Page 21 of Devlin

"Putting the race aside, Frank's job at the Boatworks is too important to let an emotional decision get in the wayof business."

His father's eyes filled with anger. "Emotional decision?"

"Yes," he said flatly. "Frank told me that the two of you spoke about Mom's unhappiness and that you didn't like the message he was giving you, so you fired him."

"He had no right getting into my business."

"Is it possible he was trying to help you? After all, Mom did leave."

Fire enteredhis dad's gaze, and Devlin sucked in a breath, knowing he was probably crossing a line he shouldn't cross, but it was too late to take back his words.

"I told you to stay out of this, Devlin."

"You put me in the middle of it. Is there something I don't know?" He licked his lips. "I don't want to ask this, but—"

"Then don't," his dad said, cutting him off.

"You can'tthink there's anything between Mom and Frank. She would never do that to you, and neither would Frank. He's an honorable man."

"Devlin, stop. Frank is done," his father said, shoving back his chair so hard that it fell over when he stood up. "If you hire him back, I swear to God I'll shut the Boatworks down. Do you understand me?"

He understood a lot of things, including the factthat his father wasn't just angry, he was in pain. He could see it in his eyes, hear it in the ragged edges of his voice. He should have waited to have this conversation. "I understand."

His father brushed past him and stomped into the house.

He stood up and moved over to the rail, looking out over the ocean. He needed to be on the sea. It was the one place he could count on to findhis center, his calm. He'd planned on taking the boat out tomorrow for a test run, but maybe today would be good. There was a nice breeze and plenty of sunshine, which would be a good contrast to the shadows filling his soul. His family was breaking apart, and he didn't know how to stop it.

"Devlin?"

He turned around at the sound of Trey's voice. His brother was dressed more casuallythis morning in jeans and a long-sleeved knit shirt. "Good morning."

"Did you just talk to Dad?" Trey asked, concern in his eyes. "He walked past me looking like he was about to explode."

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Did he have anything to say?"

"No. He shut me down. His damn pride always gets in the way."

"He may be proud, but he's also rattled. This has completelyspun his world upside down."

"I know, and I made things worse. I asked him to hire Frank back. That set him off like a Fourth of July rocket."

Trey nodded. "I saw Ross earlier. He told me that Frank tried to warn Dad that Mom was unhappy."

"And Dad now thinks that there was something going on between Frank and Mom."

"No way," Trey said dismissively. "That's crazy. Momwould never cheat on Dad."

"I don't believe she would, either, but Dad can't stand the fact that she confided in Frank. He's so jealous he can't see that the real problem is him. Mom was very clear about why she was leaving."

"She was, and I'm sorry for my part in what happened. I had no idea she'd react so strongly to the McKinney brothers showing up at her party."

"I wouldn'thave anticipated that, either. This isn't on you, Trey; it's on Dad."

"I just wish it hadn't happened."

"Are you going to stick around for a while? I'm thinking about taking the new boat out for a test run this afternoon. You could come with me."

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