carrie had readily accepted when he’d invited her and Danny to dinner.

  She’d also said yes when he asked her to take an after-dinner stroll on the beach. Danny and Susie had stayed behind with a neighbor who’d dropped by unexpectedly and offered to watch them.

  “Oh, yes, I did,” he said. “This was the dead of winter. At one point I went down on some icy pavement and slid on my butt about ten yards. It was so cold I couldn’t even feel it.”

  She laughed at the word picture he’d painted. “Why would you do a fool thing like that? The streaking craze was long over by then.”

  “I told you,” he said. “My roommate dared me.”

  “So if I dared you to strip to your birthday suit right now, you’d do it,” she challenged.

  “Damn straight.”

  He grabbed the hemline of his shirt and tugged it over his head.

  “Hold on a minute!” Carrie shouted. “I didn’t dare you. It was a hypothetical.”

  One of his hands was already at the waistband of his shorts. He grinned at her, looking better bare chested than he did with his shirt on, impressive for a man in his late forties. He had good muscle definition, a flat abdomen and just the right amount of chest hair.

  “You didn’t make that clear,” he said.

  Behind him the sun was low in the sky, casting red-and-gold streaks over the water. It covered him in a soft glow, highlighting his almost-black hair and the long nose that gave his handsome features a Latin cast. She couldn’t say for sure what looked better, the sunset or the man. She almost protested when he tugged his shirt back on.

  Time to focus on the sunset, she thought.

  “It’s been so long since I was at the beach this time of night that I forgot how darn pretty it was,” Carrie said.

  “I love coming down here,” Gustavo said. “Whoever buys my grandma’s B and B and gets it up and running again should advertise that the beach is in the backyard.”

  A tall sandy embankment rose on one side of the narrow strip of beach, with the B and B and neighboring houses set well back from the cliff. Steep wooden staircases leading to those houses dotted the beach at regular intervals.

  Small seabirds soared parallel to the waves, waiting until the water receded to snatch crustaceans exposed by the surf.

  “Then don’t sell it,” she said. “I know you closed the house to guests, but the business is already in place. You could hire somebody to fix up the house and help you out.”

  “That’s an idea,” Gustavo said. “Got anybody in mind?”

  Me, Carrie thought. Just as quickly, she rejected the idea. She already feared she was spending too much time with Gustavo. What kind of message would it send if she finagled it so she saw him every single day?

  “Hey, you don’t have a job right now, do you?” Gustavo asked, almost as though he’d read her mind. He didn’t wait for her answer. “If I do decide to keep the place and reopen it, would you be interested?”

  “No,” she said quickly.

  “Why not? You like to cook, right? And I’d have no problem with you bringing Danny to work with you. He’ll be going to the same school as Susie and me. I told you I have a teaching job that starts in the fall. Once classes start, he can even catch rides with us.”

  Carrie shook her head. “It’s a bad idea.”

  “What if I offer you double what you made at your last job?” he asked.

  “Now, why would you do that?” Carrie asked.

  “Camp’s over and I like seeing you every day. Susie does, too. It’d be great if you were the female influence in her life. And who knows?” He nudged her gently with his elbow. “If you spend more time with me, I might grow on you.”

  Thanks to the cash prizes at bingo, she no longer had to worry about finding the money for camp. However, she needed to come up with money to pay her bills. She felt certain she could help make the B and B a success and that she’d love everything about managing it. But she couldn’t take advantage of him, not when he was such a great guy.

  “I’m not gonna date you, Gustavo,” she said.

  “That’s odd,” he said, “because we’re already dating. What did you think dinner Wednesday night was all about?”

  “Two people getting together.” She repeated his words back to him.

  “That’s the definition of a date,” he said. “The only reason I didn’t take you somewhere fancier is because I didn’t want to freak you out.”

  No way would she tell him about how she’d changed from her sexy black dress when she’d spotted him out the window. Or confess she’d been initially disappointed when he suggested bingo after dinner, because she’d

  envisioned him taking her for a nightcap to someplace elegant with candles on the tables.

  “We’re together now and this isn’t a date,” she said.

  “It’s almost a date,” Gustavo said. “Why do you think I picked up that seafood paella from Lucia’s Restaurant for dinner?”

  “Because I told you how it’s so good I can hardly stand it?”

  “Yes,” he said. “And that neighbor who stopped by and offered to stay with Susie and Danny while we took a walk? That was no coincidence. I asked her to do that.”

  “Why’d you go and do that?” she asked.

  “Why not?” He stopped walking and took her hand so she had to stop, too. “I like you, Carrie. A lot. I think you feel the same way about me.”

  With the sun dipping
lower on the horizon so it looked partially submerged in the cool gray-blue water of the bay, the colors of the sunset had intensified to create a fiery sky. The deserted beach setting couldn’t have been more romantic.

  The reality, though, was that Carrie hadn’t been in the market for romance in three decades.

  She slowly lifted her eyes to his, expecting the memory of her late husband to intrude, the way it always did when a man showed interest in her.

  She saw only the strong planes and angles that made up Gustavo’s handsome face and the desire in his eyes.

  Dear heavens, she wanted him to kiss her.

  As though reading her mind, he tugged on her hand to bring her closer. Then he dipped his head so he was the only one she saw. His lips descended, getting closer....

  “No,” she said, turning her head and pulling her hand out of his at the last second. She took a few staggering steps backward. “I can’t.”

  He quickly masked his obvious disappointment. “Then I’ll be patient. I’m not asking you to forget about Scott, just that you make room for me.”

  “It’s not Scott.” She could barely believe her own words, but it was true. The husband whose memory she’d held on to so tightly wasn’t the reason she couldn’t be with Gustavo. “There are things you don’t know about me, things you wouldn’t like.”

  “Nothing you say could change how I feel about you,” he said.

  Water splashed at her ankles while her feet sank into the sand. The tide was coming in, but she didn’t move. “Trust me on this.”

  “I can’t,” he said. “I know you’re a good person, Carrie.”

  “Would a good person have enrolled her foster son in a camp when she didn’t have the money to pay for it?” she asked. “I even tricked poor Tara into volunteering because I thought maybe then I could get you to forget about the tuition.”

  “You never asked me to do that,” he said.

  She couldn’t explain why she’d been reluctant to put him in that uncomfortable position.

  “Didn’t you notice how late I was paying for the second week of camp?” she asked. “If not for those bingo jackpots, I wouldn’t have had the money.”