Summer Mahogany Read Online Free

Summer Mahogany
Book: Summer Mahogany Read Online Free
Author: Janet Dailey
Pages:
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indulgent instead of sharing amusement.
    "Well—" she had gazed off into the distance, resenting his sudden aloofness "—I'll be going. See you around." She removed a hand from her pocket to flick a goodbye salute to the two men.
    When she had moved away, Gina had felt Rhyder watching her leave. There was satisfaction in that, and in the knowledge that Rhyder wasn't leaving the area, either. She would see him again, soon. Maybe things would work out better the next time.
    After all, he had kissed her once. She had lifted a finger to her lips in memory of the thrilling sensation. He would hardly be reluctant to kiss her again if the opportunity presented itself. Gina had hoped that there would be an opportunity, or that she would be able to create one. Yes, she would see him again, soon.
     

 
    Chapter Two
     
    GINA BURIED HER FACE in her hands, but the haunting memories of the summer nine years ago wouldn't stop. Any moment now she would be missed from the clambake and someone would come looking for her. Rhyder would guess immediately that he was the reason she was hiding.
    She wasn't hiding exactly, but that was what he would think. She would rejoin the others, she promised herself, in a minute. Only a minute more in the peace and quiet of the house.
    Only there wasn't any peace and quiet, not in her mind. It was noisy with thoughts, especially of another day nine summers ago when she had not found peace along a serene beach.
    Gina had poked a toe at the regular row of seaweed, the high-water mark of the tide. She hadn't seen Rhyder for three days, not since the day the engine had been tested. A short piece of driftwood rested above the seaweed, smoothed and whitened by the salt water and sun. Burnished gold grass grew in sturdy clumps, accented by the lavender purple blossom of the beach pea.
    But Gina hadn't noticed these, nor the pale pink of the bindweed flower, nor the colorful shells tangled in the seaweed. Rhyder had left and hadn't come back. Foolishly she had believed that because Pete had said they would be staying in the area, it meant they would be using her small port as a base.
    "See you around," she had said confidently, never believing that she had actually been saying goodbye to him.
    With a dispirited sigh she had turned away from the beach, toward the headland cliffs and the jumble of rocks, some smooth and some jagged, but all spectacular. Gulls screeched overhead, swooping and gliding in graceful acrobatic acts. Tenacious blue flowers grew out of the rocky cliffs, supple stems bending with the wind.
    Although Gina was planning to go home, she took a roundabout route by the harbor, unwilling to admit that Rhyder would never return. She didn't really expect to see the yacht, Sea Witch II . She was so certain she wouldn't see it that she nearly didn't. When she recognized it, she took two racing steps toward it before she could control her exultation and saunter casually forward.
    Rhyder was on deck, the white of a sail spread across his lap. Gina could see he was stitching a tear in the canvas. She paused on the dock where the boat was made fast.
    "Do you sew a fine seam?" she asked mockingly.
    He glanced up at her briefly. "Hi, Gina. Come aboard." He bent his dark head again to his task.
    She wished his welcome could have been a bit more enthusiastic and his invitation less like inviting a child aboard. But she was much too glad to see him again to let herself worry about that for long. She stepped aboard with alacrity.
    "Where's Pete?" Gina glanced around.
    "Ashore buying some groceries so we can eat dinner tonight."
    It was on the tip of her tongue to invite them to eat with her and her grandfather, but she sensed that would be going too far, too soon. She leaned a shoulder against a mast and watched him work.
    "I was beginning to think you wouldn't be coming back here," she said at last.
    He looked up, a mischievous light dancing in his blue eyes. "Did you really think I wouldn't come back to see my
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