Page 28 of The Art of Loving Lacy
Two years ago, he’d have been right beside Hugh, drinking in the curves of some anonymous woman, but now the only woman he wanted to ogle was the one who wouldn’t even return his texts.
Dane spotted Rob heading down the dock in rumpled clothing, his eyes locked on the ground and the temporary deckhand they’d hired to help them out following behind him.
“You all right?” Dane ran his eyes down Rob’s clothing.
“Yup,” Rob said. “This is Tim.” Rob lifted his gaze to Hugh. “Hugh, good to see you, man.”
“Rob,” Hugh said. His eyes followed Rob’s every move.
Dane watched Hugh scrutinizing Rob. He was surprised to see Hugh paying such close attention to someone other than himself. Hugh was usually too self-centered to worry about anyone else. Then again, Dane had learned about another side of Hugh on the boat yesterday, too. Maybe his baby brother was finally growing up.
Rob moved robotically through the motions of checking equipment. At five foot ten, Rob was a good five inches shorter than Dane. He was a burly man with an ever-present five-o’clock shadow and thick brown hair that had recently begun to gray at the temples. Rob was usually like a lion, strong and sure. Today he moved like a wounded housecat.
“What’s up with him?” Hugh asked. “The last time I saw him, he was all big talk and false bravado.”
“Dunno,” Dane answered. Rob was a forty-four-year-old father of two, and Dane had always been able to count on him. Only over the past few weeks had he noticed a change in Rob’s demeanor, but today was far different from anything he’d seen before.
Dane scanned the deck for the chum barrels. “Where’s the chum?” he asked.
“Shoot,” Rob said. “Tim, go get it ready. We’ll come pick it up. It’s down at the wharf.”
“Dude, we were supposed to pull out of here half an hour ago.” Dane shook his head.
“Sorry, man. I was up all night. Sheila and I are having a boatload of trouble,” Rob said.
“Trouble?”
Rob put his hands on his hips and spit in the water. “Yeah. I didn’t want to say anything, but she left me, Dane. She said she needed a break, to clear her head or some crap like that.”
“You didn’t want to say anything? Rob, you tell me when she breaks a nail,” Dane said. “We just had dinner together a few weeks ago. You guys seemed fine. How does that happen after fourteen years of—”
“Fourteen years of marriage? You’ve got me,” Rob said. “She took the kids and went to her mother’s three days ago.”
“What happened? Was it because of all the travel?” Dane asked. In all the years they’d worked together, Dane had never seen Rob do anything inappropriate with women. He’d always spoken highly of his family, and as far as Dane knew, he was a great father. He couldn’t imagine him doing anything that would cause Sheila to leave.
Rob shook his head. “I just don’t know.”
Dane noticed the evasive shift in Rob’s eyes, and he realized that Rob knew why Sheila had left, but he wasn’t ready to share it with him just yet. “We can table this run.” Dane put a hand on Rob’s shoulder. “Take a day. It’s no big deal.”
Rob shrugged him off. “Yeah, right. I’m fine.”
“Rob—”
“I’m fine. Let’s do this.” Rob turned and stalked to the far side of the deck.
Dane watched Rob walk away, wondering how fourteen years of marriage could end just like that.How could months of—What? Long-distance flirting?—end just like that?
DANE PILOTED THE boat out to sea, stewing over the way Lacy had ended their night. She hadn’t wanted him to walk her to her room, and as he watched the elevator doors close, with Lacy on one side and him on the other, he felt as if his heart had been cut in two. Now, as they raced out into the open sea, anger crept in.Why hadn’t I anticipated her panic attack? Why did I tell her about those other women? And why the heck didn’t I go see her?
“Excuse me, Dane?”
Dane spun around. Tim had tied a bandana around his head, reining in his blond hair, which stuck out below and hung down to his collar. He had a broad chest and a thin waist, and his bulbous biceps rivaled Dane’s, though he was a good ten years younger. “Yeah?”
“It’s just, uh, I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but Rob’s out there puking his guts up and I’m, uh, wondering if you wanted to go check him out. I can take over here.”
“Freaking perfect,” Dane said.
Tim took over, and Dane found Rob leaning over the rail. Hugh stood a few feet away with his arms crossed, shaking his head.
