Page 32 of Until We Break

“Margot! Margot! Where are you? You left the door wide open!”

I jumped at the sound of Dean’s voice traveling through the house and up the stairs.

“What the hell?” Caleb’s eyes darted to mine. “Who is that?” Caleb sat forward, wrapping a protective arm around me on the bed.

“Shit. Shit. Shit.” I scrambled for clothes, but my shorts and underwear were somewhere near the couch downstairs. “That’s the attorney. It’s Dean.” He was already in the cottage. We couldn’t pretend we weren’t here and hope he’d go away.

“Dean Waters is here?”

I blinked. “Yes.” The memories of their ongoing hatred for each other resurfaced.

Caleb growled. “Figures.”

“Where’s your shirt?” I asked, feeling the panic rise in my throat. I heard footsteps. I had to stop him.

I was naked from the waist down. Oh my God.

“Wait right there, Dean. Just go downstairs,” I called, hoping it was loud enough for him to stay put.

The footsteps stopped. “Oh, you are here?”

“Yes, Give me a few minutes.” I felt my lungs begin to work again. “I’ll be downstairs in a second.”

“Okay. Are you okay?” he asked.

Caleb glared. “He is nosey.”

“You have no idea.”

“I’m fine, Dean. I’ll be down.” I took a giant gulp of air. “Let me go downstairs and clear this up for a minute,” I explained to Caleb.

“I’d get dressed but my shirt is in the kitchen, I think.” He smirked.

I smiled at him. Before I could turn, he grabbed me and pulled me back into the bed. His lips found mine. I knew this was what it meant to be caught in the undercurrent.

FIFTEEN

Caleb

“You know there was a Sunfish that capsized yesterday? A kid from the mainland apparently. Heard he made it.”

I wandered down the staircase in time to overhear part of Margot’s conversation with Dean Waters. I had found an old T-shirt of Walt’s folded in the cubby closet. It smelled like faded laundry detergent, so I determined it was okay to wear, at least to make it to the first floor. I turned the corner just as Margot’s face went white.

“You know about that? You heard about that boy? And the Sunfish?” Her voice was quiet. It was like she was living through the shock all over again. I could see the movie reel had turned on in her head.

“Everyone was talking about it at Locals when I got my coffee this morning. It’s a big story here. I’m glad he’s okay. People don’t know much, though.”

“Everyone knows?” she gasped.

“Hey, Margot. What is it? What’s wrong?” Dean moved toward her, just as she grabbed the side of the counter.

I was beside her in an instant, cutting through the space Dean was about to invade. No. That wasn’t about to happen. Dean’s eyes bulged when I appeared and wrapped an arm around her.

He scowled. “Guess that explains the Coast Guard cutter in the slip. But what are you doing here, Caleb?” His questions were directed at me as if she was no longer standing between us.

“Are you okay?” I looked down at her.

“Yes. I’m fine.” She pushed away from both of us, drifting to the other side of the kitchen. She started rinsing out the coffee pot. “Coffee sounds good, right?”

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